Holy moly, this has been a year! There’s been a lot of great things happening (almost too much at times) but almost all of it has been exciting and wonderful.

2022 has been my first full year as a Glasgow gal and while I’ve been loving getting out to explore my neighbourhood and beyond, this has been a year full of travel. With work, I’ve been all over the place, from Inverness to London, meeting teams, hosting events and watching spectacular performances by Scottish Ballet. I’ve been to London three times (wild) catching up on postponed show tickets and seeing pals after the pandemic pause (round up 1 and 2). And when my brother and sister-in-law came to visit from Australia we had a lush few days exploring Fort William and Mallaig in the sunshine.

But the real travel highlights have been my dreamy trips to Italy, France and Australia. Going to Italy in May was quite literally a dream come true as I actually went to the Eurovision final in Turin!! The rest of the time I spent there in Venice, Bologne, Milan and on the Riviera was a bloody delightful way to break the international travel seal post-pandemic. I will absolutely be going back to see more of Italy soon… September brought a beautiful long weekend in Paris with my bestie including a day at Disneyland, lots of Lime scooter rides and deep wine-soaked chats by the Seine as the Eiffel Tower glittered. The final big trip of the year was a casual two weeks on the other side of the planet to see my brother get married and meet my new Australian family.

There was a lot of love to celebrate this year, with two of my cousins also getting married at different points of the year. All were beautiful days in their own way and it was lovely to get the whole family together. The wedding planning for my sister’s 2024 wedding continues too (we love the Gantt chart).

As well as all those big chunky things I’ve been having lots of fun with pals, with cosy nights in and going out for delicious dinners, I’ve read many gems with my (2!) book clubs and after my ankle healed got myself back to gymnastics. I was able to go and see some incredible gymnastics at the Commonwealth Games and World Championships too, which was amazing. In August, lots of fun was had in Edinburgh with the full-force return of the festivals and as ever, I’ve had a brilliant year cheering on my incredibly talented friends as they shine on stages across the country.

So as you can see, it has been a fantastic but exhausting year, so I’ve been trying to take it easy for these last two months, staying close to home and taking some time to just chill the f out. I’m very grateful for the rare empty weekends I’ve had to process all of this wonderful craziness and make the most of all the lovely little things my neighbourhood has to offer. In my downtime, I’ve also read a whole bunch but I’ll save that wrap-up for a separate blog post…

The final and hardest part of this year has been losing my Granny. It’s not been an easy road over the last few years but looking back, I feel so lucky to have had such a fantastic woman in my life.