Paige's 2015 Year in Review

In 2015,

Countries & Cities I've Visited

Paris, France

Northern Ireland

Ireland

Lisbon, Portugal

Copenhagen, Denmark

Malmo, Sweden

 Dublin, Ireland

Calgary, Canada

 Vancouver, Canada

Powell River, Canada

Seattle, USA

Paris, France

Number of flights: 17
Number of trains: ~278

My most liked instagram photo this year.

Books I've read:

The Girl You Left Behind - Jojo Moyes

Brooklyn - Colm Toibin

Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng

The Horse Dancer - Jojo Moyes

The Girl on the Train - Paula Hopkins

The Martian - Andy Weir

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl - Jesse Andrews

The Revenant - Michael Punke

Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

The Girl in the Spiders Web - David Lagercrantz

The Beekeeper's Apprentice - Laurie R. King

Movies:
Star Wars : The Force Awakens

The Martian

Inside Out

Mad Max: Fury Road

Spectre

The Little Prince

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Ant Man

The Man from UNCLE

Jurassic World

Minions

Ex Machina

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Spy

Furious 7

Tomorrowland

Amy

MacBeth

Mr. Holmes

Home

Woman in Gold

Far from the Maddening Crowd

A Royal Night Out

Riot Club

Fantastic Four

Legend
The Danish Girl
Joy
The Revenant
and probably a million more I can't remember.

Sunday Recap: December 27th

It was a beautiful day today. Had a really nice walk through town before meeting up with Jamie for a dinner at Nandos. Nandos is so good. I will miss classy Nandos. I hope it tastes the same in Canada as I was never really big on it there but now that I've given it a chance I'll have to try it.

Christmas was also very good to me. I was spoiled with cards and the parcels that I did receive. I wore my Christmas jumper and opened my presents after having a really nice breakfast. The weekend has been quiet. Having four days off has been really nice. I still have one more lie in. Can't wait. 

Well I'm going to say it, Rome when you want to. I'm off to Rome! I'm flying out of Lisbon to Rome March 8. I struggled to find an easy route to Sevilla so decided flying to Rome might be cheaper and hey, I wanted to go back. So my coin tossed into the Trevi fountain may just have worked.

I've decided to head to Florence the afternoon of March 8 and return to Rome on March 10. Giving me one full day in Florence and hopefully the half day of the 10th will be spent venturing to Pisa to see the leaning tower, while it is still leaning.  That leaves me with four days in Rome before I fly to Barcelona for a night then to Valencia for Fallas. All very exciting.

Sunday Recap: December 20

Christmas is right around the corner. Only five days to go. This week has been quite fun. On Wednesday I got off work and wandered around town doing some shopping and sight seeing before meeting up with Jamie. I went into the Walker Art Gallery and had a stare down with Henry.

We were meeting up to go to the newly opened Five Guys burger joint. I had been to the one in Vancouver once before but it had not left any lasting memories. I got the bacon cheeseburger, cajun fries and a coke. The total came to £14. Well the cajun fries were delicious, the burger came with two patties which made me realise that was why it was so expensive. I didn't let the sight of it after I opened it up deter me and I gobbled it up. The coke machine has a 100 different combinations of drinks but was sad to see no rootbeer. I had been only slightly hopeful. I settled for a vanilla cherry and got a refill of vanilla raspberry. All in all it was a good burger and I enjoyed the fries but at that price tag I'd rather hit up Archies and get myself a nice milkshake.

On Thursday I hit up Star Wars at the Odeon. Wanting to watch it myself before someone had the chance to spoil it for me. I really enjoyed it and thought they did a good job. 

Friday was National Christmas Jumper Day and we all wore our Christmas jumpers and donated to charity. After work we hit the town, bar hopping and enjoying the Christmas market. I was really happy I went, sometimes I shy away from going out but as it wasn't a dressy thing I was on board. Had a great time with my coworkers and just makes me think how lucky I am to have such a brilliant bunch of people in my life.

Now the weekend is almost over, it's been very relaxing. I've made soup, planned a bit more for March. New Year is coming quick, better think of some plans.

Sunday Recap: December 13

Another week has gone past. That means I have only 78 days until I fly out of the UK to a hopefully sunny Lisbon, Portugal. Really excited, yet quite nervous about planning this trip. Hoping I can save enough money to have a good time and not go broke somewhere in the middle of it. Trying to pre-pay for as much as I can so there is less out of pocket stuff when I am travelling and I can put my money towards food and activities.

This week has had a lot of early morning train rides. Standing on a platform as the sun is rising or hasn't even risen yet is never a good feeling. The weather was been a mix of rain and cold. Still no sign of snow or frost, I am sure it will come when it wants to.

It's also involved Christmas jumpers and big smiles. I was the festive door greeter at work. I had to greet everyone and offer them a basket. Some might cringe at this job but I am quite cheery so I did not have a problem doing it. It also allowed me to get a free Christmas jumper and this cute little hat which has a penguin on it. Not seen on the jumper is the lovely snowman. Next Friday is the real Christmas jumper today so shall see which one I actually wear.

Now the weekend is almost over, I haven't accomplished much past being really cozy, having a bath, having a shower, making a casserole, splashing in puddles, going to tesco, somewhat cleaning my room, burning candles, recycling, doing dishes and of course sleeping.

I hope I can make the most out of those 78 days. Sad I can't have any holidays off work to go exploring but shall see what I can get up to. xx

Sunday Recap: December 6th

Another rather uneventful week. I was not feeling well on Tuesday. I had a big headache and ended up going home from work. Started feeling better later on in the week. 

On Saturday I headed into town and went to the Winter Arts Market in St George's Hall.  I bought a few things mostly souvenirs of the city so I can remember it. There were a few things I really wanted but the price tags were too high.   Leaving the market, I went to the library near by to see if I could find any books on Lisbon. Not a single one. I'm not sure if I'm looking in the wrong place or if they are all just checked out.  

Plans have started to fall into place. I'm heading to Lisbon in March and renting out a little studio. It was only a little more than a hostel so I went with it. It will save me money as I'll be able to pick up groceries and cook for myself. I never really feel comfortable doing that in a hostel so end up going out to eat. 

Today, I walked to the large tesco and went to the costa. Getting a large chai, I sat down and wrote out my Christmas cards. I had struggled to write them and needed to get on top of it. Don't want to send them too late and them not arrive in time for Christmas. I called my dad as usual and then made a pasta/soup thing for lunches. I hope its alright. I had some while I was watching Jessica Jones but wasn't thrilled with it. Hoping I can spice it up somehow. 

Above, the view from the Liverpool Central Library and below, the Weeping Window displayed at St Georges' Hall.

Sunday Recap: November 29th

Above is the stain glass of the door of my house in Liverpool. I have three months left in Liverpool. Can't believe it. 

This past week has been alright, doing mostly overtime and trying not to work too hard. It's been busy so the time has passed quickly which is good.

On Thursday after a very yummy dinner at TGI Fridays, I went to the Liverpool vs Bordeaux game with Jamie. The first goal came from Bordeaux with a penalty brought on by our goalkeeper Mignolet holding the ball for longer than six seconds. Ugh. We got it back though and were up 2-1 at half time. No more goals in the second half but we played a good game. Improving under Klopp I think.

On Friday night, I met up with some of my coworkers for a fun night out. We went ice skating at the Liverpool One Ice Festival. I was quite excited. It felt like ages since I had been on the ice. The last time having been for Whitney's birthday.  Getting onto the ice, it took me a few seconds to get the hang of it. At first I was a bit disappointed as they had not resurfaced the ice with the zamboni so it was still quite choppy from the last round of skaters. I didn't let that keep me from enjoying myself though. 

After skating we headed over to the Ice Bar where we donned funny ponchos and headed into a big freezer. We got a shot of some sort of alcohol and explored the room. There was a few sculptures, a throne and a sofa all made out of ice so it was pretty cool.

After skating and the ice bar we headed to Nandos for for food. A late dinner but it was perfect. I had the half chicken, creamy mash, chips and perinaise. I also had two Sagres Radlers to drink. Very good.

 Now as its Sunday, I've just been relaxing. Listening to the soundtrack to Cirque du Soleil's O and watching Liverpool beat Swansea 1-0. I've also been playing this cute game on my phone called Neko Atsume. You just basically lay out toys and wait for cats to show up.