One of my yearly highlights was living with my bestest friend Lorna at University for final year. It was such a special time to spend together and I’m so glad we got to do it. Many a memory was made in that flat, so many laughs, ups and downs of work and uni deadlines but most of all, it made me cherish our friendship more so than ever. January - April were spent writing my dissertation. Endless long nights sat at my desk or in bed with mugs of coffee and a bar of chocolate to keep me going. Although this was a long process, I picked a topic I was interested in (The Transition from Print to Digital Media in the Beauty Industry) and I thoroughly enjoyed writing it from start to finish (a few tears along the way). It made me realise just how much I love writing and that at some point again, I’d like to work on a project again that entails research into a topic I love. F.R.I.E.N.D.S Season 1 - 10 really got me through final year of Uni and starting it from the beginning was one of life’s best decisions however, I spent many evenings annoying Lorna by laughing my way through each episode until 2am.

To celebrate finishing Uni and before moving out, 2 friends and I had an entire evening of Karaoke and it was one of the best nights ever. We sang our hearts out to every possible song. A career I’m still yet to pursue…

In July, after 4 years of hard work at University, I graduated with a First Class Honours in Marketing. A surreal but wonderful day which was spent celebrating, hat throwing and a delicious red wine fuelled lunch with my family and Kai.

Most days in June and July when the UK had a glorious hot spell, were spent in the garden reading books, gathering inspiration from magazines and working on my blog. I also saw one of my favourite bands The Killers live for the second time, another incredible day - one of the best concerts, they are a sensation live!

Towards the end of June, Kai and I loaded the car up with towels, books and food and took a one day road trip to Devon to spend the day the beach. The weather was utterly glorious at 32 degrees (one of the hottest days of the year) and we set up camp at about 10:30am, heading home around 7pm. We spent the day reading, tanning, chatting, swimming and eating a picnic. An English Summers day at it’s finest.

The last weekend in June, I celebrated one of my nearest and dearest Chloe’s, 22nd birthday with our close girlfriends. We had a picnic on Wandsworth common followed by singing and dancing all night. A wonderful weekend filled with love and friendship.

The 3rd of July was my birthday and I spent the day with a yummy champagne breakfast, a long lunch in the garden as the sun was shining and the evening consisted of the World Cup Quarter Final England game, drinks and a 10pm dinner once the match had finished. I celebrated the following weekend surrounded by my closest friends and family at home with wine, salads, and a fire pit.

I headed back to Devon for 3 days in August with my Mum and Sister for a girly weekend. We reminisced, laughed, swam in the freezing cold sea, huddled on a rainy beach in our bikinis with mugs of coffee to keep warm. A weekend I’ll remember forever.

I ended Summer with a week in one of the most beautiful parts of the country; Falmouth. Very much a relaxing end to the Summer and despite the hot spell having ended by then, days could still be spent with bare legs. We explored the local area with many a trip to the farm shop to pick up scones and clotted cream, played board games, table tennis, watched films and listened to lots of good music. We cooked delicious meals, lots of fresh fish - squid, giant prawns and mussels, ate Octopus in a Cornish pub on the sea front, went for walks and fully switched off before stating my new job at a digital marketing agency in September.

September to December really has just been spent working, saving, writing, shooting, experimenting with film photography, spending time with my family and a few trips to London for meetings with some amazing brands. I’ve also read some incredible books this year, with my top 3 being:

1. This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay

2. Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker

3. Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton

2018 was finished off with a magical Christmas surrounded by my beautiful familia. Amongst all of this, I’ve been planning and working on something incredibly exciting, which I can’t wait to share with you. (It’s been so hard keeping it secret but I will finally be sharing it with you next week!) Blog wise, it’s been such an exciting year for me where I have been lucky enough to work with and feature lots of incredible brands that I adore including Oskia, Omorovicza, Hourglass, Fresh, L’occitane and Neals Yard. Thank YOU for making this happen.

Thanks to you all for following along with Amour Ophelia this year and I can’t wait for 2019, where the best is yet to come…

Love, Jasmine