6 Things // January

Watching: McMafia, the new crime drama series on BBC stars the talented James Norton (from War & Peace, and Grantchester) as well as Aleksey Serebryakov, and Maria Shukshina. It’s a drama about seamy international crime and is based on the non-fiction book by journalist, Misha Glenny, of the same name. 

Alex Godman (Norton) has lived his life trying to escape his family’s Russian ties of organised crime. But, after a family disaster occurs (and being a witness to it first-hand), the British-raised son of a Russian mafia boss is drawn in the family business, which demands him to take action to protect his loved ones. He has to face the Russian mob to keep them safe again and possibly will need to get his hands a tad grimy in the process.  

McMafia has already received quite mixed reviews, especially regarding shooting costs, plot and being compared to The Night Manager, which was good if you haven’t seen that yet. I have no problem with subtitles, and I noticed a lot of criticism seemed geared toward that as well.  

So far, the series is decent and with an intense start, perhaps a bit too early to dismiss so I will give it at least two more episodes before shifting completely. It has everything from Mexican cartels to drug lords from Pakistan in the mix of it all. You’ll like this eight-part series if you enjoy dark crime dramas that is as much about its locations as the story itself. Some of the areas the series was filmed included, Mumbai, London, Prague, Istanbul, Moscow, and Croatia amongst others.  

Downtime: I read 28 books last year, but this year the goal is at least 40 to 45. I did not have extended time away for my holiday as I usually do, but I am taking more time these days to just have a good read—mostly weekends—and a monthly spa day. It’s lovely to have quality time for yourself every now and then.  

Planning:  

• At the present, scheduling new ventures to the countryside, work events, and finishing up a few personal projects before planning a surprise party for a friend who is randomly moving to Spain to live, although the journey is not exactly à la Eat, Pray, Love, it’s very exciting.  
• Goal setting, vision board creating, and swatching design décor for an upcoming project; all are on the agenda this week. I am about 75% finished with these tasks so hopefully, by the end of the day, I will be entirely complete. 

Eating: Trying something new and taking out dairy from my diet only for the month of January, which has been a lot easier than I thought it would be. No, I am not vegan but I wanted to discipline myself in a different way for the start of 2018. On another note, I am so happy that we had an amazing cheese platter for our New Year’s Eve feast and festive celebration (which I will share soon). 

New Fit Terrain: Changing up my workout routine again for a new year boost, and now that my ankle has fully healed, I have implemented active outdoor walks in my routine. It feels great to do a hike or take a brisk walk encompassed by the crisp winter air.  

Inspired: Swapped out the holiday music for other inspiring tunes. One of many was this great video I saw before the holidays by Stormzy’s collaboration with MNEK, an inspiring one as well; showing unity despite all of the tragedy that happened in 2017.  View the “Blinded By Your Grace” Pt.2 video here.