2017. A good year.

I wasn’t quite sure how best to follow my last post, hence the recent hiatus in writing. I was reflecting on this last week while browsing through pictures on my ‘phone and it struck me that while that one awful event did cast a long shadow over elements of last year, on the whole I had a really rather good 2017.

Looking at these pictures filled me with such happiness, love and gratitude for all the amazing people in my life and the fantastic opportunities that have come my way. And while I know my friends sometimes laugh at my desire to ‘snap’ everything, looking back over pictures of the year I was so pleased that I’d captured so many great moments.

So to counterbalance the sobriety of my last post, this is a lighthearted recap of 2017; the unadulterated best bits!

January

Mr S and I started the year with our traditional, rather chilly, New Year’s Day walk, followed by cups of tea in the Breakfast Club to warm up afterwards.

January also saw a reunion of my hens. We went to see Kinky Boots, danced to awful music and drank many, many cocktails.

February

In February I went on a weekend trip to Brussels with my wonderful Abbeville Road girls. We enjoyed sightseeing, great art, strong beer and most importantly, lots of quality time together chatting and generally putting the world to rights.

I also started the year with PBs in both my half marathon (1:47:08) and 10km (48:08) as part of the Victoria Park race series.

March

In March I went on a residential leadership course with Clore, where I learned more about myself in a week than I had done in years prior and met some of the most inspiring and supportive people I’ve ever known.

I also marched with these amazing ladies to raise money for the Royal Marsden hospital.

April

In April I went to Chicago for a work trip and had the opportunity to catch up with my favourite snail running buddy who now lives State side. We went running, bowling, spent time at the Art Institute of Chicago (one of my favourite places) and he introduced me to margaritas!

April also saw a trip to Tate Britain for the David Hockney show and to the top of Tate Modern for a view of London with some of our wonderful pals who were visiting from Manchester…

…and we went to Sheffield to meet my friend Kathryn’s little girl, Rose, for the first time.

May

In May I went to Wembley with these great guys…

and we celebrated my father-in-law’s wedding in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside.

June

June saw us in New York and Philadelphia for a friend’s wedding, as well as plenty of sightseeing, art galleries and the mandatory bagel or two!

Back in the UK, June was also the month of my sister’s baby shower and when I met beautiful baby Leo, the son of my family friend and running inspiration, Jess.

And it was the month R cycled the first leg of the Tour de Yorkshire while I manned the support team with these great guys.

July

In July I ran away to Portugal with my polo girls to celebrate a 30th birthday and to enjoy some sun, inflatables and general nonsense.

And from Portugal to the Peaks for a fabulous family getaway.

August

August marked the arrival of a new member of our family, baby Frankie, as well as the birth of my friend Lucy’s son Arthur.

It saw me in the Wilderness (well at Wilderness festival at least) for my first ever festival.

As well as bouncing off giant inflatables at the Olympic pool in Stratford.

I enjoying Raphael and time well spent in Oxford with my pal Georgina. We went on a visit to the seaside and enjoyed a visit from these chaps.

September

In September I went on my first ever vegan cookery course, walked in the Malvern hills with my wonderful friends and even braved some outdoor swimming.

Mr S and I also celebrated our wedding anniversary and my 32nd birthday at Lake Como with lots of hiking and even more Prosecco!

September also saw us back in Oxford for the wedding of these fabulous folks.

October

In October I enjoyed some time in Stoke with my favourite boys, and headed out to Frankfurt for the book fair.

I did yoga at the top of the Shard with my fabulous pal Sophie, and we also enjoyed the Om Yoga show, London Veg Fest and Birmingham half marathon together!

October also saw a beautiful autumnal trip to Kew with these beautiful girls.

November

In November Mr S and I watched the fireworks in Clissold Park and went walking in Epping Forest.

We visited my sister-in-law and family in Leeds and enjoyed a beautiful stroll in Roundhay Park.

I ran a study day with my Clore team at Alexander Palace, a pop-up life drawing class at the Museum’s Association Conference in Manchester and went on an introduction to art therapy course in Angel.

I was reunited with my home girls for a pampering day of face masks, nail varnish and lots of hot tub action, and met another wonderful addition to our family, baby Alexander.

December

In December I celebrated Christmas…on several occasions.

We went to the theatre to see the Ferryman with mum and dad and I saw the Modigliani show at Tate Modern, Dali/Duchamp at the RA and Graphic Design at the Wellcome.