As the days kept turning into night

Well, my friends – 2011 is officially gone and past. For me, it was a “Banner Year.” I made it my goal to end 2011 and my 20s with a bang, and I feel like I succeeded. I know my journalism professors are turning over in their yet-to-be-filled graves by the use of the “banner year” and “out with a bang” cliches, but sometimes cliches feel oh so right. I’m just so full of love, luck and happiness in my life these days, it makes my heart three times its size.

As I look back and say goodbye to 2011, I’m simultaneously looking back and saying goodbye on my 20s since I’ll turn 30 in two short weeks. Oh how, oh how, do you write a post summing up an entire decade?! My general conclusion is that life.is.good. Each year I’ve learned to right a few wrongs, improve just a titch, enjoy new and exciting hobbies, cross off many bucket list items, and really revel in all the joy friends, family and success can bring. I feel like I’ve slowly been growing each year into a better version of myself than the year before, and I’m so excited to jump into 2012 – my first full year living in San Francisco. I have a lot of thoughts around what I want my year to look like, which I’ll also be sharing with you this week, along with the bucket list rundown of 2011/2012. But first, I thought it’d be easier to create a video recap of my year instead of posting a 900 word diatribe with 100 photos.

So, I present to you … a video recap of what I was doing in 2011 as the days kept turning into night:

Currently Feeling: Glad to have finished that video! Has taken me all week, but I’m getting better at iMovie. It’s pretty fun!
Currently Anticipating: Jersey Shore starting this week! Is that bad to admit?
Currently Wishing: I could have just been in Maui with my family over my actual birthday – hate stressing about celebrations. :/

Stella Sundays is watching movies all day on National Hangover Day

This is what my roommate and coworker (aka Stella) and I did all day today for National Hangover Day. Well, sort of all day. I did take a break from lazy to head to my first real dim sum experience with some friends. More on that later!

In the meantime, I’ve been thinking a lot about, and working on, my 2011 recap and goals for 2012. I know we’re all problem burnt out on reading those types of posts in the blogosphere, but I’m going to jump on a pedestal for my two minutes of fame anyway. Expect that this week.

Hope you all had a wonderful NYE and NY Day!

Currently Feeling: Epically unable to catchup on sleep from my busy holiday season in Seattle.
Currently Anticipating: Being active and productive tomorrow.
Currently Loving: The cute mustache iPhone case my sister got me for Christmas!

Expensive heels and priceless moments

• $24.95 for a cobalt blue, tafetta strapless dress (Forever 21)
• $5.50 for a rhinestone belt (Forever 21)
• $9.50 for a crystal and rhinestone flower ring (Wet Seal)
• $7.50 for silver, rhinestone dangle earrings (Forever 21)
• $2.50 for gold and silver glitter, coconut-scented nailpolish (Forever 21)
• $89 for the most fabulous pair of Enzo Angiolini gold platform, disco glitter heels (Nordstroms)

Le Sigh

• $35 + $7 tip to get my hair curled and styled at Habitude Salon in Fremont (they did a great job)
• $28 for a custom airbrush tan from Tropical Tan (seriously, once you go airbrush, you’ll never go back)
• $10 for a bottle of Chateau St. Michelle Sauvignon Blanc for prefunking (Sav Blanc is my all-time fav white wine)
• $65 for tickets to a silly expensive party at a waterfront cruise terminal event center in Seattle, featuring Jermaine Duprie (Ha!)
• $15 for town car trips to the party and back
• $18 for two whipped cream vodkas and soda water + $3 for a bottle of water (I drank a lot before the party)

= The most ridiculously overpriced evening of my entire life

Not paying a single dime to hear a crush of mine tell me sometime after midnight that “I’m good at life”?

PRICELESS.

Currently Feeling: In love with new restaurants and wine. I’ve been trying to be good and tone down the meals out, but I tried Ravish in the Eastlake neighborhood of Seattle tonight, and it was FABULOUS. Worth every calorie.
Currently Anticipating: First Thursday Art Walk in Pioneer Square tomorrow with my family to celebrate my dad’s birthday.
Currently Reading: The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch. (Only $3.99 for the Kindle!)

Looking back and forward on my year of total happiness

Wednesday night I went to dinner with an old college roommate. We ordered two crepes, split a bottle of red wine, and discussed our upcoming New Years Eve plans. At sometime during the night I said, “2010 has been the best year of my life,” and she responded with – “Really?!”

Yes, really.

I have said more times than I can remember this year – I am SO happy right now. Happy with where I’m at with my life, happy with who’s in it (and who isn’t). Happy with my career, my apartment, my friends. If I could pick one word to sum up this year for me – it’s simply been, Happy. I could only hope 2011 lives up to the year I’ve had in 2010.

Below are just a few of the reasons that have made 2010 “my best year yet.” In no particular order, this year I…

• Made regular workouts a part of my life all year, for the first time ever. This included starting Sassy Fit boot camp, which I did for six months, and then starting my yoga practice! (Which began with a 30-day hot yoga challenge in June). Me + yoga = LOVE.
• Gave up consumerism for 30 days (as part of my 30-day yoga challenge).
• Paid of a ton of parking tickets that prevented me from buying tabs, bought new tabs to replace the previous ones that were expired for two years AND paid off my car loan. Booyah. What up responsibility.
• Took a bacon cooking class (where I learned to make a Bacon Explosion!)
• Traveled to New York, San Francisco twice and Miami (where we partied at a bar with the Jersey Shore cast. I was at a bar with Snookie in 2010. Enough said).
• Spent many fun cabin weekends with friends, including Chelan multiple times over the spring and summer, and Leavenworth for Oktoberfest.
• Booked my first trip to Hawaii!
• Co-hosted (with other Power Team members) at least a dozen Girl Power Hour networking events for women, which allowed me to meet tons of empowering, smart girls and be a leader in my community!
• Found $100 bill on the ground on Halloween night (dressed as Cruella DeVille).
• Bought an ice cream making machine and learned how to make ice cream for the first time!
• Started a “Good Friends and a Glass of Wine” dining group, where I met with four girl friends of mine once a month to try a rotating selection of some of Seattle’s most critically acclaimed and talked about restaurants. We met 10 out of the 12 months in 2010 – pretty great record, and lots of great food! We ate at Spring Hill, Root Table, Lark, Union, Mistral Kitchen, anchovies & olives, Spinasse, Osteria La Spiga and more.
• Coached a kickball team with friends.
• Took a long blog break, transferred my blog from Blogger to WordPress and redesigned my blog. Took another long blog break, redesigned my blog again. Discovered that part of my happiness IS blogging, and I feel weird when I leave it behind. Completed NaBloPoMo (without missing a single post!) to gain my blog mojo back.
• Crossed a few fun things off my Bucket List, including riding my bike to work (and walking to work most of the summer!), going to Teatro Zinzanni for the first time, meeting a blog friend in real life, planting an herb and veggie garden – and making recipes with my homegrown plants, cooking my first turkey and buying satin sheets for my bed (for ME, no one else).
• Spent a LOT, a lot, a lot of time with girl friends – made a ton of new friends (Hi loves, if you’re reading!), and became closer to my roommate and some of my best friends, who mean the world to me.
• Had my first career-related speaking gig on a panel at the Social Fresh conference in Portland, OR.
• Attended BlogHer and BlogHer Food for the first time (excellent, nerdy blogging conferences – right up my alley).
• Said goodbye to my trusty Sidekick (my friends called me Sidekick Sally for years) and bought an iPhone 4! Also was able to purchase a Kindle this year – something I’ve had on my “want” list for at least 2-3 years – and have read so many great books. I’m hoping to pull together a list of my top books of 2010, for those interested.
• Hosted a Girls Thanksgiving, and cooked my first turkey (and sweet potato pie).
• Repaired my own vacuum after it broke! lol. Pretty proud of myself for that one – I’m an independent woman!
• Moved offices from downtown to Pioneer Square.
• Threw a big, successful party – without a hitch – for work with more than 150 people in the Seattle tech community in attendance! Then received a raise a week later, and a new part time contract work for an awesome company two months after that! My career kicked major ass in 2010. I can’t believe I can say that I’m exactly where I want to be at 29, and love, love my job and industry every day. For THAT, I consider myself extremely lucky.
• Made giant steps toward a BIG life change that I’ve wanted to do, and have talked about, for years. 2011 looks like it could be my year!

As far as looking forward to 2011, I decided to not make a “New Years Resolution” for this year. Rather, I scrolled through my Bucket List and marked a number of them that I want to cross off, work on, or know I’m already on my way to completing in 2011. Some of them are a bit ridiculous, some trivial, some large – but all are realistic. It’s a hefty list this year with lots to work toward, but what is life but without high goals!

My Bucket List items I’m going to try to complete in 2011 are:

• Live in another city for at least one year
• Keep a savings account – with a balance – for more than one year 
• Swim with dolphins (Planned for Hawaii.)
• Get my teeth whitened, professionally 
• Teach myself to video edit (My job might depend on it. Kidding. But no, really.)
• Visit Bali and wear flowers around my neck 
• Take a yoga retreat (Just so happens I’m planning a yoga retreat to Bali for August 2011. Two birds. One stone.)
• Buy a Mini Cooper (Currently on wait-lists for a black one.)
• Own a license plate with my name on it (As silly as this is, figured might look all right on new Mini.)
• Take a shower by candlelight
• Give up fast food for a year (Eh – why not. Thought I’d try this, starting January 1st. This could be considered a mini resolution, I suppose.)
  
• Make a cookbook of my grandmother’s recipes before she passes 
• Go to dim sum for breakfast
• Dine in the dark at San Francisco’s Opaque restaurant
• Feel great in a T-shirt again (My tummy is my trouble area, and it’s been a long time since I could just wear jeans and a T-shirt and feel comfortable. I’d really like to change this.)
• Make a wine corkboard from bottles of wine I’ve actually drank myself (Been saving for nearly two years – almost there!)
• Go to Toastmasters and kick my anxiety with public speaking (This is a must. must.)
• Wine taste in Napa Valley

Happy  New Years everyone!

Currently Feeling: Phew exhausted! This took all night.
Currently Anticipating: Getting my hair did and all fancy for the big NYE party I have planned tomorrow with a super fun group of friends from my neighborhood. Happy NYE!
Currently Loving: A cute new consignment shop in my neighborhood that has brand new designer jeans – tags on – for $70 and less! Pshhh. I’m totally not sharing the name.