Happy New Year’s Eve! I hope you had a relaxing holiday. I went home to Canada to see my family & friends and it was fantastic (no surprise). This was actually my first Christmas where I didn’t stay at my parents. The boy and I decided to try something new and rented an Airbnb. In the past, the holidays have been stressful for me, squeezing in visits with all of my friends, family, all of his family and him! It became more of a task to see everyone and, to me, that was no way to spend the holidays. I’m happy to report that renting our own place together was the perfect remedy. We were able to do our visits together and then come home to our place downtown and relax.
Anyways, enough about my holiday housing. I thought it would be fun to do a mini recap of my year. This list is a mixture of highlights, things I'm grateful for, things on my bucket list and personal accomplishments. With the beginning of a new year I tend to get so focused on my future goals that I forget to take a moment to reflect on what I'm grateful for from the previous year. So here is my recap of 2013.
1. I went to New Orleans for the first time and had an amazing time soaking up all the culture and music.
2. I got a Creuset for Christmas and I haven’t looked back. If you are debating whether to invest the money, my answer is DO IT! It seriously has changed cooking for me.
3. I filmed a pilot for HBO and it got picked up. This was a MASSIVE dream come true that I’m incredibly grateful for. How did I celebrate? I bought a new garbage bin (true story).
4. I forced decided to get myself organized with my finances and vowed to never let that pile of receipts pile up ever again.
5. I went on a trip to San Francisco with my friend Mary. It’s hard to put into words the effect this adventure had on me, but it was one of the most creatively inspiring trips I have ever been on in a completely surprising way.
6. I hosted a floral crown making party and it was the best time ever. Gal pals + crafts = my favorite thing.
7. I got a sewing machine (thanks Mom & Dad) and learned how to sew my first skirt.
8. Amber & I went on the best spontaneous trip to Santa Barbara and biked from vineyard to vineyard. This is something that has been on my bucket list for YEARS and I'm so happy we did it in such a last-minute way!
9. I celebrated my birthday with an incredible group of gems that I’m honored to call my friends. L.A. is not the easiest city to make meaningful friendships in and I’m so lucky to have made so many.
10. Amber surprised me with a vegan sushi making class at Spork Foods for my birthday. We not only learned how to make sushi but also how certain foods, like white sugar, are actually whitened using BLEACH!
11. A good friend of mine is a producer on one of those “Top Roller Coasters of the World” shows and got me into Six Flags before it opened to test out the new Full Throttle ride. As a kid, I was OBSESSED with these roller coaster shows, so it’s not an understatement to say that it was a dream come true.
12. Launching Granny Girls this year was one of the biggest highlights of the year. Amber & I have been working on this blog forever and to see it out in the world is something I’m incredibly proud of!
13. I Went to the HBO Emmy Party which was insanely cool. It was so neat to be in the same room as some of the winners on such a celebratory night!
14. I started experimenting more with photography with the goal of pushing myself out of my comfort zone. One of the highlights in that journey was my first photo shoot using only my 35mm film camera. This was a huge deal for me since I wasn’t feeling very confident with my skills and was THRILLED with the results.
15. I hosted (along with my male roomie) an epic Canadian Thanksgiving potluck dinner. (Sorry to the friends I had to crop out of the pic so it would fit into the square frame!)
16. Every Christmas, my high school besties get together for our Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. My favorite part of the night is where we go around updating everyone on our past year. I've known this group for over 10 years and they have always supported & loved me. Even through my weird hot pink and black skulls phase. Bless them.
2013 was an incredible year and I'm so excited to see what 2014 has in store for me!