2024 In Summation

When it comes to reflecting on 2024, I find myself filled with a sort of sadness, melancholy and longing. It wasn’t a bad year, but it definitely wasn’t what I’d anticipated it to be. And, if my journal entries are anything to go by, it was mostly a year of introspection, quiet growth and trying to improve things by just 1% every day. Nothing grand, nothing too big. Even so, I couldn’t pass up the tradition of reflecting on my year properly with my annual post on the blog. This is always more for me than anybody else, but I know there’s many a curious soul reading Daisybutter.

Here is 2024 in summation.

January

I started the year in the throes of buying my first solo-owned home. While this should have been the most exciting time of my life, it was mainly anxiety-inducing and left me with a sour feeling in my gut. And, by the time it came to exchange, I made the heart-wrenching decision to pull out of the purchase, leaving me £1000 out of pocket due to a new T&C that was put in place. In the end, January wasn’t what I thought it’d be: I replaced furniture-buying fun and moving-in chaos with cosy at-home dates, brunch with Casey, Kai and Liz, and a theatre trip to see Stranger Things: The First Shadow with them, too. (The show was incredible!) I decided to start a Substack, which would soon become my new favourite thing. My family and I also celebrated my dog Milo’s birthday at the end of January with a lunch party at Megan’s.

February

Determined to start again in February, I focused my efforts on streamlining my finances (now that I knew I was in a good enough place to buy a home on my own) and upped the ante when it came to investing. I even wrote a guide all about saving and another about investing. I also felt motivated enough to pick my bookstagram back up and got heavily into NetGalley again! Work-wise, I got to manage our Valentine’s Day campaign, which was really exciting. We spent a day in London for some team-building, and I realised just how much I love my job. On the 10th, we celebrated Lunar New Year or, more specifically, Chinese New Year with a big Cantonese food feast with all the family, and a huge multi-cuisine pot luck for Tết. Felt really lucky to be able to celebrate in two different ways!

My boyfriend and I celebrated Valentine’s Day with an aardvark feeding experience at a local wildlife park, which was so much fun! There, we met an animal conservation expert and I managed to put her in touch with some contacts from a former workplace to make some magic! Afterwards, we celebrated with a delicious dinner at Eight, a lovely restaurant that focuses on local produce. We also celebrated my boyfriend’s Mum’s birthday with a Japanese food feast.

March

I turned 33 in Bucharest! My boyfriend took me away for my birthday, and I loved visiting a new-to-me country. We explored Bran Castle, the inspiration for Dracula, ate lots of good food and perused plenty of beautiful buildings. I shared a Daisybutter Travel Guide all about our trip. Soon after, I decided to take a social media break, just to see what would happen to my mindset.

Kristabel and I caught the train up to Birmingham to spend the day with Winnie! We went for dim sum and a mooch around some exhibitions and shops, then ordered Vietnamese food for the train ride back down to London.

April

In April, I went for an incredible dinner at Plants by Deliciously Ella with some colleagues-turned-friends. Alice, Sasha and I had a wonderful evening and the sun was even shining in London! The food was delicious, and I’m already dreaming of our next visit there. My siblings, boyfriend, his siblings and I went to see Michael McIntyre at The O2. I think I remember him being funnier than he was, but it ended up being a fun evening out. My sister and I completed Couch to 5k and I bought some new running trainers!

On the 19th, our chairman released The Tortured Poets Department and my Spotify has never been the same since. I of course stayed up for the midnight/5am release, then sobbed in the gym as The Anthology released. For much of the month, though, I focused on my health as I was now 11 months into an endless period. (Yay!)

May

In May, we celebrated Eddie’s nephew’s second birthday with the sweetest party. We also commemorated 10 years since we first met, and enjoyed plenty of date weekends. Since our summer looked packed, I’m so glad that we prioritised each other. My younger sister turned 28 and we went for sushi. For the first time in a while, I also consistently posted to Daisybutter as well as to my Substack. I also, excitingly, became a Little Free Library steward, after spending the last few months fundraising with my local council to raise enough money to buy one.

June

Oh ho, June was when our year really ramped up and I began to have to get serious with my time. I managed two weekly posts on Daisybutter, all the while getting messed about by the NHS and having to make multiple re-scheduled appointments due to admin failings on their end. At work, we had another team day in London followed by some really fun after-work drinks. Gym-wise, I decided to build on my workout split by booking Reformer Pilates for the first time.

I took my sister to a TasteFilm night as a belated birthday present, where we watched Mamma Mia and ate a themed three-course meal. So much fun and I highly recommend! We went away to Lowestoft for my boyfriend’s stepdad’s birthday and I visited a beach for the first time all year! Then we celebrated Father’s Day with a badminton afternoon, followed by Thai food. And, of course, my girls and I went to see Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour in London – best night ever! After crying in the club at our surprise songs, I had a wedding to attend the next morning. Going from cowboy boots to heels was the true surprise(!)

Casey, Kai, Liz and I went to see Daphne du Maurier’s artefacts in a bookshop in St. Albans. And, at the end of the month, I surprised my boyfriend for his birthday with a Gourmaze food treasure hunt ‘round London, accompanied by all of his siblings and their partners. It was a real highlight of the year and we had such a good time.

July

To kickstart July, I then whisked my boyfriend away to celebrate his birthday in Antalya, our first time in Türkiye. It was just magical exploring Pammukale, chasing waterfalls, walking the historic castle walls and soaking up this ancient marina. I got really into my Reformer Pilates classes and it became a mainstay in my fortnightly workout split. Mid-month, I took the Eurostar to Paris to spend the day with Elodie, and we decided to make it our new ‘thing’ now that life has taken us to opposite ends of the planet: she lives in Seoul but is from the South of France, and I’m here in England. And, at the end of the month, my boyfriend asked me to move in with him!

August

August slipped away like a bottle of wine. No really, it did. We celebrated Amelia’s birthday at the start of the month, then my dog had his annual health check-up and got the all-clear but we had to finally move him over to senior food and add in more supplements. My sister, boyfriend and I took Mum out to a gorgeous local tearoom to celebrate her birthday with afternoon tea. The month panned out to be jam-packed with five other family birthday parties and endless barbecues – just the way late summer should be.

Happily, I randomly received a full refund after pulling out of my apartment purchase in January! And Amelia, Julia, Debbie, Louise and I finished the month by seeing Busted live. Best. Night. Ever!

September

The September start brought with it a desire to stay home a little more. After all, summer was uncharacteristically full of plans! In many ways, 2024 felt like the first year since the pandemic that I really tried with balancing my job, relationship, family life, friendships and fun.

Amelia and I started the month with a girls’ day in London: we went to the V&A for the Taylor Swift Songbook Trail and to Barbie: The Exhibition at the Design Museum. Realised I don’t spend half as much time as I used to in London. My sister and I launched & Chai’s autumn and Christmas collections! And, I also squeezed in dinner at Bubula (completely amazing) with Sophia, which is still one of my favourite evenings of the year. We had so much fun reminiscing our Hong Kong adventures.

October

My boyfriend and I got to see Jimmy Carr at the start of October. I started working on my novel again, and then we finally booked the spa day that my parents got us for Christmas last year. We had a facial and massage at the Hogarth Health Club which was amazing – so relaxing! Then, my family, boyfriend and I travelled to Malaysia and Hong Kong for the final fortnight of the month to see all my family for the first time since pre-pandemic. It was so emotional to be reunited with everybody, to cuddle my Granny, and to meet all my cousins’ new children! Plus, I loved getting to show Eddie all of my favourite places.

November

It was back to reality in November and, having missed Halloween, I actually found it hard to get back into the swing of things. I hadn’t taken a long break from work in years, and it was a total shock to the system. We squeezed in plenty of cosy autumn dates: country pub lunches and woodland walks were the name of the game! By night, my sister and I squirrelled away at preparations for & Chai’s first IRL makers’ market. It was a success and we actually sold candles! IRL! And, at the end of the month, my boyfriend and I flew to Iceland to celebrate our third anniversary.

December

December was a flurry of flu and festive prep. My godmother Cecilia came to visit from Hong Kong, and it was a joy to see her for dinner. What a treat to see her twice in a year! We celebrated my boyfriend’s niece’s birthday with a fairy party, and visited the farm shop to buy our annual baubles for Christmas tree day.

Work was a complete whirlwind! I think I’m learning the rhythm at work now, and I know to plan in far less next December, if I have a chance at staying somewhat well. We crammed in two Christmas parties, and it was really lovely to celebrate our achievements as a whole team. My friends and I celebrated Friendsmas, I spent some time with my cousins-that-are-more-like-siblings, and then my boyfriend and I spent lots of time excitedly picking up furniture and décor, ready to move in together.

In Summation

2024 was such a busy year! I crammed so much in, but ultimately still felt dissatisfied. After all, it was supposed to be a year of setting up my beautiful new apartment and making some adult moves. Having penned this wrap-up, though, I suppose I’m really grateful for my little life. I was so lucky to spend lots of time with family and friends, to celebrate birthdays and milestones together, to go on five holidays, to make some real progress financially, and to start planning our new place together. Next year is going to be similarly packed with celebrations and trips, and with the backdrop of living with my love. It’s truly all change here.


Thanks for sticking with me in 2024. Have a lovely New Year’s celebration, and I’ll see you soon!

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