2013: The Year in Review

As December marches on, it seems only appropriate that I do what I always do this time of year—reflect on the good, bad, and ugly, and evaluate my Bucket List 2013 successes. As I go through the list, remember that over the year, interests and priorities change. So while I may not have completed some items, it’s not necessarily bad. Doing something just for the sake of completing it isn’t half as gratifying as these lists are intended to be.

Though I don’t usually title them, 2013 was a year of love. When I returned from Europe January 5, I jumped head-first into a fulfilling and incredible relationship with AB. I introduced him to my mother (success), traveled with him and friends to Puerto Rico for Spring Break, watched him walk at graduation, and helped him move to New York (by help, I mean I provided emotional support. No heavy lifting or apartment hunting, sorry babe). He, in turn, put up with my waking up at 3 a.m. to go to my internship, supported me throughout my job search, and, well, put up with me. So there’s that. Then, for Thanksgiving, I actually traveled down to the D.C.-area and met the whole famn damily (and loved them). How’s that for commitment (me?!).

There was love in other corners of my world, as well. My relationship with my mother, as ever, grew stronger still. I talked more, and subsequently more openly with my dad and my older brother, and felt overwhelmed by their unconditional love and support. My relationship with Captain America was strengthened by trips to Walmart, where we bought awesome-ly horrible tie-dye cat shirts (and then found a couple wearing equally hideous matching three-cat-moon shirts and took a picture. Small world), and by impulsive road trips. And flung together by mutual feelings of abandonment and a shared love of caffeine, my friendship with Batman grew, too. Then, this fall, my baby brother moved to Boston, and for the first time I had family (the real kind—not my haphazardly created, but nonetheless wonderful, fake family) with me in my city. And speaking of “fake” families, I fell back in love with all things Kappa, thanks in no small part to my amazing dreamlittle and an endearingly crazed fellow blogger named Sugarwoman (guest post to come!). Other highlights…

Spring Break!

besfrenn shirts!!

Internship at NECN

Put your diva face on

My amazing Kappa lineage (I'm so old!)

Spartan Run

Cutest couple, right?

There were hardships, too, when I acutely felt the pain from the Boston Marathon bombings, as I struggled to manage an unideal roommate situation, deal with various financial hardship and instability, figure out “real world” stuff, and do long-distance. I also still can’t figure out what I want to do with my life (Four-year-olds know what they want to be “when they grow up.” Come on, Mar).

I dyed my hair. A lot (To his credit, AB noticed 2/3 times). I finally acknowledged the harmful effects of tanning—on both my skin and my wallet—and cancelled my membership, I cut out preservatives (sorta), and tried to be gluten-free (cookies don’t count). I started lifting weights with AB and found that I loved spicing up my workout. I read more about health and nutrition, and then took a class in it (97%, woop woop!).

And I started to do adult things. Like get a full-size bed. Buy a car. Gradutate. Get a job. Find an apartment. Get my wisdom teeth out (ugh). And five years late, I actually started to care about my classes and invest time and energy into learning things just for the sake of learning them. (Pause for reaction).

Some years (Ahem, 2011, I’m looking at you), I’ve looked toward the new year with a sense of relief because at the very least, a new year means that no more bad things can happen in this year. But I’m admittedly a little sad to see 2013 go. There are few memories this year that I don’t look back on fondly. 2014 will pull the rug out from under me, but here’s hoping it’s in the best of spirits. With the support network I’ve garnered, particularly in the past year, I can’t imagine any potential hardships would be unbearable.

So in that spirit, let’s evaluate my 2013 Bucket List:

1. GO HOME TO BOSTON.
2. Get my book to publishing length. (long story, no pun intended. This is an ongoing project)
3. Intern someplace new and exciting (and conclude this identity crisis). (Props to NECN for the most incredible intern experience ever!)
4. Revamp a pair of shoes. (eh—no more interest)
5. Learn to knit or crochet and finish a scarf (or other big project).
6. Go to Berlin. (didn’t end up following through on my dialogue so this one didn’t happen)
7. Go to Istanbul. (this neither)
8. GRADUATE COLLEGE (Whoa, where did it all go?)
9. Attach a lock to a love bridge (even if my name is the only one on it). (will do another year, when I go back to Paris. I really only want it on the Pont des Arts)
10. Buy myself a proper pen and learn calligraphy.
11. Learn some beginner guitar.
12. Go someplace wild for Spring Break.
13. TURN 21!!
14. Celebrate my birthday by doing (and chronicling) 21 random acts of kindness.
15. Smoke hash with my dad in a hash house.
16. Visit all the Emerald Necklace parks.
17. Include a “word of the day” in my journal entries. (did for a while. Don’t journal so much now)
18. Start a new story idea (methinks an anthology). (I count trying to make this blog more multi-media)
19. Host a “Game of Thrones” premier dinner party. (SO AMAZING. Repeat item for next year)
20. Throw a party for MURICA.
21. Wear a corset in public.
22. Get balayage highlights.
23. Drink from a coconut.
24. Compile a “family” cookbook. (lost interest because I don’t do recipes…)
25. Host a “favorite things” party with girlfriends (Kappa fam?). (will do another year)
26. Have a date with each new Kappa member. (Fail, despite my best efforts.)
27. Ice skate on Frog Pond. (Postponed)
28. Take a barista course. (I bought some mixing books!)
29. Go on a trip with my mama!
30. Register with the DAR. (no more interest)
31. Go to a BRUINS game. (ugh. Postponed. Again.)
32. Have dessert at the Top of the Hub. (Postponed)
33. Skydive (?) (Postponed)
34. Meditate in the Buddha room at the MFA.
35. Build a snowman (with weird props). (Thank you, Storm Nemo)
36. Do something crazy. (I’ll never tell)
37. Buy something Kate Spade (again!). (conflicting interest with my “Perfect 10” policy)
38. Plant an herb garden. (Postponed)
39. Finish another journal (and buy a new fancy one). (Lol. Postponed)
40. Run a theme 5K (color run, zombie run, mud run). (I ran two!)
41. Be serenaded. (Damnit, AB. WHY DON’T YOU MAKE BETA SING TO ME?!)
42. Scrapbook my Europefest. (Lol. Does buying the stickers count?)
43. Join a wine of the month club (and learn something!). (Not legal in Mass, but I have read up and learned some! Continuing my wine-ucation in 2014)
44. Improve my half marathon time. (Nope. But if it’s about fitness, then doesn’t the weight lifting thing count?)
45. Get some sort of certification (very open-ended). (hmm…how about a degree? Postponed, kinda. Made it less open-ended)
46. FINALLY volunteer at Hope Lodge.
47. Participate in a new club.
48. Play an intramural sport.
49. Spend an entire day sans pantelones.
50. Revamp my ugly-ass, heavy dresser. (SO PRETTY!!!)
51. Drink mulled wine (omnomnomnom).
52. Get laser hair removal. (Lol—postponed until I have disposable income)
53.  Road trip (with Lauren?).
54. Learn to tie a tie on someone else.
55. Go to a professor’s office hours. (I was so good this year! I went regularly. Woah.)
56. See an opera/musical. (For Valentine’s Day, AB took me to the Symphony :). Counting it.)
57. Get a Boston library card. (Nope. BUT I visited frequently and fell back in love with the garden.)
58. Play hide and seek in the Prudential. (This was supposed to be with Captain America if/when he moved back to Boston, but no such luck.)
59. Do a polar bear plunge.
60. Go to a Turkish bath. (Not applicable since I didn’t go to Turkey).
61. Somehow reincorporate singing into my life (lessons, choir, drunken karaoke).
62.  Ride a (mechanical) bull.
63. Read at least a book a month. No excuses.
64. Throw a pleasure party. (Lol. Postponed)
65. Learn 10 phrases in Turkish. (Again—not applicable)
66. Buy a book on etiquette.
67. Read two different books on religion. (I got one? Too interested in nutrition lately)
68. Learn to manage personal finances. (Well I know *how.* Pretty proud of by excel skills now. This is extended into 2014, when I’ll need it—a lot.)
69. Visit a castle.
70. Get a henna tattoo.
71. Buy myself a graduation present. (Hmm… Postponed?)
72. See the Slutcracker. (Eh—not really interested anymore)
73. Build a travel pin board. (Not in line with my decluttering efforts)
74. Go to Texas! (Didn’t end up doing, but I’d still like to travel to see some friends. Postponed.)
75. Narrow down my allergy and/or go organic. (Tried gluten-free, too. It definitely helps)
76. Implement one day a week as my domestic day. (Where you at, Sunday?!)
77. Wear a tiara. (Counting the glittery sunglasses from my birthday, because those babies were FAB and I was still a princess.)
78. DIY or purchase american flag shorts. (A friends baby sis made me mom jean jorts which are way more fabulous.)

All in all, not my best year, Bucket List-wise. But that’s not to say I didn’t accomplish a lot 🙂 Here’s to an incredible year, and looking forward to the next! 2014 Bucket List to come!