Best of…
What an epic year of amazement and fun! It’s been a whirlwind of weddings & funerals, birthdays & babies, road trips and train trips and staycations, adventures, snow and the warmest summer in years. Here are some of the highlights:
Adventures with family & friends
Camping (wooden tents!) 
Alnwick (and the tide at Holy Island) 
Birthdays – including my sis-in-laws big 3-0! Setting an example for me =) 
S&D’s wedding… and 
M&D’s wedding, L&N’s wedding, S&J’s wedding! 
After M&D’s wedding, week w/pals in a cottage (gav puked 9 times! i saw a windmill up close!) 
Manchester trip for Parklife! 
Halloween party! 
Lake District w/S 
Peak District w/S – Alton Towers!! 
Kayaking Loch Lomond (eating a lunch of S’s homebaked bread & cheese)
Honorable mentions: Alien Wars in Glasgow; many many hours of karaoke; and my new nephew, Howie’s first year!
Animals!
Bees gone wild! – beekeeping class 
South Lakes Wild Animal Park (Lake District) 
RSPB Pinbadges! 
Me and my new friend! – Fishing lessons 
Running for SSPCA 
Hunting for natterjack toads
Honorable mentions: M&D’s puppy!
Favorite foods
Castle Terrace – caramel souffle was divine! 
Wild Boar Inn Grill & Smokehouse – Lake District NOMS 
Wild Boar Inn Grill & Smokehouse – Lake District NOMS 
Wings as ever! 
Ong Gie Korean BBQ in Edinburgh 
Snack – Hungarian Chimney bread from a stall during the festival. SO YUM! 
Lobster Shack, North Berwich 
Crabshakk in Glasgow 
L&N’s wedding dessert tower! 
..Followed by cheese & meat buffet, followed by sweet shop tower! Amazing.
Honorable mentions: Gorilla in Manchester
Entertainment
Boardgames – Dominion
Videogames – Professor Layton (Azran Legacy, but also played Miracle Mask this year!)
Festival – Parklife in Manchester
Book – Hannah Lowe’s Chick is my all time fav! Sidekick Books’ Coin Opera 2 also a brilliant anthology!
Music review – Hypem review, followed by Pitchfork review
Honorable mentions: Seeing Koreless, Yolobear (who is yolobear?), learning glassblowing, going to Alton Towers!
PBs & Level ups
Passed my UK driving test
Got UK indefinite leave to remain
My first full year married to handsome S! He is stellar and I am such a lucky kid – best decision ever – bodes well for our onwards&upwards life!
Resolutions
#NoBooze2014 = read’em & weep, pals! You booze, you lose.
Scotland’s finest (My top picks of 2013)
Eat & Drink
Timberyard
Ong Gie – Korean BBQ! Currently outranking Shilla, our previous fav Korean
Wings – over 50 flavors of buffalo wings!
Illegal Jack’s – best tex-mex burritos in Scotland!
Lovecrumbs – BROWNIES!
Mimi’s Bakehouse – in Leith or on the Royal Mile. So much yum…
Hanging Bat (pork scratching! pulled pork rolls, and amazing 3/4pint ales)
Arts & Entertainment
Scottish Poetry Library – my favourite place to go (and volunteer!) in Edinburgh.
National Museum of Scotland – especially their Museum Lates series
LuckyMe nights (usually at Sneaky Pete’s)
Supercube – Japanese-style karaoke
Activities
Craigie’s Fruit Farm – pick your own fruit!
Gorgie City Farm – I used to volunteer at the Cuddle Corner
Materialise – learn to sew
Owl & Lion – learn bookbinding & buy handmade books
Further Afield (beyond Edinburgh)
Elin Isakkson glass – learn glass-blowing in Stirling
Sam Burn’s Yard – brilliant assortment of ALL THINGS in Prestonpans
Steptoe’s Yard – if you like Sam Burn’s, you’re going to go nuts at Steptoe’s…
Cairnie Fruit Farm – if you like Craigie’s then head north for this farm’s epic Corn Maze!