Looking back at 2018
After perusing over my 2017 post I thought maybe I should look back at 2018 too. Considering I kind of lost my groove on the blogging front, you guys won't really have a clue what I got up to over the last year unless you've been keeping up to date on my instagram. Either way I figure let's rewind back to the start of the year so I can have a reminder of where the hell the year went!
March saw the fruition of many meetings and a lot of planning and emails as Karlie and I installed an exhibition with 4 artists and held a queer club night at The Poetry Club. I introduced Nathaniel to most of my friends and I got introduced to his at a friend's birthday party a couple of weeks later. I went to see Rab Noakes play for the first time, had afternoon tea at Le Monde to celebrate my aunt's birthday, and introduced Nathaniel to some of my (slightly drunk) family.
April saw me actually finish a drawing for the first time in months, watch Nathaniel play in a couple of concerts, and be surprised to find Kelly hadn't moved back to Northern Ireland just yet! There were a lot of exhibitions: David Claerbout, Rachel McLean, RSA, David Mach and Glasgow International! Mark and Ross had their birthday night out and Mark got his first passport; an we went along to a surprise party for my stepsister to welcome her back to Scotland after living in London for years!
In comes May and the hot weather! I got stuck in to doing outings with the care home residents at work: going out for walks round Lochore and cycling round it on adapted bikes, then we went to Modern Two for a tour around the gallery as well! I got a new tattoo from the lovely Karolina Sylwia, helped out at the community fundraiser for the Kelty Street Art Collective, worked in a Morroccan homeware shop in Edinburgh for a day and watched my stepdad be soaked by his grandsons in a paddling pool in the backgarden.
In June I saw Nathaniel play in more concerts, saw the GSA Degree Show, was reunited with my gorgeous friend Kristina after a whole year, went to Manchester with Kelly for a few days, got another tattoo, saw Idles and Future Islands, saw Bill Murray, and celebrated my mum's birthday with a walk at the beach.
*Pause for breath*
If you made it this far then well done, we're halfway there!
In July I dragged Nathaniel along to the Tacita Dean opening at Fruitmarket Gallery and stayed over at Fi's in Garelochhead and gave myself some stick n pokes (not too shabby if I do say so myself). Nathaniel played his first gig with new band Trading Glances and I got suitably drunk on very few pints of beer. I said goodbye to the care home and started my new job at H&M, and visited one of my closest friends down in London where I braved the sweltering heat of city and went to see Keaton Henson's compositions be played at The Barbican, went to a gin event with Bombay Sapphire, had a few drinks with some friends from art school, and got to see Jordan Wolfson's puppet boy finally after being a fan of his work for years! I rounded off the month by going on a double date with two of Nathaniel's friends, eating as much chinese food as we possibly could at a buffet in Edinburgh (Fraser and Emily beat us, sadly).
August saw me be a very supportive girlfriend again as I went to watch Nathaniel play in multiple concerts and gigs, some of them linked to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I went through to Glasgow to spend the day with Karlie which was very much needed and we went to see a really visually interesting show at Tramway - note: I always take size reference photos when I'm at exhibitions with Karlie because they're funny! Nathaniel and I also went away for the first time, staying in Citizen M in Glasgow for a night and staying up late watching four different films in our hotel room. Round the month off, as always, with a cute dog pic and there you have it!
September was a bit of a quieter month: Nathaniel and I went on a couple of cinema and food dates - nothing unusual there - and we went to the local arcade for the first time where I actually beat him at air hockey! We went to see a screening of Slow West in Dunfermline with an introduction and Q&A session with the director John Maclean. Nathaniel's band played another gig, and I went for a coffee and food date with my dad for the first time in months - and again, round it off with a cute dog pic and October we're good to go!
Yay! October! My birthday month and somehow always the most exciting month of the year for me!
I started off the month with a date day at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh with the dinosaur obsessed boyfriend, dyed my hair a silvery-grey blonde, then made my way down to London to meet up with Kelly again.
This time we were seeing Hamilton after I got her tickets to see it for her birthday. She had been listening to the soundtrack of the Broadway production for years and it felt like it was finally time to take her to see it in person. We went to see the Jenny Holzer show at Tate Modern, saw the Frida Kahlo show at the V&A, saw Hamilton, went to the Yayoi Kusama exhibition at Victoria Miro and somehow managed to fit in a trip to Kew Gardens all in the space of 2 days!
Then I came back to Scotland to spend the weekend in Glasgow with the boyfriend and my best friends and had chinese for breakfast the day after my birthday night out. Next up was Halloween week at work, and I carved pumpkins for the first time, of which one was stolen off of my doorstep by trick-or-treaters!
November swung round and I have to say it was much quieter of a month. I was struggling with a lot of health problems that just wouldn't seem to let up, a lot of them eczema related and others I've still not managed to get to the bottom of. It was a lot of hanging out at home and at the boyfriend's house and ogling at the peacocks living in his garden. We went to see Overlord at the cinema (highly highly recommend it if you're looking for something to watch!), and I saw Nathaniel play in a concert in Glasgow. I dyed my hair dark again (the blonde lasted so long I know!), cuddled the pups more, went to Fort Kinnaird for the day and started my xmas shopping.
December was busier again and rounded off the year well! I had my work night out with freshly dip dyed yellow hair, tried out the new cafe in my local town with the boyfriend, and went to see my best friend's first solo exhibition in Glasgow. Nathaniel and I went to the Christmas markets in Glasgow, saw Aquaman in 3D 4DX which was completely awesome and I want to see every action movie in this format for the rest of my life!
Nathaniel and I went on a long walk in the forest, I left the house before the sun was up far too many times, and I had a really fun Christmas Day with my family playing beer pong. I went to the Edinburgh Christmas Market with my Dad and his wife, and rounded the year off with trying out the newest buffet in my town and had a quiet one in my pyjamas drinking prosecco with Nathaniel.
Overall a very action-packed year with its many ups and downs and loads of memories and good times to look back on! I hope all of you had a year you're proud of and that this year brings you more joy and laughter! I hope you enjoyed looking back at 2018 with me and I'll speak to you soon!
Love,
Melissa x
January saw me spend a lot of time outside walking the dogs with my mum and stepdad. I was waiting for my PVG to go through so I could start my new job so that meant I had pretty much the whole month off. I tried to make the most of it, starting to get back into drawing and reading (as I say I will every New Year) and ticking climbing Benarty Hill off my bucket list. The weather was all over the place this time last year as you can tell by these photos.
I also took every opportunity I could to go back through to Glasgow and spend time with my friends. I had until the end of the month to move out of my flat which meant I still had a place to crash as well as the prime location for doing a poster shoot for the club night my friend and I had organised to host.
Then it was goodbye to the flat and hello to living at home again and starting a new job! February saw more outings to the seaside and more pup hangs as I settled in to working at a care home and having weekends free again. It also saw me rekindle an old friendship as I got back in contact with Nathaniel, my now boyfriend, after 8 years out of touch.
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| The Lovely Eggs at The Mash House |
March saw the fruition of many meetings and a lot of planning and emails as Karlie and I installed an exhibition with 4 artists and held a queer club night at The Poetry Club. I introduced Nathaniel to most of my friends and I got introduced to his at a friend's birthday party a couple of weeks later. I went to see Rab Noakes play for the first time, had afternoon tea at Le Monde to celebrate my aunt's birthday, and introduced Nathaniel to some of my (slightly drunk) family.
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| The start of install week |
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| Poster Girl |
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Queeriosity in full swing |
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| Rab Noakes |
April saw me actually finish a drawing for the first time in months, watch Nathaniel play in a couple of concerts, and be surprised to find Kelly hadn't moved back to Northern Ireland just yet! There were a lot of exhibitions: David Claerbout, Rachel McLean, RSA, David Mach and Glasgow International! Mark and Ross had their birthday night out and Mark got his first passport; an we went along to a surprise party for my stepsister to welcome her back to Scotland after living in London for years!
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| Mark got his first passport! |
In comes May and the hot weather! I got stuck in to doing outings with the care home residents at work: going out for walks round Lochore and cycling round it on adapted bikes, then we went to Modern Two for a tour around the gallery as well! I got a new tattoo from the lovely Karolina Sylwia, helped out at the community fundraiser for the Kelty Street Art Collective, worked in a Morroccan homeware shop in Edinburgh for a day and watched my stepdad be soaked by his grandsons in a paddling pool in the backgarden.
In June I saw Nathaniel play in more concerts, saw the GSA Degree Show, was reunited with my gorgeous friend Kristina after a whole year, went to Manchester with Kelly for a few days, got another tattoo, saw Idles and Future Islands, saw Bill Murray, and celebrated my mum's birthday with a walk at the beach.
*Pause for breath*
If you made it this far then well done, we're halfway there!
In July I dragged Nathaniel along to the Tacita Dean opening at Fruitmarket Gallery and stayed over at Fi's in Garelochhead and gave myself some stick n pokes (not too shabby if I do say so myself). Nathaniel played his first gig with new band Trading Glances and I got suitably drunk on very few pints of beer. I said goodbye to the care home and started my new job at H&M, and visited one of my closest friends down in London where I braved the sweltering heat of city and went to see Keaton Henson's compositions be played at The Barbican, went to a gin event with Bombay Sapphire, had a few drinks with some friends from art school, and got to see Jordan Wolfson's puppet boy finally after being a fan of his work for years! I rounded off the month by going on a double date with two of Nathaniel's friends, eating as much chinese food as we possibly could at a buffet in Edinburgh (Fraser and Emily beat us, sadly).
 |
| Pouring myself a gin looking like a goofball |
August saw me be a very supportive girlfriend again as I went to watch Nathaniel play in multiple concerts and gigs, some of them linked to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I went through to Glasgow to spend the day with Karlie which was very much needed and we went to see a really visually interesting show at Tramway - note: I always take size reference photos when I'm at exhibitions with Karlie because they're funny! Nathaniel and I also went away for the first time, staying in Citizen M in Glasgow for a night and staying up late watching four different films in our hotel room. Round the month off, as always, with a cute dog pic and there you have it!
September was a bit of a quieter month: Nathaniel and I went on a couple of cinema and food dates - nothing unusual there - and we went to the local arcade for the first time where I actually beat him at air hockey! We went to see a screening of Slow West in Dunfermline with an introduction and Q&A session with the director John Maclean. Nathaniel's band played another gig, and I went for a coffee and food date with my dad for the first time in months - and again, round it off with a cute dog pic and October we're good to go!
Yay! October! My birthday month and somehow always the most exciting month of the year for me!
I started off the month with a date day at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh with the dinosaur obsessed boyfriend, dyed my hair a silvery-grey blonde, then made my way down to London to meet up with Kelly again.
This time we were seeing Hamilton after I got her tickets to see it for her birthday. She had been listening to the soundtrack of the Broadway production for years and it felt like it was finally time to take her to see it in person. We went to see the Jenny Holzer show at Tate Modern, saw the Frida Kahlo show at the V&A, saw Hamilton, went to the Yayoi Kusama exhibition at Victoria Miro and somehow managed to fit in a trip to Kew Gardens all in the space of 2 days!
 |
| Jenny Holzer at Tate Modern |
Then I came back to Scotland to spend the weekend in Glasgow with the boyfriend and my best friends and had chinese for breakfast the day after my birthday night out. Next up was Halloween week at work, and I carved pumpkins for the first time, of which one was stolen off of my doorstep by trick-or-treaters!
 |
| The middle pumpkin was stolen! |
December was busier again and rounded off the year well! I had my work night out with freshly dip dyed yellow hair, tried out the new cafe in my local town with the boyfriend, and went to see my best friend's first solo exhibition in Glasgow. Nathaniel and I went to the Christmas markets in Glasgow, saw Aquaman in 3D 4DX which was completely awesome and I want to see every action movie in this format for the rest of my life!
Nathaniel and I went on a long walk in the forest, I left the house before the sun was up far too many times, and I had a really fun Christmas Day with my family playing beer pong. I went to the Edinburgh Christmas Market with my Dad and his wife, and rounded the year off with trying out the newest buffet in my town and had a quiet one in my pyjamas drinking prosecco with Nathaniel.
Overall a very action-packed year with its many ups and downs and loads of memories and good times to look back on! I hope all of you had a year you're proud of and that this year brings you more joy and laughter! I hope you enjoyed looking back at 2018 with me and I'll speak to you soon!
Love,
Melissa x