Best of 2015

I hate to use the analogy of a rollercoaster, but 2015 has had it’s highs and lows but looking back it has been overwhelmingly positive. I am so grateful for all of the opportunities offered to me and after almost four years of lilykitten.com, I can’t wait to see where 2016 takes us. Who’s joining me?

As a recap, I’ve been looking back at my Best of 2015 and have picked one favourite highlight from each of the 12 months of the year.

January 

I kicked off the year in January by working on a lifestyle and technology campaign for the fantastic phone, the Huaweui Ascend Y550. Huaweui set me the task of taking part in the £100 Blogger Challenge    – seeing what adventures I could get up to with 100 Great British Pounds (the same cost of the phone!). I spent a long, festive and chilly weekend in Newcastle visiting my sister, Poppy, and making the most of snapping the weekend away on my new phone.

February

In February I was lucky enough to visit London Fashion Week for another season, this time to view the AW15 collection previews. I went as a guest of Vita Coco behind the scenes at Fashion Scout AW15, which was as exciting and hectic as ever! I love the excitement of watching the shows with the music pounding the floor, the creativity of the clothing and costumes on display and the buzz of cameras and make-up everywhere.

March

My first love and first topic I started this blog off about was fashion. It’s always going to be a part of LilyKitten.com and I will continue to share my Outfit of the Day posts regularly. In March I shared one of my favourite outfit posts of the year and gave you the chance to win a Barney’s Suede Jacket. I really enjoying giving away little treats to you guys, but I am selective and try to make sure the items I give you are things you would really use and enjoy. The competition got a great reaction and I hope to bring you more high value giveaways in 2016.

April

My April highlight just has to be attending charity fashion show, Runway on the Runway again this year. In aid of three major charities, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Teenage Cancer Trust and Medcare, this is a fashion show set in the most fantastic location. The runway takes place quite literally on a runway  inside Manchester Airport’s stunning Concorde Conference Centre. It was such an exciting night and a priveledge to be able to visit one of aviation’s most iconic symbols, Concorde – and sit in the Queen’s official seat, no less!

May 

In May I was invited to try Suqqu in Selfridges Exchange Square Manchester to try out a new Gankin Facial. I had never really heard of Suqqu before but when I was introduced to the Asian brand, I just couldn’t get enough. I’m so grateful for opportunities like this to open my eyes to new and more unusual beauty collections.

June

Although it’s usually a little quieter in Summer, my June was pretty busy and so it was hard to pick a highlight. Although seeing Wicked the Musical at The Lowry was definitely a highlight of my year, I decided to include the Next Lingerie Launch at Manchester Arndale as my top pick. Not only were we treated to a preview of the brand new Next Lingerie department and given the chance to try out our very own piece, we were spoilt by an amazing dinner at the new 5 Star Hotel Gotham in Manchester. Look at that beautiful view of our city!

July

July also turned out to be a hectic month and again, it was so hard to pick my favourite highlight. This year I wanted to add a greater variety and professionalism to my blog, so following a redesign to my site in July, I kept lilykitten.com full of new content. I want to shout to my visits to the Bali Health Lounge and The Alchemist in Manchester, but as an advocate of local talent, I have chosen the Manchester International Festival 2015 as my July pick. I accompanied the bi-annual festival of art and culture with Boohoo, seeing FlexN at the Old Granada Studios; an experience which was eye-opening and memorable.

August

August was cruise month! My once in a lifetime holiday on the NCL Epic Western Mediterranean Cruise took place in August and was pretty much what I had been waiting for the entire year.  Honestly, I feel so lucky to have experienced such a fantastic 2 weeks with my family and I will treasure the memories for ever. If I ever feel a little down I just thinking about this time and everything feels instantly better. It was unforgettable.

September

In 2015 I really wanted to expand my blog. Not only in design and content, but by expanding my post categories to reflect more of the things I enjoy in life and delve greater into my lifestyle. To reflect this, I started adding more days out, bars and restaurant reviews and September saw me attend the Prezzo Manchester Deansgate restaurant launch. I made a real effort to improve my food photography and I’m proud of the photos and information included in this blog post (plus, it brings back fantastic and delicious memories!).

October

October saw me undertake one of my biggest blogging projects yet; working directly with Tommy Hilfiger! For a week in October, I held a Tommy Hilfiger x Lily Kitten Takeover Week, where I published posts such as my House of Fraser Tommy Hilfiger shopping tips and my Fall Winter 2015 wishlist. My two favourite posts were my celebration of the limited edition Tommy Hilfiger 30th Anniversary and a whole Tommy Hilfiger Outfit of the Day, offering a designer discount to you guys, too.

November

November – the month my life changed forever. Hello, Lazy Sonny Days! My precious little angel that saved me in so many ways. Sonny is the best thing that has ever happened to me. He’s my shadow and after so many years of waiting and wishing for a pug baby, I finally found the perfect fur child for me. I couldn’t be more happy or grateful. This babe is definitely a Best of 2015.

December

I ended 2015 on a high by making new plans for the future, and working with one of my favourite companies; Manchester Arndale. Manchester Arndale are always a pleasure to work with and having visited their Christmas Advert Video Shoot    arlier in the year, I got the chance to make something similar of my own! #ChristmasVloggersEdit saw me film a Youtube video live on a set in front of thousands of passers-by on a very busy Saturday afternoon. Christmas shoppers stopped to interact and it was such a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I hope to work further with Manchester Arndale in 2016; as an icon of Manchester I always feel so proud to be able to collaborate with them as a local gal.

So, let’s cut the cake and toast a slice to 2015. Looking back at the Best of 2015, it’s given me real motivation to look forwards to 2016 and see how I can build on this year. If I am lucky enough to have even half the opportunities of last year I would be delighted.

You can read more about my 2016 hopes here, but in short, I’m excited to travel to new places (here’s hoping Norway) and new bars and coffee shops (with Sonny in tow) and to experiencing new products and places. If things get too busy again, I plan to make some more time to pamper myself. In fact, I recently stumbled across Urban Retreat and realised they have a spa in Harrods, London (talk about luxury!). As well as selling some amazing products, they also offer some amazing treatments which look to die for. I hope to try out some relaxing experiences this year, as well as the busy ones of 2015.

Happy New Year, kittens. Let’s make it a good one!