It is time for the classic annual review..I say classic but the truth is that I have never written one about my 2016 as that might actually been the worst year I have ever lived (starting this blogpost cheerfully as a true drama queen I am!) I was dealing with serious depression due to side effects of my epilepsy medication and having to be assaulted and constantly abused at work (I used to work as a Support Worker=very rewarding not). It was then when I sought professional help after feeling hopeless of not coping with my life and a fear of leaving the house due to vertigo which I pretty much experienced 24/7. There was a point where I had to go stay with my parents back in the Czech Republic as I simply couldn't look after myself anymore and it was too much to ask from the closest of my people in the UK. I was not able to talk about this up publicly till recently..and the reason I am saying all of this is because my 2017 could not have been more different from the year before! I am dealing with anxiety on very rare occasions and I have learned to control it a little bit and will continue to work on fighting it, even more, this year. I just want to be honest from the start and maybe give hope to someone who is at a low point in their life right now.
I would like to focus on the good stuff that happened in the last 12 months rather than complaining (I am really good at that as you just realized).


I have started 2017 by starting a new job as a Marketing and Business Assistant at an interior design company. This job has given me an opportunity to escape being a Support Worker and I have definitely learned a lot about design, administration, logistics etc. I was able to go to Amsterdam with work to attend a coffee festival and learned a bit about sales too. That was very frightening but I am glad I tried it and you know...survived.


Another thing that happened at the beginning of the last year was discovering Nowhere Man - lovely laid-back cafe serving delicious pancakes. Throughout the year I continued my addiction to Nutella Calzone from Pizza Me and developed another one to Naughty Patties - takeaway burgers and fries. Don't worry. Nothing healthy.
First few months of the year have generally been getting used to working Tue-Fri (decided to stick to my part-time life) and weekends off - something I am not so keen on. It wasn't too bad having a routine but I did find it quite boring and the office hours were long and I never liked not seeing daylight.
I have been to several lovely blogger events and if I am lucky and actually make an effort (psshh) to write about these I might get invited somewhere in 2018 (already got invited anyway HA).


I spent A LOT of time on the beach. In the summer I must have been there at least five times a week. It will always be my favourite place. I was there in the sun, in the rain, in the wind...in the crazy wind...


Travelwise it has been a very busy year. First I went back home to visit my family which is always nice. In May I went to Paris to visit my sister who was doing her placement at one of the universities as a part of her PhD (see everyone in the family is a genius - ME in particular). This seems like a long time ago because she is preggers with my nephew..mainly her son but yeah. So exciting! That really must be the best thing that happened in 2017.

My next travels were to Italy with my college friend Lucka where I visited Rome and Florence for the first time. It was hot, beautiful and we have seen a lot. We even went to the beach. When I came back to Brighton it was crazy hot here as well and it was nice being able to swim in the sea again.

I mostly spent the rest of the summer in Brighton and London as I prefer not to travel during the what other people call 'season' as it is too hot, expensive and there are too many people everywhere...besides I live by the sea so why would I go anywhere? I cannot risk to miss that one week of summer we get here.


I have spent a lot of time on the beach...yeah said that already...alone. I have been for breakfasts and lunches alone and enjoyed doing that and I also went for many day trips to London on my own. It is really important to be comfortable within yourself an never limit yourself just because you are on your own. You can have a lot of fun without anyone else and it is especially important to gain this confidence after you experienced being scared of leaving the house on your own just a few months before that..


The first weekend of September I went to an amazing wedding celebrating the love of my two lovely girlfriends. The wedding was outside, the ceremony was beautiful and everyone seemed so happy to be there. The weather was exceptionally good and I loved being part of it.


A few days later I went on a holiday to south of Portugal (which I am actually planning to post about as well...but it's only been what errm four months?!) with my friend Sabina and burnt af on our first day - am I English or what now? Apart from that, I saw wild dolphins while we were on a boat trip! That was mad.


When I came back from this holiday I quit my job in the design company and started working fulltime for MisspentYouth2016 - mine and my friend's Patrick company. We sell 't-shirts for nice people' and I am the brand's manager which is a fancy term I have given to myself. It has been an exciting time in my life...sleeping till noon every day, hanging out with my best mate and you know working a bit too. Just joking, it does get very busy at times but I wouldn't have it any other way and I feel very grateful and lucky to be doing a job I love which doesn't actually feel like a job. People always say you should do something you love and I never thought there is such job for me because I always imagined rules and bosses telling me what to do. I am living my best life out here right now though. I was afraid of quitting the stable job where I knew what hours I was doing etc. but I am glad Patrick pushed me a little and made me just go for it. We both have lots of love for our brand and I am so excited about the projects and goals I am setting my mind to for this year. I have been working for this brand from its beginnings for 14 months before it became my fulltime job so if you are starting something you love on the side working crazy hours stick with it - it will be worth it!


Next holiday I went on was long-promised Barcelona trip with Leny - a friend I met online on one of the teenage social sites back in the day (for my Czech readers - it was xicht.cz). Barcelona is just my favourite place ever and it made me more motivated to learn Spanish and I have actually started taking private lessons after I came back. I am shook myself, trust me.

The last trip of the year was to Edinburgh that was basically about visiting local hipster coffee shops with my friend Nela - it was cold, beautiful and very festive. We have since planned to go on another trip this year so I am excited for that.

I have made a few new good friends and stopped seeing some which sometimes is a good thing. Hopefully, there will be more travels in 2018, more business successes and just lots of chilling and doing whatever I like in general. It is looking good. If you read all of this thank you so much for your time. I hope you'll have a great year whatever you're doing...and remember - you don't have to go to the gym or eat healthy food and run marathons. You can just order pizza at midnight like me. That's nice too.