Month by Numbers: skates, stars & shimmying

7 favourites...


1.) There’s been ice-skating, there’s been present opening and there’s been drinking. Oh my has there been drinking…I think at one point it was just pure prosecco and cocktails running though my veins. Festivities to the max y’all.

2.) This month has been filled with a lot of work-related fun outside of work time. This time last year I had lost one job, working a freelance job, and hunting for another job. It was lonely and soul detroying to be quite honest, but this year could not be more different. Colleagues have become more than just that and are now friends, and I danced with them along to cheesy festive songs, drank with them in cringey christmas jumpers and boozy brunch-ed with them on a Sunday afternoon. Once upon a time in Sheffield, me and my bestie said ‘imagine if one day we’re both journalists, living in London & in the same office!’ and lo and behold, here we are! From shorthand lectures together to dancing the night away at the office Christmas party together. And I could not be happier or how it’s all turned out and the new friends I’ve made in my life because of it.


3.) Every year some some of my closest friends and I get together and have a Christmas weekend together, or as we call it, Hunmas (long story). We stayed up until the early hours of the morning swapping secret santa presents, we drank wine, we ice-skated, we ate food and we talked the world to rights. That how weekend with these girls usually go and they never, ever get old and I’m always planning and feeling psyched for the next one.


4.) One of the perks of my job is I get to go to cool events, and one of the more recent and also coolest things I’ve been to is the Christmas party that Netflix held. Not only were there sets made up to look like some of their original shows, but the actors and actresses dressed up in those sets never went out of character and pulled up in to get involved.

Stranger Things have happened on a Thursday night ✨🔮 #strangerthings #netflixmas #netflix @netflixuk #london #lights #xmas #christmas #boomerang #instsvid #gif

A video posted by Amy Lo 🐚 (@amylo92) on Dec 1, 2016 at 1:13pm PST

 I essentially played charades with Queen Elizabeth on the set of The Crown. There was cocktails being passed around, I took full advantage of the gif-making photo booth, and there was a free chrome cast in my goodie bag to take home. Oh and I met Bake-Off winner and queen, Candice Brown, who I just banged on about how she slays the lipstick game and I love her piggy sausage rolls. So there was that too...good job Netflix.

5.) And one of the other perks of my job is that I get opportunities to go to stuff that I’ve loved for years, like Strictly Come Dancing. It’s the one show me and my whole family all love - it’s just pure joy! And after the hellish year my mum’s been through, it was an absolute privilege to be able to take her and every now and again, I was sneakily look over at her and she was laughing and enjoying herself with so much joy. It filled my heart up with so much love and not gonna lie, it filled my eyes up with tears.


6.) Christmas calories don’t count, and i may have taken that motto a bit too seriously. Just maybe. My body is made completely out of pigs in blankets, Quality Street sweets and red wine right now. i think when you you cook essentially a Christmas dinner in a pie and plait the crust of it and feeling like flipping Snow White, you’re in full on festive mode aren’t you? I’ve even been gifted sparkly jam that has prosecco and actual glitter in. I mean, I’m living my best damn life right now, but my waistline and health says otherwise.


7.) Living your best life during Christmas consists of mainly of drinking, dancing, partying and not much sleeping. And as much as i love a life of that, it starts to take it’s toll, and that’s when it’s time to hop of a train back to the shire and switch off for a bit. My fave thing about Christmas is how people bound together with joy and I’m lucky enough to have an amazing family full of love to share that with. And being an aunty in that family to 3 gorgeous nephew and nieces means i get to spoil them rotten and seeing their faces and reactions of pure, unadulterated excitement when they open presents that i’ve put so much thought into buying, makes me feel like there’s no better way for me to spend my hard-earned money.

5 tweets...
1.) My neck hurts from too many hair whips on the dancefloor & I'm still finding glitter on me - THAT'S how fun the xmas party was last night 🎄
2.) Have come to China Town for dim sum with family. Randomly developed a rash out of the blue - am I allergic to my own culture?! 🎎
3.) My friend just told me I look like I'm straight out of a 90s music video & I couldn't be happier with comparison ❄️
4.) Nephew's present consists of Star Wars, Pokémon & McFly's @TomFletcher. Couldn't be more excited, pysched & proud of that combo 🎁 #TopAunty
5.) What do you mean I have to go to work tomorrow and can't sleep in till 10am and have a cheese board as a snack?

3 songs…
1.) Gallant -  Weight In Gold

The coolest, most chilled vibes you could want to balance all the cheese and excitement of December. I started hearing this and was thinking ‘oh this is cool, I feel like i’ve come across this sound before?’ And that would be because they supported Jack Garratt when I went to see him and I can say they are fucking brilliant live so go and do that guys and girls.

2.) Barbara Streisand - Rain on my Parade

I found myself listening to this many a morning on my commute, and i think it was solely to psych myself up to get myself to work and make my commute that bit less shit and that bit more chipper.

3. ) JC Cooper - September song

December is an odd time to feel all summery, but this is what this song did. And as much as I am essentially Mrs.Christmas, this made me look forward to sunny summers to come and feel nostalgic about sunny summers past.

Until next time,

A.x

6 commandments of 2016

Right, no surprises how this is going to start because 2016 has been a bit of a funny one hasn't it? There's been icons cruelly taken from us, people less than admirable voted into positions of power, and Sean Paul was Christmas no.1

I was talking to someone about this shambles of a year, and they said 'but I think you, personally, have had a pretty good year. Has it been a good year with shit bits, or a shit year with good bits?' I've thought about this, over and over again, and I truly don't know.
This year, generally and personally, has been so turbulent with more ups and downs than Tigger on speed.
But there have been some consistencies that have stuck throughout these 365 days, and me and my life are all the richer for it.

So I present to you, the 6 commandments that got me through 2016...

1.) Thou shall bawl my eyes out

A lot of shit went down and a lot of people said goodbye that affected me more than I ever expected it too. I was down and disappointed about Brexit. I was sad and couldn’t stop listening to Purple Rain on repeat. And I felt silly about how it had made me feel, how emotional I got about it…but I really shouldn’t have.

Don't feel ashamed to mourn your heroes. Being moved by art is one of the things that makes life worth living

— Darren Richman (@darrenrichman) December 27, 2016

 These people broke boundaries of social perception, they were brave, they were outspoken, they were hilarious, they bought joy into people’s life and they made others feel less alone. And for these personalities to stop existing anymore, well yeah, hell it’s upsetting.

It's been more emotionally harrowing this year than any other. From feeling part of my national identity was no more, to trying to put aside my emotional feelings to deal with practicalities through heartbreaking personal times.

Sadness is not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign that you care. So put on your homegirl Adele and sob your little heart out because at the end of the day, it’ll feel so much better when you say hello on the other side. 

2.) Thou shall not let bitches kill my vibe

Look, we’ve each got our own shit to deal. I get it. But you taking out your drama on me, is not ok hun. Here I was just here chilling, until you bloody rained on my parade. Making me feel shit so you feel better is just not on. It’s like i’m just skipping along in life with my ballon, and you come over and pop it, like…what the fuck?

3.) Thou shall learn to do fuck all

I’m not very good at not doing much. On the rare weekend I don’t have plans and I plan to just be a couch potato and watch everything on the weekend, more often than not, I fail. UNTIL NOW.
I don't know it's down to my career being more demanding, my social life being busier, or feeling more emotional draining than ever, but this year I’m really mastered the art of doing squat all.
Even when I go away, usually I fill it to the brim with activities and trips to every monument and sight going (I love me a pretty cathedral) but this summer when I went to Ibiza, I did not much else than have walks in the sun, read on the beach, dance the night away and talk the world to rights over sangria and tapas.
Sometimes you really need to make plans to have no plans just to reset and recalibrate. Take time out to look after yourself y'all.

4) Thou shall not shut up about feminism

And I’m not going to step until men and women have equality rights, in all aspects. End of. 

If you need me, you can usually find me banging on about why we’re still not quite there yet (while on my 4th pint at the pub), retweeting all things Caitlin Moran or spontaneously shouting ‘yasss!’ on the train while reading Amy Poehler. 

5.) Thou shall stand up for one's self.

I hate confrontation and because of there, more often than not I’ll just take myself away from the situation and sit on the sidelines with a gin & tonic and stroking a puppy until it all blows over.
But sadly, my reluctancy for drama and desire for harmony gets taken advantage of, and that’s really not on boo.
So, I told myself to be brave, speak my mind, share my thoughts, be fair and not be aggressive about it.
Whether it’s someone I thought was a friend or someone who’s feelings for me made have hopes of a future together - I’m not there for you to walk over, talk down to, and believe me babes, you haven’t got my feelings sussed out (as much as you’d like to think you have).
Not here to cause a scene but I might be stronger than you think I am and I’m not going to let you make me feel otherwise. 

6. Thou shall fight back

Against inequality and injustice. Whether that be race, gender equality, social class, LGBTQ+ rights or poverty. Unfortunately, life isn’t fair - wouldn't it be swell if it was?
Good people get dealt bad hands and so-called bad people get fucking sweet deals. That’s just how things are sometimes sadly.

But the worst thing to do is sit back and just take it as it is.
Instead, speak out, get involved - fight the hell back.
And if anyone’s taught me how to fight back like a boss this year, is my mum.
After getting diagnosed and having surgery complications, she never gave up. And never will I again about anything or anyone I care or feel passionate about. 

2016. You’ve been a right doozy, but I’m a strong believer than that things happen for a reason. Yes we’ve cried some tears and might have been knocked back, but I’m a tougher, more informed, passionate person who gave a real fuck, because of it. So cheers for that...I guess?

2017, please be kinder and bring more hope.

Until next time...

A.x

Month by Numbers: N64, night moves & namaste

7 favourites...

1.) October has basically been intervals os being jam-packed busy with plans, and then being a lazy coach potato. One day i might get the perfect balance instead of going from one extreme to another, but for now, this is what my life looks like.

2.) What better way to spend get over the hump in the middle of the week than go bake the biggest cake you ever did see, and being taught to do so by a past Bake-Off winner. It felt my ateries clogging up with diabetes as I was making the chocolate and sweets covered doubled up monster, but my-god was it worth it. Drinking bubbly and icing chocolate fingers on a cake with your buddy. What a great British evening eh!

3.) For my birthday, my flatmates got this yoga-loving bear a trip to do yoga while overlooking the city of London at the top of the Shard. So at the crack of dawn, I headed out into a crisp and quiet central London and my god, the early morning was more than worth it. I spent an hour just contemplating the big ol' city while stretching every limb. I left feeling refreshed and relaxed - just the R&R this bear needed in the midst of the London hubbub.

4.) Growing up with 2 older brothers meant I was a bit of a game freak. You might not of guessed what with the fluffy lilac bag and sparkly skirts, but throw a Nintendo controller my way and i'm a happy bunny. So a bar where you can play arcade and videos games - old and new - until your heart's content? I'm running there quicker than a a blue shell flying through Mario Kart. And with such a fab place, it was hardly surprising that it was busy and filled to the brim with people having a ball. So when it came to time for me and my friend Thea wanting to play some old school N64, we made some gaming buddies. They scoffed with pity as they offered me the character of Princess Peach and picked 50cc for our benefit. Cue me whopping their asses on Mario Kart and Thea thrashing them on SNES Street Fighter. If that isn't girl power, well, then I don't know what is.

5.) And now onto night out of a completely different calibre. For my gorgeous friend Chez's birthday. I went for the nicest pre-drinks of sushi and Prosecco (come a long way since the days of Apple Sourz and Dominoes!) before heading to Piano Works which was THE most fun! With a live piano band taking centre stage, there's no set list, the crowd hopped up on tequila shots and beer request all the songs and they just kill it each and every single time. Form Outkast and Gangsta's Paradise to All About That Bass and Spice Girls and everyone is just having a ball.

6.) Having a couple of days of holiday left to use up at work, I used up some for a long weekend to go back home for some peace and quiet from the city life. Life and work and all that's in between is so damn tiring - being an adult is tough y'all! So sometimes you just need to go back to your hometown, to your parents and just sleep, be fed and spend afternoons chasing your nephew from a field of pumpkins. Feel like a new woman after that long weekend! That is, until I got back to London and hopped on the tube...

7.) I love a theme so it's unsurprising that I love Halloween. Our house was covered in cobwebs, we were splattering blood (fake, of course) all over my flatmate's wedding dress ("Zombie bride? An ex-wife" - name that film!) After going my fave babe Ariel fora friend's birthday before, i've been desperate to go as Ursula for Halloween and finally did it. There was purple in my face, white in my hair and gin in my tummy. Which I'm pretty sure is why I felt like a poor unfortunate soul the next morning...

5 tweets...

1.) Life as the youngest person in the office: my editor just asked me if I new what a jukebox was

2.) Sat here with my carrots and hummus before sacking that in and cutting myself a fuck-off massive slice of cake
3.) People need to go on more 'mate-dates' cus @delphinechui & I went from social media buddies to IRL friends  #LevelUp 
4.) Just had Diet Coke moment: Hot moving guy came into our female filled office. Tried to be cool, strut by. Fell into a door intstead..
5.) Haven't seen my aunt for a while and she just said 'have you said thank you to your mum & dad for making you so beautiful?...WHAT?!? 

3 songs...

1.) I am a fully-fledged feminist through and through so when H&M released this bomb-dope ad showing what it REALLY means to be a lady, i was all on board. Being a lady doesn’t just mean swanning around mansions and swishing their dresses in fields. They also get on the tube and love to chow down on meals.  Oh, and that babe that is Lion Babe’s cover of a Tom Jones classic encompasses this perfectly. 

2.) Little Mix are one of the only and best girl bands around at the moment. Watching them perform and sing sassy lil’ songs as a something makes me feel the same kind of girl power that  I felt when I was throwing peace signs to Spice Girls in my bedroom. And when it comes to break-up songs, there’s the ones that you just want to sob to as you drown in your bottle of wine, but after that, you need something feisty and this is that. When you need to say to your ex, ‘yeah it’s nice what we had and yeah i was sad for a bit, but i’m so much better than ok now so cheers for that.’

3.) This is just one of those songs that make you want to ditch just plain ol’ walking all together and stut like you own the place. I find a new one of these songs ever so often, but sadly my grounds for strutting around is just the the northern line on the London underground, which usually is accompanied with mice , At lease this song makes it feel more glam than that eh? 

Month by Numbers: holidays, birthdays & drunken haze

7 favourites...

1.) April is one of my favourite months. Yes, it being the month of my birthday might have a little something to do with it (just maybe). But honestly, it's the time that Spring really starts to kick in, which gets me all giddy for Summer approaching and all the fresh starts that can be made. Not you could tell with the recent downpour of snow. YES SNOW IN APRIL.

2.) Yes, it was that time of year again I got yet again a bit older. It's funny, but I was talking to a friend about how organising something to do for your birthday is so stressful, when you should just be having a laugh and a half. You worry if people will like the place you're going to, that they'll all be busy and you'll be a billy-no-mates. But after all that, you realise that that's all just quite silly and all the people who love you and you truly care about, actually care about you too and you'll recieve cards you didn't expect to get a text off, thoughtful gifts from friends who've moved to the other side of the world, dance with you favourites, and find your parents at Euston station with 2 massive balloons that are nearly bigger than you teeny tiny mum. Thanks amazing humans - you're all swell and I love you quite a bit.

3.) And what better way to celebrate turning 24 than to go see Disney's new animated bundle of goodness - Zootopolis. I went to go see it with one of my best friends and fellow Disney-loving nut, and amongst a see of children and parents on a Saturday afternoon, there were us haha. I cried. A LOT. 4 times to be exact. And the 1st time was only about 10 minutes into the film. It's so funny, and real, and charismatic. You'll fall in love with the characters and it's got such a good message - it's just good for your heart and your soul guys!

4.) Along with cartoon bunnies and foxes (2 of my fave animals FYI), I went for many a drinks to celebrate my increasing old age - no surprises there. There were tropical tipples at Ridley Road Market Bar, cake and coffee at Wes Anderson playground Drink, Shop & Do, magical moments in Alice in Wonderland themed bar Callooh Callay, right antics with some scoundrels in an old underground tube station at Cahoots, and relaxed in the lap of luxury in the pink paradise that is Sketch. I never stop finding fab places to eat and drink in London, and that's reason no.39840234 why I love this mad city.

5.) Like the love child of Hozier, The 1975, Tame Impala and Miguel, comes east-London duo Honnes. Not even joking, it was love at first listen when I first heard these two. I Shazam-ed them as I exclaimed 'omg who's this? I love it!', and the rest, as they say, is history. Their words make my heart break, that voice makes me melt and the beats they create are criminally indulgent. My life is changed. You should change yours too.

6.) The month, I've realised that I comprise a lot. Being a fully-fledged adult means that you DO have to compromise on stuff and I have no problem with that. But it dawned on my recently that I compromise a lot of my own feelings, opinions and happiness, to make sure other people are ok. As much as I want people around me to happy, that shouldn't be a compromise on my own happiness, so I'm slowly but surely learning that it's OK to put my self first sometimes.

7.) To top off a pretty marvellous month, I jetted off on a pretty impromptu weekend getaway to Amsterdam and oh my, did I fall in love with that city. I love most places that I go away to, but this was the first time I felt like I wanted to pack up my life and move there - the people are so friendly, it's such a chilled environment and all the wonky and discombobulated houses make me feel like I'm walking in a scene out of Aristocats. Despite nearly getting lost at midnight and getting locked in an empty tram carriage, the capital of Holland provided good beer, sunshine through the cold weather, beautiful tulips, amazing waffles, and I was blown away by the oh-so-cute windmills. Amsterdam? More like AmsterDAMN.

5 tweets...

1.) Good thing is by now, I've got my game face down to an absolute art now. House party? Yeah no worries - hand me the eyeliner

2.) With my Adidas jacket & Lola Bunny phone case, passengers on the tube might not think I'm a 

9-5er but the bags under my eyes say otherwise

3.) Went for pub food & had ham in my hair - why do I always have meat in my hair?! If that's the biggest problem in my life, I'm ok with that 

4.) You know when you go out and you only realise how drunk you are when alone in the toilets? Yeah. That's me today but with being tired

5.) Shoutout to the security guys @Gatwick_Airport who were funny & friendly at 5am (and didn't judge me on my animal pjs in my case) 

3 songs....

1.) Drank - One Dance

I think my love for 90s throwback UK garage plays a big part of why I can't resist dancing to this but dammit, I just can't stop. (The proper version isn't on YouTube, but here's a pretty badass cover from Radio 1's Live Lounge)

2.) Honnes - Baby Please

I mentioned already why I love this so much, see above for reasoning ok, thanks.

3.) Calvin Harris & Rihanna - This Is What You Came For

This is just proper good dance-pop. If the beats, subtle clever drop, and smooth as butter vocals on this don't get you psyched for the summer, I don't know what will  

15 best bits of 2015

I know it's oh-so-cliched but I just can't quite believe that 2015 has left us to make way for a new and exciting 2016. Honestly...HOW. WHEN.

Last year, I looked back at all the things I learnt about me and my life in 2014 (take a trip down memory lane and have another read of it here - go on, you know you want to).

This time round, I'm getting all reflective on life all over again (no surprises there). And while I'm still learning in that big ol' school called life every single day still, I can honestly, whole-heartedly say that 2015 has been one of the best and my personal favourite years of my life so far, and here are 15 reasons why...

1.) I moved to London

I lived away from home for over 4 years now but with uni living meaning that I still came home for weeks and even months at a time every so often when term was finished, this is the first time I've properly felt like I've lived away from home and flown the nest if you will (although I'm sure my mum will tell you she feels otherwise). London has been an amazing, weird, hectic, mad, beautiful, cramped, massive and magical place to live in this past year, and continues to be as I enter my 2nd year calling it my home.

2.) I got a new London family

And with a new home, comes a new family. I spent the 1st half of the year staying with some pretty generous family who let me stay longer than niceties entail. Rent-free. In Zone 1, Angel. (No amount of boxes of biscuits I give them will ever say thank you enough) But there came a time when I had to give them their spare room and my own personal space back. Enter the era of 18B and my London mum and big sis; Katie & Bryony. These girls have only been in my life for 6 months but have already looked after me when I'm horrifically drunk, help me make sure the dickheads in my life stay out of my life, made me tea when I'm hungover, made me laugh until I cry and become some pretty special friends. Thanks for making London and 18B feel like home girls.

3.) I got a job

After months of interning, uncertainty, feeling knocked down and approaching 100 job applications, I finally got a job as a legit journalist! There was an immediate sense of stability, security, relief, pride and just sheer happiness. What I once thought of as a dream job was now a reality and I couldn't have been more grateful. The hard work and grief had paid off and everything was coming up Amy!

4.) I left my job

Sometimes life doesn't pan out how you thought it would and it's oh-so-easy to feel like a failure, knocked down and beat yourself up about it. But y'know what you should do instead? See it as a chance to take up other opportunities you might have overlooked. Leaving my first job made me really re-evaluate my work/life balance and what I really wanted to spent the majority of my everyday life doing. You can know something isn't entirely right for you and still be so grateful you had the opportunity. I've now got more freedom and flexibility. I get to try more things and find out what I like and not so much, know what I'm good at and what I need to improve at - and at this moment in time, the freelance life is keeping me pretty happy.

5.) I got on a plane (or 3)

I don't really do New Year resolutions, but after not going abroad for quite a few years, I wanted to spend less of my money on materialistic things and spend it more on creating memories and experiences - and that including seeing more of the world. I frolicked around in Prague, Milan and Budapest and weekend city getaways are now my new bestie.

6.) I wrecked my hair

As a kid with a dad who constantly cut my hair into a mushroom-shaped bob, as soon as I was given the freedom to let reign over my own hair, I vowed to grow it to Rapunzel-lengths to make up for lost time. And indeed, it got pretty long. And it kinda stayed that way since I was about 17 - apart from the 2 or 3 year stint where my fringe got all Zooey Deschanel. So it was time for a change. Liiike, dip-dying my hair once, twice, three times a bleach job. Add some grey toner and voila! My grandma-worthy hair goals were achieved and 3 months later I'm still head over heels in love with it (even if my dad isn't)

7.) I missed home

You take so much for granted when you're living at home: the cooking, the washing, the warm thermostat - basically not needing to look after yourself. But above all that, your family, parents, those who do the looking after. Every few months or so, a wave of feeling homesick hits me and all I want is a big hug off my mum and a drink with my dad - sadly, they're 180 miles away. So I resort to booking a train ticket and as soon as I see them on that train platform, I'm so happy and grateful to have them in my life and be reunited with them. (Don't ever let them know that though - promise?)

8.) I missed my friends

Ditto - see above for explanation. You pick up friends along the way in your life, all at different stages and in different friend groups. But with everyone doing their own thing, it gets so much difficult to see people on a regular basis and before you know it, it's been 6 weeks and you still haven't gone for that drink you said you would. Make the effort - text back, make plans, call for a chat. When it all goes to shit, they're the ones who'll come to your house with a bottle of wine and a pizza and wipe away your tears.

9.) I loved love

I've dated here and there over the past couple of years since my last serious relationship, but after having my heart toyed with and my loyalty and feelings trampled on one too many times, I became a little bit more guarded and little less generous with my emotions (despite being an ol' hopeless romantic). But this year, I finally let down my guards a tiny bit and let some people into my life who made me happy, made me laugh and made me restore my faith in others. A few were fun for a little while, a couple I couldn't wait to get rid of, and some I hope will still in my life for a little while longer.

10.) I gave up the gym

Being a big fat child who grew up living above a take-away (pretty stereotypical I know, but man it was hard to resist those Singapore fried noodles), I always have a teeny voice at the back of my mind reminding me never to get back to that state. I became quite a gym bunny at one point but after I left uni at Sheffield, I swapped the gym for running to de-stress & get some fresh air. But honestly, this year, the last thing on my mind is how many miles I've done. In between work and just, life, all I want to do is put my feet up and rest. I walk pretty much everywhere on a daily basis and my 4-year relationship with yoga keeps me sane physically and mentally. My body's the most chuffed and confident I've ever felt about it, and granted I'm not a Victoria's Secret angel, but as long as I'm happy and healthy, then it's all gravy.

11.) My wardrobe got ridiculous

Last year, I learnt how to give zero fucks and embrace the eff out of my personal style, and it's one of the best things I've ever done. That does however mean that I've got some pretty mental additions to my wadrobe - including but not limited to multi-coloured pom-pom shoes, a lucky cat and seashell bag, Cher Horowitz worthy fluffy heels, a gold leather skirt and a 'Bugger Off' tee. I look forward to getting ready from my dressing up box every goddamn day.

12.) I got to know strangers

When you're a kid, making friends is as easy as ABC, and when you go to uni, you're all in the same boat and you bond and make friendships over it - along with the tequila shots and deadline dramas of course. But when you become an adult, making friends gets a bit trickier, especially when you move to a new city. I've met some people this year who I never would've thought would be in my life. People who are bonkers, people that I would've stayed away from in school, people who are the complete opposite to me - but they're all people I'm oh so glad I got to know and am now so happy to call a friend.

13.) I was hungover, exhausted & skint

I have never been so tired, busy or poor in my life and I wouldn't have it any other way. Before you go running to my mum, yes I have saved some £££ away fo ra rainy day and my future yada yada, but the rest of it? Well, it's been spent on tickets, gigs, nights out, rollerskating, dinner, drinks and everything else in between - my poor diary has never been so abused with plans. If I'm spending 70% of my everyday life working to earn money, you can bet your sweet ass that I'm spending the other 30% enjoying it and having a good time. You know, before the adult responsibilities REALLY kick in. As for the hangovers...that might be because I'm getting old and shit now - BOO.

14.) I gave less fucks

One of my biggest anxieties throughout life is wondering what people's opinion of me are. Last year, I got a lot better at not worrying about it, but it's hard for a tiger to change it's stripes - not impossible - but a bit tricky. Whether it's people at work, my friends, and of course, those pesky boys. I give my best not to worry about what people thought about my blog, my opinions, what I wore and how my life seemed. Instead if thinking, I just...did. And y'know what? It's been pretty damn liberating. Highly recommend it.

15.) I didn't know what the hell was going on with my life

AND I STILL DON'T. I don't think I ever will. I've taken some chances, kicked myself over missed chances and made a few mistakes in hindsight (damn that pesky hindsight). And that's just fine with me. Life: please keep throwing surprises and curveballs over my way - it's keeping me on my toes and I'm not gonna lie...I'm loving it.

Can't wait for what you've got stored away in 2016 you cheeky little rascal.

Until next time,
A.x