JANUARY CATCHUP

I am DELIGHTED that February is here, and gloomy, stressful January is behind us. I think I might need to invest in a SAD lamp (or move somewhere sunnier!) before next Winter - I really hate the endless dark days at the start of the year, and I'm so much happier when the sky is blue.

Today the sun was actually out, and I'm starting to feel a bit more excited about the year ahead - I'm through one of the most stressful months at work, our programme comes out next week and I have lots of fun things planned. Yay!

January wasn't all doom and gloom though, here's a few colourful moments that kept me going...

1. I was lucky enough to get a sewing machine for Christmas, so to get me started, I bought a copy of the mega cute Love at First Stitch by sewing blogger Tilly and the Buttons. Now, I confess I haven't actually tried to sew yet... I'm a bit scared of getting started! Now that work has chilled out a little bit, I'll hopefully be showing off something I've made this time next month.

2. I've already written about this, but I'm SO pleased with how lovely this room looks! I finally sorted out my study, and it's possibly my favourite room in my flat...  I love having a dedicate space for blogging and painting, and it's such a fun, colourful room to be in.

3. My flat is slowly turning into a bit of a jungle, and this carnivorous plant is my newest leafy resident. I love having loads of plants in my flat, I'm currently trying to justify buying a massive fig leaf tree for my living room (but it's pretty pricey, aargh).

4. I celebrated two years with this guy and I'm very happy about it. Yay love!

5. I'm cheating again because I've already blogged this jacket in an outfit post, but it's super cosy and I love my patches so much. I need to try and find a few more outfits that look good with a denim jacket though, I'm in danger of resorting to double denim.

6. Remember when I posted about my bedroom, and mentioned there were a few Double Merrick prints I really wanted for the wall? My wonderful mum read my blog and bought me them for Christmas! I am so pleased, I love them so much and they look brilliant in the room.

7. I dangerously discovered that Edinburgh has an amazing sushi takeaway, which is delicious, but pretty pricey, meaning I'm probably going to bankrupt myself on sushi rolls. It's taken me such a long time to start liking fish, but I'm so glad I eat it now (especially as I can artfully play with my meal on my new whale plate).

8. The weather has been GRIM, which really hasn't helped my January blues. I am really annoyed that big storms are getting named now, because it's making me realise how many massive storms we actually get! Luckily there were a few glimmers of spring... there was a gloriously sunny morning, and my spring bulbs are all coming up.

9. Finally, I dyed my hair dark and I love, love, love it! It's quite a big change, but it's fun to do something different (even if I feel like I'm betrayed my ginger roots!).