2020 Round Up: Part 1

2020 has been an eventful year for everyone, but I feel like I had a particularly hectic start and wanted to share and round up the first six months of this year and what it’s been like for me.

JANUARY

The year started off great, I was feeling fresh having taken the plunge to go from balyage hair to a full head of highlights… In the run up to Christmas I’d been in rehearsals for our college Winter Show which was the 17th-19th January, so as soon as we were back in college we spent those first two weeks back in the theatre preparing for the show and then performing, which was so much fun! It was my first show with this college and it was super chill, I think because we’d rehearsed so long it was ingrained in our bodies. It was all going well until on the morning of the 19th, I was driving a friend back to the bus station and got into a car accident. At the time I kept saying it wasn’t bad, but actually looking back it was quite serious. No one was massively injured (unless you count whiplash, a fractured rib and a badly strained trapezius) and me and my flatmate still managed to perform the last show, probably running on pure adrenaline as the aches and pains didn’t set in until the following day. My car was a complete write off though, which I was obviously gutted about. But as we kept saying, it could have been a lot worse and we were incredibly lucky.

The week after the show was pretty hectic, it was my flatmate’s birthday, and we also had a lot of auditions organised by college – my first proper auditions and I did them all whilst suffering with whiplash and still trying to dance full out in heels. It was the most frustrating couple of weeks not being able to move my body how I wanted to, but made my appreciate things that I normally took for granted – and I think that’s been a huge theme of 2020 so far. The auditions included one for Move It (biggest dance convention which actually ended up being cancelled), a dance agency called AJK, and one for the European Music Awards. Exciting times!

At the end of January I also did my first paid collaboration/shoot, for a brand called Modamore. Me and Hannah did it together, I think it was like a 6 hour shoot doing videos for Tik Tok which was so much fun. If you want a good laugh at how cringe some of them are, search ‘officialmodamore’ on the app.

FEBRUARY

I went home a couple of times in February, once for the Strictly Come Dancing Tour which has turned into an annual tradition with my Dad and his partner which I love. It was on that trip home I got into reading again as I bought Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and Me Before You at the station and finished the first one on the train. (I might do a separate post for all the books I’ve read so far this year because it’s something I’ve got into a lot recently and I’ve enjoyed reading other’s posts).

When I went home for half term I managed to do a few open dance classes including Ryan Hayes (classes in Milton Keynes in Commercial and Contemporary, currently doing classes via Zoom) and also took a day trip to London and did Steph Lindt’s Heels class, Madeline Waters‘ Contemporary (I’m really glad I did that because it lead to me doing a lot of her classes on IG Live during lockdown) and my favourites: Unapologetic for Commercial Performance, and that might have been my favourite class of the year so far.

Follow my dance account

I also got my first professional headshots in February, and I don’t even hate them. I think I was probably on top of my game at this point, having recovered from the accident I was back training in the gym and really giving it my all in the dance studio too.

This month I also finished the Loving You Series on my blog, which I’ll be honest I totally forgot about until now! But feel free to go and check that out.

MARCH

In March I had another audition, this time for the KH Hair Show. I’m really wondering how auditions are going to be when we’re allowed out of our houses again, because this particular audition was so big they decided to do it in two halves at the last minute, and it was still packed. Social distancing during auditions just isn’t a thing, part of the fun is having to fight your way to the front to be seen.

So we were supposed to be at the dance convention Move It on the 13th-15th March but it literally got cancelled the day before, and that was also our last day in college. Read more about my experience at that time here.

I also managed to find another car while I was at home for that week, bit the bullet and went for it, and on that very evening it was announced that theatres across the country were closing, which is where I work and so I’d just forked out for a new car and insurance to come home and find I didn’t have a job. So yeah that happened.

So on the 23rd March full lockdown was announced officially, and I guess that’s where the craziness began. You can read more about what I’ve been doing in lockdown in the post I linked above. I also published my home workout guides, which you can view and purchase here.

APRIL

You know it got crazy in April, because that’s when I started running. I got really into it and got on the hype where everyone was running 5k, donating £5 to the NHS and then tagging 5 people to do the same. I was teaching a lot of IG Live workouts too. It was my birthday, which was actually an amazing day – I wrote about it here. On 20th April I started the Shreddy challenge (post on that coming soon). April was also the month I went self hosted on my blog!!

MAY

I think I hit a bit of a wall in May and nothing is really clear from this month? I’d finally figured out my lockdown routine and was just plodding along. I did complete my Optimum Nutrition Course and my Trigger Point Pilates: Desk Workouts, so added a couple more strings to my bow. I also joined the first Blogosphere virtual festival which was incredible, and I can’t wait for there to be more in the future (and for us to be able to do these things in person again).

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve really got into reading and in May I joined the Milk and Sugar Book Club. May’s book was Exciting Times, and I hope by the time this post goes up I’ve finished June’s book In Cold Blood.

I made the best lockdown purchase ever this month, which was the Nintendo Switch Lite so I get on the Animal Crossing: New Horizons hype! I played the DS Wild World game back in the day and was obsessed with that, so I decided to treat myself and I don’t regret it a single bit. I’ve played it pretty much every single day since it arrived.

JUNE

After offering free fitness classes on Instagram and Facebook livestreams for over 2 months, I finally launched a whole timetable of online classes via Zoom, that you can sign up for here. I’ve loved getting back into teaching and am really hoping to grow this community I’ve got going over the summer.

I also completed the TRX Training course, yet another string to my bow.

Steph and Farah launched Rise Girl which is a monthly meditation/women’s circle event and the first one was really special, so I can’t wait for the next one which is on 3rd July! I met so many lovely girls through the event and we now have a group chat and talk pretty much every day.

This month I also finished the Shreddy challenge, head to my Instagram to see my results.

Other than that, I am now adjusting to life back at home having just moved back from my student flat where I had all the space I wanted to myself, into my tiny box room back home where there’s barely space to think.

I apologise for the length of this post, but it’s been a crazy six months hasn’t it?! I’d love to hear how your year has gone so far.

Stay safe,

L x