Thank F it is finally NOT January! I point blank refused to do dry Jan, or detox or any of that carry on whatsoever. I just wasn’t in that frame of mind, and I still had a significant stash of sweets and chocolate from Christmas to get through. I also had quite a lot planned so it just wouldn’t have been half as fun without a few drinks here and there. As usual I’ve had a busy month, a spare evening or day at a weekend is so rare for me these days. Maybe turning 30 has banished the teenage laziness that definitely lingered on well past my teens, but I hate having nothing to do. Anyway, here’s my January round up…

January started with the clock striking midnight while we were stood out on the street, outside of the Milton Club in Manchester surrounded by traffic, and horns blaring. Sounds awful, and it was when we had paid 30 quid for a ticketed controlled event, but we actually ended up having a really good night (and got a 60 quid refund which turned out to be pretty useful in the never ending money sucking month that was January).

We were down in Manchester for New Years Eve and New Years Day, staying in the Malmaison which aside from Newcastle I think might be my favourite one. We had a lovely steak on NYE before we ventured out for the disaster that was midnight. Once it was officially 2017 though the night was great and made me question whether New Year really is overrated, or if it actually just comes down to what you make of it. New Year’s Day at Hawksmoor was a big highlight, especially the unbelievable hangover cure.

I caught the winter flu that was doing the rounds, obviously not helped by standing for an hour on the street in the middle of the night, so January was a slow and snotty start. But once over that, aka I had my appetite back, I was really looking forward to NE1 restaurant week. Newcastle was so busy that week, and I love it when it’s like that. I ate at Miller & Carter which was top notch steak as always, and I loved reading about everyone’s experiences all over social.

Speaking of places that I’ve ate, Hawksmoor was the definite highlight of the month, but Chaophraya was a complete disaster on both times I went. I still haven’t got over the chicken situation, or the price of the place but I have seen a couple of better reviews lately so hopefully they’re taking feedback onboard and improving. Just last week I went to Bonbar for food and their King Prawns were very memorable, as were their locally inspired cocktails.

I discovered Edinburgh gin at Pleased to Meet You, and by discovered I don’t mean I just found out it exists, but I always go for other gins so hadn’t tried it before. It was ratherrrr yum so is my current gin of choice, and thinking about the combinations at both PTMY and Dacantus have me currently sat feeling withdrawal symptoms. I’m seeing really good things about the new Chinese place La Yuan on Gallowgate, and as it’s on Snapsavers list of restaurants for 50% off I can see myself heading there in future.

OOOH I almost forgot, I also went to Central Shaker for a cocktail too, when we had half an hour to kill one night. I’d heard good things about the cocktails from the people I work with who went for restaurant week, so we tried it out. It was a cool bar, very modern and handy in its spot right opposite the station. I’ll definitely be going back to try a few more.

One of the many weekends January seemed to have before payday, I literally did nothing except venture out once with Kieran’s sister to take the dog to the beach. She had never been before (the dog, not Caity) and loved it. It was heaving with people and dogs, but a beautiful day on one of Britain’s best beaches. Having never lived anywhere but near the coast I can’t imagine not venturing down there for an ice cream (Delaval Ices), fish and chips (Marshalls) or a coffee (Dil & The Bear) at least once a month!

By the time payday rolled around I had cabin fever and was very VERY ready for our weekend away to London. I’m so glad we took advantage of Virgin’s Black Friday deal, as the travel down there cost us 40quid return for two of us. We stayed in Farringdon and did a mixture of fun shit, sightseeing and drinking. I won’t divulge too much for now as there are posts coming.

When it comes to the blog I’m all but done covering Paris after our trip there in December. I’m quite proud of my Paris collection actually, it’s done amazing for views and shares which still baffles me how many people actually read what I have to say. My goal for Feb is to hit 10,000 views – yikes! January has been my best ever month, so thanks if you keep reading 🙂

I realised I missed doing some photo posts like I used to, so I’ve started a weekly thing usually on a Wednesday where posts will be more like that. There’s a few up already covering Montaigu, Newcastle, Santorini and the Louvre. I’m not sure how long it will last though – I’ve started to feel more pressure to get posts out and believe it or not actually going to places tends to slow down writing about them.

February is currently looking like a mix of fun stuff like the Lake District, a spa day at Headlam Hall which I can not WAIT for, and a few restaurants I want to try, but also I’m now getting round to a bit of a health kick/diet. I’m doing 5:2, don’t hate all you fitness guru ‘fad diets are shit’ people – it works for me. So I’m definitely looking at trying some healthier restaurants and cafes to keep me vaguely sane. I cant eat in all month! Also February is exactly four weeks which is perfect for 5:2, and pancake day is right at the end 😉

I have a few events lined up that I’m going along to, exciting things are happening in Newcastle at the minute and there’s all these new restaurants that are opening at the speed of light. I’ve also started doing social media management again for bloggers, just getting back into this after I stopped for a while so that should be fun.

And of course in February it’s Valentines Day, we went to Osaka last year and I have no idea what we will do this year. We never do much, and we never do it on Valentine’s Day I just can’t hack all the tables for two and tacky decorations. But as there’s so much hate and so many atrocities currently happening in the world, let’s look at Valentine’s Day as a little bit of lighthearted fun just for one day. Even if your Valentine is your mam or dog or best mate.