Category Archives: life

Auld Lang Syne

I have to have a “say goodbye to 2017” post, right?

I’m celebrating the end of this godforsaken year hanging out with my best friends drinking pink moscato and watching #Baahubali and Fast and the Furious 6 (7?) and attempting to play HQ Trivia despite its best efforts to stop us (get your shit together Rogowsky) (just kidding i know it’s not your fault #traptrebek). There’s really nothing I’d rather be doing. I have no desire to squeeze into a sexy dress and go downtown and pay a lot of money to hang out with strangers and dance. Not that I’ll never do that ever again, but this year at least, it is not my speed.

This year. This fucking year. Took a definite curveball toward the end. I got a new job in March. I lost said job in December.

I traveled to Seattle, New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, and Boston.

I took a seminar on freelance writing, which led to my very first published article and I am still so proud of it.

We got a puppy for about 24 hours in May and realized that that was actually not a good idea for us at all (hope you’re happy with your family somewhere, Juno).

My mother in law visited for about 6 weeks in the spring and it was so much fun and I miss her a lot.

I made approximately 30 batches of chocolate chip cookies.

I read 65 books, with a heavy emphasis on memoirs by young feminist women.

I took probably 84 naps, minimum.

I saw performances by John Mulaney (with the husband) the Foo Fighters (with the husband) , Bassem Youssef (with Christina and the husband), Chris Rock (with the husband, Brandon, & Rachel), Ilana Glazer and Phoebe Robinson (with Jen and BJ and the husband). John Mulaney was definitely my favorite but they were all a blast.

I became a vegetarian! I think the official date was January 4, 2017 and I haven’t looked back since. That’s not entirely true. I did have scallops at my birthday dinner in June – partly because there were almost no veg options on the menu and partly because I just really like scallops. And once, I accidentally ordered a burrito from Taco Bell that I thought was meatless but turned out…not to be. Other than that, I’ve done well, and that is no small thing from someone who loves bacon as much as I used to.

I’ve made some new friends, reconnected with a couple old ones, and strengthened ties with ones I have. Most of the people closest to me have known me since middle school, and I prefer it that way. (Sorry Rachel, I would photoshop you in if I knew how!)

Happy 2018, friends. I’m optimistic in spite of everything.

Merry Christmas!

This was a different sort of Christmas for us. On Saturday we held the usual gathering of my mom’s extended family at my grandmother’s house, which is always a nice time seeing my cousins who are scattered throughout the country. On Sunday we celebrated with my parents and my brother and sister-in-law with the traditional feasting on overnight French toast (breakfast) and fondue (dinner). Plus the hilarious treasure hunt that my mom creates every year with her rhyming clues for each of us. I would share the photos that my dad took, but I look incredibly heinous in all of them and vanity shall carry the day, today at least.

So that was the normal part. Today, Christmas Day, Vyshak and I celebrated alone at our own house, which is a first. I think we are both still digesting how we feel about that. I know he misses being with his family; I miss being with them too. As much as we loved having his mom with us for a month or so in spring, it would be great to have her again over the holidays – though I don’t know if she’ll ever agree to visit in the season of subzero temps and snow!

We opened our presents to each other, ate a scrambled eggs and breakfast potatoes brunch, drank a bunch of cranberry mimosas, FaceTimed with family in Fresno, took a nap, baked red velvet cheesecake swirl brownies, had mushroom risotto for dinner, watched some Planet Earth II and have now gone our separate, yet individually delightful ways: PC game for him and reading for me. It was a fun day and I’m glad we had it together, but I think we were both a little lonely for family and friends. We’ll see what next year brings…every Christmas is a little different.

(I really don’t mean to use alliteration as much as I do. I’ll work on that.)