Firstly, this blog post is SO late! It has taken me what seems like forever to put together and it became such a task that I kept putting it off. That, along with the fact I’ve just revamped by blog (please say you like it) is why, I do apologise!
Secondly, this is a long one, so you might want to grab a cup of tea…
At the start of every year I write a summary post of the previous 12 months with it’s highlights and my new year’s resolutions. I wanted to do something a little bit different for 2017 as it was such a great year and I wanted to document it to look back on in years to come!
I’ve decided to write my highlights and lowlights of the year in this ‘2017’ summary diary and I’ll be back with my resolutions in a couple of days! Without further ado, let’s get started…
(You can read previous year round ups here: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)
JANUARY
2017 got off to a slow start. I was still living with my ex whilst we worked out what to do (an awful situation to be in) and looking back at this time, I was very sad but trying to keep positive. I tried to keep busy so spent lots of time with my family and also booked in for a photoshoot with Alex Cameron for a blog post about the end of my relationship (which you can read here) which made me start to feel in control once more.
Jan was also the month I cancelled my wedding (read how I did this here!) but also started doing little things each day for me – meditating using the headspace app & also treating myself to manicure’s and lots of bubble baths.
I went away for a long weekend to the magical Belle Grove for my sister’s birthday where we played lots of card games, did karaoke, drank lots and I forgot about my woes for a short time!
My grandad spent some time in hospital in January too which was a worrying start to the year, we visited him with my cousin & her beautiful baby mid-month and I’m glad to say he’s doing great now, thank goodness!
FEBRUARY
Feb is when things started really picking up! My ex moved out so I spring cleaned the house (in preparation to have a housemate move in) and started living alone!
Also at the start of February I finally finished my 9 month course of Roaccutane. My skin was finally clear, the side effects started diminishing and my confidence came bouncing back.
This really felt like the fresh start I needed and once my mood was up, great things started happening!
A campaign I shot with L’Oreal at the end of 2016 came out and I kept spotting myself in Superdrug stores which was SO surreal. I had a hair makeover by the incredible Samantha Cusick at her salon, we went for a lilacy-grey shade and I was also contacted by Ben Mundy at BBC Newsbeat about potentially presenting a documentary about acne. After a meeting, it was agreed to go ahead and we began filming straight away!
I travelled the UK with Ben and BBC camera men, visiting people who had been really affected by acne to try and find out how people still manage to feel great about themselves despite having bad skin. I feel so nostalgic about this time of my life and wish I could do it all over again now.
Whilst filming in Edinburgh, I also found out that my little sister Becky got engaged to her boyfriend of 8 years in Marrakech that day! We celebrated that evening in the city center with jaeger bombs (after finishing filming for the day, obviously!)
MARCH
I didn’t think things could get much better than in February, until March came along. Whilst filming for my documentary, I landed my DREAM job and was whisked away to Paris to shoot a hair campaign for L’Oreal Colorista. This was honestly a dream come true and I had to pinch myself to believe it was happening to little old me. My hair was dip-dyed blue for the job which I adored and I can not wait for you to see the finished result (hopefully in the next few months of 2018!)
My BBC Newsbeat documentary came out and I spent the launch date doing promo which was some of the most nerve-wracking but exciting things I’ve ever done. I went on the Victoria Derbyshire Show (and nearly cried on live telly as I felt so emotional about my acne journey), did a Facebook Live for BBC Newsbeat and was live on Radio 1!
Also in March I took my mum and sister to their first blogger event which we loved; Mum had a manicure, we had our fortunes told and we left the event very tipsy!
I also landed another dream job this month with Fiat (the brand of my first ever car) and I filmed my favourite brand-video to date with the incredible Kyle Galvin. I absolutely love the work we produced together on this dreamy job and would love to do more like this in the future.
APRIL
April was a quiet month and provided a much needed break after the two previous (manic) months.
I had a trip to the hospital for my colonoscopy (I vlogged the whole experience, from bowel-prep to after the procedure, which you can watch here) and after 6 biospies and 36 hours without food, I’m glad to say the results came back all clear.
This month was also a time for family bonding. It has become a Snooks family tradition that on April 20th (my grandma’s death day) my Mum, Dad, Sister and I get a tattoo, and we did something pretty special in 2017. If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll know why I have a little moon tattooed on my wrist. Well, in April, my family joined me and had a moon tattooed permanently on their wrist too. This then became a symbol of family, strength and support rather than something that could have been seen as negative.
I added a quote from one of my favourite books to my moon
“If you ever feel homesick, just look up, because the moon is the same wherever you go’ – The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt.
MAY
In May I decided to say goodbye to my turquoise hair and paid another trip to Samantha Cusick who created THE most amazing mermaid, pastel hair on me.
Two days later, I jetted off to Barcelona with my best friend Sophie to shoot some pictures for a blog post I was working on with Homedics! Again, an incredible job that I felt so lucky to have worked on!
JUNE
The day after getting back from Barcelona, I flew to Transilvania for my family holiday.
June 2nd would have been my wedding day and so my family wanted to take my mind off it and they thought hunting for vampires in Romania would be just the thing to do so!
Honestly, this was one of my FAVOURITE ever holidays to date. Two of my most cherished books are about vampires and Romania (The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova and of course Dracula by Bram Stoker) and it was incredible to visit different parts of the region learning about the history of Vlad the Impaler. Also – the food was incredible, the views were stunning and everything was so cheap!!!
The following weekend, back in the UK, I spent the weekend learning how to skateboard in Devon with Soap and Glory and a bunch of beautiful, inspiring girls. This was one of my favourite events of the year.
Also in June we had my bestie’s hen party. We stayed in a cute little cottage in Derbyshire and it was so lovely to spend quality time with my girls. We had a butler in the buff for an evening, a hot tub, bbq and a fancy dress party.
JULY
Looking back, July was very busy with events. I helped plan and set up my sister’s engagement party which was held in a local pub and it was the loveliest evening.
I was also a bridesmaid for the first ever time to my gorgeous friend Sophie and her husband Joe. It was one of the most beautiful days of my life and one I will cherish forever. Their relationship has taught me that love should be full of laughter, happiness, trust and support and made me realise that I didn’t want to settle for anything less.
Talking of weddings; at the start of July I revisited my wedding venue in Canterbury for Gleam’s annual summer party… I’m not gonna lie, it was difficult. I was worried beforehand that it’d bring back lots of memories & that I’d spent the day crying into my drink but it was actually a great day with a bunch of fab people and it felt really positive to make new memories there.
Also noteable – I had dinner with the gorgeous Jen Atkins (celeb hairstylist to the Kardashian’s and founder of Ouai haircare) and I filmed my Glitter Boobs tutorial which went down a treat! I also found a housemate this month and she moved in so I was no longer living alone!
AUGUST
August rolled around really quickly and before I knew it, I was celebrating my 29th birthday! I had the best birthday weekend spent with my loved ones; my mum, sister and I got so tipsy on the day we all had our ears pierced before meeting my Dad and friends at my favourite bar, the Kings Head in Haggerston. The next day we climbed the London Eye, completed an escape room and had dinner at the Ivy City Garden before seeing my love Ben Whishaw at the Almeida Theatre in a play called Against in the evening!
Also of note – I started a four week aerial hoop class at Skylab to keep my strength up during the summer months, had a great photoshoot for my blog with Rebecca and also had breakfast with Ellie Goulding the celebrate the launch of her collaboration with Daisy London.
SEPTEMBER
By September I had itchy feet and was eager to escape from London for a bit so I took a trip to Marrakech. I stayed in the Riad Palais Blanc which was gorgeous and so picturesque (read, instagrammable)! Four days there was just what I needed to refresh my head and feel inspired again. This was also the first time I had flown by plane ALONE and to have accomplished this was mega for me as I’ve always had such big anxiety about flying because of my emetophobia.
I was also quite naughty at the airport on this trip and treated myself to my first ever luxury, designer purchase! I never in my lifetime thought I would ever own a designer bag or splurge a big amount of money on a material item but I decided that I deserved it (after having a brilliant year so far) and so left with a black Mulberry Darly. It’s true love!
In September I also worked on the Stand Up To Cancer live stream with YouTube where I took part in a ‘trampolining makeup challenge’ with Lucy presented by Sam Thompson which was a hilarious way to raise awareness of the charity AND I hit 90k subscribers on my YouTube channel which was a dream come true!
OCTOBER
October was a quiet month where I mainly focused on producing some great Halloween content. I created three looks which I’m really proud of (I’m already planning 2018’s looks)! Speaking of Halloween, I hosted my first little house party with my best friends where we did face paint, made spooky cocktails and then visited my local pub!
I also took another trip to my fav Sam Cusick salon for a much needed lilac hair refresh and took my mum on a spa trip to the Bedforshire Lodge Hotel. I had a terrible cold over the trip but being able to spend quality time with my mum and have a spa day pamper was just what I needed!
NOVEMBER
November was a month for family, friends and blogger events! I took my sister to an overnight stay at London Zoo which was incredible (you can watch the vlog here)! We had an evening tour of the zoo, fed the nocturnal animals and slept within close proximity to the lion’s den which I will never forget.
I started my first ever book club in November (something I’ve always wanted to do) with my family, sister’s fiance and four of his friends. We’ve started having monthly meet-ups where we eat, get drunk and discuss each month’s book.
I went to SO many blogger events in November and they were all amazing – Kiehls, Too Faced, Urban Outfitters, Ciate, M&S and biscuiteers, Chantecaille… I feel so lucky to be able to work with such wonderful brands.
This was also the month that I joined the gym and I’ve been approximately ONCE since then… ahha
DECEMBER
There’s only one thing I can say about December and that is – vlogmas. Vlogmas took over my entire Christmas month and whilst it was worth it to look back on for memories, it was non stop stressful and super tiring! I really don’t know how daily vloggers do it as filming your day, editing at the end of each one and then uploading is hard enough, let alone finding other fun entertaining things to do to keep the videos interesting to watch!
Saying that I did get up to some great things; I had a couple of reunions with old friends, went to two gigs, lots of meals out, christmas parties and lots of mulled wine. The Gleam Christmas party was also a highlight of the month, dancing the night away with my managers and friends was just perfect.
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Well, that was bloody long wasn’t it!! Big love to those of you who made it to the end. It was a wonderful year in all and I’m really looking forward to what 2018 has in store. Now all we need is for January to hurry up (hasn’t this been just the longest month ever!).
Lots of love
Katie xxxx
Looks like you had an amazing year! Let’s hope 2018 is even better 🙂
When you and your family went to Romania, which airport/city did you fly into?
Wonderful post! I am an avid weekly vlog viewer of yours, so I must admit, I’ve felt all year that I experienced these things along with you. Cheers to an even better 2018!