2019 has been bloody beautiful so far, hats off to you sir.
Let’s see what has been making it so ruddy wonderful…
Freshly decorated living room
After three months – we FINALLY – finished it. Back in October, we started the mammoth task of re-decorating the whole of our downstairs, stripping away layers upon layers of wallpaper, re-plastering and then painting.
I say it as if I helped in some way (I barely did).
After months of living in mess, bare walls and chipped bannisters – we are finally finished and it looks frigging awesome. David has done a pretty top-notch job on the place and our home now feels much more ‘us’.
Krakow
Oh, Krakow you wonderful *wonderful* place. At the beginning of January David and I headed off to Poland for a three night get-away for his birthday. Having visited Poland a couple of years ago for a wedding we were invited too (Polish weddings are something else!), we knew we were going to love Krakow and this beautiful city certainly did not disappoint.
We arrived to a gentle dusting of snow, which made everything look post-card perfect. We people watched, drank hot chocolates, made Pirogi with a local, drank cheap vodka and explored old neighbourhoods. Krakow is the most wonderful mix of oldy-worldy and modern, with pretty European architecture and modern, hipster restaurants. The locals are delightful, wanting to tell you more about Poland – wanting you to enjoy their city.
We had such a magical time, I’d go back in an instant!
Podcasts
I’m surprised podcasts aren’t on my list every bloody month as I love them so much. My favourites recently have been Table Manners by Jessie Ware, Desert Island Discs and How To Fail by Elizabeth Day. Podcasts are such a good way to put a little pep in my step, make me feel inspired and keep me informed on what’s going on in the world (The Week Unwrapped is great for this). Have you got any podcasts you’d recommend a podcast addict like me?
Iceland
Working as a travel agent means I am constantly tempted by offers and holiday deals, so when I saw there was an offer to Iceland for £349 per person, I couldn’t turn it down! I had already used up all of my annual leave, but luckily my boss let me have some unpaid time off – so another January trip was booked!
The offer was for a visit to the northern Iceland city of Akureyri, a beautiful, relatively undiscovered city on the mid-north coast. We stayed in this peaceful little town for four nights, where we went hunting for northern lights (I didn’t get to see any, but other people on the trip were lucky enough too!), whale watching as well as touring the beautiful landscapes of waterfalls, geothermal spots, frozen lakes, lava formations and mud pools.
It was truly the most wonderful scenery I have ever visited and the locals were so friendly and welcoming. The trip was full of so many incredible ‘pinch me moments’.
Iceland is too damn spectacular for its own good!
No plans
Following on from a hectic few months of travels, I’m actually looking forward to slowing down, staying at home for the foreseeable and having no immediate travel plans.
So much travelling over the past few months have made me appreciate my home and my little family so much more, and I’m looking forward to staying in the UK, exploring more of my own area and getting back into a routine. I’m a creature of habit, so while I love exploring pastures new – coming home has always been one of my favourite parts of the holiday. Nothing beats coming home to your own bed, your own comforts and having cat cuddles after some time away!
Books, books, books
I have finally got my reading mojo back! It got lost, for pretty much the entirety of 2018 managing a handful of reads (and that’s probably being generous!).
So far I’ve read two books (Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton and Clean by Juno Dawson) and I’m about to start my third. One of my goals for this year was to try and read more and thankfully, I’m off to a good start. I have a few books on my TBR pile already, but if you have any suggestions for me then please do let me know!
2019 has already shot off to a bloody wonderful start, keep it coming please! If you wanted to catch up with more lovely lists, check out the inspiration behind it all – Sally Tangle as well as Jo, Cat, Sam, Peta, El and Ellie.