Urban Fox Review of the Year
I've seen a number of blogpost from those I follow on Twitter reviewing the year and thought it would be a good idea to do something similar. After all I failed to actually explain what I had been up over the summer.
January marked two very memorable events. Andy's nephew Leo was born and I moved into a nice flatshare.
Leo, bless him, waited until we left the Lakes to make an appearance but resulting in a return trip to the Lakes almost as soon as we got back. It was worth it to see the little man.
Although moving is not my favourite pastime, however something I seem to do more frequently than I would like, this was one of the first times I couldn't wait to move. My ex-flatmates, although nice enough people, were not the type of people you wanted to live with at 29. Maybe 19 but definitely not 29. I had no idea what my new place was going to be like. I gambled and moved in without actually meeting either of my flatmates. But it was a gamble that paid off and I couldn't ask for better flatmates.
Lastly, January saw the birth of the New Year Aims, a list of aims for me to complete over the course of the year instead of a single resolution.
Hmmm, not much seemed to happen in February. We went to two gigs - Kylessa at the Camden Underworld and Foo Fighters at Wembley as part of the NME Big Gig thing as part of the NME awards. I also progressed on my New Year Aims mainly due to lacking in space at my new flat and desperately needing to sell some items on eBay to ensure I could walk around my room.
March saw us travelling to Edinburgh for our friend's Matt and July's wedding. A beautiful setting and fantastic service. The first wedding I have been to that was a humanist service, it captured everything a wedding should be about as far as I was concerned.
We also paid a visit to the Imperial War Museum in March and our first trip of the year to Joe's Kitchen in Borough which has now become a regular hang out for breakfast.
April was a massive month. I turned 30 and in the process had a night out at St Moritz which was sadly a flop but made up for it with an amazing birthday party the following week at The Miller with an 80's rock theme.
We also watched the marathon around Tower Bridge, went to our third gig of the year at Islington Academy for Rival Schools and Trail of the Dead, headed back to the Lakes for a long weekend over Easter and then celebrated the Royal Wedding in style - champagne breakfast followed by a walk from Little Venice to Camden and a Camden pub crawl.
It was a quiet start to May, a few pub crawls and our first ever Yo! Sushi experience. But the end of the month was rammed with two bowling trips (thanks Groupon), our friend's Graham and Ruth's wedding in Sussex, a number of birthday celebrations and my first trip to Craven Cottage for the London Legends Cup (still bemused by the Michael Jackson statue there).
June saw my brother's birthday and a trip to the Wyndham's Theatre to see Much Ado about Nothing staring David Tennant (yum). In addition we went along to a comedy night with work (where the headline act was delayed due to tube problems but the support were good enough!). We also checked out the fantastic Korean BBQ pub near me, The Old Justice. It is criminal really that we haven't been back as yet.
We also travelled to Nottingham to see our friend Ash at his new flat. Nottingham is an awesome place to go for a night out. That weekend we tried a number of different pubs, went to a live music night at the Maze (14 bands, 3 rooms - winner) and had a night cap at a place called Spanky Van Dykes.
The carnival was in town in July and with the nice weather, Andy and I took to wandering a lot around London and to various different bars in and around London Bridge. Again, we also saw Foo Fighters, although this time outdoors and up in Milton Keynes (never the easiest gig venue to get to and from). We celebrated Andy's birthday with a trip to Thorpe Park. We did attempt to branch out on our pub crawls and headed North of the river but to be honest the South Bank just has far better pubs.
In the middle of the month, after deciding our livers were not punished enough we headed over to Ireland for a long weekend to catch up with the guys from our Irish office and some culture and pub crawling in a different country. After all that drinking we rounded off the month with a trip to Go Ape! I've never done anything so a) terrifying, b) exciting and c) painful the day after. And on the way back we got to welcome little Imogen, my friend's Nic and Dan's little girl to the world.
Continuing the healthiness into August, I went away for a Yoga and Vegetarian cooking weekend down in Dartmoor with my mum. My peace and tranquillity was brought to an abrupt end the next day with the worst day of the London Riots. We had meant to be going bowling but Tadders was confined to her road in Hackney while we were continually hearing reports things were moving our way.
Another trip to the Lakes to see little Leo, who by this point was less little and able to move un-aided which certainly increases your wits, followed by the postponed bowling trip, and another gig, this time Deftones at Shepherds Bush Empire. We also attempted a trip to the cinema for Tadder's birthday but due to the awful service at the O2 cineworld, we had to abandon it and go to the pub instead.
A quiet start to September followed by a hectic end. First stop Nottingham for a catch up and drinks with Ash, followed by a visit to the Lakes, followed by a holiday to the beautiful island of Corfu. We had a wonderful holiday. For once we chilled out a lot and sat around the pool sunbathing but we still managed to fit in some touristy things, with a trip around the North of the Island (Kavos is in the south therefore best avoided), a day out at Aqualand which we pretty much had to ourselves, and watching the sunset at Sunset Beach.
Ah, October. A crazy month for me. I finally completed my New Year aim to get a new job and with it a hectic working schedule. It also meant my first trip to Copenhagen. At the end of the month we headed to a friends for a Halloween party, I went to my first Speedway meeting of the year (oh how I have missed the smell) plus I got to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the cinema.
November consisted of early Christmas shopping and lots of work but little else.
And, so we arrive at December. As is traditional for December, the Silly Season this year was intense. The month seemed to be a continual stream of dinners, drinks and parties. Leaving London for the Lakes couldn't have come sooner. On today, New Years Eve, I have completed 8 of the 12 aims I had set out in January and this afternoon we are celebrating little Leo's 1st birthday although he won't officially be 1 until the 4th January. It has though been brilliant sharing his first Christmas. I'm not sure if he understands what is happening but either way he seems to have had a wonderful time, as have I.
So to sum up the year - it's been pretty awesome. But next year I feel will be even better. To all my readers, have a wonderful time tonight whatever you are doing, and here is to the New Year. I'll be making the most of the alcohol tonight before a self imposed detox in January!
January marked two very memorable events. Andy's nephew Leo was born and I moved into a nice flatshare.
Leo, bless him, waited until we left the Lakes to make an appearance but resulting in a return trip to the Lakes almost as soon as we got back. It was worth it to see the little man.
Although moving is not my favourite pastime, however something I seem to do more frequently than I would like, this was one of the first times I couldn't wait to move. My ex-flatmates, although nice enough people, were not the type of people you wanted to live with at 29. Maybe 19 but definitely not 29. I had no idea what my new place was going to be like. I gambled and moved in without actually meeting either of my flatmates. But it was a gamble that paid off and I couldn't ask for better flatmates.
Lastly, January saw the birth of the New Year Aims, a list of aims for me to complete over the course of the year instead of a single resolution.
Hmmm, not much seemed to happen in February. We went to two gigs - Kylessa at the Camden Underworld and Foo Fighters at Wembley as part of the NME Big Gig thing as part of the NME awards. I also progressed on my New Year Aims mainly due to lacking in space at my new flat and desperately needing to sell some items on eBay to ensure I could walk around my room.
March saw us travelling to Edinburgh for our friend's Matt and July's wedding. A beautiful setting and fantastic service. The first wedding I have been to that was a humanist service, it captured everything a wedding should be about as far as I was concerned.
We also paid a visit to the Imperial War Museum in March and our first trip of the year to Joe's Kitchen in Borough which has now become a regular hang out for breakfast.
April was a massive month. I turned 30 and in the process had a night out at St Moritz which was sadly a flop but made up for it with an amazing birthday party the following week at The Miller with an 80's rock theme.
We also watched the marathon around Tower Bridge, went to our third gig of the year at Islington Academy for Rival Schools and Trail of the Dead, headed back to the Lakes for a long weekend over Easter and then celebrated the Royal Wedding in style - champagne breakfast followed by a walk from Little Venice to Camden and a Camden pub crawl.
It was a quiet start to May, a few pub crawls and our first ever Yo! Sushi experience. But the end of the month was rammed with two bowling trips (thanks Groupon), our friend's Graham and Ruth's wedding in Sussex, a number of birthday celebrations and my first trip to Craven Cottage for the London Legends Cup (still bemused by the Michael Jackson statue there).
June saw my brother's birthday and a trip to the Wyndham's Theatre to see Much Ado about Nothing staring David Tennant (yum). In addition we went along to a comedy night with work (where the headline act was delayed due to tube problems but the support were good enough!). We also checked out the fantastic Korean BBQ pub near me, The Old Justice. It is criminal really that we haven't been back as yet.
We also travelled to Nottingham to see our friend Ash at his new flat. Nottingham is an awesome place to go for a night out. That weekend we tried a number of different pubs, went to a live music night at the Maze (14 bands, 3 rooms - winner) and had a night cap at a place called Spanky Van Dykes.
The carnival was in town in July and with the nice weather, Andy and I took to wandering a lot around London and to various different bars in and around London Bridge. Again, we also saw Foo Fighters, although this time outdoors and up in Milton Keynes (never the easiest gig venue to get to and from). We celebrated Andy's birthday with a trip to Thorpe Park. We did attempt to branch out on our pub crawls and headed North of the river but to be honest the South Bank just has far better pubs.
In the middle of the month, after deciding our livers were not punished enough we headed over to Ireland for a long weekend to catch up with the guys from our Irish office and some culture and pub crawling in a different country. After all that drinking we rounded off the month with a trip to Go Ape! I've never done anything so a) terrifying, b) exciting and c) painful the day after. And on the way back we got to welcome little Imogen, my friend's Nic and Dan's little girl to the world.
Continuing the healthiness into August, I went away for a Yoga and Vegetarian cooking weekend down in Dartmoor with my mum. My peace and tranquillity was brought to an abrupt end the next day with the worst day of the London Riots. We had meant to be going bowling but Tadders was confined to her road in Hackney while we were continually hearing reports things were moving our way.
Another trip to the Lakes to see little Leo, who by this point was less little and able to move un-aided which certainly increases your wits, followed by the postponed bowling trip, and another gig, this time Deftones at Shepherds Bush Empire. We also attempted a trip to the cinema for Tadder's birthday but due to the awful service at the O2 cineworld, we had to abandon it and go to the pub instead.
A quiet start to September followed by a hectic end. First stop Nottingham for a catch up and drinks with Ash, followed by a visit to the Lakes, followed by a holiday to the beautiful island of Corfu. We had a wonderful holiday. For once we chilled out a lot and sat around the pool sunbathing but we still managed to fit in some touristy things, with a trip around the North of the Island (Kavos is in the south therefore best avoided), a day out at Aqualand which we pretty much had to ourselves, and watching the sunset at Sunset Beach.
Ah, October. A crazy month for me. I finally completed my New Year aim to get a new job and with it a hectic working schedule. It also meant my first trip to Copenhagen. At the end of the month we headed to a friends for a Halloween party, I went to my first Speedway meeting of the year (oh how I have missed the smell) plus I got to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the cinema.
November consisted of early Christmas shopping and lots of work but little else.
And, so we arrive at December. As is traditional for December, the Silly Season this year was intense. The month seemed to be a continual stream of dinners, drinks and parties. Leaving London for the Lakes couldn't have come sooner. On today, New Years Eve, I have completed 8 of the 12 aims I had set out in January and this afternoon we are celebrating little Leo's 1st birthday although he won't officially be 1 until the 4th January. It has though been brilliant sharing his first Christmas. I'm not sure if he understands what is happening but either way he seems to have had a wonderful time, as have I.
So to sum up the year - it's been pretty awesome. But next year I feel will be even better. To all my readers, have a wonderful time tonight whatever you are doing, and here is to the New Year. I'll be making the most of the alcohol tonight before a self imposed detox in January!
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