December In Review

Spot the bunny rabbit! Taken whilst at home in Leicestershire.

Countryside walks with my Dad and brother whilst visiting my Grandparents in Surrey.

Exploring the beautiful Bradgate Park whilst staying with my parents.

New Years in Edinburgh, including a very windy walk through the Pentlands!

This December had been pretty dominated by family gatherings and celebrations which I suppose is typical for the time of year. I spent the first couple of weeks busy at work and preparing for my first ever stall at a Vintage Fair with Shop Jessthetics. To be honest it wasn’t particularly successful and it was a lot of hard work, especially since I don’t have any transport of my own and I work by myself (asides from my lovely friend Fran who volunteered to be my assistant!) It was a slow day – possible because it was a Sunday, possibly because it was too close to Christmas, possibly because the Forth Bridge was closed. The other traders reckon it was the quietest day they’ve had in years so I will give it another shot in 2016!

Mid-way through December I travelled home to Leicestershire to stay with my family for Christmas. I took some time off work so that I would get a good chunk of time with them and it’s the longest I’ve spent at my parents since I moved out in August 2014. The run-up to Christmas is always my favourite part of the holidays. I love baking and present shopping and watching Christmas films and decorating the tree and it was so nice to have time to indulge in the festivities. I saw friends from home, sorted through my old things to fill up a bunch of charity bags, played with Archie and all that good Christmas-time-at-home stuff.

Shortly after Christmas my family and I spent a night with my Grandparents in Surrey. It was lovely to see them and we went for a gorgeous walk but (especially now I’m used to life in Scotland) it seems like an entirely different planet. We had to pay £7 each (plus extra for a little paper map!) just to go for a walk in the woods – you’d never get away with that up north!

For New Year’s my family and I drove back up to Edinburgh. We’ve spent a lot of time in the car lately! For the evening itself we ate at a Spanish restaurant and watched the fireworks from the park. After midnight I met up with friends and dropped in at a party. It was a fun night (bar a little losing-my-friends drama) but the dinner was definitely my favourite part! I think I’m done with going out for New Years. Everyone’s looking for a good time so your friends always have different plans and your favourite pubs are too full. Everyone gets too drunk, falls out and the streets are particularly full of being-sick-on-the-curb and fighting-with-your-partner carnage. It’s so bizarre that New Year is simultaneously about self-improvement and partying hard. Surely the worst way to make a fresh start is to wake up with fuzzy memories and last night’s make up on. How can you jump into being the new-improved-you with a banging headache? Remind me to stay in next year. I hope you had a beautiful month!