Happy New Year lovelies! I wish you lots of happiness and success for 2016 and above all lots of GOOD food.
2015 went past in the blink of an eye so I thought I'd do a review of the year, going over some of my highlights of the last year.
I have to admit that with the pressure of running my own food tours business and being a contractor for a few companies I found 2015 more difficult than any other year in terms of blogging. There have been times when I thought of stopping FFID; it's overwhelming to blog and work online all the time and there has been a lot of blogger bashing going around. However, I'm glad to have a supportive fiancé and good friends who know FFID on the other side of the screen. On the blog I always spare you the part where I cry from the stress or panic when looking at my credit bill after splurging on a meal.
I'm very motivated to improve the blog in 2016 and to keep the passion for it. I'm grateful to everyone who read this blog over the past few years, I make sure not to take you for granted as there are so many other blogs out there which you could read instead of mine. I'm also thankful to the Irish media for the many features and mentions I got over the last year, it was very encouraging and always meant a lot.
I will post a separate article about my best food of 2015 in restaurants/cafés but for now here are some of the personal highlights of 2015 which I'd like to share with you.
In January 2015 I left Dublin for Ballymaloe Cookery School where I did the intensive 12 week certificate cooking course. This was without doubt the biggest highlight of the year and certainly one of my life too. Spending three months away from Mr. FFID wasn't easy but my experience there taught me so much about food and about myself as a cook.
February
While I was living down in Cork I wrote a feature for the Irish Independent entitled 'Dublin, Je t'aime' which was published on Valentine's Day. This was an ode to my beloved adopted city.
March
I studied in Ballymaloe until the end of March. The blog suffered a little from my time away from Dublin and even though I did my best to update it weekly it was a quite difficult after I came back to go back to food reviews after training in Ballymaloe.
April
On my return to Dublin I headed to RTE to be interviewed on the John Murray Show.
I also published my interview with Marco Pierre White on the blog. It was quite something to have met him!
May
It didn't take me long to go back to Ballymaloe but this time not as a student but as a volunteer at the brilliant Litfest 2015 and let me tell you I will be there in 2016 too!
Thanks to the blog I was also fortunate enough to travel to Kent in England where I spent a weekend unplugged at the brilliant Innocent festival. Mr. FFID and I had a blast!
I wrote an opinion piece (There's no Such thing as free lunch: Do Bloggers Have Integrity?) as I was a bit annoyed at seeing people bitching about bloggers. Probably my favourite article of the year to be honest!
I also relaunched my food tours and rebranded them as Delicious Dublin Tours running them alongside working as a marketing/social media consultant for food businesses.
June
I unwound in France where I visited my family and soaked up some sunshine before a busy season of food tours.
After our holiday Mr. FFID and I who have been engaged for many years decided to set a wedding date and tie the knot in 2016. About time said our friends and family!
July
I shared my tips for a perfect picnic and welcomed the best contributor ever, Mr. FFID himself who started as a beer blogger with his Mr. FFID's Beer Cellar chronicle.
August
The blog turned 3 years old, I never expected it to last this long so thanks for keeping reading it!
September
I had a blast with my friends and Mr. FFID at Electric Picnic.
I also launched my Delicious Dublin Tours gift vouchers (they were very popular for Christmas!).
October
I ran my first ever Instagram challenge and loved all the interaction with people who took part. I also travelled to Reunion Island, It was actually nice to take a two week break from blogging to recharge the batteries! I will publish a blog about my trip soon to bring a little bit of sunshine in the middle of this rainy winter.
November
I shared some of my favourite food addresses in Paris and two days later the French capital was hit by awful terrorist attacks, it was really saddening and to be honest it touched me more than I thought it would even though thankfully no one I knew was affected.
This was the month of the year that dragged for me, I just wanted December to be here so I launched my Christmas Instagram challenge and also did a craft beer advent calendar for Mr. FFID.
December
I celebrated my 11 year anniversary of living in Dublin and decided to compile a bucket list with so many things to tick off in 2016.
Thanks again for all your support in 2015. I have so many articles to write in 2016 and I can't wait to share them all with you!
Love,
FFID
