How are you feeling at the end of the first proper week back after Christmas? My body seems to have gone into shock due to the lack of Christmas calories and my brain is fuzzy and can’t cope with the challenges of doing real work (having spent the previous three weeks deliberating over matters such as whether or not brandy butter or cream is preferable on a mince pie) . Some of us feel invigorated at the start of a new year and set themselves admirable goals. Others like myself, feel slumpy and wonder how on earth they are going to crawl through the rest of the winter without the Christmas cheeseboard.

To make January slightly less miserable I have come up with a list of things to help me shimmy through the month. Don’t worry, for most of them you won’t have to move too far from the sofa.

Read

I am looking forward to reading Such a Fun Age by Kiley Read : Wild Game;My Mother, Her Lover and Me by Adrienne Brodeur and Red at The Bone by Jacqueline Woodson. My absolute favourite book of 2019 was My Name Is Why by Lemn Sissay. It is utterly astonishing and if you haven’t read it, you must.

See

Great Gerwigs ‘Little Women’ is a winter tonic. The costumes are glorious and it is light and easy.( I loved Saoirse Ronan’s feisty Jo March). I am looking forward to Jojo Rabbit (currently on general release). The reviews aren’t amazing but it comes from the director of Hunt for the Wilderpeople (one of my favourite films) and so I am expecting some much needed dark humour.

Make

Remember your parents dusty old photo albums ? Faded 70’s snaps of your Dad in orange trunks? I really like the idea of encasing your memories in a book, flicking through them on iPhotos really isn’t the same. There are some great Apps that you can use to create photo books directly from your phone. I recently used Popsa which is easy and basic but the photo books at Papier look really beautiful. Remember it’s not about the quality of the photo but how well it tells a story.

Plan

Many of us plan a holiday during the summer but I think that this is just too far away from January to be tangible and exciting. Get the calendar out and plan in some breaks at home (or staycations if you will) and perhaps a short local getaway. There are fifteen national parks in Great Britain, I’m guessing that most of them have good tea rooms and will provide a welcome reprieve from the mundane 9-5.

Celebrate

Chinese New Year falls on Saturday 25th January. It’s a whole month later than Christmas so you may be ready to host a party of sorts. Get yourself and your friends momentarily off the sofa and bring on the Steam Boat. More details about Chinese New Year here.

Well we have covered a few things to do during January but there will still be plenty of time to moan and whinge about how dark and cold and boring it is. If you are embarking on Veganuary or Dry January, I salute you. I may give Janu-hairy a go.

Happy New Year

Sophie xxxx