Looking back on the year 2017
Now the year has come to an end I figured it would be nice to look back on the past 12 months and reflect on some photographs and the memories I've made.
This was the first photograph taken in 2017 when a few friends and myself went for a couple of quiet drinks, having to go to three different pubs before finding one with space for us.
My friends and I started off the year really well making time for dinners and home cooked meals courtesy of Chef Fi. This was Sarah and I at Handmade Burger Co. for vegan week and Burns Night at the Dunearn Street flat that was our hub for the first half of the year.
February's highlight was flying over to Dublin with Kelly to see Keaton Henson and being surprised by how much good (and bad) art we happened to stumble across on our wanderings.
In March I performed with Kelly at a fundraiser called QUEERIOSITY we put on at uni as a pink furby dancing the Macarena, walked a catwalk on the same night wearing nipple tassels and a ball gag; saw a lot of art, ate more dinners with friends, and went to Push It at Stereo for the first time after getting absolutely smashed drinking beer at the now closed West bar on Woodlands Road followed by too much red wine. Not a mix I would recommend but worth it for the hilarity of walking back to Dunearn with Mark - neither of us happening to live there - at 2.30am, chippy in hand and falling asleep on the front step to be woken up half an hour later by the laughter of Sarah and Louis arriving home from the same night out!) And not to forget getting to see Drake live thanks to my wee Smuzzla - an unexpectedly amazing gig that was basically like one massive club night.
In April I finally got to see Mark Wallinger's film Sleeper 2004 in his Fruitmarket show in Edinburgh which I'd been wanting to see for about two years. Then there was Open House festival in Glasgow which meant I saw a lot of art in people's flats around the city and participated in the Babawaltz performance that opened the festival up.
May was crunch time at uni - the month of degree show install week followed by a three week assessment period where I went to see Dundee's degree show and summer suddenly hit Scotland. I think the pic of Sarah and I sunbathing in Queens Park was literally the only day this year I actually spent time in the sun. Then it was Kelly's 23rd birthday so we (Mark included) hit up Nando's before going to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
In June the GSA degree show opened which meant I got to dress fancy and party with my brother, his girlfriend and all my friends at the street party and stayed out till 7 in the morning. A week later I graduated and a short while after that I got a stick and poke tattoo from Kristina and went to see The Maccabees on their farewell tour with Molly. We then went to the Rum Shack and I got a bit too drunk before hopping in a taxi to go to a flat party at Park Circus and turning up to the wrong flat - woops!
In July I had to say farewell to a couple of friends who were leaving the country now that uni was finished so this meant there were a few get-togethers involving food and booze among other things. I ventured to Pollok Park for the first time since moving to Glasgow four years ago and got attacked by midgies. I got my 8th tattoo from the lovely Fidjit, everyone moved out of Dunearn Street, and Mark and Holly moved out of Drygate - everyone split off and it really felt like the end of an era.
August involved getting this blog off the ground and seeing friends, art and theatre and making disastrous cake-making decisions with Kelly (note to self: never try and make a Monster cake again!)
September was more art, more blogging, more photo-taking and struggling to find the balance between work and my social life. The highlight was for sure seeing Sigur Rós with Fi who ordered a blue wkd and a beer and had me laughing hysterically as we waited for the concert to start. It was a mesmerising show and one I won't forget in a hurry.
October is always a fun month for me as I like to really make myself do a lot of things around my birthday. At the start of the month my flatmates and I went to test out some Mackintosh replica chairs by Bruce Hamilton (see the blog post I did on this if you're interested). Then Sarah and I went to the opening and preview for John Akomfrah's Vertigo Sea at Talbot Rice in Edinburgh, then it was my birthday night out which was really really fun despite not really feeling myself, and then I dragged Kelly to see my favourite band ever - Manchester Orchestra - which was unsurprisingly amazing!
November was more art with Kelly and Karlie and more gigs: Wolf Alice with Jay and Pvris with Ashleigh and Nicole. Both were so much fun though I have to say I don't think I'll ever see a crowd mosh as hard as the Wolf Alice crowd did at the Barrowlands! At the end of the month I went to see my first traditional opera with Karlie and it was spectacular!
And to top it all off I ended the year with finalising some exciting business prospects in the upcoming year with Karlie, getting my hair cut for the first time in 9 months, seeing the new Star Wars film, finally finishing a book that I've been reading for half the year, quitting my job and making the decision to move back home for the foreseeable future. Round it all off with far too many Christmas dinners and meeting the new baby in the family and you have a pretty decent idea of how my year went.
What do I hope for in 2018? Only to make many many more memories with my friends and family, to grow this blog, and for happiness 👌🏻
Wishing you all the best for 2018 and I hope you're all bringing in the bells in style! Thanks for all your support over the last 6 months or so that I've been writing on here, it really does mean the world and I'm excited to keep blogging in the coming year!
Love,
Melissa x