2017: The Review

This review is becoming something of a yearly tradition....you can find the reviews for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 , 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 by clicking through. It's always nice to take stock at the end of a year and see what's happened over the last 12 months.

1. What did you do in 2017 that you'd never done before?

All sorts of little things - visited new places, met new people, but on the whole it's been quite a steady, serene year, life wise. There's plenty that I'm working on.

 2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions and will you make more for next year?

For the most part, yes. I kept things remarkably simple, and bar a backslide on the iPhone in bed sitch over Christmas, I've built some good habits this year!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

I'm a woman in her mid-thirties, so, yes! Oodles of babies.

5. What countries did you visit?

Scotland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Denmark & Germany.

6. What would you like to have in 2018 that you lacked in 2017?

A little more confidence in my own abilities and a dash more get-up-and-go. Mine sort of got-up-and-went at points various!

7. What date from 2017 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

None in particular. It's been a pleasant, steady year for the most part!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Working hard. Shrinking a little.

9. What was your biggest failure?

I let my blogging and writing slide a lot from October or so. I really want to fix this! I'm happier when I write.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing major.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Presents for people I love. And theatre/travel tickets.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

The kind, the warm, the friendly, the clever.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

I'm not in charge. But some people's ability to judge others has made me a little sad at points. We are all just trying our best, right?

14. Where did most of your money go?

Books, travel, wine, cheese.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Hamilton.

16. What song will always remind you of 2017?

Probably Shape of You by Ed Sheeran. as we travelled around Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Germany this summer it was everywhere.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: Happier or sadder? Thinner or fatter? Richer or poorer?

A little happier, about 25 pounds thinner, and a little richer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Sleeping. Spending time with friends. Reading.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Worrying. Procrastinating. Comparing.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

At home with Matthew and the kits, days full of food and rest and laughter.

21. Did you meet anyone special in 2017?

My new colleagues are lovely, and Smudge-cat is the sweetest (and entirely unexpected) member of our household.

22. What was your favourite TV program?

Ooooh, tough call.  I loved The Marvelous Mrs Maizel. I'm still a massive fan of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. And Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is my catnip.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Not really. Hate is a poison, I try to avoid it.

24. What was the best book you read?

It's been an odd year for reading - I've only read about a dozen books. Of those The Power and The Underground Railroad were the two frontrunners - both excellent!

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

90s playlists on spotify.

 26. What did you want and get?

Hugs, love, a new kitten.

27. What did you want and not get?

Eh, I'm not sure now I think of it! I'm a pretty lucky girl.

28. What was your favourite film of this year?

Probably Girls Trip. Funny, filthy, refreshing good fun.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 37, was granted a snowy birthday (pretty rare in London!) and celebrated with southern comfort food and karaoke at Lucky Voice with Matthew and two of my besties. Perfection.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

More sleep, more travel.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2017?

Lots of blue, lots of stripes, lots of Boden!

32. What kept you sane?

Friends, cats, husband.

(I've retired question 33 too!)

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Poverty. Something needs to happen.

35. Who was the best new person you met?

My little work crew. And Smudge (cats count, right?).

36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2017.

Same as last year: be kind. But also, keep growing, make time for what's important, dream big, and be the best cheerleader you can be for the people and things you love.

37. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

None of the songs I've liked this year have lyrics that sum up my year - I'm not perfect, I can come to the phone, and my shoes aren't bloody.

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23 Things I Would Like to Do This Autumn

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness...as soon as the calendar moves over to September I'm ready for all things autumn. One thing I like to do in each season is make a list of things I'll try to do - soem are basics for that season, others are personal favourites for this time of year, and still more are new things I fancied adding to proceedings. I'll keep you posted on progress as we move through the season!

1. Make flapjacks

2. Go for an autumn walk in each of my favourite London parks (Hampstead Heath, Regents Park/Primrose Hill, Hyde Park, Green Park, St James' Park, Victoria Park, and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park)

3. Unpack warm clothes

4. Buy a new bubble bath

5. Stock up on goodies at a farmer's market

6. Read Pride & Prejudice

7. Make some mulled cider

8. Bake a pie

9. Have corn on the cob with lashings of butter

10. Watch When Harry Met Sally

11. Write letters

12. Get up early for a walk and catch an autumn sunrise

13. Plan and serve an Oktoberfest inspired meal of beer and brats

14. Make granola

15. Celebrate Halloween (and actually dress up!)

16. Cook using apples & pumpkins & squash while they are in season

17. Watch Hocus Pocus

18. Decorate a pumpkin

19. Make veggie soup

20. Buy some candles with autumnal scents

21. Make chilli

22. Get out of London for a walk in the woods

23. Donate items to a Harvest festival

What things have you feeling super autumnal? Do you have any yearly traditions? Do you make a list of your own?

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Summer's End...

...And what a summer it has been. It feels like a heartbeat away that we were toasting the end of the summer term with fizz and fun at school, and now September is knocking on the door and beckoning in my favourite months of the year. I'm ready for back to school, for cooler temperatures, for the cosiness of autumn, and the pre-Christmas rush, but am so grateful for our busy, fun summer.

It feels like my summer has had two distinct themes - travel, and home improvements.

Travel has been amazing, whether it's been exploring the fjords and mountains of Norway, getting to know new cities like Copenhagen and Stockholm, revisiting Germany, a country I'll always have a soft spot for, or spending time with friends and family in my homeland, Scotland.

Home has been busy - we have cleared out room after room after room (and the clearout goes on). We've switched several rooms around too (cue much moving of furniture and yelling 'Pivot! Pivot!' at one another). Our team of stoneworkers and brickies and render-destroyers have chipped away at the cracked off-white facade of our house to reveal the loveliest sandy bricks below - one more week of scaffolding and dust and noise and that will be completed. Shona has completed on her new home and started moving her stuff across town. And Smudge cat is all settled in and very much part of the family.

It's been a productive, busy, challenging and fun summer, and I cannot wait to see what fun autumn may hold.  There are many projects afoot, lots to plan, and some potential changes ahead - but hey, life is never dull, right?

I'm off to enjoy the Bank Holiday Monday with brunch, sunshine, cocktails and cats; I hope you have a similarly lovely day planned. I'll leave you with a few of my favourite shots from summer break.

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Plates

I had to illustrate a post called Plates with a picture of some of my own pretty plates, right? These beauties are from West Elm, John Lewis, Monsoon, Laura Ashley, Marks & Spencer and one from my parents' wedding crockery. I love me some pretty plates!

Do you ever feel like sometimes you're trying to keep dozens of plates in the air? Like there's so much to do, and not quite enough time to do it?

Lately I've been feeling this, in a big way. I'm lucky enough to have a busy life (and lucky enough to have coffee and patience enough to whizz through said busy life), but this latest season is calling upon my inner acrobat a little. I've neglected my blog a fair amount, but one of the joys of having been in the blogosphere for over a decade means I'm well aware of the ups and downs of writing. With being back into full-time work (and what's more, full time work which I thoroughly enjoy), it's been the right thing to designate the blog to the backburner to simmer a while, whilst other more pressing tasks, activities and projects, from settling in with a new class, to helping backstage with the Year 3 play, to actually seeing my husband, have taken precedence.

So back to the plates. I like to think of each area of my life as a separate little plate, and one which I have to spin and keep in motion or it will falter and fall. Some plates are big and important - my job, my marriage, my home, my friendships. Some are smaller, but are shiny and beautiful and catch the light as they spin - these plates add so much to my life and are good for my health, my wellbeing and my soul. They include writing, blogging, exercising, cooking, walking, snuggling up with three very silly cats, reading and volunteering. Then there are the smaller plates, the ones which you can almost forget...until they threaten to fall.

We all have these plates. Yours might look very similar, or very, very different. But they will be there. This past few months, with a pretty big life change (from work at home writer and homemaker to full-time teaching is a big shift!), I've been working hard to keep the plates aloft, and I think I've managed it, for the most part.

All this to say, it's nearly Easter break, and I intend to do a good week of writing during the time off which is on the horizon. Brace yourself....blog posts are coming. I have holidays to recount, books to review, recipes to write up and so much to share.

But first, the end of term. And a jaunt to Italy. I'll see you soon, lovelies.

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Happy Monday #20

I'm back! And ready for the first Happy Monday of 2017. Inspired by the lovely Katy and Jasmin, these erstwhile roundups focus on the good things, big and small, that make it all worthwhile.

1. Time with friends

Whether it’s brunch with Kaz, pizza and a movie with Shona, a baby shower for a dear JLL sister, silliness and fun with bloggy friends, dinner giggles, or catching up with Jenna after a two-and-a-half year break, I’m always grateful for time with the people who make up my tribe.

2. Lighter mornings

Isn’t it great to wake up and head off to work and it’s not pitch dark?

3. Dancing

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What's In My Bag? (Winter Edition)

I've always loved these kinds of posts, but have never got around to doing my own. My innate nosiness means I'm always intrigued to see which items people tote around for their average day in the city, or out and about, and I hope if like me you enjoy learning about this sort of thing that this satisfies the very human instinct to see what others are up to!

I'm often out in the city for hours on end, and when I am I like to make sure I'm prepared (those years of being a Brownie and a Girl Guide, and the offspring of military folk, come in very handy). There's nothing worse than being caught short and discovering that you're miles from home without water/a tissue/lip balm!

Please enjoy the early morning realness of these snaps. January is not the one for photo gorgeousness at 6am/9pm...

This is my current winter bag. It's a grey slouchy pleather (for want of a better description!) bag from Accessorise, which I picked up in the early autumn before our US and Canada trip. I wanted a roomy, useful bag, with zippered sections to keep things secure as we dashed between flights, buses, taxis and boats, but with roomy sections which were easy to get into when you just wanted to grab a bottle of water, a pair of sunglasses or a scarf. This bag turned out to be perfect for purpose and was really a trooper throughout our travels, and it's now my go-to bag for the winter in London. It's big enough to carry all the bits and bobs I need out in town (teachers always carry a *tonne* of stuff, I find) but small enough to carry without injuring oneself or taking people out on the tube.

In my bag I always tend to have:

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Happy Monday #18

It's Monday, it's the start of the week, which means it's time for a lovely, positive start to the week. Katy and Jasmin inspired me with their cheery posts each week, and now, when schedule allows, I join in with a happy Monday of my own. Originally I updated weekly, but as the year has progressed and life has changed (and will continue to do so as we move into 2017), I will be doing these on a more ad hoc basis - when I've time and things to share I'll be here :).

1. A very happy birthday

On Saturday I turned 36 (36, man!) and had a lovely, lovely day. Cards and cakes and messages and wine and wonderful people meant I entered a new year on the planet feeling happy, lucky, and surrounded by love. I'm so fortunate to have the people I have in my life.

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Happy Monday/10 Happy Things #16

It's Monday, it's the start of the week, and I'm joining up as ever with Katy and Jasmin for a lovely, positive start to the week. It's a very speedy round up today, but let's go!

1. My newsletter

Yep, I've finally set up a newsletter - something I've been meaning to do for a fair old while. I'll be sending out a little note into the universe, every Sunday. If you like to sign up, there's a box in the sidebar on the left, or you can simply click here. I do hope you'll join us!

2. The Last Five Years

A full review to follow, but this show at the St James' Theatre is an utter delight! The cast of two absolutely own the stage and the whole thing is something quite magical.

3. Texts from Christy, about Mariah

Longtime readers of the blog will know that Christy and I have a soft spot for la Diva that is Mariah Carey. So when it was announced that Mariah was unveiling the big Christmas window display in Toronto and performing, Christy naturally went along to pay homage. And sent me texts aplenty so I could experience it for myself. So fun!

4. Christmas fun with Vixie

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