By Marni JamesonEvery year at this time I look in my rearview mirror to check what the heck just happened. I flip through my 50 columns, and extract my favorite nuggets of advice, one lesson from each month, and serve it up in a 12-lessons-for-Christmas kind of way, in two parts. Here is part one of my top takeaways for 2014: IN JANUARY, while researching a column on linen, I interviewed Richard Ostell, a respected fashion and home designer, from Westchester, N.Y.