It all began on New Year’s Day when I sat down to do the annual task of copying stuff from my old calendar into my new calendar. All the usual things like birthdays, anniversaries, insurance renewals and dogs worming reminders, you get the idea. As a task it usually makes me feel quite organised and ready for the new year ahead but this year it just made me feel pretty flat. Was that really all I had to look forward to?

I know we have been here before with lockdown. The monotony, the restrictions, the seemingly endless expanse of time. But Lockdown 1.0 had beautiful weather at least and Lockdown 2.0 had the eating of early Christmas treats. But when it was announced, Lockdown 3.0 seemed to me completely without redemption.

So I set about looking for small things I could look forward to and in a bid to get out of my work-sleep-repeat slump I decided that I would celebrate every “National Day Of…” Here’s a peek at how my January went...

Unsplash - Danijela Prijovic

Week One

Monday 4 January - National Spaghetti Day

I nip to the local Co-op to buy lentils and decide to do a twist on usual bolognese and make it vegan. Decide to go further and buy wholewheat pasta instead of regular to feel extra virtuous. Probably wouldn’t go wholewheat again, pretty chewy, but fun to make something a bit different. Thumbs up for Spaghetti Day.

Wednesday 6 January - National Shortbread Day

Wholly unprepared, I decided to start this new endeavour after the latest Ocado delivery cut-off time. But discover a tin of M&S christmas shortbread in the stack of remaining Christmas food so decide to open it. Forgotten how delicious ridiculously sugary shortbread can be. Decide Shortbread absolutely deserves it’s own day.

Friday 8 January - Bubble Bath Day

Wouldn’t normally have a bath on a Friday as usually reserve this particular treat for Sunday nights. But have a tonne of bath things to use up from Christmas so decide to go for a soak with L’Occitane Almond Milky Bath. Actually a pretty dreamy way to end the first week back at work. 4 stars - would definitely do Friday baths again.

Unsplash - Patrick Perkins

Week Two

Monday 11 January - HousePlant Week

Decide to inspect house plants for signs of life and see they are long overdue for some TLC, so go around the house watering and spritzing where appropriate. No notable improvements by the end of House Plant Week but will keep it up.

Wednesday 13 January - National Sticker Day

I love covering my laptop in stickers so it’d be rude not to order some new ones today, right? I went for this one.

Unsplash - Shane Young

Week Three

Monday 18 January - Winnie The Pooh Day

Type Winnie The Pooh into Disney+ and delighted to see they have The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh which was my 90’s childhood favourite. Watch three episodes back to back and have the theme tune stuck in my head for the rest of the week.

Thursday 21 January - Squirrel Appreciation Day

Hmm. Tough one. Go out on a walk in search of squirrels but don’t manage to find any. Decide instead to donate to the Red Squirrel Survival Trust.

Friday 22 January - National Hot Sauce Day

Debate for too long what constitutes a hot sauce. For example, should I be eating Sriracha or Tabasco? Settle on ordering in tacos from a local Mexican restaurant. Still haven’t decided which Hot Sauce it should have been. Decide that’s a debate for next year.

Saturday 23 January - National Pie Day

It’s a Saturday so have made sure I have the ingredients in to make one from scratch. Settle on a cherry pie using this recipe. Always terrified making pies because you can’t see what’s going on inside and whether it might be undercooked. Wonder for a second what this says about me as a person.

Sunday 24 January - National Peanut Butter Day

Have low key been looking forward to this one all month and decide that after baking yesterday I’m happy to shortcut and just eat a whole packet of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Unsplash - Ines Pimentel

Week Four

Monday 25 January - Burn’s Night

Lack of preparation again leaves me with neither neeps nor tatties to eat. But thankfully I have salmon to make for dinner which I feel is enough of a nod to the day. Also decide to eat remaining shortbread as a Monday treat whilst watching Married At First Sight Australia.

Wednesday 27 January - National Chocolate Cake Day

Have a busy Wednesday evening planned so I made chocolate cake the day before. Decided to try a vegan mix from Creative Nature as short on time and whilst the texture is a little different it is just as delicious as any chocolate cake I’ve had before. Pair it with Northern Bloc Chocolate Mint Biscuit ice cream and it’s the perfect end to a super busy day. Fellow City Girl Rosanna Christou also has a recipe for a delicious Chocolate and Raspberry Cake which you can find here.

Thursday 28 January - Lego Day

I was also super excited for this one when I saw it coming up. Feeling all the nostalgia as I sit and build a Lego police car using a Lego Movie set that has been in the wardrobe for around 4 years. With the Lego Movie on in the background of course. (Everything is Awesome has now replaced Winnie The Pooh theme song on repeat in my head.)

Friday 29 January - National Puzzle Day

Following on from Lego day I am absolutely in the mood for activities requiring pure, quiet concentration and decide to dust off a small puzzle of a dachshund that has been laying around the place for too long.

Saturday 30 January - Croissant Day

Seems fitting to be ending a food heavy month with pastry and embrace the day with a warm croissant and coffee for breakfast. Thus kicking off a day of reading magazines and taking some time out to celebrate making it through January in lockdown!

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Written by Ali Critchley

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