1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Ate snails. Wore (fake) ugg boots. Moved in with a boy.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next this year?
I didn’t make new year’s resolutions, but I did make a bunch on my 25th birthday. Out of ten, I’ve managed to keep two of them. This is why I haven’t made any this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yep! Cecily was born in December. She’s gorgeous, just like her parents.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, I got off lightly this year.

5. What countries did you visit?
America.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
More time to do all the stuff I want to do. More money to fund it. More holidays to forget about all of it for a bit.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
For very selfish reasons; April 10th (my last day at Shiny Media), April 20th (my first day at The Nod) and August 10th, the day we got the keys to the new flat.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Surviving the first half of the year.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I left a lot of things unfinished, especially my own projects. That said, I think after so many years of living for my work, I quite enjoyed having a bit of time away from the computer, even if a lot of it was just spent lazing in front of the telly.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope, nothing major.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Tough one. It’s a tie between the sofa and the bed. Both get plenty of use!

12. Where did most of your money go?
See above! Also the trip to Vegas, and plenty of clothes along the way.

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Going to Vegas, mainly!

14. What song will always remind you of 2009?
‘I’m Yours’ by Jason Mraz. I first heard him perform it about four years ago, but in 2009 you couldn’t move without hearing it. Apparently it spent the whole year in the top 100 singles chart, so that’ll be why.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder?
A lot happier. I was massively stressed this time last year.

b) thinner or fatter?
I don’t think there’s much in it. I’ve managed to stay just on the wrong side of chubby all year.

c) richer or poorer?
Richer. For now! Clearing my credit card in November debt was a big accomplishment!

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Working on my own stuff, writing my ill-fated novel, spending time with friends.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worrying about stuff that’s not my problem.

18. Did you fall in love in 2009?
I was already in love.

19. What was your favourite TV program?
There were a few I loved: Castle, Misfits, the Torchwood 5-parter, and I finally started watching The Wire.

20. What was the best book you read?
Daphne DuMaurier’s Jamaica Inn. Hilariously over the top Gothic fabulousness I should have read years ago.

21. What was your favorite film of this year?
For unashamed action fun, Star Trek and the accidentally hilarious 2012. I also really enjoyed In The Loop and 500 Days of Summer.

22. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 26, and I didn’t do very much at all, just dinner with some Very Important People In My Life.

23. What kept you sane?
Fab friends, amazing family, lovely boyfriend.

24. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I had a bit of a thing for Aidan Turner. Why? Um…just look at him!

25. Who did you miss?
Kim. I miss Kim and I WANT HER BACK. For those who don’t know, Kim worked on Catwalk Queen with me (and continues to edit it now) but she now does so from Australia. Lucky Australia.

26. Who was the best new person you met?
I met loads of lovely people this year, but I will single out the team behind Domestic Sluttery. What an amazing, talented bunch of women.

Have a fantastic 2010, everyone. I hope this year is bigger and better than ever.

I’m not making any resolutions this year, and I won’t talk of plans and schemes and big ideas for the next 12 months because right now I’m just enjoying a bit of time off and not thinking about all that.

But all that will change soon enough…

The last time I went to Paris, I saw Eurostar, a cab, the inside of a posh hotel, a cab, and Eurostar again. I didn’t get to climb the Eiffel tower, I didn’t break into song on the steps of the Sacre Coeur (though I may have done that in my youth, surrounded by my school choir friends) I didn’t get to queue for ages at the Louvre, and I definitely didn’t get my wallet nicked out of my back pocket on the metro (*coughDadcough*).

I wasn’t, you dirty minded fools, there for a quick hotel suite ‘rendezvous’ (look! I used some French). I was actually at a blogger event for a skincare brand. It was lovely being taken to Paris, but the truth is I could have been anywhere. The only evidence that I was in Paris was the incredibly well-dressed PR person and the tiny portions of incredibly rich food we were served.

So I would love to go back. And this time I’d like to have the time to properly explore the places I’ve only seen from cabs or coaches in the past. I might even get to put that oft-forgotten French A’level to good use.

The Paris trip I’d like would be just like one of my favourite films, Funny Face. I would look like Audrey Hepburn, my boyfriend would be able to dance like Fred Astaire, and there would be a lot of pink, a lot of fun and more aspirational fashion than the latest issue of Vogue. I wouldn’t go as far as to pose in front of famous French buildings with balloons, but…ok, maybe I would!

The problem with my previous trips to Paris (as a teenager on French exchanges and choir trips) is that I’ve never had the funds to really enjoy myself. Staying in Formule 1 hostels in dodgy suburbs, you’d be forgiven for believing Paris is an absolute hole.

Of course, it’s not. It’s just not made for 16 year olds in bootcut jeans with backpacks and Brummie accents. Like Los Angeles, Paris is a city that’s best enjoyed if you have the money to do things; to stay in the nicest hotels, eat in the best restaurants and shop in the exclusive boutiques.

Hotel and restaurant wise, I’m sorted. My day job allows me to research these kind of things and call it ‘work’. We have a whole section devoted to the most stylish and A list places in Paris, and I’d be printing it out for reference. Hotel Lancaster definitely looks like my cup of tea.

Fashion wise, while I might never fit into the tiny clothing that Dior and Hermes stock for their ultra-chic Parisienne clientelle (especially after a Ladurée macaron or seven) I would definitely make up for it with handbags and shoes. I’d take this woman as my inspiration, but wear ballet flats (Repetto, natch) so I don’t tire halfway down the Champs Elysees. So many snooty shop assistants, so little time.

Once the shopping was done (if that ever happened) I’d head to the Eiffel tower, then the metro station named after Alexandre Dumas for cheesy photos (the boy’s a big fan – of Dumas, not having his photo taken). I’d finish my afternoon in Montmartre. Here I could stop pretending to be Audrey for a minute and pretend to be Amelie instead. This would involve a red dress, a spoon and an ill-advised fringe (maybe).

Evenings in Paris mean only one thing. Long walks by the Seine and a hundred and one photo ops, followed by dinner with champagne and an indulgent cocktail (dress).

Call me predictable, but my tolerance for London tourists having worked in Covent Garden (on and off) for a good four years has made me feel I have free reign to act like one myself in other cities. If I went back to Paris, I would gleefully do all the stuff I was supposed to do years ago, visit all the tourist haunts, spend way too much money and bore you all with 700 flickr photos at the end of it all. If you’re lucky, I’ll bring you back some runny cheese…