March saw us head off on our third adventure of the year to Rome. It was a trip that I won by entering an Instagram competition, I’m someone who never wins anything but the proof is in the pudding that it can be done. We spent 3 glorious nights in the city, the warmth was welcome too. We ate so much pizza and pasta and drank lots of red wine, it was surprising I didn’t end up looking like one of them! The sightseeing was incredible, but I found it so utterly overwhelming I couldn’t quite convey what we had seen for my blog posts. I managed a couple of posts but couldn’t seem to get to the nitty gritty of it all. My vlog was probably best post that could cover just how much we saw.
March was also a month where I got to see one of my favourite bands, Blossoms, for a second time. Possibly one of the best bands I have had the privilege to see live!
Heading in to April I made some big life choices. Career choices. Despite working for a company that I loved dearly, it was time to hang up my boots in the experiential events world. My anxiety had reached such an all time high because I was having to be so switched on during work and outside of it, too. I could never really leave work at work, with late night calls coming in from events and even on weekends too. I put so much pressure on myself to succeed that I was burning out. Big style. So, after shedding a lot of tears I said goodbye to a family that had helped me get out of another career that wasn’t going far. And despite leaving a creative job, few feared that my blog would suffer, yet I found my blog going from strength to strength now that I had way more time to indulge in my passion.
Back in 2016 I decided that enough was enough and I needed to get my bum in to gear with my driving. I took my first two tests in May, both of which I failed. To say I was downtrodden was an understatement, but I kept up with my lessons and persevered.
And, whilst May didn’t offer many blog or personal accolades it was a fun month nevertheless. We saw Micky Flanagan live in Leeds, helped family christen their new house with an epic party and we brought a baby bird on the brink of death back to life with lots of love, hard work and attention. (We are more than sure the bird has returned this December as a fully grown thrush keeps making an appearance on our drive!)
As I started to settle in to my new job, things were looking up compared to the start of the year.
I attended my fourth Blog at the Beach with Ice Lolly – probably the best blog events I attend! I watched some of my favourite people in the Blogosphere guest speak, such as Rhianna and Jess – both girls whom I admire and have so much respect for. I’m stoked to say I will be a guest speaker at their next event in January.
We celebrated our 3rd Wedding Anniversary at the pub that provided the catering for our special day. Each moment I get to spend with Mr C is even more special than the last. We bicker like cat and dog, but having him by my side is exactly where I want to be. Enjoying life together is way more fun that I could have ever imagined!
It’s also Mr C’s birthday month, so we celebrated with cocktails and drinks in our local village and a day out at Bramham Horse Trials!
July was the month that we would head off on our week-long summer holiday to Ibiza – an island I absolutely loved! The weather was wonderful, the hotel we stayed in wasn’t the Ritz but it sure had a fabulous spot on the beach which made for lovely afternoon swims. We hired a quad and travelled round the island. You can watch my vlog here! The week went by in a flash and has left me desiring some more sun all year.
I took my third (and final) driving test a few days after we returned home. It must have been the week off work and the fresh sea air that helped because I finally, at the ripe old age of 27 passed my driving test. The amounts of well wishes, whoops and cheers I got when I told everyone was off the scale. I now feel like a fully fledged adult. Thank the lord!
The following week after we headed Sheffield to Tramlines festival with Festicket and Travelodge we got to see The Libertines again and it’s safe to say they were back to their amazing glory compared to the last time we saw them. They were definitely more in tune with one another after a few years of being back together.
August seemed to be the start of me getting back on the right path. Things were starting to settle down with work and it was so nice to be able to dedicate more time to my blog again. It seemed it paid off, as I was nominated in not one, not two but THREE #BloggersBlogAwards categories. It was blumming overwhelming but also so incredibly humbling to see that my work was being appreciated. So a million thank you’s again to anyone who voted for me!
I collaborated with my photographers Alex and Matt on a number of occasions, leading to some of my most favourite shoots to date. I’ve seen myself grow more confident in front of the camera meaning my fashion content is better received!
One weekend saw us head to Anglesey for Mr C’s racing. It was a really nice and slow weekend, we finally got to have a little trawl around the island which was so lovely.
It’s also one of my favourite months of the year as it’s Leeds Festival time. It only seems moments ago that we were in field, dancing away to fabulous music. I have to say, it was without a doubt one of my most favourite years at this festival. The sun shone all weekend and I don’t think I have laughed so hard in my whole, entire life. With the best company, a few beverages and good music, it’s a weekend I’d thoroughly like to repeat again soon!
September was a relatively quiet month. I now work for an educational resources company so work picks back up again. Instead it was weekend brunches with Jess and Beverley that really encouraged me to start believing in myself and that my blog had so much potential. It’s amazing what spending time with some incredibly motivated friends can do for your self-esteem!
My little sister, Jessica graduated from York university and it was such a proud moment to see her collect her certificate. She is such a talented, young lady that I can only see her going from strength to strength in a creative career!
I also collected my own little award. I only went and won “Best use of Blog Photography” at the #BloggersBlogAwards! I had really geared myself for taking away zero awards as there were so many more talented people in the categories I had been nominated in. It was so humbling to receive the award, I couldn’t stop crying which is not like me at all. The shock well and truly kicked in. I was finally proud of everything I was creating!
October was another steady month. Probably in preparation for our mad weekend in Manchester over my birthday. We spent the weekend shopping, drinking, eating and watching Metallica. I also purchased my first luxury handbag, my beautiful Gucci handbag (as pictured in these photos) – I’d spent many months saving up for it. Mr C is so good with his money, he said I should really invest in something and not fritter my wage every month and I’m so glad for his sound money advice as I’m a proud owner of “Gigi” (is it wrong a bag brings me so much joy?)
In November I pushed myself to contact brands that I wanted to work with – securing my first pitch was so exciting! It felt like my hard work had paid off. Believing in what I bring to the table has paved a successful few months for me when it comes to this blog. I got to work with some local brands on sponsored content such as the Designer Outlet York and Victoria Leeds. Two amazing shopping centres that I frequent a lot. Working on sponsored content helps keep this blog running which I’m so incredibly thankful for!
We had some fantastic nights out, we saw Greg Davies live in York and spent evenings watching beautiful fireworks with brilliant company, too. We also welcomed our second niece, Indie Rose, in to the world!
And finally, December arrived, quicker than you could even imagine. We spent a weekend at the North Star Club – a blog post will be coming in the New Year. It was a gorgeous weekend spent living simply and I can’t even tell you how much everyone needs a weekend like this to round of a year. It was a perfect time to reflect on everything with limited technology, log fires and hot cocoa on tap. I’m petitioning to get back soon!
My final collaboration was with River Island, the outfit you see me wearing in these photos. I definitely tried to work outside of my comfort zone. I ordered a baker boy hat and lo and behold, it actually ended up looking fabulous. Paired with a chunky, pink jumper and some raw hem jeans, this outfit definitely translates to risks for me. Sometimes you have to take them to get to where you want to be. It proved that I need to trust my judgement a little better, something I’ll be doing more of in the next 365 days I hope.
It’s insane to believe just how much I managed to pack in to one year. It was easy to think it had been a slow and steady year, when actually there was so much to look back on and be proud of. I’m hoping that going in to 2018 I can emulate the success and proceed to keep enjoying life the way I have done because I can’t tell you how content I am right here, right now.
2018 looks to already be shaping up as a very exciting year with plenty of fun plans, travel adventures and new blog ventures that I’m really ready to get stuck in. My love for life has increased tenfold at the back-end of this year and I’m excited to carry that attitude in to the new year!
So, if you’re at the end of this rather long, 2000+ word long post, thank you for sticking around not only for this post but also everything else in between. My blog and Instagram page wouldn’t be as successful as it is, if it wasn’t for you lovely lot!
Here’s to 2018 everyone!
Bee
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