2018 Year in Review

This was the year of 4.0. and I spent the first half of the year in denial and avoiding it altogether. But then it happened, and six months later, I have only just started to get used to the idea. I can see why, when I was growing up, most adults didn't like birthdays. That said, it was the ideal excuse to do some momentous things.

Having planned a grand year of holidays, including an extra 2 week holiday boost care of TMW, I realised I wouldn't have much time to fit in a proper trip to Australia so at Easter I had a flying week-long visit to Noosa with Mum and Rob which coincided with Mum's birthday.

The highlight of the year was undeniably a 3-week road trip with Ollie through California. It was one of those bucket-list holidays for me and met every expectation and was worth every penny (and there were lots of those spent). My birthday weekend away was in Puglia and another summer holiday was spent in the idyllic Greek islands coinciding with my friend Dave's 40th birthday. I also had two trips to Germany - one to see the band Pearl Jam play in Berlin, and the other to go to the Christmas markets and a weekend in Paris with Ollie as part of my birthday present. I popped up to Yorkshire twice to see Laura as well.

My birthday really was so special thanks to family, friends and Ollie. From a big birthday dinner at an Italian restaurant with my London friends (and telegrams from those afar), Ollie treating me to a day of Michelin-starred lunch and ballet, and a weekend in Italy to top it all off. I was completely spoilt and it was so memorable.

Culturally, it was another good year but a bit lighter than previous as we were away so much.
The musical, Hamilton, is category-breaking and one of the best. The Anni Albers exhibition was a stand out for me, as was the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition which I make sure to see each year.

I love daily London life so much. There's always something new and different to do, see and most importantly, eat!

A few foodie highlights:

- Two new Soho Italian restaurants, Pastaio and Lina Stores

- My birthday lunch at Claude Bosi at Bibendum

- New local pub serving great Sunday roast, the WB Yeats

- The salt beef sandwiches from Tongue & Brisket in Soho

- The impressive pies from Holborn Dining Rooms

- Upscale Indian at Brigadiers in the Bloomberg arcade

Over the past few years I have became someone who is very happy to spend Friday nights watching Graham Norton on TV with a bottle of wine. I always enjoy our Sunday ritual of picking up pies at the local farmer’s market or having a Sunday roast. 

I kept up pilates each Tuesday night at the same local Stroud Green school as the farmer's market with the occasional weekend run around Finsbury Park. We kept it local when we could to support the local shops and restaurants.

March was my 10th anniversary of working at TMW. The best thing about it, was the 2-week paid leave I was given as a bonus to mark the occasion. It gave me a real jolt and started to make me think about what next. I resigned in October ready for something new and finished up there at Christmas. I had a lot of opportunities at TMW and rose up through the ranks there. I’m grateful for all the great people I worked with, especially in my various teams, and had some good (and not so good) clients too. And, of course, Ollie and I met there. I finished the year winning a pitch for one of my clients so it was nice ending on a high. I had a fun send off with my team at lunch, a ‘lifetime achievement award for working with difficult clients’ at the agency Christmas party and a speech, gorgeous hand-made card and Liberty gift vouchers (yay!) from my team.

Life took a different turn after the summer holidays when Ollie and I sadly decided to part ways after 5 ½ years together. Unfortunately, we didn’t seem to want the same things in the future anymore. I decided with the break in both work and relationship that moving back to Australia would be timely. It’s something I’d been thinking about over the years so decided to bite the bullet and do it. I love London so much, and was very settled here, so I’m still not sure if it’s the right decision but as I’m officially a Brit too, I can always go back.

The end of the year was quite hectic and disappeared quickly… Christmas parties, David’s 10 day visit for Christmas, a brief rendezvous for dinner with Dunja, and planning the move.

2018 was a big year. A lot of great memories, experiences and celebrations but with the backdrop of knowing I needed a change whatever that was going to be. And in the end, and unexpectedly, everything changed at once. But they say change is a good thing.

Now my next decision is whether to rename this blog!