I can't believe we're already a week through January.. kinda feels like New Year's day was just yesterday! It's a bit scary that it's mid-Jan next week and before you know it we'll be into February. I hate it how the beginning of the year just seems to disappear before your eyes!! Slow down time! I have this crazy list of things I want to have done, or in place by the end of this month... really hoping I can get about 80% of them achieved. We've been working on a fairly big project in our garden which we finished today so that was very satisfying... although no sooner were we done I was suggesting the next one! Yep you can be sure my husband more than rolled his eyes at that!

I'm generally not a black and white girl, but I'm rather partial to it used with a warmer ivory and even more so when there's a hint of kraft or taupe thrown in! It's so elegant yet modern.

I know I kinda disappeared without so much of a Merry Christmas... the few months leading up to Christmas are always crazy busy for me, and once that last job goes out the door I all but collapse!! This year I made sure it was a bit earlier than usual so I could actually saviour a bit of the Christmas spirit before it all disappeared in a huff of wrapping paper!! And it's been lovely being unplugged to be honest... it doesn't happen often throughout the year, but I think it's important, not to mention good for the soul! I'll still be a bit sporadic over the next couple of weeks whilst my husband is off work and we enjoy this summer weather, but I'll be doing plenty behind the scenes with the blog and magazine, which is only a few weeks off launching!

I'm not going to do a big long post about 2012... requires too much thinking, and since this is my 'downtime' that ain't happening right now :-), and to be honest I'm already focused on 2013! BUT I will say that the highlight of our year personally was having puppy Charlie invade enhance our lives! She has turned me into a complete mushball (and I was already bad!), and I'm still wondering when I'll stop feeling guilty at leaving her home when I merely pop down the road for an hour!! It's certainly been a learning curve having a puppy... and especially one as high maintenance, and high energy as this one, but she has the loveliest, cheekiest nature and we just love her to bits!

I surprised my husband with a fabulous trip to Queenstown earlier in the year... he'd never been to the South Island, so that was a highlight. We then had close friends over from the US, and did a bit of a road trip around the North Island which was so fun, and then he surprised the heck out of me with a weekend in Melbourne for my birthday (where the poor thing was sick the whole time!), so that's just a smidgen of the fun things we've done this year. I've loved being in the wedding community, both in New Zealand, and internationally with all the fabulous connections I've made around the world through the blog and the magazine. It's truly such a supportive community and I'm so thankful for the lovely friendships I've made. And most of all I'm thankful for each and every one of you who continue to read the blog on a daily basis, follow on facebook, pinterest and instagram and encourage me to keep trucking along.

I have a feeling 2013 is going to be simply fabulous!!! I'm so excited about the Magnolia Rouge magazine launch in just a few weeks... not to mention the new look blog which I've been stalling on a bit over the past month or so!! Nearly there I promise!

So for now it's a very big Happy New Year to you all!! Here's hoping 2013 brings you much success, fun and most importantly happiness! xo

So this week has been one of sitting in traffic, trying to find a carpark, wading through the people in the mall in the search for the perfect presents!! Actually it really hasn't been all that bad. I've spent less time at my computer in the past few days than I have in months and months, and I plan to continue along that merry road for a bit. At this time of year burn out hits, so some time out is needed!! Finally finally yesterday I got our tree up - yep the house smells of lovely delicious pine  - and put a few Christmassy touches around the place. I may.... just may, get in the kitchen and do a bit of Christmas baking yet (problem I have with that is that I want to eat it all before I give it out!)

This board just has a hint of Christmas in it to allude to what's all around us right now. Although if you're sitting in snow reading this (ok not literally :-) it probably looks quite foreign to you, and oddly enough even though I've grown up with Christmas in the summer, I still think it should be all cozy in the snow!! Right now it's very sticky and humid here, so a world away from the lovely winter scenes that I have filling up my Instagram feed these days!