Last year’s wishes are this year’s apologies
Every last time I come home
I take my last chance
To burn a bridge or two
I only keep myself this sick in the head
Cause I know how the words get you
We’re the new face of failure
Prettier and younger, but not any better off

I think these Fall Out Boy lyrics are just perfect for the rather somber mood here at Beauty Addict over the last two months. Don't you? Haha!

Anyhow. Back on topic. 2007 was a year of soaring highs and incredibly crappy lows. The year began with me cooped up in my apartment working on a huge proposal for nearly 18 hours a day, subsisting on holiday leftovers and Diet Coke. Then the blog won 4 awards from Glam.com and all was right with the world (for a while).

Over the next few months I covered Fashion Week (twice), turned my skin all shades of orange and brown with dozens of self tanners, discovered a fragrance that drove even the cops wild, got attacked for poo-pooing a gimmicky Almay foundation, and wasted a bunch of time dating a guy who turned out to be a total tool (I wonder if he still reads this blog?).

Early in the summer my hard work at the office paid off in a big way with a promotion! This was followed by a productive business trip to Germany and an amazing weekend in Prague with StyleBites. Woohoo! Then I returned home and promptly broke my wrist, putting a stop to both working and blogging for nearly the entire summer. Not so good. 3 weeks in a cast followed by surgical fixation with a titanium plate left me more concerned with scars, Vicodin, and reality TV than anything else.

Fall brought a prolific number of posts (see September and October), mostly brought on by my excitement over being able to use my right hand again. I catalogued dozens of mascaras in the incredibly popular Encyclopedia of Mascara, wrote a tutorial on how to build a makeup brush arsenal, and launched The Pampered Mama (don't worry, she's coming back).

But, inevitably, the pressures of work and personal life began to creep in. With the new promotion came new responsibilities. To top it off, it seemed that everyone in my group was either changing jobs or having a baby, leaving quite a bit of extra work for those of us who were left. I became engrossed with bridal shower and wedding preparations for my best friend (maid of honor! Another high for the year). I started devoting time to coaching my cousin's high school Virtual Enterprise team. I helped raise money for another cousin's battle against brain cancer.

All of this left very little time to blog, let alone actually use the beauty products that I like to write about. By the time the holidays rolled around I was so wiped out that all I wanted to do was sleep. I'm not going to apologize for this. Blogging is a fun hobby, but sometimes life intervenes and priorities have to be shifted. It happens to all of us.

But the New Year has rolled in, and I've logged many hours of sleeping, catching up with friends, watching Borat and reading Celebrity Baby Blog and I Can Has Cheezburger. Suffice it to say my batteries have been recharged.

2008 looks to be full of promise and opportunities (with one HUGE, amazing opportunity at work looming on the horizon). I hope it's full of good times here at Beauty Addict, too. And I wish all of you (especially you readers who have stuck with me through good times and bad), a happy, healthy and successful New Year!