Look Back | 2014.

2014 has been a really good year, with a summer that seemed to last forever and some pretty big changes that have gone on recently. It's looking like 2015 might be the year where everything starts to fall into place, and that's a damn great feeling.

From planning and going on our first group holiday with friends to mini-breaks to Bruges and Ireland, it's been a good year for going places, literally and figuratively. I've started a new job, I've taken up a few opportunities thanks to my blog and I'm finally hitting that 'get saving' nail on the head.

I've been doing a similar thing for the last couple of years now (see 2012 + 2013) and figured that a bit of a retrospective was a good way to round off the year and get pumped for starting fresh from tomorrow.

I hope you have a very happy New Year's Eve and see in 2015 in the best way for you. We're having a few friends round for food, board games, cocktails and fireworks - I'm pretty excited about that. ♥

January

• Outdoor exploring after the floods and finally enjoying a bit of sunshine, so pleased it wasn't that wet this Christmas
• Seeing in two years with Little Doll
• An afternoon in Oxford – Funny how I now spend almost every day in Oxford and haven't done the same outing since. The Pitt Rivers Museum really is a must-see!

February

• Daytripping around Shoreditch with my sister
• Getting my first ever go at blogger swag with Smiggle

March

• Celebrating Moon's 25th birthday with a weekend away to Brighton and our first AirBnB adventure
• We embraced our great garden and had an impromptu afternoon in the Cotswolds

April

• We visited our friends Richard and Fran in their new home in Ludlow and had a blast roadtripping to Wales and checking out the Ludlow food centre
• Making this most of our long Easter weekend. Moon experienced his first play since his schooldays and fell head over heels for immersive theatre and we beat the lead singer of Dry the River in our local pub quiz - There are already a few big plans for 2015's Easter to put into place, so that's pretty exciting!

May

• We visted Beale Park for the first time and hosted a damn fine Eurovision party - bit of a shame that it's so late next year
• I completed the 100 Happy Days Challenge - I'm looking into some kind of cool 365 project for 2015 but I'm not sure I want to commit to anything yet

June



June was a month where I really made the most of summertime, I got to go to the Wealden Times Midsummer Fair thanks to winning tickets from Cider with Rosie and June was the month when our Portugal villa holiday came into fruition - can't wait to see what we'll plan for next year, but now we've gone villa, I'm pretty certain we can't go back.

July


July was the perfect month for a mooch. A lot of time was spent at the Pick Your Own and I took part in my first blogger event, scary and exciting!

August




August (closely followed by September) was probably my favourite month, and hey, it's my birthday month so why wouldn't it be?

• I went to Bruges and had a fairytale of a time!
• I visited the Cat Lady Mecca that is Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium and tried my first cronut, which was the bomb!
• Moon completely spoilt me when I joined the 25 club, taking me to a play and for one of the most badass meals, we're still dreaming of La Bodega Negra's prawn tacos to this day!
• We discovered one of the nicest, free things to see north of Newbury, Island Farm Donkey Sanctuary, well worth a return visit in the spring
• And of course, Secret Cinema's Back to the Future, it's definitely made me love the film even more!

September


September was a fast-paced, exciting month. I finished working at Garden XL after two years, hung out with friends, had a holiday in Ireland before starting a new job in a completely unfamiliar environment, but hey - past post-grad me would be proud of present me for working in publishing and we had the first engagement announcement in our group of friends! Feels like a lot of time in September was spent by the sea and that can only be a good thing.

October


I finally started to feel settled in my new job and enjoy Oxford. We also went to what felt like a lot of gigs, including a first watch of Eliza and the Bear, can't wait for their album!

November



A couple of weekends in Novemeber were spent travelling across the south of England with trips to Norwich, Bristol and Bath. I was so pleased to welcome back Jamie T and discover a new beautiful city in Norwich.

December


December has been a funny old month for blogging and was made for getting out there and seeing people rather than sitting down in front of a computer. We visited the Isle of Wight once more for our Secret Santa Christmas get-together and my sister came back from Hong Kong for Christmas after studying there since August, she'll be back there the middle of next month for a longer stint but I speak to her more now than I did when were in the same country. Christmas has felt really extended this year, with more excuses to meet up, I've really enjoyed it this year more than most others in recent memory.

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I think I'd give 2014 a solid 8/10, there have been a few downs but far more ups and I feel so positive about what next year holds already!

Harrods at Christmas + the £22,500 Bowl.

For the second half of our Christmassy day in London, my sister and I headed to Knightsbridge for a mosey around Harrods. As much a destination as it is a department store, it's pretty crazy to see how the other half live - £22,500 for a crystal fruit bowl, I was dumbfounded!

Before checking out the Harrods Christmas windows, we popped over to Harvey Nichols after rumours of a Burger & Lobster. I've heard about them before but never had a chance to visit, but let me tell you something, I don't think I ever want to eat out anywhere else in London! With a limited menu of a burger, whole grilled or steamed lobster or a lobster roll for £20, Burger & Lobster has essentially ruined all other restaurants for me, forever.



I went for a lobster roll (twice the size of the one I had at Neptune and Prawn when I visited Northern Ireland in September) and my sister had a grilled lobster, both were incredible. We accompanied our meal with a Hawaiian pineapple cooler for her and a grapefruit soda for me. And in case you're wondering what a £20 burger looks like, let's just say it's much less impressive than the lobster - I mean, if you like your burgers to be all bap then go for it, but it's pretty obvious that the lobsters are the star of the show here.



With our tums full of lobster it was time to hit Harrods, and I guess I'll let the pictures do the talking from here on in. You definitely need a map, something we didn't manage to pick up until just before we left.






I was a little disappointed to discover that the hilarious and fun pet section had closed at the beginning of the year. No cooing at £5,000 Siamese cats for me or any chance to check out potential outfits for Doll (I wouldn't, obviously). We did manage to grab a cream tea at the tea rooms and had fun guessing the price of things, we also managed to get lost a few times but there's nothing quite like this place at Christmas (+ toy department = incredible).





If only this guy wasn't £72. :(




I pretty much want all the Stieff stuffed animals, they'd play a great part in creating an indoor jungle.








We detoured to Carnaby Street before going home, better lights than Oxford St. in my opinion. ♥