It's odd to look back on 2020 with any fondness, but despite all the dark clouds, confusion and challenges we all faced, there were some good times throughout the year. The best moments of 2020 are something to remember and cherish as they definitely outweigh the darkest times throughout the year.
I hardly dare say I could see something happening! I spent many an hour in Jenny from The Brick Castle 's kitchen at the start of the year wading through tweets from passengers stuck on cruise ships... remember them? However nothing could have prepared us all for the year that never truly was.
Our Best Moments of 2020
January - March 2020
Starting the 2020 filled with positivity and ideas, my Goals for 2020 post was quite generic in the sense of writing more personal posts, maintaining the sites and reading more books. I state I would like to read more each year, but time never seems to be on my side. Little did I know, it was the year that the majority of those goals would actually be fulfilled!
January blog posts also featured a very non socially distanced Boots 70% sale write up, the excitement of the usual rush and scrum to see what is left is a distant memory for 2021!
Liv and I managed a trip to Saltburn by the Sea at the end of January and it was a great excuse to visit family in the area. The North East coastline is quite spectacular and we were grateful of our last beach visit for a while!
Say yes to more events was a goal mentioned on that list and as I wrote up my highlights of the Pandora blogger event I attended at the end of 2019, I had no idea that it would be one of my last for a while! Liv and I still managed to fit in a fabulous Croma restaurant Manchester review in over the February half term.
I was able to meet up with friends for some treat meals and gossip sessions. A trip to Bella Italia at the Reebok was one of the last times I saw the fabulous Jane from A Little Lyrical, the countdown is on until we can go on our next geocaching adventure!
March was when it all went a little Pete Tong and life as we knew it was cruelly whipped away from us. Lockdown number 1 started with the simple message: Do Stay In - Don't Go Out. It was also when I started featuring our weekly updates, a reminder of the madness, but also a great way to document the best moments. Week One - Eat The Cake was aptly named as it seemed the right thing to do! Everyone was stockpiling pasta, toilet rolls, rice and comfort food such as cake and biscuits. Cake was going to get us through this, right?
April - June 2020
Well no. By this point, cake was never going to get us through the Coronavirus however, it certainly helped relieve the boredom!
Our weekly posts mainly detailed what we had been baking (cake mixes were a time saver!), the fabulous community book swap hamper we found and our new fondness of crafting. Whether we were finding out how to make face masks or completing jigsaws, the range of activities was endless. I even started crocheting again and quickly amassed a wide range of coloured wool. At the point of writing this post, I have lost track of the number of blankets I have made, but can still only crochet in a straight line! Liv thoroughly enjoyed crafting too, making scrunchies, pom poms, painted canvases. It really was the year when crafting took over and subscription boxes were the perfect treat!
We enjoyed getting out on many walks whilst the weather was great. Our local community came together by adding painted stones in a snake formation, even making the news with it! I believe at the point that it was all cemented into place, our local painted rock snake had beaten the Guinness World Record!
July - September 2020
Liv's time at primary school came to an abrupt halt at the start of lockdown really. With no SATS to sit, it was almost as if the school forgot about their current year 6 students... and that was it. Fortunately, we had been working at home in order to making the transition to starting secondary school in September a little easier.
To celebrate the end of primary school and the end of the first lockdown, Liv and I took a mini break to Wales to enjoy some time away. The weather was absolutely glorious and whilst there were some restrictions in place, it actually felt like we were away on a 'normal' holiday.
Looking at that picture, we could have been anywhere, but we were definitely in Wales where we also met up with Karen from Missing Sleep and her family!
The Summer Holidays flew by in a blur of not knowing what day it was which made it all the more fun! I quickly became addicted to reality TV shows in the Real Housewives series. Under normal circumstances reality TV shows make me cringe, but when the world is going to pot, they make for the best escapism ever. I couldn't recommend them highly enough - who knew watching middle aged women bicker over the most mundane things could so so entertaining!
September started in a haze of origami creations and sporting activities as Liv fully immersed herself in secondary school life. I think we both let out a collective sigh of relief as life, in some respects, seemed to get back to normal.
October - December 2020
Once again, life came to an unexpected halt as another lockdown came in and all after school activities stopped. It really did seem that 2020 was emulating Dementors from Harry Potter and literally sucking out our souls.
It was hard to get in the mood for Christmas, however as I had started compiling the annual Sim's Life Christmas Gift Guide, I had no choice but to grin and bear it! Buying our new annual Christmas bauble from M&S lifted spirits and the countdown had begun.
Autumn paved the way for gorgeous photography opportunities and even more excuses for getting out and about for walks down our favourite walking path. Returning home to snuggle up with Christmas movies, hot chocolates and crochet blankets was absolute bliss!
I decided to hop onto Keto in the run up to Christmas as I wanted to enjoy the holidays without feeling like I was going to explode from eating cake! It was divine and I loved being back in the flow of the lifestyle, feeling better in myself whilst enjoying omelettes and my Keto cauliflower cheese with chicken roasts.
Alongside our usual Christmas Eve box, I also ordered some tasty treats from a local baker. I absolutely love how lockdown has allowed creativity to roam free and I am more than happy to help out the local community where I can. For sure, shopping in local independent stores (when open!) is a great way to give back.
The year starts with my birthday and ends with Liv's birthday. The timings aren't exactly ideal, having a birthday at Christmas is never fun, which is why I try and make Liv's day as special as I can. This year called for something even more awesome...
It only seemed fair to order some beautiful cake treats for her birthday from Treats and Eats UK, if you live in the Manchester area, they are well worth checking out!
2020 was one heck of a year, there really are no words to explain it. I'm grateful for the blog in the sense I was able to record down what we did and how we got through the craziness. It will always be there to look back on and remember, not that we will forget in a hurry!
Thank you to all the fabulous brands that I worked with throughout the year on reviews, posts and giveaways - there were some awesome giveaways last year and I hope to bring you more again in 2021! Lastly, thank you to all the Sim's Life readers, those of you who actually read my posts, it means a lot!
Here's to 2021... we've got this!
