What I'm Looking
Forward To
Last week for the first time in a very long time I got dressed in a non dog walk outfit, headed out the house, drove more than 15 minutes away from home and had a socially distanced but face to face work meeting. It wasn't like it used to be with hugs and food and drinks and lingering chats but I can't even begin to tell you, how much that one short meeting filled my cup.
I've been trying so hard to stay positive like so many of us and my personal way is to always try to have something to look forward to. If you'd have asked me at the beginning of last year what 5 things I was looking forward to so many of them would have been career related.
Of course there's nothing wrong with being career focused but if the last 12 months have taught me anything, it's how very important the little things are. The face to face smiles, the unplanned drinks with friends, the long hugs with family - I can't wait to hopefully have them all this year!
Here's 5 things I'm so looking forward to this year...
This blog post & shop widgets use affiliate links.
Affiliate text links are marked (ad).
The jewellery featured in this imagery is from my own collection.
Read the disclaimer about affiliate links & PR products/gifting here.
Hugging My Parents
I feel like I could get really emotional writing this and I know I shared a little on stories recently about how my parents are about about to get vaccinated (sorry to those of you who ended up crying with me!) but I just don't think I could put into words what that first hug with my parents will be like. I feel we're so lucky and privileged to have so many ways to have chats and share virtual celebrations with each over the last 12 months but thinking about my Dad getting the vaccine and being able to give him a huge cuddle for the first time since early 2020 feels like the most important thing the next year will bring. And even if those hugs are delayed as we go step by step with the new pathways, even thinking about hugging my parents gives me so much hope.
A Summer Evening Beer Garden
This feels so very niche but I feel it's also something that so many of us likely thought of when we heard the news this week, that there's now a pathway to some sort of normality ahead. I think it's that feeling of a warm summer evening, glass of preferred drink in hand, chatting away with a friend and wiling the night away feeling utterly content. It's one of those experiences we've likely had more times than we could count and one of those experiences we've likely taken for granted more times than we could count. That often lived experience, now feels like the most wonderful aim to have after a year of being apart and being so eager to just be sat with a loved one.
Seeing My Best Friend
I haven't seen my Rebecca since January 2020 and even with how hopeful things feel right now, it's likely I won't see her for many more months to come because of travel restrictions that I know will still be in place for quite some time yet. We often cry whenever we get the chance to fly to see each other because we've always had that type of open friendship but the thought of getting to have a drink, with my best friend, in person and for her to get to meet Boe finally, would just be heaven. It's those interactions I know so many of us have struggled without and I know I'll never take a single one of them for granted ever again. They're the times that have kept me going in the past when I've needed them most and I know when the announcement happened this week, it was one of the the first texts I sent. Here's to those best friends who are practically family!
A Non Zoom Work Chat
This feels such a role reversal for me because I actually love face-timing friends and catching up so much even pre Covid but when it comes to work there's something about an in face get together that really inspires me. From attending shows during fashion month to simply catching up with PRs and brand teams that have become close friends over the years, I always leave feeling so very inspired and I've missed that a whole lot. I spoke last week about how being self employed can feel lonely at the best of times, something not many people like to admit or share from their own experience, but the last 12 months have made me realise how much I thrive on face to face experiences. Shows, meetings, events - all of them fire me up to do and be better and I can't wait to drag out even the smallest of meetings to fill my cup!
Seeing My Friends Get Married
At the start of 2020 when Covid became a reality and so much was changed, postponed or cancelled, one of the first things that brought home just how different things were going to be was the postponement of a besties wedding. We had all been so looking forward to getting together with family and friends over a weekend in May, which would have been the first time since our own wedding in Summer 2019 that our group was together again, to celebrate their big day. With a little light at the end of the tunnel, vaccines around the corner and a whole lot of hope suddenly on the horizon, I can't wait to see our friends finally get married. I'm not sure there are enough tissues in the world for when the day actually comes, but I just know that even though the day would always have been so special, now it's going to feel like an occasion we'll cherish forever.
I'd so love to know what it is that you're looking forward to this year and what you'll cherish most when things return to a little bit of normality. I feel like although we all know that there's still hurdles to deal with but the last few days have given us so much to dream of and be hopeful for x
