6 happy new year!

2012 has been an amazing year for me! I think this is the first time in my life when I'm actually a bit sad to see the year end. Usually, I'm so excited about the next year that I don't have any hesitation about January 1st, but there was something really special about 2012.

I started out the year with an invite to Mercedes Benz NYFW courtesy of Brizo, celebrated 1000 Posts on this blog, appeared on HGTV's Design Wars and made another trip back to NYC for Blogfest.... All before June! We had a BALL doing Design Talk and hope to resume it in the new year. You can catch all the old webisodes here. I celebrated my birthday in May in the Big Apple with family and friends, then spent the summer diving into my new Design Studio Specialist position at Pottery Barn.

I worked with some awesome design clients at Pottery Barn, and on my own through SingleBubblePop. I continued to make my own "bachelorette suite" my own with some great vintage finds and DIY projects. I was able to do another awesome charity project with Room Service Atlanta as well, which definitely was one of my biggest highlights. Then I was featured in Southern Living Magazine; who would have ever predicted that one?

On a personal note, I can say that this year some new life-long friendships solidified, love was lost and found, and so many lessons learned. Atlanta really became home for me, after over 3 years. I am so thankful for the growing pains I went through, because I feel the rewards of it already.

I've been quiet here on the blog for the last couple months because I've been keeping a bit of a secret. Last week I packed up my apartment in Atlanta and moved back into my parent's home in Raleigh. Yep, I'm typing this blog post amongst boxes in my childhood bedrooom. Why?? Because a few months ago, I was awakened out of my sleep at about 2:30am with the realization that how I was living at the moment was not going to get me where I saw myself in 5 years.

Now, after I just told you how amazing a year I had, you may be confused. So was I. When it hit me, it was as if a storyline starring Niki McNeill was playing out in my head like a dream. I didn't speak about it out loud or share my thoughts with any of my family or friends at first because I thought I may have been going crazy. (Seriously!) But after a ton of thought & prayer, I realized that this was what I needed to do.

So what am I up to in Raleigh? I'll give you details tomorrow! I have every intention of taking y'all along for the ride. STAY TUNED!