2022 ROUND UP

Every year, I finish the year with a roundup blog post of the whole year and I think it is one of my favourite blog posts to write. It's great to be able to look back on the year, and especially remember positives, achievements and good memories before the new year. So welcome to my roundup post for 2022 and I hope you enjoy seeing what I've been up to.

January

January is always my least favourite month as I just find it so depressing even though I make every effort for it to seem less so by making fun plans.

I did manage to make some good memories in January with my friends and I visited Ballie Ballerson in London for the first time. If you don't know, it's essentially an adult ball pit/night club which for me was kind of an assault on the senses but it was fun to try once.

Other highlights included going on a winter beach walk down in Mudeford and trying a roast dinner at the local pub for my Dad's birthday which was a success!

February

Once January was out of the way, February came in to step the year up a notch. One of my favourite activities from February was seeing the Rupaul's Drag Race UK Season 2 live tour in Bournemouth with my friend Kitty which was AMAZING! I love Drag Race so much, especially that season.

For Valentine's Day, Joe and I had a date day extravaganza which consisted of brunch, mini golf, Gordon Ramsay's bottomless street pizza for dinner and drinks in Battersea afterwards. We ended up so tired afterwards but it was such a good day!

My gorgeous baby nephew Leo was born mid-February and it's so bizarre looking back at the pictures now as he's gotten so big and will be 1 soon.

With work, I got to watch BBC South Today while they recorded and get some footage for socials. It was really cool being there while they recorded and getting to watch the news later that day after having been there.

March

The beginning of March included a mega night out to Bath with my friends - there were injuries, and lots of sick (not from me luckily) but we still had a great time even if it wasn't all of our finest of moments.

Joe and I tried an amazing Japanese restaurant in London called Flesh and Buns (weird name great food). It was my first time trying Japanese food too and I loved everything I had. It was quite expensive though so defo a special occasion venue.

More foodie fun consisted of a Bottomless Brunch at Tinga in Salisbury (*PR Invite) with my bestie Poppy which was fab.

At the end of March, another one of my besties, Maddie and I had a joint birthday in London between both of our birthdays which was so much fun. We had a pizza bottomless brunch at Pizza Pilgrims, tried out Vagabond wine bar which is basically wine vending machines and you can help yourself! This was followed by a night out in Shoreditch.

April

To start April off, Joe and I went on a trip to Cardiff for my 23rd birthday. I had 2 lockdown birthdays in a row before this so it was great to get away and explore a new city.

The weekend after that, Mum and I walked alpacas. This was a present I'd got her for her birthday so luckily she chose to take me with her because I really wanted to walk alpacas too. It was so much fun I want to do it again! Warning: you WILL want to take the alpaca home with you at the end.

Later on in April was the meeting of the parents - AKA the day mine and Joe's family met. Joe and I have been together for 4 and a half years and we always said our parents should meet so we ended up arranging it and meeting Joe's family down in Hastings where they live. It honestly couldn't have gone better!

May

In May I went on the first holiday I'd been on since 2019 before covid to Corfu with the girls and I can't even tell you how good it was. I actually cried a few days before going because I was so happy I could leave the country again. Who remembers lockdown?

Everything about the holiday was 10/10 I just wish we had more time and went for longer.

Mine and Joe's anniversary is 1st June so we celebrated a few days early at the end of May by going to Cholderton Rare Breeds Farm and going on a date night in Salisbury to Tinga for food and drinks.

June

June was good vibes all around. More boozy bottomless brunches and trips to London and I just had a great time all month with friends. 

I also bought my new car at the end of June which I felt was such a win for me. It just felt like a moment in my life where my hard work had paid off because I saved up so much and was finally able to get the car I'd wanted for years. 

I went to see Six the musical in Southampton which was great - I am obsessed with the soundtrack now.

July

In July, I went to a festival in Poole with my work colleagues and it was so much fun. Ladies' night was a huge success!

I also went to my first-ever gender reveal party. Joe's sister hosted a gender reveal party, where you bite into the cupcakes and the icing, is either blue or pink. It was pink!!

July seemed to have a baby theme because I went to a baby shower too for my cousin's baby girl. AND I met my friend Siobhan's little boy Tommy for the first time.

Some not-so-good news from July, I had a really painful infected wisdom tooth. Luckily it went away with anti-biotics and it didn't have to be taken out. I wasn't really in the mood for minor surgery it would have killed my best summer since before covid vibe.

August

Speaking of killing the good vibes, I also killed a deer at the beginning of August so we didn't get off to a good start.

After having my new car for only a month, I hit a deer with my car while driving to work one day and sadly the deer died :( and my car was in the garage for about 2 months being fixed as there was so much damage.

There was nothing I could do to stop in time - it just ran straight in front of me and it was pretty traumatic. There were police and RSPCA surrounding me - not to mention it was in the heatwave.

As bad days go, that was a very bad day!

August did get better though, I went to my cousin's wedding which was lovely - I love weddings so much. We also celebrated Joe's birthday and went out for a lovely meal with his family.

I also had 2 great PR meals at Cosmo in Bournemouth and The Giggling Squid (*PR Invites). These meals were both fantastic and I'll be honest - they couldn't have come at a better time. They really cheered me up after the deer incident and it cost me a lot of money so review visits really did come in handy.

September

My main highlight from September was of course visiting Barcelona with Joe - it was one of the best weeks of my life - if not THE best. Barcelona is my new fav city now so it is going to be difficult to top it but I will keep trying the more I travel.

Another highlight was going to my friend Maddie's new flat in London and having a dinner party. She is an amazing cook and we felt like such adults. That was of course until we went clubbing afterwards. Some things just never change.

Also in September, Mum and I went on a cocktail-making experience at Revs which she bought me for my birthday and it was great!

I also got my car back from the garage after hitting the deer - it's as good as new.

October

In October I was invited along to an awards ceremony with work and it was one of the most fun nights I've had. The CEO of my organisation won the award which was fantastic and we were all so proud. It was also great to dress up and have fun with colleagues outside of work.

The National Trust was giving out free tickets over autumn so Joe and I utilised that by going for a long walk around Stourhead. It was the first time I'd been but we really enjoyed it.

I did some more travelling in October and went to Milan, which included a trip to Lake Como. I really loved my time in Milan - I just feel like anywhere in Italy is fab. The food was 10/10 and I felt like I was made up of 70% Aperol Spritz when we got back.

At the end of October, I met my new baby niece on Joe's side, Mahli-Blu. The gender reveal party I mentioned earlier - was for her!

November

November started with a pub quiz that I went to for the first time and I have ended the year as a regular. The best thing about it is that you get a great prize for coming second to last, which we have now won multiple times. I would say work smarter not harder but I'm not sure that works for this. Work dumber not smarter?

Joe and I also went on a relaxing trip to the Cotswolds in November. We stayed in a barn conversion that had a hot tub! I truly was living my best life.

I also had a great time meeting up with lots of friends which left me feeling very grateful.

December

Towards the end of the year, I celebrated the festivities with lots of my friends and family. I went to the Christmas markets in Dortmund after two years of missing out due to covid. Ironically, I caught the worst flu I've had and still have it at the time of writing - I am on day nine of it now so I am hoping it bogs off.

Looking forward to next year

Here are some of the things I already have planned for 2023 that I'm looking forward to:

• Seeing Harry Styles
• Watching Pangina Heals live
• Circa Waves gig
• More travelling!
• 5 years with Joe
• Visiting Harry Potter Studios