Kim Kardashian: I'm Never Looking Back

By Mark Gray and Alison Schwartz

01/02/2012 at 09:15 AM EST

There were highs and there were lows for Kim Kardashian in 2011.

It was the year she got engaged to basketball star Kris Humphries, the year she walked down the aisle in a fairy-tale wedding – but also the year she watched her divorce play out in headlines after only 72 days of marriage.

"I learned to always follow [my] heart," Kardashian, 31, told PEOPLE while ringing in the new year with her mother, Kris Jenner, at Tao Las Vegas for the second year in a row Saturday night.

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In the spirit of the new year, she says she was happy to get "glammed up again" after moving into her mother's house. "I didn't wear a stitch of makeup," she said of her break from the spotlight.

As for 2012, Kardashian, who donned a thigh-high Gucci dress and Loren jewels, said she's ready to move on.

"I'm looking forward to moving forward," she said, "and never looking back."

She added on Twitter: "Who else is soooo ready to let go of 2011 and have the best 2012 ever!"