47 things I was thankful for in 2018

What a great year for Curiouser and Curiouser! I said in last year's review here how I wanted to do more this year and more is an understatement! The start of the year is usually a pretty quiet time for campaigns and collaborations as some companies' new financial year doesn't start until a few months in so I didn't expect anything much to happen. However right from the offset of 2018 I was kept busy. Not too much, but certainly enough to sink my teeth into. Curiouser and Curiouser had an incredible journey in 2018 and with that, a review of 2018 and 47 things I was thankful for.

January

• I attended Fast and Furious Live at the London premiere opening night where it was opened by none other than Vin Diesel himself! (car videos on my Instagram here and here)
• Wrote a style guide here about how to take your outfit from day to night with an item kindly gifted from Simply Be.
• Had a bit of a shambles with my first ever Deliveroo order which I wrote about here. It's safe to say that I haven't ordered from Deliveroo since!

February

• Went through my Gran Canaria photos and wrote this Gran Canaria travel guide in collaboration with Holiday Gems.
• 2018 was the year I geared my content more towards my passion for interiors and dipped my toe in the water with this interiors post which Prestige Flowers very kindly supplied me with beautiful flowers for.

March

• I attended the Ideal Home Show and swooned over this bathroom and this pink kitchen 
• For the first couple of months of the year I was trialing a new evening routine which worked wonders. I wrote a guide on it here and reading before bed instead of watching TV was a big part of it. 
• I re-ignited my love of reading and started reading every night. In the first few months I got through more books than I ever imagined and discovered so many new authors. I wrote my first book review for Driven by Dane Cobain which can be found here
• I embarrassingly only got around to publishing my "what I got for Christmas" post in March here. You know what it's like. You write something. It sits in your drafts for a hot minute (in my case, months) and you're left wondering whether to publish or not. 

April

• I visited a restaurant I'd been wanting to try for ages - Granary Square Brasserie -  and fell in love with the interiors which I wrote about here
• April was colder and wetter than hoped (those April showers though) and I lived in boots. I wrote a style guide here on five ways how to style knee high boots for which XYLONDON very kindly provided boots for

May

• May was my one of my busiest months and also my birthday month!
• I attended Rose Festival with Cyprus Tourism which you can read about here
• I reviewed the prettiest rose gold headphones (head here for my review and a 15% discount!)
• Hello sunny May Bank Holiday! I wrote a no nonsense picnic guide here which Mateus Rose and Altruist very provided wine and sunscreen for.
• For the second May Bank Holiday, we had rain and mesmerising lighting storms. The rubbish weather gave me a serious case of wanderlust and whilst planning where to travel to next, I wrote a holiday outfit guide here
• I went back to the Gilbert Scott which I wrote about previously here. This time I had the dreamiest of desserts as seen here
• I went to a Madeira Tourism event hosted by Pestana Hotels and fell in love with Madeira even more (my urge to visit intensified after seeing Madeira featured on Travel Man). 

June

• June I dubbed as interiors month as it was the busiest month for interiors events and campaigns!
• I attended a Sweetpea and Willow event which I wrote about here and was BLOWN AWAY. So many beautiful homeware pieces 
• I won tickets to the launch night of Emily @ The Pink House's collab with Sofas & Stuff. I went with one of my besties Chiara and we swooned over this chair and this chair. Apparently there was a lipstick goodie bag which I only found out about when I got home. Sad times. 
• I attended a Life Kitchens event where I met the lovely Tanya for the first time. It was an evening of swoon-worthy kitchens and wonderful food which I wrote about here
• I wrote about how to transform a room from bland and boring to bold and beautiful here in collaboration with Wallsauce
• I tried my first ever escape room at Lock'd with Tanya who I met at the Life Kitchens event
• I was spoilt rotten by the lovely Adagio Teas team and wrote about their amazing range of teas here

July

• I originally hoped to say "went to a dreamy bloggers supper club" but the truth and harsh reality of it I wrote about here
• I experienced a serious case of wanderlust after writing this piece about dreamy travel destinations in association with Destination2
• I discovered a great life hack and went to the zoo for a mere 90p which I wrote about here

August

• Mr Curiouser & Curiouser turned male model for Jacamo and graced his face for the first time here
• In the height of summer I received an incredible parcel packaged in ice and filled with pies, sausages and pastries from Wild & Game. I used some of the sausages in an incredible stew which I wrote a recipe for here and then a salad type thing which I wrote a recipe for here

September

• I took a cheeky trip to York at the end of August and wrote about the hotel here and food here (York travel guide to follow!)
• I discovered that the charity Sue Ryder 1) has an online shop here and 2) has an amazing homeware collection which I wrote about here 

October

• I saw Enrique Iglesias perform and still can't believe how close we were! (video evidence here)
• I wrote a couples gift guide here with some items very kindly gifted from Find Me A Gift 
• I wrote about the homeware pieces making me happy here
• I went for wine and food pairing with a difference and wrote about it here

November

• I reviewed a lovely Japanese and Peruvian fusion restaurant and also a fish restaurant (reviews for both coming soon!)
• I was invited to a special media-only Jack the Ripper walking tour which I wrote about here
• I reminisced about The Circle here, still swooning about the interior decor
• I discovered the beauty that is Friuli Venezia Giulia which I wrote about here
• I attended the Vuelio Blog Awards and donned my glad rags as seen here

December

• December was a busy month of events. Fully burnt out, I fell ill meaning that the latter side of December was an enforced quieter one (boo). Luckily I recovered in time for Christmas!
• Before I fell ill I participated in a really fun cookery event held at L'Atelier des Chefs in association with NEFF and Currys PCWorld. I wrote a guide on the event and how not to make a gingerbread house here
• Other than that, December involved festive shirts (as seen here) and eating my weight in cheese (because Christmas isn't Christmas without a cheese board!)

SUMMARY

One thing I was proud of in 2018 is how I managed to grow both my Twitter and Instagram channels. I did this through just being myself. No giveaways. No buying of followers. No follow unfollow nonsense. Don't get me wrong, I still don't have a particularly high following on Instagram and get ignored for all the exciting campaigns requiring 10k+ followers (lol), but that's fine by me. These days it's so difficult to know whose Instagram following and engagement is legit, and you know what? Brands and PRs are starting to wise up to the fact. I am truly grateful for every opportunity that comes my way and for all the brands and PR companies that see past the numbers and approach me because they like me for me / my photography / my writing style.

In 2019 I hope to:

• get back into vlogging. I started earlier this year, lost my camera (doh!) and have only recently re-found said camera
• and last but not least... I am beyond excited to be heading to the Maldives in 2019 so should have some exciting travel content coming your way!

A huge thank you to everyone who reads this little space of mine and for your continued support. Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year!