Hello from February, friends! They say that January is one of the hardest months of the year, and to be honest with you, I still have mixed feelings about it. I mean it is a bit dreadful weather wise (though Scotland has lived through some hardcore months lately) and it’s also the aftermath of the holiday times – but to me it means the start of a brand new year and also the start towards spring and summer, which always means good things!
Like I’ve mentioned, weather in Scotland has been dreadful, but we had one lovely week of gorgeous blue skies earlier this month – though it meant the weather dropped to appropriately Canadian temperatures – but it made me enthusiastically happy!
I’ve had my ups and downs this month – but below are 10 things that made me very happy in the last month :
01. We started the year 2016 on a good note – we had a lovely evening eating guacamole and watching movies, we headed out around 11.45pm to watch the fireworks over the castle and then met some friends, in the new year, in a whisky bar in town. It was so low key and yet so lovely all at once. Exactly my kind of NYE!
02. We had a great day out in Edinburgh, checking two things off of my Ultimate Scottish Bucket List : we went to the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh on a rainy afternoon – and because the rain was very bad, we focused our time in the glass houses, but it was a nice visit. I’ll share more photos soon! We also toured the Real Mary King’s Close, which is part of the undergrounds of Edinburgh where people used to live in the 17th century. Also more to come on that!
03. I attended an amazing event on ‘How to get published’ in Edinburgh. The publishing industry in Scotland is tiny but truly fascinating. The panel, made up of a writer, an agent and a publisher, started an interesting conversation on the outlets out there for new writers and it really served as inspiration for me to keep going with my current novel. I’m also thinking of pitching a non-fiction book about life in Scotland, inspired by this blog. What do you think of that??
04. I started ballet classes! Dance had been deeply lacking from my life in the last few years and I’m so happy to have found a dance school not too far where I feel welcome and already part of a great group. Ballet definitely works different muscles than jazz and hip hop, but I’m loving the work out and artistic nature of it.
05. I attended my first football game in Britain! The Brit (and his father before him and his father before him) is a fan of the Heart of Midlothian, the team based in the West End of Edinburgh and when his dad was up, they bought ticket to go to the game and I tagged along. It was such a great British experience! The football itself wasn’t that great, but I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere. I will be dedicating a whole post to it this month!
06. I met the Brit’s grandfather. This was a highlight of the month. He’s been ill since the Brit and I got together and I’d never made it to the home to meet him. When the Brit’s dad was up from England, we passed by the home and it was a pleasure to meet him. There are small things like that that make you feel even more part of the family.
07. I don’t know if I ever mentioned it – but before Christmas I started to attend crossfit classes. After my first class, I couldn’t walk for like 5 days, but it’s getting better! Small victories, you know?
08. We attended our second traditional Scottish Burns Night. If there is one thing that makes me laugh, and happy, and dance goofily, it’s attending a ceilidh and this annual event at University is such great fun. My man was dressed in a kilt, I had vegetarian haggis for the first time and we danced the night away!
09. We hosted an empanadas night at our place to end the month on a high! We cooked all day to recreate my grandmother’s empanadas recipe as we hosted nearly a dozen of our friends from around Stirling and Edinburgh. It was a lovely night and it makes me happy that I’ve found such great friends in my adoptive country.
10. I’ve also read more than expected – beating my reading goal for the month! I’m about to finish my 5th book of the year already. Look out for some reviews very soon.
What were you up to this month? Looking forward to anything good for February?xx
