2017 Year in Review

So 2017 is over and here is 2018. I cannot believe it has come around so quickly.
In all honesty it is not a year I've been looking forward to with a certain birthday on the horizon but there's no avoiding it now I'm afraid.

Another great year for travel...
We planned 2017 to be a little quieter than last year (after visiting both Costa Rica and Iceland) so that we could save more. It didn't work out entirely that way on the savings front (!) and we had some great trips away.

The year kicked off with a short weekend north to Liverpool to spend time with Laura and Jaimee. My first European city break was to Granada with the gang for Mailie's birthday weekend which was a refreshing dose of Vitamin D. At Easter, Ollie and I went to the Inner Hebrides of Scotland for the break with most of our time spent on the Isle of Skye. It was one of our favourite trips this year. We wanted to make the most of all the bank holidays so shortly afterwards Ollie and I were off to the Italian coastal villages of Cinque Terre which we really loved too, and then went back to Kabak Bay in Turkey with Ollie and the gang.

My summer holidays started in June where I joined Mum and Rob in Bali for two weeks in a beautiful resort in Seminyak. Something I have never experienced before. I was then lucky enough to have a second late summer holiday with Ollie spending two weeks in the Greek islands.

Travel for the year finished with my annual weekend of Christmas markets in the very pretty French town of Strasbourg.

There were plenty of great London moments throughout the year...
I had dinner with my cousin Kristy who came through town briefly.
Ollie and I spent time with Dunja & Marcus in London while they visited with drinks and dinner at The Ned and a pub lunch at the Hunter S.
We had a picnic in Greenwich Park on one surprisingly hot April day which was lovely.
On another sunny day we wandered through Kyoto Gardens in Holland Park.
I had my birthday weekend at B&B in Amersham and dinner at a lovely local restaurant called Artichoke. And celebrated with friends at Som Saa thai restaurant for dinner and drinks.
I spent a morning attempting a ceramics class in East London making little plant pots.
Shopping for local produce every Sunday morning at the new farmer's market around the corner.
We cooked lunch for friends at home on a couple of Saturdays.
Then it was on to autumn with a ramble and fireworks for Bonfire night at Alexandra Palace.

I went to three weddings - two friends of Ollie both held in the countryside and my old (and now new again) work colleague's at the Honourable Artillery Company in central London. On an incredibly sad note, I also attended my work friend Neil Oakley's funeral after he lost his fight against cancer in October.

The culture continues...
My favourite exhibition was the David Hockney at the Tate as well as the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy. I wished I could have bought a couple of paintings from there!

My favourite play was The Ferryman - a Jez Butterworth play about life in Northern Ireland. We also visited the Almeida Theatre for the first time to see a play called Ink - a great place to have on our doorstep.

As always I had a lot of excellent meals... 
Best brunches: Holborn Dining Rooms, always Granger & Co
Best lunches: Trullo, Hand & Flowers, Fera at Claridges
Best dinners: Padella, The Barbary, Westerns Laundry, Palomar, Core by Clare Smyth
Best local places: Dotari (Japanese), Farang (Thai), N4 Oak (wine bar)

Life in our little flat was pretty good. We could use an extra room or two! But we'll stay put for a bit. We still like the location which is great for the short commute to town, and then Stroud Green and nearby Crouch End for local cafes and restaurants.

Work was stressful for a lot of the year to be honest. Largely due to tricky clients and tough economic times (thanks to Brexit) which means marketing budget cuts. Some relief came in December when I got a new senior team member to join my team - who happens to be an old colleague and friend. So things should get a lot better this coming year. That said, it will be my 10 year anniversary at TMW in March - eek! - so time to seriously think about what's next.

That's it in a nutshell. I hadn't set any clear objectives for the year again but using the Walne* categories, I've scored myself. I'll have to try setting some for 2018!

Home - 8/10 - Year 2 in our flat. Lots of time exploring our area. I cooked quite a bit more this year. I kept the plants in my window box alive and flourishing.
Love, Family & Friends - 7/10 - I had time with Mum & Rob in Bali for 2 weeks and saw David at Christmas. I had lots of time with my London gang of friends and a few from out of town. And of course spent a lot time with Ollie. We had our ups and downs this year as in most couples do but came out on top.
Leisure - 6/10 - I managed my monthly cultural outings. I dined out a great deal. I could still use a bit more of a work life balance. I'd like more time to read, more massages, more walks.
Travel - 10/10 - Can't really beat two big summer holidays and two new destinations.
Career - 7/10 - It was a tough year but overall I did well commercially with all my accounts. I could have done without the stress and quite so many late nights.
Finance - 6/10 - About the same as last year, and another year in the black. Not too bad considering the travel and restaurants.
Health & Well Being - 6/10 -  I'm not doing nearly enough exercise to manage my weight. I continued with my weekly pilates class but only had a few jogs around Finsbury Park. I've worked out that I suffer from IBS a bit so need to start managing my diet for that. I'm sure work stress doesn't help.
Learning & Development - 4/10 - I did a 2 hour pottery workshop, and tested some new recipes.

While there were ups and downs, 2017 was a pretty good year. I don't know what the future holds, but I feel like 2018 will bring some change with it. I'm looking forward to the new year and new adventures.


*My friend Damian Walne's system for setting annual life objectives.