Work became all consuming. From February I began to lead the Sony Mobile team on my own as my Business Director went on maternity leave. That was a great opportunity from a career point of view, but required me to work alongside a very difficult lady whose behaviour was really quite disgraceful and made the 6 months that followed incredibly stressful for me. Fortunately that's over with now. I have led the team all year now and overseen a huge period of growth for the account and our team of 8 people. It was a lot of pressure, and a huge accomplishment for me, but very much tarnished by the stressful and damaging environment I was working in. I'm now thinking about my next move - staying at TMW (where I will report into a Group Business Director), moving agencies, or moving client-side. We shall see what happens!
In August, after being together for over a year, Ollie and I unfortunately broke up. Needless to say that has been sad and quite difficult, and so the second half of the year had a cloud over it for me.
In August, after being together for over a year, Ollie and I unfortunately broke up. Needless to say that has been sad and quite difficult, and so the second half of the year had a cloud over it for me.
But it wasn't all entirely horrible and I did have plenty of happy moments and good times surrounded by my fantastic friends all of which I am very grateful for.
Culturally I seemed to be mostly at the theatre this year and I saw some fantastic plays. The best by far was A Streetcar Named Desire with an outstanding performance from Gillian Anderson, but closely followed by Skylight with Bill Nighy and Other Desert Stories.
Travel-wise I was thrilled to have made it to some new destinations which had been my aim this year, and made the most of the long weekends. I headed to rural Portugal with Jaimee staying at a friend's house for the most relaxing back-to-nature weekend; and I did the Norway in a Nutshell trip from Bergen with Stu, Kris and Mailie which was brilliant fun and something I had been wanting to do forever. The scenery was stunning. It also included my first ever attempt at sea kayaking which was fun, but I ended up with a not-so-fun case of inflamed tendons in my arms.
The other new European destination I ventured to was Krakow with Ollie. We had a great time exploring the city and also a sobering visit to Auschwitz.
In early summer I was back in Provence to visit Lisa and her children Hamish and Louisa, and then in September I went to Agistri in Greece for a very quiet 10 days of sunshine - mostly on my own but with a very lovely couple of days with Jaimee and Damian too. My last weekend getaway for the year was our annual excursion to the Christmas markets - Stu, Kris, Mailie and I went back to Germany where they really know how to do Christmas markets.
I did have a couple of UK weekends away too. There was a weekend in Rye with David in January, Plymouth for Easter and a wedding in the Dorset town of Sherbourne both with Ollie. And when Laura visited the UK a bunch of us went glamping in Sussex which was great fun.
We were lucky enough to get tickets to Glastonbury again and our five days at the festival were a major highlight of the summer. Other noteworthy London moments were a behind-the-scenes tour of St Paul's, a very long ramble with Jaimee and Damian, trips to Ascot races and the dog track with my work team, high tea at Claridges with Rebecca, and the outdoor cinema at Coram Street Gardens.
London's eating and drinking scene spoils me rotten. I enjoyed countless meals and new dining experiences throughout the year. I had so many good brunches, pub lunches, dinners and drinks with friends...
The best of the best were Gordon Ramsay's Hospital Road for my birthday lunch with Ollie, and probably Chiltern Firehouse and Theo Randall more recently on David's Christmas visit.
The best burger was from Bleecker Street.
The best roast chicken was from The Chicken Shop.
The best tapas were at Ember Yard.
The best turkish is at Gokyazu.
The best steak was at either Hawksmoor or Hill and Szrok (butcher by day, restaurant by night).
The best brunches were still at Caravan and Granger & Co.
One of my favourite new restaurants of the year was Palomar for the vibrant atmosphere eating at the bar.
My favourite Balham local is Poulet Rouge which serves a great roast chicken and is about 7 minutes from my front door. Jaimee and I did a good job exploring Tooting's new foodie scene though.
I did manage to cook for friends at home a few times this year too, not nearly enough, but 3 times is better than none!
On the learning and development front I kept up with Toastmasters and gave three speeches as well as doing the functional roles and impromptu speaking. I did a mindfulness course at The School of Life. And accomplished two major DIY works - drilling a hole into the wall to hang a mirror and fixing my drawers with a YouTube clip and kit from Ebay. I went to pilates every Saturday morning I possibly could which I still really love doing.
And I guess that's a wrap. I did lots of what I wanted to do and achieved a lot I wanted to achieve from my objectives for the year - and didn't cross off lots of others. The only thing to do now is make a plan to ensure 2015 is the best year it can be. Here's hoping it's a good one!
Travel-wise I was thrilled to have made it to some new destinations which had been my aim this year, and made the most of the long weekends. I headed to rural Portugal with Jaimee staying at a friend's house for the most relaxing back-to-nature weekend; and I did the Norway in a Nutshell trip from Bergen with Stu, Kris and Mailie which was brilliant fun and something I had been wanting to do forever. The scenery was stunning. It also included my first ever attempt at sea kayaking which was fun, but I ended up with a not-so-fun case of inflamed tendons in my arms.
The other new European destination I ventured to was Krakow with Ollie. We had a great time exploring the city and also a sobering visit to Auschwitz.
In early summer I was back in Provence to visit Lisa and her children Hamish and Louisa, and then in September I went to Agistri in Greece for a very quiet 10 days of sunshine - mostly on my own but with a very lovely couple of days with Jaimee and Damian too. My last weekend getaway for the year was our annual excursion to the Christmas markets - Stu, Kris, Mailie and I went back to Germany where they really know how to do Christmas markets.
I did have a couple of UK weekends away too. There was a weekend in Rye with David in January, Plymouth for Easter and a wedding in the Dorset town of Sherbourne both with Ollie. And when Laura visited the UK a bunch of us went glamping in Sussex which was great fun.
We were lucky enough to get tickets to Glastonbury again and our five days at the festival were a major highlight of the summer. Other noteworthy London moments were a behind-the-scenes tour of St Paul's, a very long ramble with Jaimee and Damian, trips to Ascot races and the dog track with my work team, high tea at Claridges with Rebecca, and the outdoor cinema at Coram Street Gardens.
London's eating and drinking scene spoils me rotten. I enjoyed countless meals and new dining experiences throughout the year. I had so many good brunches, pub lunches, dinners and drinks with friends...
The best of the best were Gordon Ramsay's Hospital Road for my birthday lunch with Ollie, and probably Chiltern Firehouse and Theo Randall more recently on David's Christmas visit.
The best burger was from Bleecker Street.
The best roast chicken was from The Chicken Shop.
The best tapas were at Ember Yard.
The best turkish is at Gokyazu.
The best steak was at either Hawksmoor or Hill and Szrok (butcher by day, restaurant by night).
The best brunches were still at Caravan and Granger & Co.
One of my favourite new restaurants of the year was Palomar for the vibrant atmosphere eating at the bar.
My favourite Balham local is Poulet Rouge which serves a great roast chicken and is about 7 minutes from my front door. Jaimee and I did a good job exploring Tooting's new foodie scene though.
I did manage to cook for friends at home a few times this year too, not nearly enough, but 3 times is better than none!
On the learning and development front I kept up with Toastmasters and gave three speeches as well as doing the functional roles and impromptu speaking. I did a mindfulness course at The School of Life. And accomplished two major DIY works - drilling a hole into the wall to hang a mirror and fixing my drawers with a YouTube clip and kit from Ebay. I went to pilates every Saturday morning I possibly could which I still really love doing.
And I guess that's a wrap. I did lots of what I wanted to do and achieved a lot I wanted to achieve from my objectives for the year - and didn't cross off lots of others. The only thing to do now is make a plan to ensure 2015 is the best year it can be. Here's hoping it's a good one!
1 comment:
Darling a good read, thank you, life sounds good for you, working through difficulties makes one stronger, keep going!!!!!!! love Liffie, may 2015 be a great year for you,xxx
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