Year in Review 2021

 January: got my annual balayage and distinctly remember walking 50 blocks to meet YD for ice cream and dinner. Oh and there was an attempted coup d’etat  

February: super bowl Sunday and feeling like maybe I was finally getting somewhere… has help moving out of my office and changed jobs. 

March: had more complicated conversations leading to the same place and got vaccinated 

April: went up to hunter and played house but ultimately figured out where things stood and got my second shot 

May: return to something that resembled normal and little but  

June: the first month of feeling free to be around people and feeling invincible and young 

July: had more complicated conversations and played therapist while trying to figure out my own life  went to Newport folk fest for the first time  weddings in California and a near miss by a meteor  ended the month with Bright Eyes and a big bang 

August: more weddings more confessions more annoying feelings 

September: going back to in person training and feeling stronger than ever but also as lost as ever 

October: feeling like my life was blurring by but having a great birthday celebration and deciding to continue one more year of being in my 20s and doing whatever I want listening to my id  

November: meh but thanksgiving was nice and dramatic  

December: more meh but New Year’s Eve reunited with college friends  

Years in review 2019-2020

 2019

January: went by in a blur. Lot of complicated conversations. Started by me. Hung out with Alex and co again in LIC  

February: went to LA to see Laniiii

March: can’t really remember anything particularly remarkable. 

April: more panic. 

May: sister graduated college. First conversation about activities etc. lol. BC 5 year reunion. Yankees legend suite! So fun. 

June: shrug 

July: average all around July

August: Clara’s wedding in Tahoe. 

September: ran a memorial 5K. Had some moments. 

October: had some more moments. Joint bday party. 

November: same. 

December: got my answer. Continued living the same way. Went to LA for NYE  

2020

January: accepted into ‘sclusive society and dinner at Nakazawa  

February: a lot. Valentine’s Day, 2/21. 

March: last hurrahs for 2020 unbeknownst to most of us. 

April: RIP grandfather. 

May: slowly thawing 

June: protests 

July: reunion and protests. 

August: moving and finally getting a real wall in NYC. 

September: Vermont trip

October: birthdays and small changes 

November: more of the same. thanksgiving. 

December: a warped holiday season culminating in being sad. But having an amazing NYE. 

Quarantine Diaries 2020

since March 12, 2020, i have not been in the office.
that is in so many ways when the apocalypse started. coronavirus has taken over the globe and NYC is becoming the epicenter of the virus in the U.S. white flight has begun--upper middle class white Americans are fleeing to their suburban homes in various parts of New York and otherwise. i thought about maybe going home but thought on the other hand, that could just add stress at this point. maybe i will reevaluate in 2 weeks.

since last saturday, i have not left the apartment much. once on sunday to go for a run/walk. last meal on the outside world before everything became just take/out delivery. left again on thursday to go to the post office to pick up the package i had ordered pre-apocalypse.  little did i know last week that would be the last time that things would feel somewhat "normal" (great pie day though).

and now i'm trying to remember how to be a creative human.

Years in Review 2017-2018

January 2017: Escaped DC because of the election... felt the aftermath of the election in all sorts of ways; started family drama because my dad voted for Trump. Bought a lot of novelty t-shirts that said things like "Not My President." Went to Vienna with my sister, who basically treated it like we forced her to go on vacation. I did not go to the Women's March. Started interning at the CFPB.
February 2017: Watched Single White Female. Life-changing. Also, got my first lob.
March 2017: Organized a semi-successful International Women's Day event. Saw Ali Wong with Lani and Katey. Took the MPRE, celebrated 3-year anniversary. Family stuff happened. Space law competition.
April 2017: Ran the 10 mile cherry blossom for the 2nd year in a row, continuing what will hopefully become a long-standing tradition. Decided to contract end of relationship, in amicable, aspiring lawyer fashion. Went to Tax Prom.
May 2017: Started working, again, for real, prepared my liver for destruction. Made the [100 club] at Solidcore. New Jersey Memorial Day reunion.
June 2017: Really tested the limits of the human liver. Went to Gov Ball. It was bad. We were the oldest people there.
July 2017: Id.  + Accepted job offer.
August 2017: Went to San Diego, Amazon Prime Now'd Swani, blew up Swani with a foot pump. Ended longest relationship to date. Went to London for the semester, beginning an awesome study abroad experience. Michelle got engaged in Alaska and it was super cute.
September 2017: Went to Stonehenge, Oslo, Oktoberfest, bunch of fun, met new people, did a Where's Waldo/Wally bar crawl.
October 2017: Turned 25 in London, went on one Hinge date, had weird non-baecation for under 48 hours. Clara came to London, her career changed forever from that day. For the better! Tried to see the Northern Lights. Kind of succeeded. First solo trip. Dad's surgery.
November 2017: Lani came to London! <3 baelationship.="" my="" nbsp="" p="" paris="" person.="" started="" swiss="" to="" went="" with="">December 2017: Spent New Year's in Boston, single for the first time in 3 years, etc etc significant.

__

January 2018: Went to Switzerland and Porto, basically didn't do anything in preparation for Senior Year Part 2. Spontaneously, drunkenly invited someone to law prom.
February 2018: Law Prom. The infamous dinner, followed by losing everything briefly, then finding it. + Hospitality.
March 2018: Dad's recovery. Lima, Peru, seeing Macchu Picchu and Cuzco and having a great time not really hiking, but finding out I'm definitely prone to altitude sickness. Sister's 21st birthday.
April 2018: Baecation 2, making it official in D.C. Seeing Lorde in concert, tax prom again, National Women's Half-Marathon.
May 2018: Going to Switzerland again, awkward trip, getting ready to graduate law school, graduated law school, Michelle's bachelorette party,
June 2018: Clara got engaged. I studied for the bar exam. Everyday sucked and was the same. But I also had more free time than ever before and worked out a lot and started cooking. Watched a lot of Girlfriend's Guide to Divorce and iZombie.
July 2018: Continued to study for the bar, baecation III, freaked out about taking the bar, took the bar. Michelle's wedding! 1 day after the bar. lol.
August 2018: Went to Southeast Asia for bar trip--Chiang Mai, Siemp Reap, Ho Chi Minh city for 1 day. Went to Vegas with my mom and sister. Went to Marseille for baecation IV.
September 2018: Started working, moved to New York, fought about getting a fake wall.
October 2018: I turned 26 and had to get my own health insurance, took 15 shots at The Belfry and survived, going for 16 next year. Just kidding. I'm an adult now. Continued to make life complicated by choice.
November 2018: Cooked a turkey. Worked a lot. Was destroyed by corporate America but kind of rebuilt?
December 2018: Convinced friends to come to NYC for REUNION <3 2019.="" a="" best="" few="" first="" for="" forever.="" friends="" in="" my="" nbsp="" new="" of="" p="" ringing="" the="" with="" year="">

Year in Review: 2016

Celebrating almost a decade of reflecting on an annual basis!

Here we go...

January: Recovered from the trauma of receiving the worst grades I've ever gotten from an institution and suddenly wondering if school was right for me, if I should just give up again... But kept on keepin' on and applied to almost every single thing that came across my inbox and more. Also recovered from speaking with my "counselor" about my options (given the very low levels of enthusiasm on said counselor's part...). Overall, also rough because I was explicitly told that law school isn't about learning, but about a militant pursuit of knowing the format and the rules and the template. Never a fun thing to hear when you're drowning in loans to make something of yourself.

February: Fairly quiet, so far as I can remember... Valentine's Day dramatics accompanied by a good dinner at Le Diplomat. Rocky points throughout, but nothing awful. Leap Year, aka Maria's true birthday, which I didn't end up being able to go back for. EJF Auction (so scared of having to plan the 2017 one...) Also on Leap Day, received one of the best phone calls I have ever gotten. <3 nbsp="" p="">
March: Barrister's Ball, New Orleans service trip, speed-writing briefs for moot court, discovering the good parts of being a law student/aspiring lawyer again. Trying to keep afloat and reconcile my immense fear of failure and innate anxieties with the need to continue to watch a lot of TV.

April: Balayaged my hair, ran the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in awful, winter-level weather... Decided I probably will never have a good weather day for any DC race, between hurricanes, wind, and freezing temps. Started brief week, which was awful and required a lot of effort and printing and highlighting the same things over and over again.

May: Finals part 2! Realized how much weight I had gained... Oops. Champagne toast, study group love, drinking finale. Surviving. At the end of the month, went to orientation in sunny CA, loved every moment. Had an amazing, unforgettable time.

June: Started working for real, remembering how to network and get to know people, getting a taste for real work and how it all goes, living in Boston and learning to love the city that I never stopped comparing to NY... but once I let that go, it was smooth sailing. Brexit! Also, discovered the megaformer workouts and my core was forever changed.

July: Continued to work, July 4th in Boston, hanging out and enjoying the last few weeks of fun and food and booze and networking.

August: Preparing to go back to school and interview with a bunch of strangers who probably already made their judgments based on certain numbers and names on your resume, but trying to convince them you were either great or affirming their belief that you were. Starting to get back into the drift of things, going back and forth and earning Amtrak rewards.

September: Feeling like a sophomore, taking on too many things, externing, getting to know my culture and heritage better. Hitting VIB Rouge.

October: Birthday!!!! Wahooooo. And my first time wearing a completely non-slutty Halloween costume and only going out one night basically.

November: The month when it all changed. Dealing with it. Trying to learn Tax as quickly as possible.  Thanksgiving. Angry t-shirts. Relishing in not having to write a memo for 10 days. But also sad because this time I didn't go to Spain...

December: Finals, learning to ski, procrastinating a paper, going to Boston for one night on NYE, eating more, Austin trip with bae, celebrating and reflecting on the year that passed. 

Belated Year in Review: 2015

This is later than usual, so I'll dive right in.

January:
Still working and living in NYC--weird because it was the first year I had to take a limited number of days off for the holidays and work around the scheduling. I worked on New Year's Eve, and worked from home on the 1st. Went to Alex's for pizza on the first day of the new year with a Veneiro's cheesecake. Bought the Air Emirates deal to Milan. Winter restaurant week! Admitted students receptions, free pens, intimidation, excitement. FAFSA again... Booooo.

February:
Oh man. The worst boozy brunch experience happened--the infamous Sunday of Maria's birthday (which I believe was actually in March...) First Valentine's Day with Alex, who gave me a box of CVS chocolates because I requested it, even though he was going to get me Godiva. Still amazing. Very nice time. Very cold outside.

March:
Went to Europe!!! Milan->Madrid->Milan. Great times abound. Hung out with Landi and his friends in Madrid, lazed about, and confirmed that Spain is my soulmate country. Bought my first grown-up purse in Milan. Alex got his big boy watch. Celebrated St. Patrick's Day mostly sober, for the first time in many years. Or probably closer to it than I was any year in college. Started planning on attending law school. Began training for the half marathon. Friends visited.

April:
More anticipation for everything ahead. Continued training--actually got very fast for a bit. Missed Marathon Monday--commiserated briefly with fellow BC grads about how sad it was that we were not in Boston getting wasted or running or running wasted. Visited DC and saw GULC. Ate and ran. Enjoyed having money to spend.

May:
Hyannis half marathon! Jim Kelley, I think? Lovely Memorial Day weekend with the girls right before moving out of my first apartment. Committed to Georgetown. Braced myself for two months of commuting.

June:
Got class schedule--intense stuff. Started looking for books and things to do. Overzealous about adding friends on Facebook... Started commuting again. Blech. Slept in my grandparents room because it was easier. Can't actually remember why. Possibly because my room was a mess as I tried to sift through all the crap I'd collected over the years.

July:
Finished up the clean out process, sold some things on ThredUp, but not really enough... Stopped working, had a happy hour, promised to be back, etc.

August: 
Law Preview bootcamp... Blech. But it got me into the mode of studying and dealing with gunners. So there's that. Last month at home meant trying to fit in all the last minute things, spending time with Alex, packing, packing, packing, moving into my dorm. Eating blue crabs in Virginia, making new friends, adjusting to this weird high school+alcohol world. Plus bracing myself for the studying. Scavenger hunt, first week at Gewirz, partying, Bar Review, learning the vocab and the legal jargon, trying to be genuinely interested in legal things outside law school.

September:
Studying. It's always felt like the longest month to me, but this September was fast.

October:
Promising to hunker down. Had a birthday. Alex made me a box. Started lifting.

November:
Went to Spain for Thanksgiving, had memo drama as I struggled to properly submit my memo... Amazing time in Alicante, though. Another confirmation that Spaniards know how to live. Met cool people in Spain, drank too much wine, ate a ton of jamon iberico, ate a ton of everything, really.

December:
omg. Finals finals finals, freaking out, freaking out, drinking weird energy supplements, forgetting how to remember things, eating like crap, spending hours in the library frantically trying to learn everything, study group stress, study groupcest, etc. Christmas at home! Shopping and hanging out with Emily during her first winter break everrrrr.

Year in Review: 2014

January - the beginning of the end of something... VEGAS, La Jolla, dreaming big about the last and greatest semester of college. All set with a full lineup of classes with him again. Great idea, me.

February - started off innocently enough, but of course that doesn't last. The end of an era came at the end of this month and I didn't take it quietly or gracefully. But I slowly recovered at the same time I was collapsing into myself. Oh, and I took the LSAT.

March - The hellish spring break I begged to be allowed to go on... OOPS. But it turned out hilarious anyway because of the right people. Beginning to pull away because it was more than too late already. Met a boy who answered without long pauses, who smiled and laughed freely, who would give me the love I deserve. Cheese on cheese on cheese commence.

April - final marathon Monday.... going to Philadelphia, learning to be in a real, mutual relationship, dates (!!) and denying the upcoming Graduation. Also, laughing my ass off in Capstone.

May - coming to a close. Finished my thesis. Finished college. Left in a hurry, exchanging quick words with people I had stayed up all night with. Signed my first lease!!! With my roommate who I met freshman year and then didnt see again until senior year on Kairos. Full circle.

June - starting work at the end. Making avowals at the start. Learned how to wake up early.

July - unremarkable... Began working on the "desk," continue denying adulthood.

August - realizing that I was not going back to Boston at the end of the month. Sniff.

September - grandfathers 80th birthday celebration

October - turning another year older and not being able to handle hangovers anymore. Or day drinking.

November - passed along in a blur, moms second kosher turkey. Book of Mormon

December - another month passing in much the same way. Getting accepted