I thought it was about time I shared a post looking back at 2016. I’m doing it a little differently this year and simply taking a bunch of photos and videos (I’m so glad I started making videos again) and putting them all into this post. I really enjoy putting these posts together and having the chance to remember and appreciate everything I did throughout the year.
I visited Budapest for the first time back in March with Phil and our good friends Emma and Richard. It’s a beautiful city and one I hope to visit again in 2017 with my family.
During my time in Budapest I tried a lot of very good food and wrote about my favourite places eat and shared a post filled with some of my photos from the trip.
2016 was the year I discovered the Pranamat Eco. I wrote all about it here and it’s still something I use on a near daily basis to help with my sleep. Sleep is so important to ensure you have the energy to hustle hard throughout the day, or your chosen working hours.
In April (my birthday month, yay) I was invited to the Cambridge Gin festival. It was so much fun and I learn’t a lot about the process of making gin and all the different types available. I also discovered my love for Sir Robin of Locksley Gin which is actually local to Sheffield. I even had the chance to interview the founder for my Behind The Biz interview series.
Oh and I also made this fun video in a blog style but also including interviews with gin makers from around the UK. Getting into making videos was an excellent idea and I plan to make this more of a consistent thing throughout 2017. Pop over to my YT channel and subscribe for the first weekly vlog of Jan this Sunday.
I was delighted to be invited to an event by one of my favourite skincare brands, Neal’s Yard. I popped into their lovely Cambridge store, met the team and learnt a lot about natural skincare.
I enjoyed lots of delicious meals out and about thanks to this little blog of mine. I particularly enjoyed this meal at Pizza Express. I was invited to try out the Spring menu at one of their Sheffield branches. The staff were really lovely and the food was fab.
I started taking outfit photos again and it’s really fun to be able to look back and see how my style changes throughout the year.
We went to explore Portland Works in Sheffield which is a big old building filled with lots of small, local businesses. I love to discover small businesses and the business journey that people take – it’s why I started my Behind The Biz interview series.
Sophie, Fran and I spoke daily about blogging, business and life throughout 2016. I’m so pleased I have these two to chat to whenever I need. We even managed to meet up for a business mastermind in Leeds. Thanks to the fab staff at Jamie’s Italian for treating us to a delicious lunch which fuelled our business chat.
I was delighted to work with thebar.com twice in 2016. The first time I made these pretty Pimms cocktails and then more recently I shared my own recipe for a vegan eggnog.
In June Phil and I went to Crete for D & K’s wedding. The wedding was beautiful, the food was excellent and it was so fun to see my friends get married. I really enjoyed exploring the island of Crete but I’ll let the photos in this post do the talking.
I went to a Jet2 event in April and was delighted to meet Jess – I hope tot get the chance to meet her again in 2017. I’m also looking forward to getting to a lot more events in 2017. I plan to spend more time in Cambridge over the summer so I can get to all the exciting things happening in London.
I am so happy that I was able to visit Southwold on multiple occasions in 2016. I used to live there and miss it a lot.
On one of the Southwold trips I finally had the chance to visit the Adnams distillery. It was clearly a very gin focused year.
I was a Bake Box Ambassador throughout 2016. This was my first time as an ambassador and I hope I get to do it again in 2017.
We were invited to Zizzi’s to try their vegan menu. I now always order my pizza of choice with the dairy free cheese (MozzaRisella). I also launched a dairy free blog in 2016 and can’t wait to share all my dairy free recipes with you in 2017
Phil and I made many trips to Manchester and on one occasion we had lunch at Zouk. It’s an old favourite of mine and as always, the food was excellent. If you fancy a good curry then make sure you visit Zouk next time you’re in Manchester.
I split my time between Sheffield and Cambridge this year and loved having the chance to get out with my camera and explore the countryside of both cities.
We visited Wyken Vineyards Farmers Market a few times in the year. It’s such a beautiful place to go for a walk and stock up on fresh food.
I love this photo of my bag, I just had to share it. It’s a Kate Spade bag, they always have lots of fun and colourful bags so be sure to keep an eye out for similar styles this summer.
I finally visited the Cambridge Botanical Gardens and found these flowers that look like candy corn. I’m fairly sure they’re called Kniphofias.
My main girl got married and I went to Huddersfield for her lovely wedding. This was my second time being a bridesmaid too.
I’ve worn these western inspired boots a lot towards the latter half of 2016. They’re by Joe Browns and in the sale for half price now!
I went to Berlin for the second time (10 things you should do when you visit the city).
It was nice to have a chance to explore the city again and make my way back to bJuice. I was also really pleased to find the Matcha Shop on this visit. I’ll share a full post about it later in the week but in short, it was a delightfully relaxing cafe with all things matcha inspired.
I couldn’t believe my luck when I was invited on a press trip by Doncaster Sheffield Airport to Paris back in October. What a treat! We toured the city on segways, ate delicious food and visited Musée d’Orsay.
We were very lucky to stay at Le 123 Sebastopol, a 4-star hotel right in the centre of Paris. It was beautifully decorated with a film theme on each floor, the bed was comfortable and I felt very safe in the hotel. They also did an excellent breakfast. If I make it back to Paris again soon I’ll be staying there again.
Towards the end of 2016 I decided to get creative and set myself the challenge of doing one creative thing each day. It’s still going well and I’ve been out and about with my different cameras, getting into editing videos and taking time to simply improve upon my skills.
At the start of December I went to London with my mum and sister to celebrate my mum’s birthday. We had a lovely day walking around the city, going to the V&A and doing a little shopping. We ended the day with a meal at Sadaf, a fantastic Persian restaurant.
My sister took this photo of me during our trip to London and I love it. I was so happy and content at this moment.
I made a lot of cocktails at home this year and plan to continue learning to make and create more in 2017. This is a snap of one of my favourites at the moment, an espresso martini (they’re dangerously easy to make).
This is another snap from my creative challenge. It’s a photo of my dad feeding the sweet little horse at the end of our garden.
I finally got my first pair of Sorel boots this year. They’re really cosy and comfortable, I’m just waiting for the snow now.
2016 was the year I discovered my love for liquorice. I also discovered a shop dedicated to liquorice in Berlin and the owner was so passionate about liquorice.
This is another photo from one of my many trips into London. It was taken at the start of December when the V&A had their Christmas tree installations.
I’ve had a fab year and I can’t wait to continue working hard and going on adventures throughout 2017. Happy New Year and I wish you all the best of luck and happiness in 2017.