GOODBYE 2017 | HELLO 2018

Hey friends,

First of all, I hope you had a great Christmas (if you celebrate the holiday) and a brilliant week.

As 2017 comes to an end, I think it’s important for us to reflect on the year and prepare for the next.

I won’t lie and say that this year has been the greatest because it's most definitely been a roller coaster ride. However, I only wish to highlight the positives. In fact, I’ll be finding at least one thing from each month that made this year a great one.

January the first month of the year: I broke my NYE clubbing virginity with my baby girl Vanessa. A lot of people love going clubbing on NYE, I guess the joy comes from doing the countdown into the New Year with loads of people. This was a total new experience for me.

Another highlight in January was my trip to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is such a great city to visit, the history and the fact that it’s super laid back is what I love about it most. I’ve visited Dam before but you obviously get a different feel of the city depending on who you go with.

The hotel I stayed in wasn’t situated in the centre but it was absolutely stunning!

I know you can get waffles and crepes anywhere but there’s just something different about the ones in Amsterdam. It’s fair to say that I had like two or more a day and I even put on 6lbs lol.

My last highlight in January was Shuki’s birthday. She celebrated it at Hotsince91 and that was an incredible night. What’s better than a 90’s throwback experience?

Even the journey to the venue was LIT!

The train had to stop for a while due to signal failure or something like that. All I remember is that we were at a standstill for quite a long time. So, we decided to hold our own party on the train. I can only apologise to everyone that was in our carriage on night of the 27th (better late than never?).

February - The month of love?

My friend Sharaye had her first ever event and it was a total success. The food, layout, motivational speakers…EVERYTHING!

Well done Shay x

Find out more about her event here...

Celebrating Sarah's birthday was big deal to me. It had nothing to do with the location or the venue but because it was the first birthday I celebrated with her. I'd only known Sarah for about a year but this girl proved that friendship isn’t about who you’ve known the longest. It's about who enters your life and shows you how much they’ve got your back.

Love you girl!

Woah, February really was the month of love because I’m about to big up another friend of mine. I don’t see Anysha all the time but I treasure this girl so much. She's my only Montserratian friend (she’s only half *rolls eyes*) but she understands me like no other. Thank you for introducing me to Cook Daily (addicted to the hard bowl) and Dark Sugars haha!

March was the month of the weigh in!

Your girl only went and lost nearly two stones. Obvs I’m not brave enough to share my before and after pictures on here but it really made a huge difference. I was happier, I glowed more and naturally felt lighter.

It's fair to say that April was the month that I stepped out of my comfort zone- with the help of some chocolate.

LOL so erm, I went to this event called chocolate city. I don’t even need to talk too much about it because a lot of you may know what it is. Let’s just say it was a shock to my system and one of those things that you must experience once in your lifetime.

May was the end of an era.

Four years at university finally came to an end. The feeling of completing what you’ve started is the greatest of all. Those four years really shaped me into the person I am today. I remember sitting my last exam and handing in my final assignment like it was only yesterday.

It's so nice to have a friend that's super proud of my achievements and has always encouraged and supported me throughout my time in university and life in general. Thanks April for treating me to 'ayanna's' after completing uni. Ps; Why don't we have any pictures together?

Need I say much about June?

If you’ve been following my blogging journey from the very beginning, then you’ll know that June’s when I finally plucked the courage to write and publish my first ever post; A BREATH OF FRESH AIR | CANARY ISLANDS DIARY.

If you haven’t already, make sure you have a read.

June was also the month I started loving myself and feeling more comfortable in my skin.

Mama I made it!

Oh July.

The month that made all the blood, sweat and tears worth it. Have a read of my graduation story and also have a read of my trip to Jamaica :)

It's actually so much fun looking back on the year. Anyways, hello August!

August was the month I met some of the most incredible people. The day after I came back from Jamaica I started my marketing internship at Generator. I was super nervous on my first day but the marketing team soon became family.

I want to first start off by thanking the one and only Kylie. Kylie, you truly made my time at Generator an incredible one. You may be the queen of shade but you’re a definitely a great soul and a huge inspiration.

Ah ah Ernest, abeg you fix your face (kidding). All jokes aside, thank you for believing in me and pushing me to see my full potential. I also want to thank you for preparing me for professional environments and also being someone I can look up to.

George the guy that does a million and one things. When I first met you I was simply in love with your face but I was also extremely scared of you. Pushing that aside you have honestly taught me so much. I really can’t thank you enough!

Oh Daniel, thank you for being like the big brother I’ve never had. Your way of thinking, the way you conduct yourself and how you handle certain situations really amazes me. You are definitely the definition of a good role model.

Amanda, thank you for proving that nice and talented people actually exist. You were literally a ray of sunshine and I’m 99.99999999% sure that no one could dare utter a bad word about you. You really are the queen of all things social media and thanks again for passing on some of that knowledge.

Valentina my sweetheart, it annoys me that you’re seriously so talented and you don’t even know it. You are honestly one of the nicest people I’ve ever come across in life. Thanks for being you and I really loved our little chats.

Lastly, a big thank you to my fellow interns.

Hannah, we really clicked from the jump which made my first day ever so smooth. You really were the best work/shade/coffee/food/laughing/petty buddy ever.

Jules, you were the super annoying little brother type but I wouldn’t change you for the world.

August was made even better when I found out that I was a finalist (top 10) for Bridge models Global curve model search.

Lastly, for the first time I was part of a Carnival Mas Band (T-shirt). Costume next? Maybe.

Much love to Shan x

Talietha and I got money happy in September. She lives in Oxford and we’re both always busy, which makes meeting up regularly quite difficult. I hadn’t seen her since July so we decided that we’d meet up after work and visit Swingers (crazy golf venue). We got extremely excited and spent a lot of money on food and drinks. To top it off we still decided to end our night in Shoreditch. We had so much fun that we don’t even regret the amount of money we spent. Defo one of my best nights in 2017.

This month also saw the release of the pretty for a dark skin Remix video.

Find out more about it here.

*Woooo* we've now reached the best month of the year.

October is a very special month, not only does my birthday fall on the 15th but my mum also celebrates hers six days later.

Have a read of my birthday surprise and the letter I wrote to my mum on her birthday.

November was the month that I finally completed my room. My once pink room is now the shade 'cookie dough'. I'll be doing a post on it very soon!

Rianna's early Birthday celebrations was a day/night I'll never forget. Unlimited drinks, shisha and pure good vibes. Thank you 'Dayslikethis' for giving my girl a birthday to remember.

& guess who finally popped their concert virginity...

I attended 'Spotify- Who We Be Live' and saw Big Shaq, Bugzy Malone, Cardi B, Dizzee, Giggs, Jhus, Sneakbo and Stefflon Don (missed her performance tbh).

And we come to December!

Quite a bit happened in December but the main highlight was spending Christmas with my Mum, Dad and half-sister. I can’t remember the last time I spent Christmas with my dad and I haven’t seen my sister in 7 years, so you can only imagine how much of a big deal that was.

Thank you so much for everyone that has contributed to making this year fantabulous!

I wish you all a happy new year and wherever you are tonight, be safe and have fun xxx