The First 2016 Life Update.

I literally can not believe it’s March next week. March. I feel as though it’s January still, and I realised this week that I haven’t actually really done a ‘life update’ so far in 2016. So, what have I been up to so far in 2016? Well, a lot of travelling – in less than two months I’ve visited three continents and flown a total of 20,172 miles (yep, I’m racking up those frequent flyer points). I’ve also eaten a fair amount of food and been to some awesome parties… 

Travel
Travel-wise I went to Paris with my mum in January and reviewed the beautiful Mandarin Oriental, and then I flew from Paris to Bangkok in Thailand via London for the launch of the new Flute a Perrier-Jouet bar at the luxury Lebua Hotel. After exploring Bangkok for a few days I then flew to Chiang Mai, where I stayed at the gorgeous Shangri-La and had a day of walking with the elephants at the Elephant Nature Park. It was a dream come true!
I rounded the first two months of 2016 off with a long weekend in New York City. It was my first time in New York (and on the East Coast – I’d visited ten other states in the US and never been), and after being a little worried that I’d be underwhelmed by it as it gets hyped up so much, I can safely say that it was everything I thought it would be (apart from Central Park, but let’s not go there – after all it was February), and I can totally see why my grandfather was so obsessed with it and never stopped talking about it. The blog posts will be going up over the next couple of weeks!

Food
Food-wise I’ve been eating a lot. So much so that I’m hoping to cut down on how much I eat out in March. So far in 2016 I’ve tried and tested Barbecoa, 100 Wardour St, The Ritz, Yauatcha City, and The Botanist. My favourites out of them were 100 Wardour St and The Botanist, and the most disappointing was definitely The Ritz! I also tried and tested three of the restaurants at the Lebua in Bangkok; Breeze, Sirocco, and Mezzaluna.

Parties
Party-wise I haven’t blogged too much about these. I had a night out at The Hurlingham back in January for their comedy night, and also a night out with Mimi at 100 Wardour St. The girls and I have also had a lovely evening eating burgers and chips and drinking champagne at The Lansdowne Club, and a Valentine’s black tie event at the University Women’s Club (these won’t be blogged about as I didn’t take my camera – sozza). I was also sick for a good week or so in early February so sadly missed out on a girls night out at my favourite Archer Street :'( this made me very sad.

And the NYC parties? Oh my. I can’t wait to tell you all about those next week!!

Health & Fitness
So as many of you know from my post, When Life Isn’t as Perfect as it Seems, my health hasn’t been great lately. The good news however, is that after an MRI scan the other week we finally know what is wrong with me. I have massive lingual tonsils at the bottom of my tongue that are so huge they’re blocking the majority of my throat. I have a really tiny narrow space for air/food/water etc to pass through, so that explains why I keep choking every time I eat nuts or dry food. 
Because the tonsils have been causing me issues for so long, with a constant sore throat, croaky voice, and cough, they’re going to remove them, so in a couple of weeks I have to go in for day surgery and they’ll do a biopsy at the same time to make sure there isn’t anything more sinister causing it to grow so large. I’m also hoping that by removing it, it might also fix my sleep apnea issue that I’ve had since I was a child!
Fitness wise I haven’t been to the gym the past couple of weeks because I was sick, and then I was in NYC. I’m getting back into it tomorrow though – wish me luck! I’m also trying to cut down on how much I eat out. I know everyone says you can eat out and eat healthily, but I just can’t do it. I’m not the type of person who can go out, eat one fish course, and go home. I go out and I see a steak on the menu or a good dessert and I just have to have it…along with a yummy calorific cocktail. Ugh. So the food-side of the blog might suffer a little as I try and cut down on this while I tackle my weight issue.
Hair
You may notice in the photos in the NYC posts that will go up over the next coupla weeks – I had a cray cray moment in the hairdressers and had serious highlights put in. I got my hair highlighted for the very first time on New Years Eve, but it was super subtle to ‘ease’ myself into it after years of being too terrified to ever colour it. I ended up loving it so much, that when I went to get my roots done the other week I spontaneously said ‘let’s go really light this time…’ and ta-da! I’m now back to being a light blonde like I was when I was a kid! 
It’s a bit strange still, and I often see myself in a mirror or reflection and think ‘Oh shit, that’s me!’. I’ve also noticed my hair is a bit dryer than before and needs more conditioner, but I’m really lucky that I have super healthy hair from never dying it before or using heat on it bar the occasional blow-dry every few months. I have a feeling I may have the hair highlighting addiction now…oopsie. I knew this would happen!
March
From March I’m going to wind down on the travel a little; I have a weekend trip to Lisbon the first weekend of March, and then I’m planning to stay in the UK until my trip to Antigua in May. After so much travel over the past couple of months I think I really need a month staying put, so April is going to be my month of no travel and exploring more of my own city and enjoying time with family and friends. I was going to go to Brazil end of April, however with work being busy and my 10 day trip to Antigua at the end of May, I think I’m just going to have to postpone it again. Also I really want to save some holiday days for the summer! Maybe it’ll be third time lucky? Fingers crossed! 
So, that’s me. How about you? 
Tell me your favourite experience of 2016 so far – it can be anything at all, big or small!

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Catherine Lux
Catherine Lux

Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of Content Marketing at Amazon by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.

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7 Comments

  1. Angie SilverSpoon
    February 24, 2016 / 11:25 pm

    Eeek such an exciting start to the year, and so much fun to be had!

  2. Sophie
    February 25, 2016 / 6:46 am

    Wow sounds like 2016 has been an absolute whirlwind for you! I hope you start to feel better and looking forward to the NYC posts!
    Sophie
    x
    A Story of a Girl

  3. Posh, Broke, & Bored
    February 25, 2016 / 3:13 pm

    Your year is off to a good start! My 2016 isn't too bad either – I've ticked Warsaw, Brussels, Pahang, Perak, Kota Kinabalu (probably doesn't count as its my grandmother's hometown) off my travel list and I'm off to Edinburgh next week for the first time! My social life is a little wanting but I made up for it by seeing nearly all my Malaysian friends at once at my 'Black & Gold' party in Kuala Lumpur. And they say The Year Of The Monkey is a bad year for Fire Tigers like me, BAH! Can't wait to see you soon and have a proper catchup about all our adventures! x

    Jasiminne: Posh, Broke, & Bored

  4. Unknown
    February 25, 2016 / 4:31 pm

    I'm. So glad they've worked out your throat problems – that'll be such a relief!

  5. Andrea Petersen
    February 27, 2016 / 7:28 am

    Sounds like you've had a cracking start to the year Catherine, keep up with your fitness goals and good luck with the op! Lots of love, Andrea xxx

    Andrea's Passions

  6. Honey @ The Girl Next Shore
    February 27, 2016 / 10:48 am

    Looks like a decent start to the year and I hope it pans out smoothly after your surgery. Good luck!

    I wanna try 100 Wardour St from reading your post!

    Honey x The Girl Next Shore

  7. Tamsin @ A Certain Adventure
    March 1, 2016 / 3:04 pm

    Wow, you've already done so much this year – such amazing travel already under your belt! Looking forward to reading your NYC posts, and wishing you all the best for the operation and biopsy 🙂 xx

    Tamsin / A Certain Adventure

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