2011 Reflections and 2012 Hopes

I hope that everyone has recovred from the new year celebrations and food gorging. I wanted to be a little reflective in this blog post and write down my thoughts on 2011 and hopes for 2012.

2011--What a year! The highs were very high and the lows were very low.
I started out the year with the statement that I was going to use my stash and try not to buy anything other than replace essential items. I would have to give myself the grade of C+. I did do a pretty good job of using my stash and I still have a significant amount to go through. I did make purchases that were not necessities but wants but didn't go crazily wild in purchases.

The main reason why I didn't want to spend much on beauty products was because my son was getting married, which was a definite high point of the year. We were also going to be going to Japan in July for the planned reception. The low point, which was a really low point, was the earthquake and tsunami devastation in Japan in March. All plans for Japan was cancelled because of the devastation. One reason was my son and daughter-in-law didn't feel it was right to be doing a large celebration in the wake of the devastation and recovery. The other reason was that the reception was planned to be held in Iwaki, which was one of the cities greatly affected by the disaster.

Another low for 2011 was my youngest son getting injured, tearing his ACL and 2 places of his meniscus. He required surgery and is currently still rehabbing, although doing much better.

On November 21st, my first grandson was born in Fukushima! He is healthy and the new family is doing fine. It was probably the highest point of 2011 for us.

At the end of 2011, I realized just how many wonderful people I "met" through Twitter and blogging. Many of you I have become close with and can truly call you a dear friend. I am honored that you also consider me to be your friend. During the course of the year, I got to actually meet 3 of you! Those were, without a doubt, happy moments for me.

I don't like to make New Years' Resolutions because so often they do not get met. So then, what are my hopes for 2012?

**I would like to continue with using my stash.

**Last year, I did "Brush of the Month", in which I purchased at least one brush a month to help build up my brush collection. This year instead of doing a purchase plan, I would like to try using my NAKED 1 palette so that I can use up at least one of the colors in the palette and try to hit pan on some of the other colors. I know many people love that palette but it is not one that I reach for. I'm just not a brown neutral person, which is why I just don't use the palette.

**"Experiemental Weekends" is an idea that I have come up with for myself. I often don't go anywhere on the weekends where my makeup has to be "in place". I've decided that on the weekends, I will experiment with using more drugstore makeup or other new items that I have acquired. I will also try experimenting with different color combinations and/or go out of my "comfort zone". I have many items which I don't use because I"m not comfortable with the color or texture or whatever other reason. If I like the result, I will blog about it.

**Again as with last year, I will be trying not to purchase a lot as I am once again saving for a trip to Japan. I will probably not have much to blog about as far a product reviews but will try to keep the blog interesting. I hope to come up with some creative ideas to share with you.

That's all that I can think about right now. May 2012 be a good year for everyone.

*Kat*