New Year. New You?

2013. A year that will be remembered for the bombing at the Boston marathon, the deaths of Margaret Thatcher and Nelson Mandela, the birth of a new heir to the British throne – Kate and Wills babe, and Andy Murray’s success at Wimbledon.

2013. A year that I will remember as a year of friendship, heartbreak and of course, the fantastic opportunity to fly half way round the world and study abroad in my very own bubble that looks an awful lot like a scene from ‘American Pie’.

This time of year is full of reflection and promises as we all try to set unbelievably impossible new years resolutions that even ‘A’ list celebrities and professional athletes cannot maintain.

Even the resolution to NOT make any more resolutions seems to have failed. So I should probably come up with some more realistic resolutions other than to become stick thin and glamorous, maintaining a size zero toned body by going to every fitness class available at the University multi-million dollar gym. Maybe I should resolve to get rid of all my odd socks lying in the depths of my sock draw, that is once I've actually figured out how I would get rid of them – giving them to charity almost seems offensive! Then there’s the standard new years resolutions that everyone ‘pretends’ they will attempt; travel more, read more, use your iphone less, drink less, lose weight, exercise more etc etc. Perhaps I should keep mine short and sweet, nothing too extreme; I resolve to try and maintain my 4.0 GPA and to earn an internship over the summer in a field I’m actually interested in going into…

New Years Eve plans are always left right up to the last minute in our household and vary dramatically year to year; from random house parties to watching fireworks on the piste in the Alps . I vote New Years Eve as the most problematic night of the year! The friends you want to spend it with inevitably have boyfriends who they have to spend it with. The pressure to have ‘the best night of your life’ or even just a good time is immense, and more often than not, the outcome is rather soul crushing and kind of depressing. The most ambitious plans seem to be the ones that always go wrong so I’ve come to conclusion that the best New Year's Eves are the ones that just happen to fall into place and come about largely by accident. This year was no exception! With the addition of my American buddy Lindsay to the mad Barraclough household, there was even more pressure to do something out of this world amazing so that Lindsay could rant to everyone back across the pond and bore them to death with jealousy. After being in the country for less than half a day, I decided to drag jet-lagged Lindsay up to London to watch the magnificent fireworks that take place on the iconic London-eye. Approaching the evening with the lowest possible expectations worked absolute wonders; yes there would be thousands of people pushing up against us all night, yes it would most likely rain, yes we would have to wait for a good 3 ½ hours on Southbank and yes it would probably take FOREVER to get home. But, with each other for company; laughter, giggling and generally just loving life seemed like the perfect way to end 2013.