The year that was: 2021

What happened:
Ah, 2021. We all hoped it would be much better than 2020, but we started the year in lockdown so it was another strange one. No one I know was seriously ill with COVID though, which was a relief, and most of my circle are now double-jabbed and boosted.

One very exciting thing that happened in 2021 was we started viewing houses to buy... finally, after ten months of searching, we found our dream home. We're still going through the house buying process so it's not quite a 2021 success story but we're so close! But there was deep sadness in 2021 as well. Compy, our beloved cat who we rescued in 2014, became poorly at the end of July. We had to make the heart-breaking decision to say goodbye to her in mid-September; the last months of the year were very strange not having her around and we miss her dreadfully. 

We made it to Ireland in 2021 for a wedding and got to do a few touristy things but, more excitingly, we also went to the Maldives for a much-needed break in the sun, which coincided with Olly's birthday. We headed to the seaside for my birthday... it wasn't the Maldives for me but an overnight stay in Margate after we walked there from Ramsgate, via Broadstairs. In June we went to the spa for a few days to celebrate our ten-year anniversary, plus had an overnight stay in Hove for another mini seaside trip - I definitely need more seaside days in 2022. 

Theatre-wise we made it to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Be More Chill and Mary Poppins, plus managed a few touristy things in London, including a day in Greenwich, the Sneakers Unboxed exhibition at the Design Museum, a mooch around the gardens at Buckingham Palace, and a mooch around Kew Gardens. Which all happened in the second half of the year because of COVID. 

It definitely was another strange year, like I said, and one full of limitations, alterations and cancellations again. Let's see what happens in 2022! 

What I ate:
The ordering of DIY restaurant food kits continued in 2021. Favourites included the Lebanese lamb feast from Arabica, delicious burgers from Black Bear Burger, Burger & Beyond (they have awesome fried chicken as well) and Almost Famous (love their bacon bacon fries), plus we enjoyed fab dumplings from Ugly Dumpling, yum hot dogs from Bubbledogs, an awesome bacon butty from Le Swine and I had an epic birthday cake from Cutter & Squidge.

Restaurant-wise we got to eat out a lot more compared with 2020, which was fabulous. Shout-outs to New Street Bistro in Margate, Please Sir! in Broadstairs, Cracked at Fika in Hove, Wolfies of Hove in, errr, Hove and Baked AM:PM, also in Hove.

In London we had awesome diner food at Fat Boy Diner, yum Portuguese at Casa do Frango, delicious roasts at Old Compton Brasserie, The Grazing Goat, Blacklock, The Greyhound and The Open Page, an excellent curry at Kashmir, plus lots of great dishes from various stalls at Victoria Market Hall.

What I watched:
TV-love for: The Masked Singer, The Undoing, Somebody Feed Phil, The End of the F***ing World, WandaVision, Clarkson's Farm, Ted Lasso, Superstore and Succession. All excellent telly. Plus we made it to the cinema 9 times - I enjoyed Dune and No Time To Die the most. 

What I read:
In 2021 I read a whopping 260 books - I've shared my favourite reads of 2021 here, and you can find my full reading list over on Goodreads. 

And that was 2021. How was your year? x