It’s 16 days away from my birthday as I start typing this blog post. I have officially entered my thirties. I turn 31 and I’m honestly not too bothered about it. 30 was amazing, a new decade, new possibilities.
I was wondering what I was going to do for this post, but I think I’m going to do a monthly recap of the past year! I love a good year in review, so why not have a Shannon’s 30th year in review. This is going to be both photo and text heavy, so if you want to just scroll to see the photos, I don’t blame you! I try to keep things short n’ sweet, but at the same time, I just want to give you all the details.
September 26th, 2023
I started my birthday off on the other side of the world last year - in Salzburg, Austria. I went with my parents for a ten day vacation! It was a lot of fun and I got to see a place that I had never really thought about visiting. We got to visit a castle (I like to think that I am princess after all) and see the beautiful gardens at Mirabelle Palace. We also got some ice cream with custom toppings - a winning for me that day.
My parents and I knew we were going to Europe, I didn’t really care where we went so I gave them a list of places I had in mind, and they picked from there. So we went to Austria and Paris. I knew I didn’t want to spend my birthday travelling between the two, so that’s how we ended up being in Salzburg for my birthday. The photo below is me pointing to the top of the mountain we visited the day before. Maybe I will make a separate blog post recapping the whole trip.
Next we headed of to Paris! I had been there once before, so a few things I didn’t need to go back and do, however I had not been to The Louvre so I was very interested in doing that. I made my dad come with me to the earliest time slot to get in to The Louvre so we could see the Mona Lisa with less crowds. Our strategy was pretty good, it was a lot of people’s strategy too, and my dad was able to get this picture of me and Miss Mona herself! It was Paris Fashion Week so there were lots of fashion girlies out and about. I didn’t see a celebrity but heard there were a lot around! We had lots of good food and go to see a lot of the city in just a few short days. I also managed to meet up with my Notre Dame obsessed friend, Emily, at Notre Dame! It was a short visit but it was so fun seeing her in her element. Afterwards, my parents headed off on their own adventure and I made my way to Disneyland Paris. Because why wouldn’t I go there if I was so close?
October 2023
I kicked October off with Disneyland Paris and all it’s Hallowe’en décore! I was so excited to see the prettiest castle once again. I treated myself to a 20 euro glass of champagne which made me lowkey tipsy. I got to meet a lot of characters, eat a lot of food, and ride a lot of rides. The trick to Disneyland Paris is to go the last few hours of the night and every ride will be a walk on. I even manage to do all the new Marvel stuff (minus Tower of Terror because I don’t like that ride). But half of Disney Studios was closed so it continues to be a flop park! I also treated myself to a character breakfast and lunch. Meeting princesses at Disneyland Paris is so uncertain, I decided to splurge and get the princess lunch so I was guaranteed to meet them. I even got to meet my favourite girl, Aurora! It was a really good solo Disney trip.
The rest of October was pretty much back to normal. Back to work, prepping for fall scents, waiting for the next exciting thing to happen. There was a new puppy at work though! He was so tiny. My boyfriend also has a corgi so we have to give her her tens too!
November 2023
November was classic November, everything felt like it was slowing down. My cousin had her baby shower which was fun! Looking back at the rest of the the photos in November, really didn’t do too much. Lots of eating, corgi toe beans, and prepping for the holidays.
December 2023
December was eventful! My boyfriend and I headed up to Ottawa to watch Star Wars in Concert, which was his birthday present from me to him. It was actually really amazing! I’m not the biggest Star Wars person, but like it enough to have seen all the movies. It was so much fun watching the people in the orchestra and hearing the audience cheer or boo at what was happening on screen. Especially when Darth Vader appeared, the reactions were amazing. We spent the weekend in Ottawa which was fun! My cousin had her baby and we got to meet him in the last few days of December. He was very cute and I’m very much obsessed with him. I also got started on my Year of Growth journal which I have actively been filling in this year.
January 2024
New year, new Shannon! Or same old Shannon just in a new year. I got eye surgery last month and only discovered in January that I can actually see the holes the punched in to my eye with lasers. No it wasn’t laser eye surgery, they just used lasers to punch holes in my eyes so pressure would be relieved. Worst experience of my life. I got all my journals ready to help me combat seasonal depression. I also pulled out my Canon G7X camera and decided I wanted to use it to take more pictures. Something I didn’t truly start until a few months ago.
February 2024
February is here, which means a trip to Disney World is happening! I also got to see my cousin’s baby again before we left! So much joy! We also got another puppy at work. He was super cute and just like a teddy bear.
Going to Florida was exactly the reset I needed from the Canadian winter months. I got to see one of my best friends, meet her boyfriend, she got to meet my boyfriend. It was like a Shannon dream come true! Double date at Disney World. Not to mention I got to see Baby Yoda. Dreams really do come true! We got to go to all four Disney parks, and both Universal parks. My boyfriend insisted we go on the ET ride… ET is one of my biggest phobias. I was stressed the whole time! But overall it was very fun to visit Universal.
March 2024
I honestly don’t remember much about March. Even my camera roll is limited in photo reminders. I was probably just going through post-Disney depression and seasonal depression since it was still dreary in March. But I had a bunch of food, and found a heart shaped kiwi so I guess it’s the little things that matter this month. I did see my cousin’s baby again so that is always a fun time!
April 2024
April was definitely more exciting than March. We had the eclipse (and my aunt and uncle were visiting so I got to see them too!) Flowers started blooming (always a great sign!). There was a lady bug in my car (good luck) and I had my favourite nails of the year! They were like a french tip but with a swirly pearly colour on the tips. And I was in a NETFLIX MOVIE!!!!!! Well, I was a background actor. My friend Kaitlyn sent me a link to an article stating that they needed background actors for a movie that was being filmed. All it really said was that it was a “well known company” doing a Christmas movie. I assumed Hallmark but when I got there, it was Netflix! I had some fetch coworkers that you might see in an office, a precinct in Brooklyn or a small town called Schitt’s creek. I check every day for the trailer, still nothing yet.
May 2024
May was a very good month! It was my boyfriend and I’s one year anniversary! We headed to Westport to kick off our anniversary weekend. It was a tiny tourist town that I had never been to before, but it was very cutesy. My boyfriend got me an Apple Watch that I had been planning on buying, so of course I had to match the watch face with the Pandora charm he got me for my birthday. We love a cohesive look. I also found an extremely tiny hat in a parking lot at a gas station. I need to know it’s origin story, but I know I never will. I found some purple flowers to match my purple nails. They were so very unicorn vibes! Spent time with my mum and brother (they had sushi and I had frozen mac and cheese). I think my dad was probably on one of his cycling trips. We also saw Godzilla Minus One which was very fun. We love Godzilla in this house.
June 2024
June was a really great start to summer! I started watching Vanderpump Rules so decided to get flowers like Lisa Vanderpump for my apartment. They were so pretty and lasted for quite awhile. Lots of drinks were consumed, from healthy breakfast smoothies to candy filled frozen margaritas, and food too - especially at the Asian Food Festival in Ottawa. I did a bunch of road trips to Toronto for work, and one of my tasks was to stop at the Big Apple on the way back. I hadn’t been there since I was younger so it was interesting to see. They make a mean apple tart. It was amazing. My friend Victoria came to visit which was fun! We got to be undercover diners and saw Inside Out 2. It was raining all day Saturday, and luckily Sunday was clear skies which was when we went to see a local castle. The duck in the photoset was VERY demure, very mindful. She waited patiently, not like the other birds who were squawking and begging for food. She was very brave, not like her boyfriend who ran away the second we moved our hands. She posed for my camera, she was very cutesy.
July 2024
July was another great month. I headed to Toronto four times in one week for work, which wasn’t awful since it was basically four days of listening to podcasts, but the dealership I was taking the cars to probably thought I was insane driving 3 hours each way, every day. Oh well, someone had to do it! My cousin, her husband and their baby came to visit which was a lot of fun! It was the weekend a certain former president got shot in the ear, and then the baby decided to crawl for the first time twenty minutes later. A whiplash of emotions. July is always filled with flowers, which I love! They make everything seem so fun and colourful. I got a blind box from Miniso and got the keychain I wanted, Princess Aurora of course! My brother and his girlfriend got a cat, which means I guess I have a cat-nephew? I’m still waiting for the kitten distribution system to pick me. Choose me. Love me.
August 2024
August was a pretty good month, and the month I decided to make a blog! (You can see previous posts from the month on my page). But as for things done, it was pretty jam packed! I started off by going to a sunflower field with my mum where we got to pick our own bouquet and each pick a sunflower. We were allowed to pick as many flowers as we could fit in the vase, and I think we managed to put 30 flowers in to the mason jar. And we each picked “a sunflower” that had multiple flowers on the stem, and ended up with 10 sunflowers once we cut them off the stem. I think we really lucked out that evening! Weather was perfect, it was us and two other groups, so we had lots of space to ourself. Also the neighbours across the street from my parents had a St. Bernard puppy that I got to go play with for a bit. He was so cute, so small but so big at the same time. I also got to go to Niagara Falls for a work related trip (car show) which was fun beyond the moment that we almost perished on the highway. I also attended a local car show for work the last weekend of August. I’m still recovering from lack of sleep, but I love my job so I’m OK with a packed schedule.
September 2024
It is September 23rd as I type up this last section of this post! Crazy to think my birthday is only three days away! And in five days I will be on vacation. It’s been a really great end to year 30. There has been a lot of food, a lot of make up try ons, and a lot of love! It was also Reg’s birthday in September so we get double the birthdays! I ordered a custom cake which was delish but very sweet with all the icing. This past weekend we went to an intercultural food festival and it was so good. I had the mango sticky rice - can’t stop thinking about it!
If you’ve read this far, thank you! Thank you for taking time to read this post and/or look through the photos. I am very grateful for this past year and I am looking forward to this next year coming up.
Singing off for now.
Shannon