January – all 1,842 days of it – has felt exceptionally long. And, as ever, it has simultaneously disappeared in the blink of an eye. How are we one whole month into 2026 already?!
My job has kept me incredibly busy since Christmas, which I’m grateful for. Life is ridiculously full-on. There has been so little light, and so much rain. For someone who is solar-powered, this has felt difficult, and yet at the same time I know that it will pass and the Spring is on it’s way. I’m forever holding two truths at once.
Here is a little bit of life lately, in January…
BOOKS
I began the year with a bit of a wildcard entry, and picked up ‘Want‘ by Gillian Anderson. I bought this book when it was first released in 2024 and it has sat on my bookshelf balefully watching me ever since. I couldn’t take it glaring at me any longer so I decided to be brave and dive in. I’ve been quite nervous to read it as the subject matter – it’s a collection of a vast variety of anonymously shared female sexual fantasies that have been curated by the author (of the TV shows ‘X-Files’ and ‘Sex Education’ fame) – is considered to be relatively… controversial. Taboo. Not-talked-about. Which is the whole point of the book. It’s holding up to the light all of the things that women often keep hidden secretly underneath the surface, but which actually make up an important part of who we are. I found it utterly fascinating, though I wouldn’t be able to say that I actively enjoyed reading it. I’ll admit, some of the letters from contributors definitely made me raise my eyebrows – not in shock or judgment (I work as a therapist, I’ve heard many, many challenging things over the years), more in an ‘oh, really?!’ kind of way. It was an eye-opening read and definitely not for the faint-hearted. I’m glad I read it though.
I needed something a little softer after my previous read, so I opted for ‘You Are Here‘ by David Nicholls. A gentle romance seemed like it might be just the right antidote. I enjoy the way the author writes – he’s excellent at capturing both male and female perspectives in an honest way. Nothing will ever compare to ‘One Day’ of course, which was utterly brilliant, but this was enjoyable and pleasant enough. I liked that the characters were my age, and that it was ‘real’ relationships and feelings with all their messiness and awkward moments. Very relatable and easy to read.
After reading ‘A Man Called Ove’ and ‘Anxious People’ by Fredrik Backman early last year, I have been eagerly awaiting his newest book – ‘My Friends‘ – to be released in paperback. It was a happy surprise when I unexpectedly spotted it whilst browsing in my local bookshop so I bought it immediately and started it that evening. I’m currently about a third of the way through (I’ve cried already) and it’s genuinely incredible. I just love the way this man writes. Themes of friendship, grief, love, art and loyalty are all central to the story and I’m finding myself picking it up to read a few more chapters at every opportunity.
‘Want’, ‘You Are Here’ and ‘My Friends’ were my book choices this month
MUSIC & FILMS
I am currently obsessed with two albums: Florence & The Machine’s ‘Everybody Scream‘ (especially ‘Buckle’ and ‘The Old Religion’), and Noah Kahan’s ‘Stick Season‘ (particularly ‘Halloween’ and ‘Still’), which I’m listening to on repeat in anticipation of the release of his new album – ‘The Great Divide’ – which he’s just announced is coming out in April. It’s impossible not to be fully immersed in both of them, to turn them up as loud as possible and really feel them.
It may have involved a full-scale military operation consisting of multiple family members; furtive WhatsApp messages being sent & received whilst in lectures and at work; numerous devices; a couple of different pre-sale codes; and two full days of stress, but Ella eventually successfully managed to snag tickets to go and see Harry Styles at Wembley this summer (at a not-too-unreasonable price, which was a definite bonus). I feel fairly neutral about his music – I like a couple of his songs – but the three girls are beside themselves with excitement. I’m just happy I get to be part of these core memory-making moments with them because really, that’s what it’s all about.
I took myself off for a solo-date at the cinema one rainy evening to see Hamnet. I had to after reading the book – I needed to see it brought to life. And, well, Paul Mescal *shrugs innocently*. I felt they left out a little too much from the early chapters of the book which set the scene and shared the backstory, but otherwise it was excellent. Beautifully filmed, the cinematography was stunning, the acting was phenomenal, and the emotions were very real and intense. I thought the way they visually created the ending of the book was fantastic – it gave me closure in a way the book didn’t quite manage to do.
AND FINALLY…
Christmas extended into the new year and we had two further mini-celebrations, one with my parents and one with Sophie & her boyfriend. It was good to see them all, the girls were thrilled with every single one of their gifts, and I enjoyed hosting and creating the traditional colourful buffet that I put together whenever we have extra people staying.
The main event of the month was Lola’s 16th birthday! There were plenty of presents and a shopping trip, plus an afternoon of bowling and takeaway pizza with her best friends. Not much makes me happier than seeing a giant tangle of shoes in the hallway and hearing loud laughter from the living room. They gave her homemade gifts and played boardgames until late into the night, and it was, honestly, just so wholesome and delightful. I really hope it’s a birthday she remembers forever. I can’t believe she’s sixteen!
Lola turned sixteen this month – I still can’t believe my littlest baby is so grown up.
All too soon it was time to return to school for the start of the new term… except that the weather had other ideas. We were gifted some eagerly-anticipated snow overnight, which resulted in an unexpected bonus of three extra days off from school.
Anyone who knows me is familiar with my utter hatred of snow and being cold (-7ºC is entirely unacceptable), but the girls were so excited when they saw that the outside world had turned white that I couldn’t bring myself to ruin their fun. They begged me to play, and where my standard response would have been a firm “Nope”, the little five year old girl who apparently still exists in me somewhere decided to join in and play too. So we headed out for an 8am sunrise snowball fight, before spending ages sledding down the hill behind our house. The girls also build a snowlady (‘Sally’) in our back garden. And it was fun!
A snowball fight at sunrise
Happy girls with rosy cheeks from the cold
Sledding down the hill behind our house
Sally the snowlady
I took Lola prom dress shopping and, after trying on a few, she found ‘The One’. I may have got a bit emotional as our eyes met in the mirror – she looked so unbelievably beautiful. I sent a photo to my Mum, who said that she looks like a celebrity at a film premiere (which I wholeheartedly agree with)! I’ve promised her that I won’t share any public photos until after the event as she wants it to be a surprise. I love that all three of the girls have gone for such different colours and styles – each dress has been perfect for them and their individuality.
Mimi had minor surgery in the second half of the month and was ever so brave, especially considering it involved two of her most feared and hated things: needles and feet! She’s healing well & recovering quickly, and will hopefully be able to return to her sporting commitments in February.
Towards the very end of January I escaped down to London for an afternoon/evening. First I visited the Wes Anderson: Archives exhibition at the Design Museum in Kensington. Mind. Blown. It was incredible. He has kept every single prop, photograph, scrap of paper, model, costume and piece of memorabilia from all of the films he’s ever created, and this exhibition is an amazingly well-curated selection of that immense collection. I found it fascinating and visually just so very pleasing and satisfying – the attention to detail was extraordinary. My favourite parts were the hand-crafted storyboards and maps drawn by his brother for each film, and all of the behind-the-scenes photographs and polaroids that were taken on set by the cast and crew.
All the polaroid photos! Plus notebooks filled with handwritten ideas, scribbles, script adjustments, reminders and more…
I ended the day by having dinner with one of my best friends, who I haven’t seen in 18 months because we could never quite manage to get our stupidly busy schedules to match up. I’m really glad we finally made it happen – it was so good to see her. We spent three hours at the restaurant (Amalfi on Argyll Street), eating and chatting and catching up on each other’s lives, and we’ve made a little pact with each other to meet up for dinner every three months. April’s date is already arranged so I’m looking forward to that.
Me and my best friend – the only photo we took all evening!
Finally, I took the plunge and published my very first post on Substack! You can find it here. It’s only an intro, but I made a quiet promise to myself at the start of the year to get it off the ground and to publish one post a month, so this was me honouring that promise. Come and say hi (and maybe even subscribe 🙂 )!
And now, inexplicably, the first chapter of 2026 is closed. February is already looking to be just as busy as this month has been, and we have a couple of things to look forward to as well. I hope that you found plenty of little things to love throughout January and that next month holds lots of moments you want to remember.
With love,
Chloe x
