Hello my loves,

It’s New Year’s Eve! I mean, obviously it’s New Year’s Eve, but this year feels a little different for me, as I very uncharacteristically have plans. I’m usually a total NYE grinch, preferring to ignore the whole thing and be tucked up safely in bed no later than 9.30pm. But not this year my loves, not this year. This year the grinch is getting her NYE on, in fabulous, classic Sydney style, and I’m very surprised about how excited I am! Let me tell you how it happened.

The day before yesterday, my beloved and I were enjoying our customary morning coffee. Noting the date, I made a grinch-flavoured remark about the approaching NYE, but even as the words came out of my mouth, something inside me flickered. Maybe this year should be different. As my words hung in the air, I saw the same thought skate across my beloved’s face, and in one of those wordless exchanges that happen with someone you know incredibly well, we agreed in an instant that this year, we were up for it. A quick Google led us to the perfect spot on the harbour, for which there were unbelievably still tickets available (anyone who has attempted NYE on Sydney harbour knows the near-impossibility of this being the case). And so my darlings, tonight I will picnic on the harbour shore, reclining in comfort in my lawn chair as the sun goes down, and the fireworks go up. I’m so super excited. I can’t even believe I’m doing this, but there you go: just because you usually feel a certain way about a certain thing, doesn’t mean you can’t change that on a dime if the mood takes you.

However, before I head off, I want to share a New Year's Eve-related idea that I think is so super lovely. I was speaking to a longtime friend yesterday, and she told me that her paramour had recently presented her with an empty jar. He proposed that each week, they write down something they’d experienced that they were grateful for, and put it in the jar. Next NYE, part of their celebration will be reading through all these incredible memories, and reliving the highlights of the year that was. I thought this was just such a beautiful idea, and a really clever way to ensure a bonus dose of joy at the end of the year. So much happens in our everyday lives that it can all just slip into a bit of a blur - as I’m writing I’m realising I was even kind of talking about this in my note last week, where I said that for me, years tend to end up with an overarching emotional theme that characterises them, and when I look back, that’s what I remember. But what about all the experiences that come together to create that theme? Having a jar full of them to wander through and reminisce on seems to me like an absolutely perfect way to set the year to rest.

And so my loves, happy New Year! May all your wishes come true. I’ll leave you with irrefutable proof that they can, in the form of a manifesto from eight-year-old Rachel that I found in a recent clean-out:

*In my defence, the Fergie-Andrew royal wedding had just happened at this point, rendering me obsessed with princess weddings.*

Yes my darlings, I did indeed leave school, and I didn’t always find it so hard. I did indeed become nineteen, I've had many, many boyfriends, and I will have you know that I am RIGHT NOW ENGAGED TO SOMEONE WHO IS VERY COOL AND WITH IT!! And I’ll be picnicking with him on Sydney harbour tonight. Sending you all my love until we meet again in 2022 💛.

Love, Rachel xxx