It wasn't until I was making my list to help write up this post, that I realised; it's actually been a really good year! There's always going to be those moments I wish had gone better, but let's now dwell on our mistakes and instead focus on the good, there's always 2014 for me to make up for it!
Life- I don't wanna start this off on a soppy note (and I'll try and keep that to a minimum throughout) but this has definitely been a challenging year (third year work at uni is a tough 'un) and I owe a lot to Andrew for putting up with my stressed grumbles and being there to help me. I turned 21 this year, so I guess I'm a fully fledged adult now, although it still doesn't feel like it.
Music - It's safe to say I love live music and being able to see Yellowcard, one of my favorite bands twice in one year, being within touching distance the second time, was incredible. Travelling to Manchester both times was completely worth it, it's such a nice city and last time we went I spotted a little pug in a parka and went looking for the Breaking Bad street art. I saw The Gaslight Anthem (another favorite of mine) in Glasgow and worked as part of Bon Jovi's tour team in the summer! I interviewed Newton Faulkner and it was great to see that as the cover and big interview for Spark magazine. Unfortunately I'm no longer music editor for Spark but I'm going to be writing a column instead (and still reviewing/interviewing) and I'm music editor for Northern Lights now!
Perhaps the highlight this year for music (aside from Yellowcard) has to be interviewing Don Broco for ASOS. It was so much fun and happened to be the same day of my first anniversary with Andrew, so straight after than ended at 8pm, we went back along to the first restaurant we went to for a little celebratory meal.
Blogging - This year I went along to my first blogger event; Benefit FakeUp in Newcastle. Since then I've been to several more and met some great people who I hope to see more regularly next year. I also became one of the Lives Online bloggers for my university and it's going really well. I know when I finish that next September, I'll have lots of videos to look back on and by this time next year I'll have graduated from uni! Eeek.
Travel - Aside from traveling to Manchester and Glasgow for gigs, the big two have been Edinburgh and Berlin. I visited Edinburgh with Andrew in the summer, for a little break together then went back around a month later for The Network. There's full details in this post, but I still believe it's one of the best things to happen to me. I met incredible people and of course I can't just bypass the fact I met Vince Gilligan! He was so humble and to shake the hand of the brains behind Breaking Bad was a huge moment for me.
This time two weeks ago I was in Berlin, probably still at the zoo, trying to persuade Andrew to buy me a penguin or something ridiculous. It's an absolutely amazing place and I loved being there; so much I know I want to go back. I'm so grateful to have been given such an incredible present for my 21st!
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