Fave moments of 2018
This year has had more ups and downs than most, my mental health has suffered massively as a result and it’s ended with two grandparents in hospital.
But I spent a long time reflecting, for each month I’d written a bubble (throughout the month I added to it) of all the nice things that happened that month. I keep thinking/writing the words - Don’t look back in anger, and thinking of the song by Oasis. So I’m reflecting on my favourite moments of this year.
1.) Seeing Hamilton! Back in March it snowed a lot, 29 years I finally saw snow in London. My husband and I did all the touristy things, but in the snow and finished with us seeing Hamilton!! ^_^
2.) IAMX in London with @cassandrafey, again it was still pretty snowy! Getting to see the band live was incredible and Kat Von D was also there (very problematic, I used to be a massive fan of hers but really not so much now, however she does have a lovely voice and was nice for the brief moment we met her - she said we looked cute)
3.) Paris for my 30th, especially getting to finally visit Versailles, the river boat dinner with champagne where we saw the Eiffel Tower light up, and the uber ride along the Champs-Élysées listening to French Jazz. Other bits of my birthday were equally lovely, on the day itself my husband and I went to the pier and played arcade games, walked along the seafront and went on the ferris wheel. We went to see Christopher Robin and had lunch. After my birthday I went to stay at my dad’s house for two days in the countryside in Dorset, we walked to our face pub the Smugglers Inn for a few drinks and generally had a lovely time. My party was also lovely and I felt so loved!
4.) Back in February, my brother and I went to Bridgend on a Sunday night to see Michael Graves. The gig was fantastic, crowd were great, we all danced and sung along to his songs as well as Misfits songs. We met him afterwards and he was genuinely just so lovely. The thing I loved most of all about this gig was that I’d had a really rough January and start to February, having some drinks with my brother as well as having a good chat about life really helped.
5.) Amsterdam - there were a lot of ups and downs, I was super tired, had panic attacks and generally it was a bit difficult. However, there were some really nice bits, such as the Botanical gardens, the church which was all red due to film on the windows, the canal cruise, a romantic meal, the ice bar, seeing the Night’s Watch by Rembrandt.
6.) Back in January when everything was going to shit, my husband and I took a long walk through Queen Elizabeth Country Park. We got a hot chocolate from the cafe at the bottom and then just disappeared into the woods for a few hours, talking, enjoying the fresh air. Afterwards we went to the Hampshire Hog for lunch and it was lovely.
7.) Holiday in Cornwall, Devon and Dorset back in May. I loved going back to Dartmoor and horse riding, I loved staying at my dad’s and chilling, most of all I loved Tintagel in Cornwall. Getting to visit St Nectan’s Glen, Boscastle and the Witchcraft museum and of course the castle - said to be King Arthur’s Castle. It was magical, inspiring, invigorating.
8.) Visit to Stauton Country Park in mid December - we went with two of our best friends and their daughter. With two grandparents sick and a lot of other emotional stuff happening, this was a perfect day out, feeding animals, enjoying the greenhouse and walled gardens. I am obsessed with walks in winter and December Sun. It felt especially important as my grandpop (who passed away when I was 16) and my granny (who is in hospital) used to take us here a lot.
9.) Meeting up with @the-doctors-psychic-paper in Kingston for lunch, going to The Rose theatre to see a production of Don Carlos with Tom Burke in, then browsing the Christmas markets. It was such a lovely day considering the hangover I had! haha
10.) Seeing Bianca Del Rio live and getting to meet her! (Also learning to laugh at myself and accept insults for the comedy they are, rather than feeling hurt, was a massive step for me.) We also saw Adore Delano in Brighton and, it was such a fun gig! But more than that, we finished work early that day, head to Brighton Pier and went in the arcades, had ice cream, sat in deckchairs.
Originally this was going to be 10 things, but it’s gonna go over..
11.) Back in March, my dad, brother and I went to Brighton to see ‘YES’ on their 50th anniversary tour. Family time for us is so important and lovely!
12.) A lovely weekend in London with @cassandrafey, we went to ‘God’s Own Junkyard’, we finally got to go to Jazz After Dark, we met up with friends in Brixton and went shopping in Camden. It was an awesome and very silly fangirl weekend!
13.) Day Trip to London with my husband to meet friends, we took part in a protest which was a counter-protest to the right-wing Free Tommy Robinson protect that was going on. We then head to the Last Tuesday Society to browse the curiosity museum, have cocktails, and then went to the pub!
14.) Thorpe Park with friends and overcoming my fears when it came to riding Stealth!
Here’s some other lovely things that happened - loads of walks along the beach and picnics with friends, two beautiful weddings, The Christmas Dicken’s Festival at the historic dockyard, a day trip to Dorking where we used to live, a dad trip to the owl and raptor centre with my dad, brother, husband and brother’s fiancé, a lot of awesome stand-up comedy gigs. I also completed NaNoWriMo! I got a new job and am much happier and whilst it was difficult, I completed the PTSD Trauma therapy, which was really tough and meant I had some time off work, but you know, I did it and feel better for it.
I actually did a ritual burning of last year’s to-do lists which in a way made me sad (i’m way to sentimental and hoard everything!) But I don’t need those silly lists with everything from - Complete NaNoWriMo, to my failures, to ‘buy a new hoover’ etc. to know how much I have accomplished this year. It felt so cleansing to throw it all away and start again ^_^
Happy New Year to all my followers!
