Hello!

How is it nearly 2014? Where has this year gone? An awful lot has happened this year, and it feels like it’s roared by in the way that time seems to these days. Even the weeks go quickly. It’ll hit Friday afternoon at work and I’ll think about all the things I did during the week and wonder how there was time for everything. I’m constantly busy but it’s good.

The biggest thing to happen this year was obviously graduating from UCL. It came months after I had completed all of my work for the year, and as many other graduates probably find, I had to take a day off full-time work to go and graduate. It was a sweltering, Pimm’s-fuelled day, and the best thing about it was seeing everyone again after what had been a rammed summer of work, work and more work. I was mostly glad it was over after three years of lukewarm-at-best feelings towards my degree.

I have also worked A LOT during 2013. I started working in February on a freelance basis and working part-time for a company before taking on a full-time role after I had finished lectures. Juggling a dissertation and full-time (+ part-time) work was bloody difficult, but I managed and I came out unscathed. I worked as a content writer and social media executive for around six months, along with freelancing and writing articles, press releases, news stories, blog posts and product descriptions for a variety of clients. I then got a new job at the end of October, and it’s all going swimmingly, and I’m still freelancing and I’m having a blast.

I have been on a few trips this year. I like to hop abroad, and I kicked off with Paris in April. In July I went to Madrid which was VERY VERY HOT but so lovely, and at the end of November I went to Bruges and Lille for a speedy weekend. I am making plans for next year, and as it stands I have Helsinki booked for February, and my family are considering Stockholm in the summer. I am planning to go to the US or Canada at some point in the year (NYC/ Chicago/ Boston/ LA/ Toronto/ Montreal/ other – I would hugely appreciate any tips or advice or recommendations), and there may also be a Eurostar trip somewhere in the pipeline. If possible, I would also like to visit a couple of friends on their years abroad in Europe. This, of course, all depends on how smart I can be with my holiday allowance for the year!

And now I suppose we come to why I’ll be ‘going out with a fizzle’ as I say in the title. Well, as a lifelong non-fan of New Year’s Eve, I’m going to ‘celebrate’ with TK, another NYE-hater, in London. We’re going to go to the Tate Modern tomorrow (he likes modern art, I don’t, but I like to look at and think about things I don’t necessarily like, if you see what I mean) and then we are going to watch films and order food. An excellent idea if you ask me.

This evening I am going to Meat Liquor. I have already been, but this time I have my eye on the shrimp po-boy seeing as I never went on my planned trip to New Orleans earlier in the year…

Until 2014,

Kayleigh