You might have read my post on New Year’s Resolutions by now (it’s here: https://ameliaflorencesimmons.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/resolutions/ if you haven’t.) In the spirit of renewal, and making positive changes, and seeing as my blog has been such an important part of my year, I’ve been wondering what direction I should take it in. If you’re a follower of my blog/a regular reader, you might have noticed that my blog doesn’t exactly conform to a particular genre. One week I’ll post a recipe, then a music video, then a TV review. It might leap from an account of my weekend to a post on bioelectricity, and then a comment on fashion.

I’ve been thinking long and hard about what direction to go in. Sometimes, I think it’d be easier just to be a fashion blog, or a music blog, or a food blog. But it never seems to work out like that. I’m too interested in too many different things to keep it tied down, and when I look at my blog, it’s a perfect reflection of me. Sometimes I’ll go in search of a little depth, other times I revel in the shallow end of life, and I always, always appreciate beautiful, strange and amusing things. I’ve elected to keep my blog the veritable mish-mash that it truly is, a cocktail of the things that I enjoy.

So, that’s how things stand. It’s like a blogging lucky dip, you never know what you’ll get. That being said, I do have one blogging mission that I’m going to try and complete, starting in the New Year. Now, every couple of years, my beloved Vogue magazine includes a ‘Secret Address Book’ supplement to the magazine. It’s essentially an A-Z of fantastically exciting places to go and things to do, mostly in and around London. I have to say, I was the tiniest bit disappointed with this 2011’s, because it included a lot of shops and salons. The 2008 edition was a bit more exciting in terms of culture, so I think I might try and dig out my old one. 2008 featured fascinating restaurants (dining in the dark, a completely raw food restaurant), as well as things like lectures and literary salons.

Anyway, inspired both by the book and by my need to actually start engaging with exciting things going on around me, I’ve decided to challenge myself. Over the course of 2012, I’m going to pick at least one place from each alphabetised section, and do a blog on it. Hopefully, I should learn new things, discover new places, and recommend some new places for you to go to. I’ll be supplementing this with visits to other exciting things I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s easy to feel like, now I’m not a student, I don’t feed my brain or try new things.

That’s my first mission for 2012. I’ll be starting in January with the letter ‘A’ (why does this suddenly feel like Sesame Street?!) so keep reading as I uncover some rather exciting places.

Also, if you have any of your own secret places, cultural happenings, or books you absolutely love, send a message my way. I’d love to hear your suggestions.

Preparing for my mind to be broadened…

Amelia xx