2020 is dead... long live 2021!

Let’s face it, 2020 wasn’t a year many people will look back on and say “ooh yeah - take me back to 2020!”.

But rather than dwell on the negatives, I believe everyone has something positive which came out of 2020, even if they don’t see this right now. 

For me personally, 2020 wasn’t the worst year I’ve ever had. If I look back over my life then there are a number of years I would never wish on anyone - and many of the years in between those as well. For example, 2016 was a year I'd rather forget, but 2020 was the year I saw that what happened then was definitely for the best, and that is what I want everyone out there to take away - you’ll always see why you have to put up with the bad.

So my message to everyone is that there are always good and amazing things which come out of the bad.

As I said, 2020 for me wasn’t a bad year. In February I traveled to New York for my birthday - a city I’ve always wanted to visit. I proposed to my beautiful fiancée, Elvira. We bought our first home together near the Chilterns in Buckinghamshire, UK and we welcomed Milo, our English Springer Spaniel puppy into our home. We also booked our wedding venue for September 2021. So despite personal gripes I may have over COVID restrictions, 2020 was a really great year.

Grand Central Station in Manhattan, NYC. Photo taken by me.

Ringing in the new year in Tier 4 (part of the UK wide lockdown) was certainly a different experience. Last year, I was out in Fulham in London with friends, but this year Elvira, Milo and I had a party for 3. We made a few nibbles, including some Dutch treats of Bitterballen and Oliebollen (Elvira is from the Netherlands). We also made some pigs in blankets (which I love and are usually found on a table somewhere this time of year), and found a great recipe from one of Waitrose’s magazines for Roasted Broccoli, anchovy and chilli tartlets. 

Whilst Milo’s dinner was less exciting (his usual kibble and wet food), he was lucky enough to have an extra special treat of mashed potato at 9pm - the reason for this? Well we all know dogs are not fans of fireworks, but as Milo is a puppy and recently had training, we were told that a carb overload would help him sleep through the fireworks... and it worked!! 

Throughout the evening we had messages from friends and family around the world wishing us a Happy New Year. Lets hope 2021 will be the year we can all travel again and meet up more often. 

With midnight fast approaching, we popped a bottle of Blanc de blanc Champagne from Naked Wines and made ourselves some Jamaican Summer cocktails (a run based cocktail) as well. It was a quiet party but a very special one, as we said goodbye to 2020 and welcomed 2021 - the year Elvira and I will get married...