A bumper post for this ‘Behind the Curtain’! There was a lot going on besides weddings at the end of last year, and it was busy in the best way..

September began in Italy with Shaunagh and Paolo’s wedding! I’d explored Pisa and Chiavari the day before, and after their wedding I got on the train to go and explore Florence too - it really took my breath away. I love Italy and I really enjoyed being there alone.. I spent so much time exploring, taking photos, eating well and having a few Aperols.. it was bliss. You can see more personal photos and a bit more about my trip here and here.

A few weeks later I headed down South to near Lewes for Sorrel and Ed’s wedding, and the day after I took some time to wander around Brighton, as I’d never been before. I enjoyed wandering a little and had some lunch.. mainly filling my boots in some of the antique shops there..

Something especially exciting that happened in September/October was that Ed and Sorrel’s wedding photos were featured in OK! Magazine! It was intense trying to turn around so many photos so quickly but absolutely worth it to be featured in the magazine..!

Over September, October and November I went to see the Arctic Monkeys, Florence and the Machine, went to Twisterella Festival (Teessiders - take note! Twisterella is amazing!) and saw Grayson Perry. Seeing live music is one of my favourite things to do, and being able to see such an interesting artist live was just incredible too. I also love Manchester as a city and it was lovely to be back there for some of these gigs too..

I turned 30! My husband and I celebrated by going to Paris (kid free!) and eating and drinking our way around some of our favourite places there. We watched the sun set from the Eiffel Tower and enjoyed exploring this beautiful city again.. “Paris is always a good idea”!

The fair came to town! I went twice with my eldest and we rode “the biggest ride ever”.. I love the colours of the fair, chips walking home and the whole atmosphere.. so much fun.

We booked a last minute (literally 24 hours to go..) holiday to Turkey! Different flights we’d already booked were with an airline that went bust so we were left hanging before rushing to find a holiday (“just somewhere hot, please!”).. you can read more about it all over on my personal blog here.

I joined a book club! It’s always my goal to read more and “Girls Like Books” begun in November, held just down the road from me. The first book was The Handmaid’s Tale and the second was The Cows.. I’m exciting to keep getting stuck into whatever book is nominated for the coming months too..

We had our fair share of completely lazy days too.. sometime’s it’s so needed to step back and do nothing. My weekends are so regularly crossed out for weddings, so when a free one comes along it’s so good to take a breather and take it easy..

My husband and I headed back to Leeds for the night to celebrate his birthday.. we used to live there a few years ago so went to eat at one of our favourite places and revisited some of our favourite bars..

I hit 30 bookings for 2019! It was a little goal I set myself, not believing too much that it would happen, but it did!

Christmas came with all the chaos that comes with it! We did all the special Christmassy things.. picking out a tree, meeting Father Christmas, going on the Santa Express, visiting Beamish, Christmas crafts and cooking.. it was really lovely to work a little less this Christmas (i.e. not between Christmas and New Year) and some days were lazily spent at home doing very little instead.

So! That’s how the end of 2018 looked for me! It was a busy year last year (working with kids always is, I guess?) but a really special one. Going forward I think I’m going to keep working at the busy/quiet balance as well as work/life balance.. Happy 2019 to you all!