Or Q1 if you're American. I want to write more, but week notes are too hard with the type of work I'm doing and I was super busy at the end of January and February. So why not Lean In and do myself a good old quarterly review.
Travel
I've spent every penny I've earned and then some on travel lately. In January, I went to Switzerland for a long weekend to celebrate a special friend's 30th birthday. We got super lucky with the weather, clear blue skies and tonnes of snow. We had the most delicious home cooked food. It was a total treat.
In February, I started off the month by visiting my best mate in Italy while my fiancé was in Dallas (and yes I did instruct him to find me some badass cowboy boots). We chilled by lake Garda and spent a day in Milan. And of course, we ate lots and lots of yummy food. Bliss.
A mere week and a half later and I was off to Faro to celebrate another special friend's 30th birthday. I never want these 30th weekends away to end. They're so fun. We had an absolute blast and I had the yummiest chicken I've ever had in my life at Sr Frango's. We left Faro and stayed in Lisbon a night before flying to Geneva. Geneva was shit. Insanely expensive. Tom got stuck in the hotel lift which was rather amusing, but handled terribly by the hotel. Thankfully, we were then on our way to my favourite place in the world, Zermatt. Zermatt is so unbelievably stunning, but skiing is really hard. I've learnt many a time, but still struggle with the fear. And the pain. Ski boots are ghastly things. We had the best time and I really did not want to come home.
And at the end of this month, we're off to Mallorca. My other favourite place in the world. With my favourite people in the world. Where we'll be visiting a wedding venue or two eeeeeeeeeeee.
I've had a ridiculously good time. And money comes and goes. But next year I shall definitely not be taking so much time off work so shortly after the most expensive time of year (Christmas, Christmas furlough, tax return season, etc etc). I am stressed hehe.
I started to feel quite terrible towards the end of the Zermatt trip and ended up with a gnarly chest infection, which has made the usual holiday blues 100000x worse. Separately, I had a scan last week and they found a maaaaaassive cyst on my ovary and I've now been fast tracked for a bunch of further (scary and invasive) testing. And my Nan is very unwell. So I'm fairly down in the dumps at the moment. Thankfully, I have the best support network in the world.
The chest infection & cyst situation have meant I haven't really had chance to exercise, and exercising is the main thing that helps me feel in control of my routine, especially when I'm travelling a lot. Hoping to ease back in ASAP.
Work
It's a funny time of year for contractors/ freelancers working in the public sector isn't it? Lots of talk of the future. Budget cuts and layoffs as well. This is my 5th March as a public sector contractor, so I'm fairly used to the uncertainty, but I'm definitely not immune to The Fear of this time of year.
I love where I'm working and who I'm working with. And my contract's not currently in jeopardy. Yay!
I'm really excited for Services Week and I'm going to make sure I attend a bunch of talks. Full agenda here. I always find these things really inspiring. Wish I could attend some in person stuff though.
Dwellings
I've been doing user research for 6 and a half years now. Thankfully due to the variable nature of the job, it's enough to keep me on my toes. And I need kept on my toes. However, I can't help but feel a little bit stagnant at the moment. I guess this is where the guidance of a line manager or similar is useful. I know that I definitely want to continue being a researcher, and I don't have a massive appetite to go into management (though I love coaching and mentoring) because I want to continue being a practitioner.
The urge to go and do another Master's is strong. But ultimately, I'm not sure thats what I really want either. I have been helping a friend who's hiring a researcher. And being involved in the interviews and interview planning has been really fun. I'd love to do more little bits on the side like that.
Wedding planning
Invites have gone out for our legal ceremony in November. We plan to get married abroad and sorting the legal stuff out in the UK makes our lives a hell of a lot easier. We've booked the circle room in Brixton town hall. It's bloody gorgeous and I'm so excited.
I've spent the last couple of months on the hunt for an outfit and I'm getting absolutely NO WHERE. I don't want to spend thousands (I'll save that for the Main Event) but I do wanna look amazing. I've tried quite a few things from my usual faves (Rixo, Reformation etc etc) but everything has been utterly crap and nothing fits my boobs. Also brands seem to double the price for the exact same item if its remotely bridal i.e. white. LAME. If anyone reads this far and has any suggestions please please PLEASE let me know. I would like to wear white, but I'm not opposed to a little LBD and love this look:
Reading, watching, listening
I absolutely loved the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid and Animal by Lisa Taddeo. I'm looking forward to reading book club book Wondering Souls by Cecile Pin.
Can't wait to watch the reunion ep for the latest season of Love is Blind. I'm a bit tired of murder docu's so watching some trash has been nice.
Loving The Dollop Podcast and planning on listening to When the Body Says No by Gabor Maté.