Farewell 2014...

I wasn't planning on writing another blog post until 2015 but you know how it goes, those famous last words! Here I am, sat at my laptop with a green tea in hand, typing away! It feels quite natural to want to wrap up the year with one final blog post. One final farewell to 2014...!

 

2014 has been a good year. Not a brilliant year but not a rubbish year either. A pretty average year. I'm definitely not looking back on the best year of my life by any means, but there's been little to complain about. I feel like I've been happily plodding along on my little journey! There have been good times, some really good times! We've enjoyed some refreshing breaks to Norfolk and Scotland, celebrated a couple of our really good friends getting married, I ran my first 10km, we enjoyed a wonderful summer holiday in Lanzarote, I've earnt myself the title of Junior Sister at work and we've enjoyed some brilliant nights out, BBQs, dinners, theatre trips, gigs and adventures with the best friends and family we could wish for. Other times have not been so good... I've battled my way through several university modules whilst working full time, there was a minor collision with the BMW and a bollard in Waitrose carpark and we've still had no luck in the house buying department. But over all, the good has outweighed the bad and for that we can be thankful.

Christmas: At home ♥

It's Christmas Eve Eve!!! Ahhhh how exciting is that?! I have just one more nightshift to get through and then Christmas can finally begin! Being a nurse, it's within my job specifications that I sacrifice many nights, weekends and early mornings for the hospital ward. The long, unsocial hours are part of my job. And just because it's Christmas, it doesn't mean that people stop being ill. People don't just magically get better, unfortunately. Which means that all of us do our fair share in working some of the unsocial hours over the festive period. Last year my Christmas was a very short one as I had to race back to London to work nightshifts. This year however I feel truely lucky to have a whole 3 days off which means I can celebrate with all of my family. You have no idea how happy this makes me!! I guess this is a reason I love my job, it makes these moments all the more special. I'm working over the New Year instead, which if I'm honest doesn't bother me in the slightest because I often feel that New Year's Eve is a little overrated. 

So what's Christmas like in my family? I have read a few blog posts recently with insights into people's Christmases so I thought I'd let you into my world...

Christmas: Ice-Skating at The Natural History Museum, London

It's a bit of a tradition to go ice-skating every year in the build up to Christmas. Being one of the best cities in the world, London has several brilliant ice-skating locations to choose from and I've done a few of them over the past few years including The Tower of London, Somerset House and Kew Gardens. This year, I didn't think an ice-skating session was going to happen what with work and other things going on (which, I've got to admit, made me feel a little bit sad) but this week my best friend Georgie and I made last-minute plans to meet on Friday morning and enjoy a morning of ice-skating at the Natural History Museum. I'm so glad we managed to squeeze it in, because I felt like the festive season was missing something... and ice-skating was that missing thing!

It was such a beautiful day for it, we could not have been luckier. A bright blue sky, a chill in the air and the winter sun beaming down. The light shining on the Natural History Museum looked magnificent. It's such a stunning building, one of my favourites in London I think. It reminds me of being a child, I've got some very vivid memories of visiting here with my mum and on school trips!

This week's happiness

Things that have made me happy this week...

Brunch at Villandry

We had the best brunch on Sunday with my lovely friend Clare and her boyfriend, Scott. Have you been to Villandry before? There's a couple of locations but we went to the one on Great Portland Street and if you haven't been, it's definitely worth a visit. The menu is deeeeelicious, mostly serving French and Mediterranean food. As well as a cafe area, a shop and a deli, they also have a slightly more sophisticated restaurant area. We ate in the cafe which was really spacious and bright. I had the most amazing continental breakfast I've had in years... pain au chocolat, cheeses, ham, an amazing fruit salad and some toast, with a spinach smoothie and hot chocolate. Big yum. Deffo recommend.