January Favourites

Think of this as my highlights reel and favourite things from all 3647974 days of January. Seriously though, it has been January for AGES.

I’m hoping to make this a monthly thing, I feel like looking back over each month will help me to realise how much I was capable of doing within it. My sister will tell you that I am not so hot when it comes to my knowledge of anything beauty related, so this won’t be like the monthly favourites that you see on YouTube, more like a few highlights as well as maybe some fun things I have discovered throughout the month.

1. New Years Eve

I must admit that I often find Hogmanay (New Year’s Eve for any non-Scots) a bit of a let down. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved the last few years I have spent with my friends, but going to an overpriced and over expensive club on the big night just doesn’t do it for me.

This year we did things a little differently, and it was a sensational idea. We stayed in at one of my friends’ houses and spent the evening playing prosecco pong, hula-hooping, playing articulate and sitting around the aga. We did actually do all those things throughout the evening, but in general I have successfully made that sound FAR more sophisticated than it was.

2. Annual girls night

I honestly hope that this tradition of ours lasts forever. On the 2nd January we all got together for the fourth year running to exchange gifts and just generally enjoy the fact that we were all in the same place, something which happens increasingly rarely. We also ate multiple fajitas, because the night would be incomplete without them.

3. Prague

I am a sucker for a good city break, so was extremely happy when a group of us budding travellers kicked off the year with a trip to Prague. It was highly enjoyable, with a fantastic mix of sightseeing, dodgy street-food, aimlessly exploring and the boys going along with any plans the girls proposed.

You can read more about our trip in my Mini Prague travel guide.

4. Back to Paris

I am not too sure how I am going to cope after June when I go away somewhere and ‘going home’ doesn’t mean going back to Paris. I had the most amazing time at home over Christmas with my family and friends, and I would have them all out here with me in an instant if I could but oh my gosh I LOVE PARIS and it felt amazing to come back and feel like I was in the right place.

5. Skating on non-ice

Strange but funny experience. I hadn’t been ice-skating this winter and a couple of my friends were really up for going too. After finding out that there was an ice rink on the top of La Grand Arche de la Défense, the plans seemed pretty set. We arrived with high hopes, which I must admit were slightly tampered with when we stepped onto the ice and realised that it wasn’t actually ice at all. For some still unexplained reason, it was just extremely slippy plastic, so it was close to impossible to stay standing and we didn’t last long. Great story though.

6. Rebecca

This sounds like I have met some incredible woman but I have not, this is in fact a book by Daphne du Maurier. It also happens to be one of the best books I have ever read, to the extent that I actually got up early on a fair few mornings to read more before work because I couldn’t cope with not knowing what would happen next. Great plot twist, beautiful writing, just read it.

7. A friend in Paris

I have known for a long time that one of my best friends from home was moving to Paris for a semester, but it didn’t ever cross my mind that she would actually be in Paris with me, if that makes any sense whatsoever. We have already been on a fair few outings and my other friends have agreed to tolerate her for the foreseeable future, a great sign.

(I do have other friends, don’t be mislead by this heading)

8. Scottish bar

We couldn’t really celebrate Burns Night in the traditional way in Paris, but we certainly tried by heading to a Scottish bar. We listened to a bit of the Proclaimers at pres and we considered buying whiskey before concluding that it was too expensive and settling for our usual bottles of wine, averaging at 3 euros each.

9. Irving Penn

I love a good exhibition, and I love dragging people to them with me even more. A few of us went to see an exhibition celebrating the work of photographer Irving Penn at the Grand Palais last weekend and it was sooo good. His Instagram would have been amazing. The only downside was that when we went in I was the only one who was handed a leaflet, thought it was a bit strange, had a look and it was an activity book for 7-11 year olds. Safe to say I have hit a new low.

10. Le Marche aux Puces

I have to admit that from as soon as we got off the metro to when we actually got inside the markets I was sincerely fearing for my life. Let’s just say the area was a tad dodgy, and I think the others had their doubts about where I had lead them. Nevertheless, the inside was incredibly cool. It is basically a huge flea market, housing just about everything you could ever imagine, from a life sized UFO to ancient banknotes to a rogue High School Musical PS2 game.

11. The Greatest Showman

Basically if you haven’t seen this movie yet then go and see it right now. Well, finish reading this post first. I had to wait in agony for a whole month because the film’s release date was later in France, and I already knew all the songs before we went. It was even better than I imagined and I don’t know quite how but I will find a way to meet and marry Zac Efron one day.

12. Buying my sister Hamilton tickets

My little sister has been obsessed with the musical Hamilton ever since the soundtrack was released, and I would be willing to bet that she knows the songs as well as, if not better than, the cast. The show has just started in the UK, and they were releasing a second batch of tickets. She has been the strongest, bravest and most determined little star recently, so I bought her tickets for us to go as a surprise. Had a bit of a panic when I was sitting at my laptop refreshing the screen ready to buy them as soon as they came on sale when she texted me asking if I would want to go with her if she managed to get tickets. Beat you to it lil sis!

Here’s to an even better February,

Best wishes from Paris x