London. February 2016

A weekend in an area I've never really explored to date

• Soaking up the noise, smells and colours of Brick Lane and demolishing a curry despite wanting to peg my nose at the strong smell #downsidesofpregnancy
• What a show, what a venue for City and Colour at the Troxy
• Graffiti spotting
• Sunday Up market
• Hot chocolates in cosy cafes watching the world

Photo credit

The Best of 2015

• 2015 was the year of thirtieth birthdays with some of my favourite people turning 30 this year: Celebrating M's 30th in a log cabin and sitting in a hot tub with a glass of bubbly surrounded by snow, the private screening of Pretty Woman for my birthday, and dressing up as Helga and (Hey) Arnold for a friend's fancy dress party were some favourites!

My birthday afternoon tea at The Panoramic, Liverpool

• It was also a good year for travel: Summer road tripping in Nevada and California; spending five nights in Paris in April with friends; a girls holiday to Barcelona in May; exploring Lisbon with M, his sister and her husband; an Autumn work trip to Osaka, Japan eating sushi, singing karaoke and meeting academics from Japan; an August trip to London with my Mum and watching Les Miserables; an Autumn weekend in Centre Parcs with good friends

Kinkakuji Golden Pavillion Temple, Kyoto Japan

• Lots of brilliant little (and bigger) moments: Finding out we were pregnant (first in July and, after some heartbreaking moments, again in December), the complete quiet of the crowd listening to Sufjan Stevens at End of the Road, meeting the beautiful, precious babies of 2015, being treated to Chester Performs' Romeo & Juliet in Grosvenor Park, dancing around to Basement Jaxx, naked bathing in the hot springs in Japan, creating my Christmas wreath at a floral workshop with friends, dancing to Chvrches in Manchester's Albert Hall in November, attending the stunning woodland tipi wedding of two lovely friends, The Snowman at Chester Cathedral 

• And there were a few personal achievements in there as well: Running my first 10K  in April, winning an award at work and robing up at the Summer graduation ceremonies for its presentation, completing my photography course, driving 'on the wrong side of the road' in the USA