Reflecting on 2021
Happy New Year! I couldn’t not start 2022 without my annual “year in review” post. 2021 was another crazy year where the “c-word” has plagued everything. The year has been full of ups and downs but we’ve managed to squeeze a few UK staycations in, get a new job, survive living with Stefan for a year and even went on a whirlwind trip to New York.
I always do this year in round-up posts so I can look back on them in years to come and see how much I achieved. Whilst I feel like this year was a bit of blur, when it’s all put together in one big post, I’m proud of what I achieved. For 2021, I didn’t actually make any “new year resolutions” for the year and I’m not really going to for 2022. I’ve got so much to look forward to in 2022 which will all be revealed very soon and I’m feeling very motivated with my blog and creating content. In terms of travel, I do have a trip to Florida booked for May and I’m hoping to explore a few more places too! So I’m very excited to see what this year is going to bring.
2021: A Year in Review
January – March
I think it’s for the best that I combine the first three months of 2021. Pretty much we were locked down for this period which looking back is just insane. Looking through my photos, I didn’t really do much aside from a lot of walks in my local area, getting a fair few takeaways to support local businesses and working from home. During February, I celebrated my blogs 11th Birthday! How mental that I’ve had my blog for ELEVEN years!?! The only other notable thing that happened in these months is that we did a little bit of painting and decorating but nothing major!
April
April was when things started to open up a little bit more and we could even dine al fresco! The month started with a little trip to Staithes just up the coast from me, another place I can’t believe I don’t visit more. We also managed to spend time with family we haven’t seen in months which was absolutely lovely. One of the first places we dined al fresco was a place called The Carpenter Arms in Felixkirk near Thirsk. We were so lucky that the weather was glorious on the day we visited and sat out most of the afternoon, it was just a lovely meal there! Towards the end of the month, my Mum and I took a little trip to York for a little bit of shopping and food at Spark which is an outdoor street food place. I’m not sure if you can tell from the photos about but the pink checkered shacket from Stradivarius. It was a favourite fashion item of mine this month.
May
May was a pretty busy month. I worked with some great brands on my blog and instagram including Regatta, Desenio, Bargain Booze and Enjoy Tees Valley. We also went on a few more foodie trips, including to one of our favourites; Stone Trough Inn. Towards the end of the month hospitality started to open with indoor dining so we also visited Cut & Craft in York and The Old House in Hull. Our trip to Hull also saw us visit The Lost City Adventure Golf which had just opened in the St.Stephens Centre. We actually had so much fun here and it was like been in a Rainforest!
In May, we also drove up to Saltburn-by-the-Sea. I don’t think I’ve visited since I was really small and it was such a lovely place! The best thing about it though was that there was no seagulls to pinch your fish and chips! What a bonus! Over the second May Bank Holiday weekend, I was reunited with my good friend Lizi and we did a Bottomless Brunch in York (our favourite hobby). On the Monday, Stefan and I drove over to Harewood House fo the Great British Food Festival which was pretty good. I think we will certainly go again in 2022 if it’s on! There was so many delicious food stands and a G&T pavilion!
June
During June, things started to feel like it was back to normal. I had two great trips booked. The first one been a family trip to the Lake District where we stayed in a lovely little cottage between Bowness and Windermere for a week. We managed to squeeze so much in visiting all sorts of places, hiring a boat, going on a hike and pretty much drinking and eating round the lake district. We also visited a place called BAHA in Bowness which is a pan-asian restaurant which did an amazing Sunday Roast with a twist. The Lakes is one of my favourite places in the world, it’s just so beautiful and I always try to visit once a year for a little break. If you’re looking for some inspiration, I’ve got a blogpost on the perfect itinerary for a weekend in the Lake District here.
My second trip in June was to visit Lincoln to catch up with Jess! Can you believe I’ve never visited Lincoln before? It was such a lovely place and we loved exploring the castle, cathedral and all the cobbled streets. It reminded me a lot of York but with a lot more steep hills! Lincoln is another place I’d love to visit again in 2022!
We also visited The Ivy in York to try out some of the new cocktails on the menu and as always we had an amazing time. I can never recommend The Ivy enough in York as it’s just such a beautiful restaurant and we’ve always had an amazing experience. We ended the month by going to Leeds for the launch event of The Flight Club on Park Row. I’ve been to the club in Manchester and it’s so much fun! You can have a game of darts with friends over a few drinks. However, I’ve got to mention that the food here is pretty damn good too! Another place I want to visit again soon!
July
July was a very interesting month to say the least. The month started with a trip to the Yorkshire Dales and we actually ended up Camping! You can read all about in this blogpost but I’m not saying it was the worst experience in the world but the weather for one, could’ve been better. I did enjoy exploring the Dales though but it was a shame the weather was rubbish and we were caught in a huge storm on the way back from the pub! What an experience. We did manage to visit Malham Cove, Ribblehead Viaduct, Wensleydale, Skipton and Haworth on our adventure!
During this month, I started a 1 million steps challenge for Diabetes UK so I became obsessed with walking. I had one million steps to do in the space of three months which works out at just under 11k a day. It probably won’t be hard for most people but I work from home and Covid struct in the household with Stefan so I ended up having to isolate for 10 days too! This resulted in a lot of pacing around the house to get my steps up!
August
Stefan and I were finally free from isolation for August which ended up being one of the busiest months. It usually is as it’s both of our Birthdays! First up, I visited Newcastle to see my bestie and spent the whole weekend just eating and drinking around the city. A few days later was Stefan’s birthday and we went to Leeds for the day and actually went to the opening of Ninja Warrior in Seacroft. We met Christ Kamara at the opening and it made Stefan’s birthday!
For Stefan’s birthday present, I’d booked for us to go to London for three days. This was my first trip down to London in 18 months and it was so good to be back. We ended up cramming loads into the three days including catching up with friends, having a boujee meal at Bob Bob Ricard, Cocktails at Mr. Foggs and exploring Notting Hill. The main reason we actually was in London was to visit the Harry Potter Studio Tour in Watford, I’ve been a few times before but it just keeps on getting better. We had a great time there!
I also took another trip uptown Newcastle in August as we went to see Bedknobs and Broomsticks at the Theatre Royal. This was my Mum’s Christmas present and we all loved the show. It was also pretty surreal to be back in a theatre or live entertainment venue after so long! My Birthday was also in the month of August but we took quite a long trip which was mostly in September so I’ll pop it in the next section.
September
My 27th Birthday was the 31st August and to be honest, we usually go away for a couple of days. This year, we were a little bit extra and took a 9 day road trip. Starting off with a night in Bath, we then headed down to the Dorset coast and spend a night at Lulworth Cove which was just so beautiful. On my birthday, we took a boat trip around Durdle Door before heading over towards Cornwall to stay the night in a lovely little Tipi. We then actually did MORE camping (can you believe it?!) in Newquay where we stayed for four nights and used this as a base to explore Cornwall. We’ve both never been to Cornwall before so it was lovely to explore the South West Coast. We managed to see so much including the Eden Project, Tintagel Castle, Land’s End, St.Ives and much much more! I still have lot’s of blogpost planned about this trip (I’m seriously slacking) so I’ll link the ones I’ve already done below.
Cornwall: A Food & Drink Diary
Sunday Roast Diaries: Hare & Hounds, Bath
On the way back from Cornwall, we stopped off in the city of Wells. This is actually the smallest city in the UK and it is also where they filmed Hot Fuzz. That movies is a favourite of ours so it was amazing to see all the filming locations and even grab a Cornetto from the local shop. We also stayed for one night in Birmingham on a drive home which was quite nice as thats where I went to University. It was lovely to have a wander around and see what’s changed as I’ve not been back too many times since I graduated.
September was also the month that I was able to get back to seeing live music. I saw The Courteeners, Snow Patrol and McFly! I also did some more bottomless brunching with Lizi in York and went to the Gin & Rum Festival with my Mum. The festival was held in York Minster which was a pretty insane venue. During September, I also changed jobs, whilst I’m still within the same team, my role has changed which was pretty exciting!
October
October was another exciting and full on month. I think I was making up for the pretty quiet start to 2021. The month started with a visit from Jess who came to visit my hometown. I got to show her around and we also took her to Robin Hood’s Bay and Whitby. Of course, we got some fish and chips! The next day, we took the train to York and had a lovely day in the city with a few drinks and a delicious meal at Ate O’Clock. It’s always nice to be a tourist in your local area!
The next weekend we headed over to Pontefract to meet family and do some pumpkin picking at Farmer Copelys. This is by far the best farm we have been to for Pumpkin Picking – It was huge! The same weekend, we actually travelled down to London for the NFL games at the Tottenham Hotspurs Ground. I’d gone to the NFL at Wembley in 2019 and had the best time, I think it’s going to be an annual thing! It was a great game and we had the best time! We spent the next day exploring Camden and dining at Flat Iron.
In October, I also spent a weekend in Manchester visiting one of my best friends. It was a chilled weekend with lot’s of good food, drinks and the best Sunday Roast at Hawksmoor. The following weekend we were in the North West again to visit the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Forest Experience in Cheshire, it was amazing. I believe it’s ending soon so I’d book tickets asap if you’re interested! We also visited Cheshire Oaks and can you believe I left empty-handed!
November
November was a very exciting month. Back in April, my Mum and I had booked a spontaneous trip to New York for November. We thought by November that covid would be a distant memory. Sadly that was not true and we did think about cancelling until the US announced they were opening the borders literally a week before our booked trip. Honestly, there was a long time that I did’t think we would get across to NYC but by some miracle it happened. I’ve done a full post about our experience of travelling from the UK to the US and what tests we took etc.. I’m going to do a few more blogposts on what we did whilst we were there but we squeezed so much into 6 days! I had the best time and I felt so lucky to have been able to go!
We actually flew from Heathrow to NYC so we spent a few days in London either side of the trip. We got to see some of the magical Christmas decorations, go to Winter Wonderland and also went to see McFly at the 02. For my Christmas present, my Mum took me to the Tiffany’s Blue Box Cafe in Harrods which I was over the moon with.
December
December was filled with a fair few Christmas Markets. We visited Harrogate, York and Manchester! I just love a good Christmas market and nothing beats sipping on a mulled wine whilst listening to Christmas tunes. We actually spent the weekend in Manchester and I really wanted to mention an incredible cocktail bar we went to called The Wash House – I’ve linked their Instagram which I urge you to check out.
One of the highlights of the month was seeing Jack Whitehall live with his parents at Harrogate Convention Centre. I absolutely love Jack and the Travels with my Father series so this was an hilarious watch! We were super lucky as the rest of the tour ended up getting cancelled. We also went to the opening of the Beleza restaurant at Kingswood in Hull which was a great evening. Our Christmas was quite a chilled out one. I had quite a bit of time off work so it was nice to catch up with family and friends.
As I said before, I’m feeling super motivated this year and can’t wait to create lot’s of exciting content. There’s also lot’s of exciting things happening over the next couple of months which I can’t wait to share. So hopefully 2022 will be a good year all round!
Do you have any resolutions for 2022?
