And just like that, it’s a new year. Hello 2017! December was a busy, fun, stressful month.

Adventures (i.e. Christmas!)

I only left Manchester once, and that was for Christmas. Rich and I spent Christmas Eve with some of Rich’s family, then Christmas day and a few days afterwards with some of my family. It was nice, nothing extravagant but lots of food and relaxing, and I even managed to catch up with a few friends.

I got some really nice presents also, in particular from Rich and from my little sister.

Food

I ate many delicious meals in December but it would seem I didn’t take any pictures – or any decent pictures anyway. These meals included:

• Manchester Smokehouse: I didn’t actually love this and wouldn’t rush back, but I can’t complain about the ginormous portion of nachos I consumed
• Sandinista: Nothing particularly special but I grabbed some tasty tapas dishes here – nothing memorable!
• Hawksmoor: I took Rich to Hawksmoor for his birthday and it was, of course, excellent. We shared the pork belly ribs and potted beef with Yorkshires for a main, then he had the fillet steak with fries, I had the burger with fries and we shared a portion of mac & cheese, then we shared the dessert that it is essentially a gigantic Ferrero Rocher. I loved everything
• Squid Ink: This was sensational. Really, so good. Pricey but not unreasonable overall, especially for the excellent quality of food, and the lovely experience of eating there
• Cottonopolis: It’s been a while since I ate here and it’s just as good as it was. The tuna tartare, pork belly, and salmon nigiri were all particularly amazing

I also went to Grub and ate a deep fried calzone which really made me very happy.

Books

I finished reading We Have Always Lived in the Castle which I liked, but I’m not sure I ‘got’ it. It was very readable though and very creepy which is what I wanted from it. Then I read Evelyn, After which was very readable although I didn’t love the story overall.

Fitness

As expected for ~the festive season~ I didn’t do a huge amount of exercise, as I was just too snowed under with food and booze really. Over the whole month I only managed nine workouts, and that’s including walks. I have higher hopes for January, although it’s shaping up to rival December in terms of meals out!