
Hi all! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying the festive period! We’re currently in that no man’s land in between Christmas and New Year when no-one quite knows what day it is or what is happening. As we find ourselves drawing nearer to the end of the year, and the decade, I can’t help but feel reflective. I’ve been looking back over the last ten years and can’t quite believe how far I’ve come. From an awkward teen, I’ve since moved away, went to uni, gained a BA (Hons) degree in International Fashion Branding, lived abroad, travelled to some spectacular places, moved in with my partner and found a job using my said degree. It’s been weird and wonderful and I can’t say I would change all that much.
I haven’t just been reflecting in the broader sense but I have been reflecting over the past year and more specifically my 2019 resolutions. On the 1st of January 2019, I tweeted my New Year Resolutions, willing them into existence and hoping this would hold me somewhat accountable.
These were my 2019 resolutions and this is how I got on with them.
Learn to Knit Socks
This is something that I’ve attempted to learn for years and it always left me feeling frustrated. But this year I did it. This year, I learnt to knit socks. And it could possibly be my proudest accomplishment this year.

I have an unreal expectation from myself, where I expect myself to automatically be amazing at everything I attempt. This had lead to many half-arsed attempts at new hobbies as I get frustrated at not being perfect at something first go. This year, I’ve been kinder to myself and allowed myself not to be perfect and to have fifth, sixth and seventh attempts at things.
My socks reflect the lesson I’ve learnt. One may have been described as “fit for a baby Sumo Wrestler” but they’re mine and I made them. And this is now a skill I can work on until I get them just right.
Re-familiarise Myself with Photoshop
I’m going to hold my hands up and say that I haven’t progressed very far with re-familiarising myself with photoshop. Possibly evident in my photos? It’s so easy now to do a quick touch up on your phone using Lightroom and Snapseed, so I can admit that I’ve gotten a little lazy. This is something I’m still interested in developing my skills in and hopefully, 2020 will be that year!

Be More Charitable
I don’t think you can ever measure how charitable you are but this year I have made a conscious effort to do better. I’m not going to list what I’ve done because I really hate the sanctimonious “look how good and kind I am” posts that go viral. Doing good things to receive validation online doesn’t sit well with me but in the same breath, I cannot overly criticise as at least good is being done.

One thing I am happy to share is that a charity group that I’m a part of, Glasgow’s Spirit of Christmas, managed to collected 13,460 presents in 2019 for poverty-stricken children in Glasgow and the surrounding areas. Find out how you can help next year here.
Stop Procrastinating and Follow Through with Plans
The fact that this blog post has been sitting in my drafts for well over a week tells you all that you need to know. I’m going to go as far as saying this is one of my biggest character flaws and something I know I really have to work on. I think this is a resolution I’m going to take with me into 2020 and seriously try to work on. If anyone has any tips on how to stop procrastinating, please let me know!
Travel
This year I travelled to places that I always wanted and some that I didn’t think possible.
For my birthday in August, we booked a last-minute trip to Kyiv, Ukraine. Partly spurred on my overwhelming desire to be out of the office and out of the country on my birthday and partly due to our binge-watch of HBO’s Chernobyl, we booked this trip. I can’t deny that Kyiv was never somewhere on my radar to visit. My limited knowledge of the country was based from watching the news. Chernobyl did fascinate me, however, I didn’t believe it to be accessible.
It wasn’t until watching HBO’s Chernobyl until I began researching further and found out that it’s more accessible than I thought. Before I knew it, it was my birthday we were in Chernobyl and standing in front of Reactor Four.
Kyiv, itself surprised me. A city that is full of history and the most beautiful awe-inspiring churches I’ve ever seen.
In November, Jack and I visited Berlin, to see Lewis Capaldi. A first visit to Germany for the both of us, it was made special by seeing one of our favourite artists perform. And through no planning on our part, we were in Berlin just in time to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. To be in a place in time to celebrate a moment with such historical significance as that was truly memorable.
I will be writing posts about my travels this year but it’s still on my to-do list (see above resolution). In the meantime, visit my Instagram to see some snapshots from my time in both Ukraine and Berlin.
Travel will forever be a goal of mine and I hope I can continue to be privileged enough so that I can travel the world.
Writing this post about my 2019 resolutions has allowed me to sit back and truly reflect on my year. A year that hasn’t necessarily been my favourite and has been outright shitty in some parts if I’m being honest with myself but I can’t say that I’m not proud. I may not have smashed all my goals but as someone that usually breaks their resolutions by February, 3/5 is a good attempt in my eyes. And who knows, maybe 2020 will be my year.
What were your resolutions for 2019? Did you meet them? And what will your resolutions be going into 2020?
Wishing you all a Happy New Year when it comes!
Until next time,
Ashleigh
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I really want to travel more this year! Hopefully I get to do it! x
Maiya | maiyabellexo.co.uk
I hope you manage some travel, even around your own country. It’s good for the soul xx
Awesome post! Keep up the great work! 🙂
It sounds like you achieved some great things last year! It must be so satisfying to say that you can finally knit socks after years of setting it as your goal as well 🙂 x
https://www.femaleoriginal.com
Well done on your achievements last year! It’s great to reflect on your goals for the last year.
I didn’t meet my 2019 resolutions because my year wasn’t great, here’s to 2020! x
I hope 2020 is better for you Katrina. Xx
I hope you had a lovely New Year! Congratulations on your perseverance and finally learning how to knit the socks. You’ve travelled to some great place this year. I’d love to visit Chernobyl x
Sophie
Thanks Sophie, same to you! I would highly recommend Kyiv and Chernobyl, such a fascinating part of the world! X
Some lovely goals for 2020. I definitely want to travel more… but I also need to save money to move out so maybe travelling will have to be kept to a minimum x
Saving is definitely on my agenda this year! X
Congrats on the knitting! I’ve literally just started and, like you, I get frustrated by the learning part of it and not being able to straight up do it, haha! I’ll get there. I feel you about the stop procrastinating – when I thought back to what 2019 had meant to me, there were some achievements but there was also a lot I should have worked on and didn’t. This year = no more excuses. Great post – it sounded like you had a great year on top of an accomplishing decade. I hope 2020 is just as great for you!
Thank you Lindsey, wishing the same to you! X
How did you learn to knit socks!? Written tutorials or YouTube videos or something else? I really want to learn how to knit and I tried to learn with a book but it didn’t go very well! But well done to you 🙂
I have also tried to learn via books but it didn’t work for me since I couldn’t visualise it. I went to a class to begin with that helped with the basic but since there were so many people it was hard to see what actual was happening. I found Youtube to be the post helpful, there are some great videos out there! x
Well done on everything you achieved last year! That’s an incredible amount of presents collected! Also, I have a whole blog post coming about how to stop procrastinating so hope you find that helpful! x
Thank you! This was the first year I haven’t given up by April so I’m taking that as a win! 😂😂
I will definitely need to keep an eye out for it, any tips would be much appreciated! x
We also booked an extemporé trip to Odessa, Ukraine in August and oh my looord, what a paradise! Modern, clean, warm, cheap af, incredibly hospitable people and just something that you can’t understand until you see it. I fell completely in love with Ukraine and actually was lucky enough to meet a Ukranian photographer a week after our trip who now takes my outfit photos 😀 Life <3
I'm also with you on the procrastination issue. But this year will be better, we have learned the lesson, now is time to get into action!
I would LOVE to visit Odessa. I couldn’t believe how much I loved Kyiv, I would recommend if you visit Ukraine again. x
This year I’ve also traveled and worked on being more charitable! I love that you learned to knit socks- what a cool skill!
Soph – https://sophhearts.com x
Guess what everyone is getting for gifts this year? 😂😂 Hope you had a lovely New Year and have an amazing 2020! x