Favorite Moments of 2018

I’ve never been hugely into New Year’s as a holiday. To me, there’s just too much hype around the whole thing and if you tell this early bird that you need to stay up past midnight in order to celebrate, then you can count me out. That being said, I do always find this time of year to be reflective, as so many of us do, and to really take stock on everything that has happened in the past twelve months. I’ve especially felt the need to be reflective this year because 2018 was probably one of the busiest and most eventful years of my life, and I’m especially lucky that all that eventfulness was generally very positive.

Spending Time With Friends

After graduating college I was really nervous about the prospect of making new friends, mainly because making friends in school is so damn easy. I’ve also been incredibly lucky to have a lot of enduring friendships from my days at school, but I wasn’t as sure if I would be able to make friends in the same way as I got further into adulthood, boy was I wrong. I am so grateful that I have made quite a few very strong friendships in the last year and that I’ve been able to surround myself with a group of girls that I cannot only commiserate with, but also celebrate all of the highs that this year has brought. Female friendship is one of those elements of my life that has always been a pretty strong balancing force, but as I become more and more comfortable with adulthood and understanding what it means to have work-life balance (if that even can truly exist), it is something that has become even more important. I know that the friendships I have made in the last year are truly life-long friendships and I cannot wait to make even more memories with these gals next year.

A Weekend Away in Tahoe

In March, Brad and I took a little weekend trip to Tahoe to go skiing and generally just get away from the craziness of work and San Francisco. Although the trip did not get off to the best start, in that, the night we drove up we ended up having to drive back to SF because the blizzard had caused the roads to close, we then thought about cancelling all together, and then woke up the next morning and made it our mission to somehow make our way up there, which ended up meaning driving up a different route and then driving around almost the entirety of Lake Tahoe to get to our Airbnb. While it sounds like a complete disaster on paper, we ended up having the best time and even though we ended up only getting one day of skiing in, that car trip circumventing Lake Tahoe is an adventure I know I will always remember.

Moving In With My Favorite Person

In July, Brad and I signed a lease for our very first apartment together, and it is without a doubt, the best memory I have of this last year. I cannot put into words how lucky I am to be living with the love of my life in my favorite city on Earth (my hometown, no less), and to have the opportunity to create a life and a home together. While parts of the move were stressful, as most moves usually are, we really took our time putting our place together, which made the whole process a lot smoother. We are so happy with our apartment and I can’t wait to share more interior-related content now that it is pretty much finished!

Family Time in Monterey

In October, a bunch of my family headed down the coast for a long weekend in Monterey and it was one of the best weekends of the year. The trip could not have come at a better time, being right before the craziness of the holiday season kicked in, and it came after far too many months of not taking any real time off. To say I was burnt out going into this trip would be an understatement. We spent the weekend taking walks on the beach, eating amazing meals, finishing two one thousand piece puzzles, and properly switching off. We used to take these trips down to Monterey when I was younger and stopped for awhile, but I’m hoping after this last year, the tradition will be here to stay.

Taking Care of Myself

After a rather rough 2017 that was full of some serious growing pains, I committed to really taking care of myself in 2018. I’m certainly nowhere near perfect at taking care of myself but I have improved leaps and bounds compared to where I was last year. One of the best things I did for myself this past year was going to see a therapist regularly, and it’s something I wholeheartedly recommend everyone doing. I have struggled with anxiety and depression ever since I was a young teenager, and while I’ve been able to cope pretty well on my own, therapy has really helped me develop healthier coping strategies and improve my self-talk. Besides therapy, I’ve also pushed myself through some pretty bad days by being kinder to myself and learning how to spend time alone more consciously and productively.