January – Was a cold start to the year one the NW of England. I wanted to have a quiet January as 2012 had been a very hard year for me, my dad had suffered a very bad stroke and I had to live in Scotland sleeping on my brothers floor for 7 months whilst my dad was in hospital. So I wanted to start 2013 in my own house and took full advantage of the snow to go on long wintry walks and enjoy being out in the open just chatting with my husband and trying to plan what 2013 was going to look like for us. We also took a trip to Staffordshire to the Mini Day and had a great time looking at all the old classics. My husband is quite the Mini enthusiast and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

February – Was quite an uneventful month. We were saving for my friend’s wedding in March so tried to keep our spending down. We did discover a lovely new cafe in Manchester called Takk & we have been regulars ever since. It is very relaxed and we often work from their during the week as a little treat.

March – This was a busy month, I was Bridesmaid at my friend’s wedding at Beechfield House in Wiltshire (gorgeous location) and was delighted that our trip took us past a giant Whole Foods in Cheltenham which I visited on the way to the wedding & again on the way back! It was magical in there & I stocked up on lots of Vegan treats. I did a post about it here. I hope in they open a store in the North soon! My dad also go some bad news which meant a trip to Scotland and lots of stress & my business got a huge order from Urban Outfitters which meant I was crazy busy. It’s all ups & downs.

April – We spent the first few weeks of April in Scotland with my dad and we managed to sneak away for the day to St Andrews and enjoyed a glorious walk along the beach and visited the Cathedral. I love popping across to St Andrews when I get chance, it is such a pretty historical city. We saw Micky Flanagan at the Caird Hall in Dundee and laughed until we cried. He was so very funny.

April is also the month we head to London (for the past 5 years) to support my brother who runs the London Marathon. We burst with pride as he pushes himself to better his time each year and raise thousands of pounds for charity. We make a weekend of it & my mum comes too and we enjoy a long weekend in London and all the vibrancy of the Marathon (I’m never tempted to run). This year Gary ran it in a PB of 3 hrs 9 mins.

May – This is the month I remember the least. I know we were in Scotland for a week, but apart from that we were saving for and planning our holiday in June to San Francisco. We booked it at the beginning of December 2012 and it was coning round so fast. My dad was able to walk for short amounts of time and this was amazing. He lives opposite a small castle so we took a walk around the front of it on a sunny May morning and I was so proud of him.

June – Was our summer holiday to San Francisco. Me & my husband had been before 7 years ago and always wanted to go back. We booked for 8 nights and loved every single minute of it. We hired bikes & cycled the Golden Gate Bridge, walked Lombard Street, visited Haight Street, shopped, ate and drank our way around the City. It was amazing.

I’m going to split this post up into 2 parts as it is going to be huge otherwise. So check back tomorrow for July – December.

My good friend Hayley did her year in photos and that’s where I got the idea from. She has had a very exciting year if you want to click over & have a look.