Over and out | 2018 in Review

Oh hey, 2019

First of all, I'm going to be honest in admitting writing this 'year in review' post initially filled me with dread, with the last month or so being a little, shall we say downbeat. What with my lack of job and general loss of ambition I feel like I've been stuck in a bit of a slump, going backwards and forwards repeatedly until the festive period began. But actually sitting down and drafting up some ideas for this post and taking a look back over the past year as a whole I thought hang on one bloody minute. This year has been great?? In fact what a year it's been. 

The new places I've been, music I've listened to, experiences and defining moments that I'll quite frankly never get to experience again all played a part in making 2018 a truly rememberable year.

So without further ado lets dive straight into my highlights of the year.

Graduating from University

This was a pretty big one for me and honestly something I feel like I've banged on about on my blog for a while but rightly so you only get to graduate once (unless of course, you decide to do another degree) but graduating to me felt like one of those big adult things you do, like getting married, or buying your own house it felt like something I could tick off and say 'I did that, I really did that' It was a really rewarding moment that made it feel like all the late nights, blood, sweat, stress and tears all paid off and finally I stepped off the education train and arrived at destination: adult. 

(Can I get back on now) 

Croatia 

Looking back Croatia still feels like a dream to me. Every moment of the holiday felt exactly that. It gave me one of my favourite memories I will never forget: Stepping out the taxi at our apartment to the feel of the heat tied in with the most insane breathtaking views is a memory I still love to replay over and over in my mind. For both me and jay Croatia was everything and gave us some of our most cherished memories. I'd go back tomorrow given the chance, I didn't want to come home. You can read part 1 from our holiday here and part 2 here 

Berlin

Berlin was the first trip I took of 2018 somewhere I never visited before and now somewhere I'm desperate to go back to. I and my best mate went during January which collided with Berlin Fashion Week which meant we go to attend there as well as some of the trade shows. We also did the usual touristy parts too that you can see in my post I did from my trip. Something that despite my best friend absolutely hating during our time there it snowed and was really cold which in turn resulted in both of us catching a cold but something that made both our apartment and the city really cosy and warm. You can read the post from our trip here

Manchester 

This year me and Jay visited Manchester for the first time. A city I've been desperate to visit for so long. And like I said back in the post I wrote here about our trip there it exceeded every expectation. Going to London used to feel like coming home but in fact visiting Manchester felt like a piece of my heart that had been put there for me to find (does that sound incredibly cringe??) But really I fell in love with every part of the city somewhere I'm desperate to return to. We went mainly for The Neighbourhood Festival, a perfect way to explore the city whilst seeing some bands in some incredible venues there including Kawala, Wild Front, The Night Cafe and Temples. 

Citadel Festival 

Citadel was the weekend of my birthday, a day after to be precise. Which meant we travelled down to London on the day and spent the night there before the festival the following day. The weekend was also insanely hot as it was during the gorgeous weather we were treated to this summer. And at the festival, we got to see our favourite Tame Impala for the first time which was honestly incredible, a band that really took my breath away. 

London Fashion Week 

Probably the biggest pinch-me moment this year was not only finally getting to go London Fashion Week back in February but also get the opportunity to go behind the scenes for one of my favourite designers: Henry Holland for the House of Holland AW18 collection. A sentence that still even now blows my mind to write. I remember on the day of getting the email and screaming running down the stairs to tell my mum then repeatedly doing the same down the phone to Jay. On the day of the show walking through to backstage and spotting Henry Holland coming straight around the corner, I thought to myself is this even happening? I also got to sit and watch the show when I still don't think it had soaked in where I was.  Holding my phone up to film and then my camera my hands were shaking my best mate asked me if I was okay to be met with a pretty glazed over look- in shock of actually being there. Dramatic as it sounds it was a was a huge experience for me. Oh, and the icing on the cake was spotted Alexa Chung in real life. 

The World Cup 

Though I don't class myself as the biggest football fan, every time the world cup rolls around you get sucked into the excitement and the atmosphere of it and not only that but with the weather being divine during the duration of it looking back this summer the world cup was something I loved this year. Getting to Semi-Finals in the cup almost felt like you could feel England coming together and it made me extremely patriotic. One of those moments you are really proud of your own country.

Personal Achievements 

Working Out (and actually sticking to it)

I started working out way-way back in May a month before going to Croatia because quite honestly I've always hated the look of my body on holiday pictures and only for myself I wanted to feel good about wearing a bikini on the beach and be able to look back happy with the way I looked and within a month of working out pretty much every day I started to notice a difference in my mood, my motivation and most importantly my body. 

Jay even told me it's nice to see you happy about your body for once. Returning home from holiday I let it slide again for a bit, I mean life you know? 

But come Septemeber I picked it back up again and have been working out again almost every day for the past few months. I can hold my hands up and say 'I actually enjoy exercise' I know it's a sentence I never thought would leave my mouth either but really I do its actually something I look forward to as sad as it sounds but going into this year I'm looking to keep doing it and improve on every area I can. 

Start creating the kind of content I want to create 

Not to say I'm happy or completely there with everything I create or put out there but last year I started to make a start on doing the things creatively that I wanted to do, the things that selfishly make me happy not my readers (though I still hope what I do makes you happy.)

But last year one of my goals was to start vlogging again, which I did but came to an end mid-year when I realised it wasn't what I wanted to put out there or enjoyed to do. Looking back at vlogs they make me happy remembering the memories but overall it was something that I found hard to do without perfecting every detail and judging what I looked like on camera and how I acted and really it just wasn't making me happy, it made me judge every detail of myself so stopping it and focusing on other areas that I knew I wanted to do was a move that I feel paid off. 

Collaborating with some amazing brands

I mean one-word Missguided. A brand I never could of imagined collaborating with and still probably one of my biggest achievements in blogging. As well as working with 3ina and Jewellery Box I'm incredibly grateful to have been given the opportunity. 

Music/TV/Film 

Jungles 'For Ever' 

Honestly not a lot of new music has come out the year (at least for me anyway) in terms of new album releases I feel it's been a little quiet. But one album that did come out from the year was 'For Ever' Jungles second album that ironically is something I will in fact play- forever. It's hands down for me my favourite album of the year. The summer-y sounds and whole laid back feel good sound to the album just ugh takes me back to the summer laying in the sunshine.

The Haunting of Hill House 

I don't want to be cringe in saying that watching tv series has kind of become our thing me and jay but well its something we've enjoyed doing together a lot over the past year. Which really is an achievement in itself, I've always been a bit closed minded when it comes to genres and so I guess this year I challenged myself and decided to watch things that maybe I wouldn't have done before. For me, The haunting of hill house was definitely one of them not only would I never have watched because it's horror, though it borders on drama. It also happened to be one of my favourite things to come out of this year. From start to finish the series just had me gripped and honestly what a masterpiece. 

Fargo 

Another series I'm hooked on this year is Fargo though technically shouldn't be here because it came out in 2017 not 2018 but who's making the rules here? Again its something I never would have even looked in the direction of before but generally something I can say I'm a huge fan of. From the quirks, I love in the series to the stress and the drama of it (I said during watching season 3 this is so bloody stressful to watch) as well as bringing saying 'okay then' in a Minnesota accent into my vocabulary. Fargo is something I certainly loved to come out of the year. 

To all the boys I loved before 

Not saying I've swayed fully away from my usual choice of genre. 'to all the boys I've loved before' coming into my life was a greatly welcomed romance I feel the movie industry has been without for a while. (Is it me or does a good romance come around once in a blue moon?) I watched it on a rainy Friday then again the following weekend which is rare for me to eagerly watch a film again I've seen recently - unless its spiderman homecoming... 

It's up there for one of my favourite films, the perfect mix of being easy to watch, heartwarming and romantic. I'm eager to read the book now too. 

And that my lovelies is 2018 well and truly wrapped all thats left to say is I hope you all have an amazing nye, make the best of it, smash your goals and do you. Heres to 2019