Postcards from Scotland

*Two weeks late :)

Hi you lovely bunch! Just a quick heads up, this post is very long so may get cut off if you’re opening it in your email inbox. To read the full post please head to the Substack app or your desktop :)

---

We’re well and truly in the thick of January and Christmas break feels like forever ago. During my time off I headed up to Scotland with my boyfriend and my in-laws to visit some of their family members and celebrate Hogmanay, and I haven’t yet *properly* shared pics!

Here’s a mini photo diary of our trip…

December 28th

Journey up north. Leave at 9:30am and arrive at 4:45pm - our quickest trip ever. Lots of reading in the car, listening to podcasts and chatting away. I adore this time together.

Below: Visit to the posh services, crossing the border and enjoying the view (and being a passenger princess).

December 29th

Big lie in. Interesting morning routine (six people in a house with one bathroom/toilet). Mid-morning walk from the house to the sea - chose against completing the entire cliff walk (an all-day affair) due to nearly getting blown over at the car park.

Home: lots of reading and rubbish telly. Extended family round in the late afternoon/evening. Bed at 9pm to recover.

December 30th

8:50am train to Edinburgh. Very excited - it’s one of my favourite places.

Enjoyed the incredible view on the train, exploring the city, and spending some quality time together (my fave).

4:30pm train home. Loops in, Kindle on, Aidan asleep. Bliss.

Descriptions for each gallery coming up.

Below: The view from the train in the morning, the best bagpipe player I’ve ever heard (who knew they could be enjoyable??), owls (still not sure why), the fanciest decor for a chippy I’ve ever seen, a beautiful street which apparently inspired Diagon Alley (!!!), a selection of delish baked goods (we had a tart and some macarons, which got very squished), the beauts architecture at Edinburgh Waverley, and two skinny kweens in an illusion mirror xoxo

Below: The Minalima store, where I fangirled hard. I picked up The Little Mermaid after regretting not buying it earlier in the year. The tastiest matcha I’ve ever had, and some very delicious brunch with an even more delicious notice about laptop usage. Finally, a windswept king on Victoria Street; carrying my tote bag, a little takeaway box for his baked goods and my macarons - toxic masculinity doesn’t live here.

Below: Basically just lots of buildings. Centre is Edinburgh Castle (where we met an excellent golden retriever named Nico) and bottom right is the Christmas market.

December 31st

Hogmanay. A bit of a disastrous day, tbh, as we were expecting Aid’s gran to come home from hospital but the time kept changing so we waited in to visit her all day - she didn’t come home until nighttime so we ended up not going round.

Pros: Got lots of writing done in a very lovely spot, and also read more of my book. I wanted to reread Harry Potter in 2025 anyway, and after our trip to Edinburgh I was feeling inspired.

Saw in the New Year with Aid’s immediate family and his uncle and aunt. Obviously sang Auld Lang Syne (or what I know of it).

January 1st

New Year’s Day was spent at Aid’s gran’s in sauna-level temperatures. Went down to the seafront to get some fresh air and enjoyed the prettiest skies. Came back, ate a roast chicken dinner (bangin’).

Made sure we were home in time for The Traitors premiere - if you’re also watching please talk to me about it !!!

Headed out to look at the stars before bed. Photo below - don’t expect much, it’s very blurry.

Not pictured: Two deer in the garden which I managed to get a video of. One of them also ran past me while we were looking at the stars - I said the F word in front of Aid’s dad for the first time and was very embarrassed.

January 2nd

Home time. Enjoyed a beautiful sunrise as we left. Had another excellent run, just a little longer than the journey there. Got home 20 minutes sooner than the original ETA and was very chuffed about it.

Saw snow on basically everything as we drove through Scotland, including a Christmas tree farm (third pic). Wanted to stop to take a proper photo but we were on the motorway and I’m 90% sure that’s illegal.

---

I hope you enjoyed these snapshots from my trip! I always love going to Scotland as it’s one of my favourite places in the world. This trip feels forever ago now, and I’m already excited for our next visit.