Happy New Year, all!!

2018 has been without doubt the biggest year of my life. Before that, 2017 was the biggest year of my life, and career wise, 2019 will probably be the biggest year of my life, but 2018 without a shadow of doubt has been the biggest year of my personal life.

I GOT MARRIED!

Yes – I went from being a Miss to a Mrs. But that didn’t take up my whole year, so what was my year filled with? Let’s have a little look shall we…

January…

was January. Nothing happened, and I embraced the calm before the storm. I can’t even try to make January sound interesting because aside from a dinner with my cousins, and going shopping for wedding shoes which I then returned (yep), my calendar remained totally empty.

February…

was the month my year truly started. In February, I had my hen do, and my now husband had his stag do. To tell you the truth, nearly a year later I’m still struggling to piece together the events of what was a very, very messy night. From the pictures, it was incredible so thank you girls for pushing me into married life in the right way!

March…

was the month my life changed forever…

• I had ‘pre-wedding drinks’ at the pub on Saturday 3rd March, which might seem really boring but was one of the most important pre-wedding events I had. It was my way of celebrating my upcoming wedding with my cousin in heaven, and took away some of the guilt I was feeling at getting married without her there.
• Saturday 10th March was my pub dad’s 65th Birthday. We marked the occasion with a fabulous party.
• the end of March was truly incredible. We got legally married on Thursday 29th March (Maundy Thursday). One day, I’ll do a blog post about it but at the moment I’m just loving the secrecy too much.

April…

was a continuation of the end of March…

• My wedding festivities continued into the first week of April. Wednesday 4th April brought my Ladies Sangeet and Thursday 5th April brought my maiyan (an Indian tradition).
• Our Indian wedding and reception were on Saturday 7th April.
• In between our wedding, on Tuesday 3rd April, my husband’s brother and girlfriend gave birth to our niece Isla, bringing our total so far to 4 beautiful nieces and 1 super handsome nephew.
• On Friday 13th April, my new husband and I started our honeymoon. We visited Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Koh Samui. I’ll definitely be doing a blog post about that trip! We (reluctantly) returned on Sunday 29th April, and have never quite got over it.

May…

was the month we thought everything would go back to normal…

• Friday 4th May brought us our first weekend back in the UK after our honeymoon, and also my uncles 60th ‘May the Fourth be with you’ birthday party
• Saturday 5th May gave us my mother-in-law’s birthday and my first day with my in-law’s since the wedding. It was also the start on our insanely glorious summer!
• Sunday 6th May saw us carry on my mother-in-law’s birthday celebrations with a picnic in Aldenham Country Park and a trip to the 100 Acre Wood. I think the adults enjoyed the trip more than the kids.
• Saturday 19th May gave us my uncle’s 50th Birthday, and a surprise party to celebrate it! I all but gave it away because I can’t keep secrets…
• Sunday 27th May saw the wedding traditions continue, and my uncle and aunty invited the family over for dinner to welcome me back into the family as a married woman. What a lovely evening.

June…

saw the hot summer continue, and the World Cup start. We thought it was coming home…

• Monday 18th June saw England beat Tunisia 2-1 in their opening game, and gave me a very happy husband. It also gave me an excuse to see my pub dad, as if I needed one!
• Friday 22nd June took me, my mum, brother and one of my cousins to London Zoo for ‘zoo lates’, where you can walk around and see the animals when the zoo closes to children. One of my highlights of the summer as I love a trip to the zoo!
• Sunday 24th June gave England a huge 6-1 win over Panama, and gave me a very happy husband again! Again, it gave me an excuse to see my pub dad.
• On Thursday 28th June, England lost against Belgium, but I had bet on Belgium to win the world cup overall so I was low key happy…

July…

saw the world cup continue, the heatwave stay with us, and my love for ice go through the roof…

• On Thursday 5th July, we had our annual trip to Lords to watch Middlesex in a 2020 cricket match. It’s also the day that the fire spitter machine gave us sun stroke.
• A year after our first invite, on Saturday 7th July, we made it to my friend Kristina and Dorde’s (pronounced Djordje) beautiful house for an afternoon full of food, drink, football and laughter. We lost the boys to England, but had a fantastic day. In the evening, we had a family bbq to celebrate my cousin getting a 1st in her degree!
• On Sunday 8th July I was invited to my first family photo shoot with my in-law’s. They have had them before while me and my husband have been together, but this was the first I was invited to. We had a picture taken for my mother-in-law’s Christmas present… in July…
• England’s world cup dream came to an end on Wednesday 11th July, and my husband’s reaction is something I’m still trying to forget…
• Kisstory came to Streatham Common on Saturday July 21st. I hadn’t been to a festival for a few years, and it was a pretty incredible day!
• On Saturday 28th July, after they had welcomed their son Jack (my basically nephew) in April, I finally got to spend a day with my good friends Joe and Tor. We went to a food market, stuffed our faces, and then in the evening I went out and stuffed my face again to celebrate my brother’s 22nd birthday.

August…

saw the weather calm down a little, but my crazy schedule did not. I’ve picked out my highlights but believe me, I was busy every weekend. I just didn’t think much of it made for good reading!

• Saturday 4th August took me to the ‘Tale as Old as Time’ afternoon tea at the Kensington Courthouse Hotel. My favourite film (Beauty and the Beast), one of my favourite things to do (eat food), and with one of my favourite people (my mum)! A top day.
• Wednesday 22nd August was my tortoise, Arthur’s 1st birthday. I got him for my birthday in 2017 and he’s honestly the best pet I’ve ever had!
• Sunday 26th August was our first rakhri as a married couple, which meant Adam (my husband) had to pay my sisters for being girls… fantastic day for us girls!!

September…

was the month weather totally cooled down, in relative terms. It was also the start of my Christmas countdown and my overall favourite time of year…

• Saturday 8th September was my husband’s 26th birthday. Despite being off work sick for most of the week, I managed to rustle him up a cake, and take him for an epic bottomless brunch at his favourite restaurant, Big Easy in Covent Garden.
• My mum and dad went away for a week to Corsica from Saturday 15th September to Saturday 22nd September, so I had to look after the house. I wouldn’t call it a highlight for me, but it was for them…
• On Sunday 23rd September, we celebrated my mum and dads 30th Civil wedding anniversary with a pub lunch in Farnham Common. With treats such as nettle, and spiced plum cider, this little gem became one to keep on our list of lunch spots!

October…

was probably our calmest month, as months go…

• On Friday 12th October, I scored tickets to watch the pilot episode for a new Alan Carr programme being recorded. All I’ll say that I was in stitches!
• Saturday 13th October was the day we celebrated my husband’s great nan’s 98th birthday. Yep, my husband’s great nan, yep, 98 years old… amazing lady.
• The weekend after, on Saturday 20th October, we travelled down to Guildford for Oktoberfest. The less said, the better.
• Monday 22nd October was my 27th birthday, and quite the washout. You know it wasn’t great when you’re looking forward to going back to work, and you hate work!
• On Saturday 28th October we went to a comedy gala of sorts in Watford. Lee Nelson was the main act, and just my luck, I got heckled by him. He told me to grow up.
• Tuesday 30th October took me and my mum (again) to see Jonathan Ross. His guests included Stormzy, Aleysha Dixon, Russell Howard and Boy George. What a great experience.

November…

was the month that my already busy (although it doesn’t seem busy from what I’ve discussed above) year get even busier…

• Saturday 3rd November saw another top family party. My uncle and aunty hosted a halloween party. Safe to say, I think it was a success. I can’t remember much of it…
• On Saturday 17th November, I went to my first festive fair, followed by a trip to the ‘Springtime Nurseries’ in Crews Hill. On this day, Christmas well and truly began!
• Sunday 18th November finally allowed me to use one of my Christmas presents from 2017 – a Meerkat experience day. We cuddled and played with meerkats, a python, and chameleons. We’re planning another trip there soon…
• Friday 23rd November took me and a few cousins to Barrio in Soho to celebrate a special birthday. How can you go wrong with £6 cocktails and a dj?

I know this is only 11 months out of 12, but I have written a full blog post about all of the things I did in December because believe me, the list is just too long to put in this post! I also mentioned in that post 2 things I did in November, and I don’t want to mention them twice… so watch this space! 

Until next time x