I, Spy.

Well how the devil are you all? It's been a while, hasn't it. I wish I could say it's because I've been caught in a whirlwind of excitement, but actually, it's just because I haven't felt like I've got much to say at the moment. So no life-update posts. And the outfits I've been wearing haven't been particularly note-worthy, so no fashion shots. And someone had a moan at me about my blog the other week (which may have been justified and may not... I haven't the strength for a debate!), so I lost my confidence a little bit. Hence a lack of posts.

Is it the weather? You all know I lose my sparkle in the winter, at least as far as outfits go. I'm generally pretty cheerful at the moment, but the end of the year does just seem to bring automatic exhaustion, no matter how long I try to sleep and take it easy; and I will admit that I've been getting more sleep than I have in years.

Next year will bring some changes to this blog, and my life in general. I'm going to redesign this place to have slightly more of a 'site' feel - with tabs for such things as work portfolios and suchlike. I have been surviving as a freelancer for two and a half years now - I'm super proud of myself, but surviving it has been. I haven't earned enough to put anything into savings, rather I've slowly depleted my existing savings so that I'm getting dangerously close to having no emergency cushion should things go wrong. But the big news will be that I am moving into London proper early next year - and will be selling my little flat in the suburbs to become a renter once again. This is as exciting as it is terrifying, and I will have to become more organised and earn a little more money in order to be able to survive in the Big Smoke, I may need to get a part-time job in addition to becoming better at hustling for work as a writer, or a model, or any of the numerous things I have turned my hand to in the last two years.

Next year, I will also be trying to get a book deal, but it will not be a book on 'Vintage', there is already a much better one on the horizon than anything I could do! :) And I'll be trying to make this blog more professional, by which I mean streamlined and businesslike, WITHOUT compromising the personal touch I take pride in. I'm really quite scatterbrained about such things as sponsorship and advertising, slow to respond to PR requests and so forth, and I need to overcome my life-long lack of organisation! But I'd like some feedback from my army of amazing followers as well. I do ask for, and occasionally receive constructive criticism, but it does smart when people are negative about things I have worked hard on, so I want to make sure that my readers are happy. You might not pay to read a blog, but without you, said blog is nothing - just a load of words shouted out into the ether with no audience.

• Do you mind that I post my monthly King's Ginger sponsored articles? I love working for such a friendly, historic and supportive company, and I don't intend to stop until they no longer want to work with me (and I can only hope that day is a long way off!), and I put a lot of hours into each post to ensure that they are not just adverts and actually interesting and fun to read in their own right. But I want to know if they're inspiring such annoyance as to make anyone stop reading, so I can make the necessary adjustments.

• Do you mind that I do outfit posts that feature items I have been sent as gifts? I know this is pretty par for the course in fashion blogs, but I worry that it makes my blog seem like it's just full of ads. The truth is that I only ever accept things I genuinely love, and I can't afford to buy many new things these days. Outfit posts would be way more boring without occasional freebies, and if I can direct new potential customers then I am glad to do so.

• Do you mind that I post the odd blog about my newfound love of sports and active things? Because I will be doing more of that next year as I start training for more half-marathons and triathlons. It is now hugely important to me and thus will be reflected in my posts. But not too much - just enough to be inspiring without being boring and preachy. I hope!

• Finally - what would you all like to see?? A revival of the Vintage Inspired Buys series, where I track down retro stuff online? More outfits? Less outfits? More motivational stuff? I always intend to do more of the latter, but then my good intentions fall by the wayside as I put my other work first. This will change along with my newfound organisational skills. *hopeful face*

I know I've asked this before and haven't necessarily come through with all the goods, but I always do my best, and I really do want to get this blog back on track in 2012. I hope to take you all with me on this journey and attract lots of new readers in the process.

I'll be back again before Christmas, but I hope you're all having lovely weeks and are all set for next weekend. I am most certainly not! And just do it's not just waffle, here are some photos of me as captured by the super Hanson Leatherby - there will be more to come this week!