2013 In Review & Welcoming The New Year 2014

raindrops of sapphire blog 2013 round up

2013 has been an incredible year for me in terms of achievements and growing as a person, so I thought it would be a nice idea to end the year with a round up of some of my favourite memories, achievements and travels! I’ve also listed at the bottom the things I want to do in 2014! Happy New Year everyone!

My Trip To Florence, Italy

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One of my most memorable moments to ever come out of blogging for me was my trip to Florence back in June. This was one of the biggest things I have ever done as I hadn’t left the UK before and I actually travelled through Paris, Switzerland and then into Italy by train. I was there for work of course as I was invited by LuisaViaRoma for their famous Firenze 4 Ever event that they have bi-annually with fashion bloggers. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life and one that I will never forget! Florence is such a beautiful city and I love Italian culture, heritage and people, so it was definitely a dream trip! Being a model and everything else for them for the 3 days was a bonus compared to the city as I love exploring and seeing new things so much! It also let me meet the talented Giuseppe Zanotti and Riccardo Pozzoli too! Moments I will always cherish!

Bath In Fashion 2013 Blogger Awards

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You may remember that I asked a lot of you to vote for me in the Bath in Fashion Blogger awards 2013 as I had been shortlisted down to 10. I went on to win this award and it actually still feels really surreal to have won an award for blogging, especially one that involves people voting for me while being up against some other talented blogs. It was amazing and thank you all again for voting for me!

Buckingham Palace

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Back in July I got an invitation to Buckingham Palace which I absolutely could not refuse! My boyfriend and I took the trip to London and got to have a press viewing of the 50th anniversary of the Coronation exhibition. I was invited as press along with big names like The Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Telegraph etc so this was an honour! I love the Royal Family and being able to go inside the Queen’s home is a moment I will cherish forever! It was even nicer that I got to spend it with my boyfriend!

The Fashion Supernova

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I didn’t start my other blog The Fashion Supernova in 2013, it was started in 2012, however the year of 2013 is what saw that blog grow from nothing into what it is now. I’ve worked incredibly hard on it and I have a small team of writers who write the posts with me, as well as regular guest contributors, so I am incredibly thankful that the hard work is paying off and it’s growing into what I want it to be! Thank you for the support with it too!

Cardiff Castle

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Another moment that I will remember forever was when my boyfriend and I both went to Cardiff Castle in Wales for our 5 year anniversary in April. It was the first time either of us had properly been to Wales and the castle was so pretty! We will both never forget it! We hope to go back again this year as well! You can also see my outfit I wore by clicking here.

Guest Posting & Features

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2013 saw a lot of guest posts and some features for me too! I love branching out and writing new content as I’m a fashion writer first and foremost, so being able to write posts for some popular websites like Oxfam, All Women Stalk, The Fashion Fox, Donna Ida, LuisaViaRoma, How To Make My Blog, Pastel Bokeh etc has been an honour! Knowing that these big websites like my writing means a lot to me, so I hope I can do more in the new year!

I have also been featured a few times by magazines like LOOK Magazine, Bath Life and lots of online websites who have interviewed me or done a piece on my style and my blog. I’ve also been able to collaborate with brands like Storm and many more! So this means a lot to me too that my work has caught the attention of others and has been appreciated.

Social Media, Blog Growth & Friendships

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Everyday I am amazed by how much my little blog venture in 2010 has grown into what it is now. Raindrops of Sapphire has had almost 1.3 million views since I started it and that’s incredibly overwhelming! I just recently hit over 10,000 followers on Twitter as well! The amount of support you all give me is touching and it really does mean the world. I love everything about this website now, not just because it’s my blog, but because I feel like it’s a little community. I reply to every comment that I get left and I recognise so many of your names when you leave me comments, I feel like I have got to know a lot of you over this past year especially and I have developed some great friendships with you too! My blog has brought me two really close online friendships between Sarah in the US and Jennifer in Canada, which I am incredibly grateful for, and a couple of good friends in person, one of those being a great photographer called Ko, another is a blogger called Joe and then a stylist called Declan. Ko and Joe live in London and are lovely! I met them in Italy, so I am thankful for all of this!

 

Things I hope to achieve in 2014

2013 saw me come out of my shell a lot, I got to do some pretty amazing things as I just mentioned above, so I am hoping that it can continue into this year as well. I have a few goals that I want to do this year to make some of my dreams come true!

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The first one is go to Disenyland Paris! You may remember that I posted about this before as it’s been my dream ever since I was little to go there. My boyfriend and I have made a promise to each other now though that we will save up from January and then hopefully we can go in the Spring, around May or June! I absolutely can’t wait!

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The second thing I want to do is go to Edinburgh Zoo to see the pandas and koala bears! This is another dream of mine because I thought I would probably go my whole life without seeing either animals as their native countries are so far away, but Edinburgh Zoo recently had them move in and this is something I need to do! The train takes about 8 hours though and is crazy expensive, so the only sure way to get there is flying as it only takes 1 hour 10 minutes and is so much cheaper, but as you know, this is something that scares me so much, so that brings me to my third goal for this year…

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And that’s fly on a plane! There is so much of the world that I want to see! I want to explore the whole of Italy, holiday in Greece, see the pyramids in Egypt, go to New York and Los Angeles and eventually visit Australia, so getting over my fear of flying is something I really want to work on this year and I am hoping to conquer it! Of course I am hoping that my both my blogs keep growing with the hard work and I really do hope that I get some more amazing opportunities. I would love to go to Florence again with LuisaViaRoma and be intrigued by what other cool ideas come my way! I’m definitely planning on going to Wales again, visiting more castles and doing some cool day trips too!

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Anyway, thank you again everyone for supporting me so much! Have an amazing 2014! Lorna xx.

Written by Lorna Burford

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46 Comments

  1. Lala212
    December 29, 2013 / 4:06 pm

    Wow, 2013 was a great year for you! Your Florence trip sounds like the experience of a lifetime. Well I hope 2014 is full of more adventure, achievement and fabulous outfits! And if you do ever make it to Greece, look me up!

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 29, 2013 / 4:09 pm

      Thank you so much! Oh you are lucky, you live in Greece??

      • Lala212
        December 29, 2013 / 4:11 pm

        Yup πŸ™‚ email me if you need help planning a holiday.
        Happy New Year!

        • Lorna
          Author
          December 29, 2013 / 4:23 pm

          Will do πŸ™‚ Happy New Year to you too!

  2. December 29, 2013 / 4:17 pm

    You had a great 2013. Beautiful pictures, I’m going to be going to paris next year too

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 29, 2013 / 4:23 pm

      Oh that sounds really cool! Which parts?

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 29, 2013 / 6:46 pm

      Thank you! Happy New Year too!

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 29, 2013 / 6:46 pm

      Thank you very much πŸ™‚

  3. December 29, 2013 / 8:06 pm

    Happy new year! Hope all these dreams of yours come true this year!

    divosdiva.WordPress.com

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 29, 2013 / 8:07 pm

      Thank you so much!

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 29, 2013 / 11:23 pm

      Thank you!

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 30, 2013 / 2:51 am

      Thank you so much Constance!

  4. RΓ³isΓ­n O'Shaughnessy
    December 30, 2013 / 2:30 am

    Really love your verdant photographs. go-hiontach!!! You look amazing in your outfits. You have a nice figure :] what age are you ? You have achieved so much !

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 30, 2013 / 2:55 am

      That’s really kind of you! I had to google what go hiontach meant, ha ha! I’m actually a quarter Irish, but have never been there. I am guessing by your name though, you are Irish? I’m 25 :]

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 30, 2013 / 3:38 am

      Thanks Nicole πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 30, 2013 / 12:12 pm

      Thank you Kiri!

  5. December 30, 2013 / 10:33 am

    What an amazing year for you with all the travelling and exciting events! Congrats and wish you all the best in year 2014, as well as achieving your goals and dreams <3
    And I'm also delighted that you are interested in travelling to Australia! I had lived in Sydney for 4 years before moving to London a few months ago! ;p

    P.S. Thank you very much for your sweet comment on my blog!

    ALxx
    RASSP blog

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 30, 2013 / 12:11 pm

      Thank you so much! Yeah Australia has always been a dream of mine, it’s such a beautiful country. It’s just so far away! Did you love it in Australia?

  6. December 30, 2013 / 12:14 pm

    lovely photos!!! <3

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 30, 2013 / 12:15 pm

      Thank you!!

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 30, 2013 / 12:37 pm

      Thank you so much Sophia!

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 30, 2013 / 8:00 pm

      Thank you so much Saba! I hope you can too!

  7. December 30, 2013 / 6:40 pm

    Hi Lorna, congrats with your achievements in 2013, it really looked like you had an amazing year! I’m really happy for you!

    Disneyland Paris is really great! I’ve been there about 5 times I think, it’s just a 2 hour trainride with the Thalys away for me. I’m a huge Disney fan so I always feel like a happy little girl when I’m there πŸ˜€

    I’ve had a slight fear of flying myself, but my love for travelling convinced me to get over it a few years ago. Since then I have seen so many great places! This year I’ve been to Budapest, a lot of Italy (the Garda Lake, Rimini, Florence, Brunico (North Italy, for skiing), Paris, the Provence in France. In 2014 I’m planning to do some great trips as well!

    Happy new year, I wish you all the best for 2014!

    X Sara

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 30, 2013 / 8:10 pm

      Hi Sara! Wow, you have been to so many places! That’s incredibly lucky! Which has been your favourite? Florence for me was absolutely stunning! Happy New Year to you too πŸ™‚

      • January 2, 2014 / 10:28 am

        It’s really hard to pick a favourite, they all have their charm in different ways and so many fun memories. But I think my top 3 is Budapest, Florence and the Garda Lake for this year. I go to Brunico every year to celebrate Christmas.
        Budapest is such a beautiful city, with great food and all for a small budget! This was my boyfriends favourite for sure πŸ˜€

        X Sara

        • Lorna
          Author
          January 2, 2014 / 1:06 pm

          Sounds lovely! I’m glad you have enjoyed travelling as well πŸ™‚

  8. ali
    December 31, 2013 / 1:27 am

    Lorna what an inspirational blog post. All that you have done, sounds so amazing, and all that you still want to do sounds absolutely wonderful. If you wont those dreams that much, you will get them Lorna, you have to stay positive, tell yourself all the time that you are going to Disney, going to the zoo, and going to fly on a plane. I have flown once, I did not find it amazing, but if I had dreams like yours I would certainly fly again. Cannot wait to see what 2014 holds for you. xxxx

    • Lorna
      Author
      December 31, 2013 / 1:34 am

      Thank you so much ali! That’s really kind of you! Hopefully they can happen!

  9. January 1, 2014 / 3:20 pm

    You had an amazing year and I loved the little snippets of your life that you showed us! I’l looking forward to “tagging along” with you on your adventures in 2014!

    xoRosie
    Rosie’s Life

    • Lorna
      Author
      January 1, 2014 / 6:49 pm

      Thanks Rosie! I’m really glad I have regular readers like you, it means a lot to me!

  10. January 2, 2014 / 5:02 am

    Lorna Happy Happy New Year, I absolutely love your blog & this post is fantastic!! Hopefully 2014 will be wonderful and you’ll get to visit Disneyland Paris, maybe even California. Looking forward to all the updates and a fantastic year ahead.

    http://www.fashiontrendforward.com

    • Lorna
      Author
      January 2, 2014 / 1:05 pm

      Thank you Annette! I really appreciate that comment! It means a lot to me!

  11. Adam
    January 5, 2014 / 8:19 pm

    A very good post, was a good read πŸ™‚

    • Lorna
      Author
      January 5, 2014 / 8:24 pm

      Glad you liked it πŸ™‚

  12. Jen
    January 6, 2014 / 3:01 am

    Lorna!!! I looked through your pictures initially but never made it to the end of your post when I initially saw it (or I would’ve realized what you meant about the zoo!) haha. That’s so nice of you to mention me πŸ™‚ I’m so excited you’re going to try flying this year! That’s a pretty good goal to make πŸ™‚

    • Lorna
      Author
      January 6, 2014 / 3:22 am

      You are welcome! I’m really glad we became friends πŸ™‚ ‘Try’ is the keyword here lol, whether or not I can go through with it is another story! Battling fears has been something I have struggled with for as long as I can remember, so hopefully I can do it πŸ™‚

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