Happy New Year Readers! 2024 is here, I’ve always liked the number 24 so let’s hope this one is a good one. 

Sonia

I don’t know about you but the few days leading up to NYE (which I spent a lot of my evening making pals with a lovely greyhound called Sonia) I feel a little bit of excitement! As a freelancer I know that the start of the year is going to be quiet, and whilst that is anxiety inducing, I try to focus on wholesome activities I’d like to fill my month with to keep me occupied such as cinema trips, making a dent on my reading pile and catching up on crafty hobbies such as sewing and knitting. But as the new year starts and the Instgram ad’s roll in for workouts, health products and productivity apps my bubble feels a little burst or deflated as you feel like you’ve messed up already. 

I loved the post on Charlston Trust’s insta of Virginia Woolf’s new years resolutions from 1931 which starts with “To have none. To not be tied” and ends with “As for clothes. To buy good ones” HEAR HEAR Virginia! So my words for the year are PLAY and RESET - I plan to focus on things that represent those words for me personally rather than specific items on a list that feel like you have already failed. A piece of advice I once received that’s always stuck with me is “Change the ‘should’s’ and ‘needs’ to ‘wants’ and ‘I would like’. The ‘I should’s’ and ‘I need to’s’ feel like a failure before you’ve started and wants and would like’s create more excitement”.

This Christmas I knitted everyone snoods using their favourite colour combos. I loved coming up with the various shades of 2-4 different balls of yarn to create a colourful wave. Look at all these offcuts altogether! I couldn’t resist turning it into a happy chappy with a top hat-y

Anyone else watch Saltburn over the holidays? I’m a sucker for Cinematography and clever story lines - I can’t stop thinking about it! Slurp slurp

Talking of Saltburn - I have been really enjoying Spotify DJ to put a spring in my step and have a boogie when getting ready for the day.  Enjoy this song and the visuals!

Alida xx