2014 HIGHLIGHTS

my oh my was 2014 a good year or what?! // grab a cuppa and let's reminisce about the past year...

2014 was a bit of a slow burner for me but once things picked up around March-ish it started becoming one of the most exciting and eventful years of my life. 

In January I dragged my brother out to Madame Tussauds, somewhere we'd both never been to despite spending most of our lives in London. Keir was apprehensive to visit at first (I know for a fact he'd rather spend his spare time Minecrafting) but once I'd convinced him to join me we thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not everyday you can say you had photos taken with the Queen, Beyonce and Barack Obama, is it?

The month of February was seriously cold yet exciting nonetheless as through my lovely blogger friend Sophie I went to London Fashion Week. I managed to get a seriously decent seat at Zeynep Tosun's AW14 show in the beautiful Freemason's Hall and also explore around the area with Mum (who then joined me as we ate spaghetti bolognese at Bella Italia, which obviously was a highlight of the month).

In March I celebrated my 17th birthday, surrounded by the three people that mean the most to me - my parents and my younger brother, as well as copious amounts of Mexican food. I couldn't really complain. I also hosted my 4th annual house birthday party which has turned into a bit of a tradition and I liked to think it went well. This month also saw my friends and I travel to Snowdonia in North Wales for a Geography fieldtrip. The five days away involved me using dry shampoo as a form of self-defence (I wish I was joking about that), almost being blown off the top of some seriously steep mountains and an absolute tonne of laughs.

birthday lunch at Las Iguanas // 22nd March 2014

April was a month of highs and lows: I adored seeing The 1975 at Royal Albert Hall with eight of my best friends. It was an absolute nightmare to organise: the logistics of getting nine people to be in the same place at the same time was a pain in the arse but it worked brilliantly in the end, even if our viewing spot was about as far away from the stage as one could get. Simultaneously we successfully conquered the District line and sung our hearts away with Matty Healy. The same month included the death of my Grandad, something that still makes me sad when I think about it, however I know he's in a safe place now, and is no longer ill/in pain. 

May was a hard month academically as I had 9/10 of my AS exams, all of which I somehow passed. It also included one of my favourite days of the entire year, when I dragged the family out to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. The weather was a glorious 23 degrees - any Brit will understand the glorious feeling of it starting to get warm in the summer months - and all four of us had a wonderful time.

family day at the Olympic Park // 17th May 2014

The not overly eventful month of June involved me having an unimpressive 5 days off school post-exams, something that to this day I feel was...insufficient. On a brighter note, June was also the month I attended a Journalism course at City University London and truly realised why I want to study the subject. Later that day I took the tube across the city (and almost melted from heat exhaustion - 29 degrees + the Central line is a mix I wouldn't advise) and took blog photos in Hyde Park with Dad. 

July was the month I'd waited so long for. After 25 months (and many years before that) finally I had decent teeth after getting my braces removed. This month my wonderful best friend Rhea visited London, and that was amazing too - I don't get to see my favourite Indian girl nearly enough. July was also the month that I returned back to my favourite place and second home, Perth, Western Australia, after having not been back for five years. Now anybody that knows me in real life knows how much I care about Aus - I talk about it all the time and adore the country so much. Having become an Australian citizen (!!!) Only a couple months previously, this month was also the first time I flew using my fresh Aussie passport. I was a very happy girl! Now I did numerous posts when in Australia so I won't yap on too much about the trip in itself, however I will remember one memory in particular - going to my first AFL match: Fremantle Dockers vs. Carlton. I didn't think I'd connect with the sport as much as I did and I can say, hands down, it is one of my all-time favourite Aussie memories.

I continued my travels in August, when I flew from Perth to Bangkok with my Mum and brother and not-so-coincidentally bumped into Dad in Suvarnabhumi airport. This commenced our 12-day Thailand trip: 2 days in the capital, Bangkok, 3 days in the gorgeous city of Chiang Mai and a week in Koh Samui, which is probably the nicest place I've ever been to. It was a seriously hectic trip: we zip wired through the jungle, rode on elephants and sunbathed on Bophut beach - all in all, it was an incredible experience. 

catching up with my Yugoslav family in Perth // 7th August 2014

I began my last year of school in September and remembered the serious workload involved in A-Levels. This month also included round 2 of London Fashion Week, which I managed to attend courtesy of my awesome blogger friend Mia. We went backstage to see all of the hair magic happen at Toni & Guy and saw some gorgeous makeup looks using products by The Body Shop. This visit to LFW was a lot of fun, probably because it had late-summer London vibes in full force (probably my favourite time of the year in the city) and Mia and I bumped into a number of our favourite bloggers - notably, Arabella, Becca, Shirley, Shope and Shore. This month I also got to catch up with another bloggy friend, Sarah, when attending the #bloggersfestival, hosted by the awesome Scarlett.

October was one of the most jam-packed months of 2014 for me. I (legit) dressed up as a tie rack for something-beginning-with-the-first-letter-of-your-name day during the annual fundraising week at sixth form, took part in a photoshoot and interview with Cagecity and completed work experience at Live Mag UK. One of the most rewarding things I've done this year hands down is becoming a contributor at Live Mag UK - the people there are all absolute babes and having my article published (and therefore go on the front page of their website) was unreal. Unreal.

photoshoot and interview with CAGECITY // 11th October 2014

In November I got the chance to meet my idol Alex Crawford and naturally, took the chance with both hands. She was so lovely in real life and to this day I'm still shocked that I even got to witness such an incredible woman in person. I know lots of people fangirl over celebrities/singers etc (and I'm not saying that's a bad thing or that I wouldn't) but this was one of those times when I actively had to put effort in to keep my cool. I learnt so much from her in only an hour and she even signed my book. (!!) Later that day I walked from Shoreditch to Tower Bridge and visited the beautiful installment of the poppies at the Tower of London - something I doubt I'll ever forget. 

To conclude the year, December was on the quiet side however I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Sixth form at Christmas time is a 70:30 combination of huge, stressful deadlines and serious festive fever, and I wouldn't expect it to be any other way. In December I absolutely loved going to see all of the Christmas lights and window displays with Mum, and catching up with Sophie in Covent Garden was awesome too.

What were your 2014 highlights? I'd absolutely love to know what your favourite memories were from this past year.

Happy New Year - I'll see you in 2015!

Thalia
xxx