It’s the final day of 2018 (and the final #MatchaMonday!) and as usual, I’m reflecting on the past 365 days while planning for the year ahead. I wanted to take the time to thank you all for the great year. I always appreciate every bit of support given to my blog whether by reading a post, sharing a post, subscribing to the blog, following me on social media or all of the above! I hope you all had a magnificent holiday season, and can’t wait to see what the next year has in store. Here are a few of my 2018 highlights and 2019 goals.

– My 2018 Highlights –

These are just a few of my favourite tea related moments from 2018.

Toronto Tea Festival

The last Toronto Tea Festival was definitely my favourite. I’m sure I’ll say that about the 2019 one afterwards, too. They just keep getting better. In 2018, I had the chance to meet up with a lot of fellow tea drinkers/bloggers that I never met in person before, tried new tea companies I’ve spotted online, and even get first place in the blind tea tasting competition. When the new year arrives, it’s always exciting to know that the Toronto Tea Festival is coming up very soon!

Tea Infused Wine

Oh man, did I ever have fun infusing wine with tea! This was my favourite experiment and post to write and photograph for the blog this past year. I’ll definitely have to continue experimenting with different tea and wine combinations.

Tea-spiration Audiobook

One of my favourite projects this year was getting to work with a narrator to create the audiobook version of my first book, Tea-spiration! It was so fun getting to connect with a lovely individual and hearing about her own history with tea. I’m so happy with how it turned out, and couldn’t have asked for a better voice to be sharing my words.

Montreal Trip

Believe it or not, this was the first time I traveled in my own country! Outside of my own province, of course. One of my goals for last year was to see more of Canada, and I love that I had the opportunity to begin with Montreal. The trip happened all too fast and I didn’t get a chance to check out every tea related place on my list, so I will definitely be back. I especially want to spend a lot more time in Old Montreal.

My Sister’s Wedding

Standing by my sister’s side as she got married was definitely a major highlight! In fact, even all the wedding planning with her throughout the year was, too. We joke that we’ll plan a vow renewal every year because it was so much fun! This highlight is tea related because my sister was the one who served me my first cup of tea…ever. So, she is always mentioned as the person who is responsible for my tea addiction. Thank god for her!

– My 2019 Word –

I’ve started a new thing this year. Instead of resolutions, I came up with one word that would highlight my year and the goals I hope to achieve.

My word for 2019 is: C O N F I D E N C E.

A lot of my goals were a bit slow to start in 2018 because I wasn’t confident in my ability to succeed. To make sure I complete everything I want to in the new year, confidence is something I want to always remind myself to work on. 

– My 2019 Goals –

Drink more tea

This started as a silly goal in the past years, but with my growing collection, I think I need to start taking it a bit more seriously. 2018 I started the #drinkwhatyouown challenge on Instagram and you can bet I will be continuing that in the new year! There will be a post on that eventually, too!

Finish writing my next book

2018 was the year I started plotting my next book and hopefully when 2019 is complete I’ll already have an edited manuscript! Making less excuses, and more time to write is definitely high on my list of goals.

Host more tea workshops

The first half of 2018 is when I started to host tea workshops and parties. When I look back on the year, I did a lot more than I thought! I realized how fun it was to teach people about tea (it’s always awesome to see people’s reaction when you tell them all tea comes from the same plant) and I have always loved sharing steeps with others. I can see 2019 being the year I do more of that!

Rebrand my blog

When I first moved my blog to WordPress I was so eager to transfer everything over that I just whipped up a quick logo with plans to change it as soon as possible. Somehow that never happened. I’ve toyed with this idea a lot in 2018, and I think next year is the year I will officially get to this!

More and More At the Tea Table

This has been my favourite blog series, ever. I hope to keep it going monthly, and reach for the stars when finding guests! I mean, wouldn’t it be cool to have an At the Tea Table with Britney Spears in 2019? Hahaha. In all seriousness, getting to know fellow tea lovers is my favourite thing, and I enjoy introducing or sharing more about them to my own readers. There are no plans to end this series!

Stay happy + healthy

I don’t want this goal to be overlooked, because it’s possibly the most important one. Without happiness and my health, none of the above goals and future ones can be achieved. I want to focus on more things that bring me joy, staying hydrated and get more serious about eating my damn greens!

– My Instagram #2018BestNine –

The above are my most “liked” photos on Instagram. I absolutely love photographing tea and it makes me happy to see that many enjoy my tea photos! In 2019, I hope to do something more with my snapshots. Thank you to everyone for all the follows, likes and shares over the year. I think I should focus on more photos with my hands in them, those are clearly a favourite 😛

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and tea-filled year ahead! Share in the comments below one of your highlights from 2018.