Reflecting on 2023

I don’t know about anyone else but 2023 has flown by! It’s been another wonderful year filled with memories and of course, we’ve been navigating the year with a new addition; Walter the Dachshund. He’s certainly made 2023 very very interesting. As always, I wanted to do my year in review blogpost. These are always the best posts for me personally to look back on. To reflect on the years achievements, memories and all the good times.

2023: A Year in Review

January

2023 kicked off with a work trip to Manchester before potentially the most exciting part of 2024. We picked up our puppy! January was the month that our little Walter joined our family. We picked him up on the 19th and he slotted perfectly into our lives. Walter is a Miniature Dachshund, although now he’s grown to be a big miniature! He’s a gorgeous tan and chocolate shade, causes a lot of mischief but he’s the most loving pup.

February

February was still dedicated to Walter. We had to wait a couple of weeks to take him on his first walk before we took a few special trips with him to places like Filey and Whitby. I was really keen on getting him a lot of social environments early on.

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March

We started March off with a trip through to Leeds for Disney on Ice. We’d had this booked for ages and didn’t disappoint as it was 100 years of Disney My niece and nephew loved it and it was a great day all round! Another event we went to in March was The Best of Hans Zimmer and John Williams by London Film Music Orchestra. It’s the first time I’ve been to something like this and it was great!

A little trip to Northern Ireland was squeezed in at the end of the month to visit Stefan’s family. It was my first time in Northern Ireland we managed to fit so much in such a small time including The Giant’s Causeway and Bushmills Distillery. Fingers Crossed we will be back soon in 2024.

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April

In April, we went to see a warm up show for the Jack Whitehall show in Hull. I love Jack Whitehall and it was great to see him live again.

For my Mum’s birthday, we went down ton London for a very exciting weekend. The main event was more to my taste as I’d managed to get tickets to see the Jonas Brothers at the Royal Albert Hall! It was amazing to visit such an iconic venue and I had the best time seeing them! The trip to London did also include eating our way around Spitalfields Market, Harrods, Afternoon Tea up the Shard and a spot of shopping. We did the Peter Pan Afternoon Tea at the Shard and it was incredible. 10/10 experience.

May

May saw our first trip away with Walter and we decided to spend a few days in Northumberland. We booked a cute Air B&B in Amble and visited places like Bamburgh, Beadnell, Beamish, Tynemouth and Seaburn. We had such a great week and Walter was so well behaved. I can’t wait to do a few more Staycations with him in 2024.

Following our week in Northumberland, we also attended the Great British Food Festival at Burton Constable Hall in Hull. We ate some delicious food and again, it was dog-friendly so Walter came along. It was actually such a beautiful sunny day and a great day out.

May was also the month that I saw Queen B aka Beyoncé! The Renaissance Tour came to Sunderland’s Stadium of Light and it was just the BEST night! It was an incredible show as always from Beyoncé and we just had the best time.

I was also really luck enough to be invited on a press trip to Jersey with Jet2Holidays. As i said in my blogpost about the trip, Jersey has never been somewhere I’ve considered visiting and it was incredible. At points, we felt like we could’ve been in the Mediterranean. We visited so many places on the island such as the Jersey War Tunnels, La Mare Wine Estate, Mont Orgeuil Castle and even an exhilarating Rib Boat Ride. The food we had was out of this world and I’ve got blogpost dedicated to all the food here.

June

June wasn’t too busy of a month. We enjoyed lots of Summer walks, Bottomless Brunches and BBQ’s. It was a great month for spending quality time with loves ones. We also spent a weekend in Scotland for a wedding which was lovely too!

July

July kicked off with more live music. The Hollywood Vampires came to the Yorkshire Coast. They aren’t a band I intently follow but when Johnny Depp comes to your home town, you buy tickets. It was actually an incredible gig and we thoroughly enjoyed the night.

We then headed down to London for another incredible live event; Bruce Springsteen in Hyde Park! Myself, Stefan and my parents all went down to London and enjoyed food aplenty including a Sunday Roast at Blacklock. The main event of the weekend was seeing The Boss at Hyde Park which was just an incredible day. We have tickets to see him again in 2024 and can’t wait!

I also worked with Cooplands in July on their Summer Tastes Great Campaign which I was really proud of that work. Before enjoying a stunning Sunday Roast at The Pipe & Glass located in South Dalton, East Yorkshire. This Michelin Starred restaurant knocked it out of the park with their Roast. I’m hoping for a return visit soon.

August

August started with Stefan’s 30th Birthday and all year I’d been preparing a surprise party. It was such a relief when I finally pulled it all off. He was very much shocked to see 80 people waiting for him when he was expecting a quiet meal out. We spent the whole weekend celebrating and it was just a great time!

We also went to see Peter Kay in Sheffield. I know everyone has kept hush hush about it as not to spoil it. What i can say is that it was a great show and well worth the chaos it took to get our hands on tickets!

Also in August, we spent a weekend in Leeds and I worked with Chef & Brewer and Warners Gin on a Summer Cocktail Campaign. We visited the White House at Roundhay Park which is a dog-friendly Chef & Brewer pub and had another incredible Roast Dinner.

Over the bank holiday, I spent the day in York for a friends hen do which was a lot of fun. I then celebrated my 29th Birthday. It was a pretty low key day spent at work – although colleagues thought it was my 30th, a year early!

September

September was the most exciting as flew out to California for a two week road trip. We started off in San Francisco for a few days, did a day excursion to Yosemite National Park before collecting a rental car and driving down the Californian Coast stopping off at places like Monterey, Carmel, Santa Barbara, Morro Bay, Pismo Beach and many more places. The next stop was Los Angeles where we went to see the Jonas Brothers at the Dodgers Stadium, spent the day at Universal Studios, explored Santa Monica, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. We then drove to Disneyland California for three days before heading off to Las Vegas for another three days and back to San Francisco before heading home. So yeah, we crammed a lot into just over two weeks. I’m planning to do a few more blogposts but let me know in the comments if you want to know anything specific.

I’m not done with September…yet. On arrival back to the UK, I also spent a few days in Manchester seeing Busted and Shania Twain. Both incredible concerts and it was great to spend a few days away with my Mum.

October

October saw a few little day trips here and there to places like Saltburn-by-the-Sea and Beverly with Walter. Both really great dog-friendly spots with plenty of places to eat and drink which welcome pooches. I’m hoping to create some more dog-friendly content in 2024 as a lot of our life now revolves around where we can take Walter!

We also had to do our annual visit to the pumpkin patch and we visited Farmer Copley’s for their Pumpkin Festival. Farmer Copley’s is located near Pontefract and they put on a HUGE event for Halloween with so much going on. I also have to say their farm shop is elite too.

Towards the end of October, we spent a weekend in Leeds to see Fall Out Boy live. It was a great weekend as we had some excellent live music, went to a Taylor Swift club night and also ate some excellent food at Man’s Market.

November

November saw the last live concert of 2023 which was McFly at Bridlington Spa. I really like going to concerts there as it’s so small so you get a great view – even at the back!

We then also took Walter on another night away in the Peak District. I managed to get last minute tickets to the Christmas Garden Lights at Chatsworth House. The ticket included entry to their Christmas market which was HUGE. I absolutely love Chatsworth House, especially at Christmas. They do it very well. Whilst in the Peak District, we stayed at Bike & Boot which is mega dog-friendly and Walter loved his stay there. We also visited Bakewell and had an excellent roast at The Prince of Wales in Baslow. I’m sure you can tell by now I’m very passionate about Roasts, hence why I love doing the Sunday Roast Diaries.

Towards the end of November, Mum and I went down to London again for a Christmas trip. May I say, never again on a weekend. It was HECTIC. Obviously, it was to be expected but it was crazier than I could’ve imagined (& I usually go every Christmas). We still did have a great time seeing all the lights, visiting Winter Wonderland, seeing the 100 years of Disney exhibition and also a good ol’ roast at Hawksmoor.

December

December started with the most magical trip on the Polar Express on the Wensleydale Railway. We had waited all year for this after getting tickets in January and it was just so magical. We also attended a Dachshund meet up at Temple Newsam, Leeds where over 200 sausage dogs attended. Chaos. but good chaos.

Once again, I hosted Christmas and to be honest, I did have a rather lovely Christmas. I’ve enjoyed a few days off work and can’t wait to see what 2024 brings. It’s the year I turn 30 and I have some incredible things planned. I think 2024 is going to be a good one. Stay tuned and follow along with my 2024 adventures!