Becca Marriner

As blogging was supposed to be one of my ‘ins’ for 2024, I probably should’ve tried harder to post this before midnight struck on the 31st of December. However, Cinderella musings aside, I believe it’s a bit easier to reflect on the year gone by when you’re slightly more settled into a new one. I like to think I had realistic expectations for last year, adopting the ins and outs method of resolutions, it felt more attainable than a drastic overhaul of my personality.

Right off the bat in 2024, I moved jobs to work in my favourite coffee shop – meaning it was fairly easy for me to recognise myself as a new and improved version from the year before. Now, having just celebrated my one year anniversary, it’s still my favourite coffee shop in Edinburgh and I’ve been promoted! My latte art has significantly improved (it was the year of the seahorse), and my knowledge of coffee has basically quadrupled. I’m still really passionate about what I do and will be able to talk your ear off about my favourite coffee origins if you let me. Having a fun job means it’s also a lot easier to manage a work/life balance. This has been helped with the deletion of apps dedicated to my previous role where I was being bombarded with messages quite literally 24/7.

Feeling the freedom of my current job, my life outside of work has somewhat blossomed, I even joined a gym! And whilst I’m not the pink pilates princess that Spotify is insisting I become, I have enjoyed quite a few yoga classes over the past year. I’ll be the first to admit that my attendance has dwindled in recent months but with August in Edinburgh being the most gruelling period for all hospitality staff, it’s hard to motivate yourself to go the gym afterwards. Then as a reward for getting through many busy weekends, my shoulder decided to give out!

I’ve been thorough in adopting some other new years resolutions that I set for myself, having watched Sex and the City all the way through twice and further fuelling my existing addiction to clothes. One thing that really struck me about the series was how much of it centred around the friendship between them all. I know it sounds daft to say aloud now, but in my defence, I had never seen it before 2024. Going into it I presumed it would revolve round Carrie and her neverending messes leaving Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte to be supporting characters. And as dreamy as writing for Vogue or owning an Upper East Side apartment is, I’m most jealous of how close they are.

Spending time alone has always been something that I’ve enjoyed. I’m even in a coffee shop sat at a table for one as I write this. This fondness for ‘me time’ has partly come out of necessity. From bullying in school to unsociable work hours, I would inevitably spend a lot of time flying solo so would always make the most of it. But recently, I’ve really missed having a close group of people to hang out with and I think watching TV shows such as Friends or Sex and the City has only amplified that. My friends have been trickling out of Edinburgh to move for fantastic jobs, masters degrees or even to buy a flat! I’m so happy for them but part of me can’t help but feel left behind.

I think being 24 is just a weird age like that. We can’t rely on things such as secondary school or university to level the playing field where we’re all just looking to pass our exams. Everybody’s life moves at a different pace and whilst I know that, it doesn’t stop me panicking any less. Spoiler alert, I still have no idea who I want to be or what I want to do with the rest of my life and it’s intimidating when so many people around you (or in my case far away) seem to have it sussed. It’s not something that has really bothered me up until now but I feel like something shifted running up to Hogmanay. All I do now is think about the future; What will I do with my days off next week? Will I be doing this job for the rest of my life? But anyway…

One thing that I have been building towards successfully in 2024 was a personal sense of style. I’ve been obsessed with clothes ever since I was wee, playing Style Boutique on my Nintendo DS and fantasising about Odette’s dress from Barbie Swan Lake. I’ll admit I go looking for clothes often whether in vintage shops, the town centre or on Vinted, but I try to be mindful about what will actually fit into my wardrobe rather than just being a great individual piece. Some stand outs from this year include a bedazzled bag shaped like a lime wedge, a vintage pink leather jacket and a linen dress with food illustrations on it. The latter, affectionately known in my flat as the prawn dress, does indeed have pockets (and built in shorts), keeping with my ins for 2024. I don’t quite know how to describe my sense of dress other than fun or eclectic but nothing too outrageous for the cobbled streets of Edinburgh.

I’m the kind of person who will repeat New Year’s resolutions each year until they are actually accomplished. I’m delighted to announce that in 2024, one of these repeat offenders will not be returning because I have finally read War & Peace. All 998 pages of translated Russian literature in the teeniest, tiniest font. A fantastic book but my goodness, what a slog. Were all those existential questions about power really necessary? It was one of 24 books I read last year, the most I’ve read since secondary school, and it’s been so fun getting back into my old hobby again. Which ultimately I think is what I’ve really achieved in 2024, discovering my old passions. Work is fun again and I’m able to have a personality outside of it, dedicated coffee Instagram account aside. Catch me in a cosy corner of an Edinburgh coffee shop, reading a thoughtful book and wearing something fabulous.

A reflective blog post always feels like a nice step in the right direction for a new year. I’ve barely touched on my goals for 2025 so I guess this is part one of two? In my new years resolutions-esque post from last year I wrote about my feeling of existential crisis just naturally fading away and I think we’ve established that it didn’t quite happen in 2024. But other things have arisen out of that, and life feels fun again. It’s amazing how much your life changes when you don’t dread going into work every day.

Becca x