As the old proverb goes, we plan, and God laughs. Reading back over my previous Year in Review, I can't help but harumph in hindsight at the naive optimism that I and many of us had going into the new year, the new decade. Instead it's been a year of tumult on a global scale, with the COVID-19 pandemic, social justice reckonings, global warming impacts, and political tensions bringing very personal impacts to us all.
I had declared it my year of "Invest" but perhaps "Relentlessness" would've been more accurate. Still, if I convert "Invest" into a less capitalistic and more compassionate synonym, perhaps "Nurture" summarizes my efforts in 2020. And I did put a considerable amount of time and energy into nurturing my people, my communities, my self through the adversity of the year.
Looking ahead, with managed expectations that the flip of a calendar page doesn't really change anything, I'm going to stick with the theme of NURTURE. I want to dig deep and dream big. But right now, I'm still taking it one day at a time, practicing self-compassion and gratitude, and reveling in life's simple pleasures.
It feels like the global community and I personally are in a mighty moment of transition, hanging tight and spinning our cocoons around us, soon to be shedding our casings (and pandemic-willing, also our masks), transforming into novel versions of ourselves. May it be - on a micro and macro level - a true metamorphosis.
Kicked off the year in San Diego with some of my dearest friends
Got away to the Santa Cruz mountains for a long weekend of hiking, card games, hot tubbing, and morning tea in the woods
Worked to maintain my meditation practice, including taking a class at the SF Zen Center
Learned what all the fuss is about with two-Michelin-starred Lazy Bear, twice
Took my final flight of 2020 and hiked in the snow with my brother in Portland
Soaked up the view from Billy Goat Hill countless times on my new daily walk
Really slowed down and appreciated my neighborhood, as my world scope narrowed to only where my two feet could take me
Gathered with thousands from my living room to revel in the pleasure of music and movement
Pivoted everything to at-home
Luxuriated in field trips, sending gifts, and small pleasures
Threw a virtual birthday party for Brittany at a goat farm in upstate New York
Spread joy to the community (and myself) with my handmade hearts rainbow
Propagated plants for the first time ever
Received this fun surprise, a watercolor portrait of me, by my friend Letizia, Renaissance woman 
Watched the SpaceX manned rocket launch (and got teary-eyed at the feat)
Up-leveled my culinary adventures with a dutch oven and a whole lot of, well, time
Enjoyed rainbows, idyllic hikes, and fancy sushi with Brittany on our Big Sur getaway
...which included finally sleeping in a yurt!!!
Bid a tearful farewell to our dear, faithful Emma
Heard one by one that my roommates Katie and Maddy were deciding to move out of Arlington...
Made the best of our most quiet, relaxed Thanksgiving (and Christmas!) in history (but seriously missed our loved ones, especially the little ones)
Celebrated my birthday outside for the first time ever with a lovely socially-distanced hike and picnic
Rosalee, 19 months
Got my crab on with family at the annual Hollister Portuguese Crab Feed
Won the top prize of $2000 split with four colleagues in office Superbowl squares, plus $280 for my second title in a friend's Gold Standard Oscar Pool - in the same week!
Embraced outdoor living like never before, meeting up with friends and roommates for picnics and hikes
Canceled my yoga retreat and vacation with Brittany in Spain and Portugal
Maddy and me at Ocean Beach
With Brittany at Pelican Inn at Muir Beach
Thank you artwork for the wine I sent...
commissioned by me
Felt so much more connected to my most geographically distant friends, through video chats and game nights and virtual karaoke sessions
How it started
How it's going
And generally spent a lot of time with, and bought an embarrassingly large amount of, plants
Really got to know the neighborhood crow, who we named Alfred based on his propensity to manically peck at the window across the street daily, suggesting some Hitchcockian funny business was afoot in there
Held space for loved ones dealing with the troubling truths of the year, from death to depression to social injustice (and in turn, they held space for me)
Read a whole lot, and enjoyed thoughtful conversations and supportive community in my Low-key Priestess Book Club
Homemade ravioli
I almost never bake because the precision scares me
but these were damn good and more importantly, necessary for survival
Endured the Lightning Complex fires, which initiated our escape from the central coast, caused my parents to evacuate Vacaville for two days, and created such bad air quality that now we really couldn't leave our houses...unless of course they were about to burn down
Got probably too close but also not close enough to my Hollister fam during our flight from Santa Cruz
Celebrated my promotion to Sr. Manager, Global Travel Program at Zendesk - which honestly felt like a huge accomplishment and cause for extreme gratitude in a year where so many in the travel industry and beyond found themselves unemployed
Spoke on a panel at a travel conference
Cheered on Zendesk as we hit multiple milestones, including exceeding a $100 stock price and hitting $1 billion in revenue!
Hit a personal investment milestone
Attended a candlelight vigil for Justice Ginsburg in the Castro
...where I met new friends, got to see old ones, and spent lots of quality time with both Brittany...
Breathed a deep sigh of relief at the presidential election results, and reveled in Kamala's incredible achievement for all women, and especially those of color
Made an important step in my personal family-forming journey by going through the process to retrieve and freeze a round of eggs (and if you know anyone considering this, I'm happy to be a resource)
Got a haircut, which in the moment felt just as big a deal as the egg thing - it had been that long (pun intended)
Took a "solo" trip to SoCal for some recharge time
On a private booze cruise around Naples, CA
...and Shawn, all the way from NYC for his brother's mini-wedding
Laid back on Coronado, for the second time that year
Became more socially aware and politically active, learning, self-reflecting, and discussing, as well as writing get-out-the-vote letters and text banking to increase voter participation in the election (thanks in large part to several friends' activism and outreach)
Voted!
...and thinking a lot about the Pandemic and what I wanted my next step to be, I decided to give notice on my beloved Glen Park apartment...
...after 7.5 years of happy mornings spent reading and sipping tea in my bright bay window, growing close to strangers turned roommates turned confidantes, dinners talking through and celebrating life with friends...
...and so with the help of generous friends and my parents, I packed everything up...
...and with Fiddle Leaf Pete as my copilot on one of my many carloads out of San Francisco...
...I began to settle into the suburban life with my parents in Vacaville, to ride out the pandemic
Dabbled in various crafty/artsy hobbies to help keep myself from going batty
First paint-by-number
Holiday wreath
Hand-cut snowflakes from the NYT
Embroidered ornament
Spent time visioning and reflecting throughout the year thanks to the focused and pleasure-driven programs of my dear friend Amanda
Travel
- San Diego, CA
- Santa Cruz, CA
- Portland, OR
- Big Sur, CA
- Pismo Beach, Seal Beach, San Diego, and Solvang, CA
Live Shows
- Maroon 5 - Chase Center
...yep, that's it.
Spotify Wrapped
I leaned hard into at turns happy-go-lucky, dance-y, and melancholy pop during this low year. Taylor's Folklore was on repeat for at least a month, and not far behind was Harry's Fine Line. I don't want to brag, but I was in Taylor's top 2% of listeners this year.
Books
I read 82 books in 2020 and have vowed not to count (at least as I go) in 2021. It really started to suck the fun out of it for me, as reading should feel relaxing and expansive - not rushed or competitive. What do I think I'm in, a Battle of the Books contest?
Books were an ever-welcome haven this year, with many offering an escape, while others a reckoning.
Top five fiction
- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (Bring tissues; she earns the tears)
- The Overstory by Richard Powers (I'll never look at trees the same way again)
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Powerful, aching truth)
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (Exquisite richness of detail in time and place)
- The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante (Tense and nuanced portrayal of a female friendship)
Top five non-fiction
- Know My Name by Chanel Miller (Brilliant prose, story-telling, and critique)
- Untamed by Glennon Doyle (A
goddamn cheetah'swoman's manifesto) - A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost (Funniest memoir since Trevor Noah's Born a Crime)
- The Power of Ritual by Kasper Ter Kuile (How to retain and transform rich religious rituals to fit our increasingly secular lifestyles)
- Waiting for an Echo: The Madness of American Incarceration by Christine Montross (Illuminating and empathetic look at the psychological impacts of the American prison system, with alternatives)
Recipes on Repeat
- The most summer of summer salads (Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad With Feta Dressing)
- Alison Roman's Stew 2.0 (Spicy White Bean Stew With Broccoli Rabe)
- Best way to use up that bag of spinach (Lemony Spinach Soup With Farro)
Obsessions
- Houseplants: I don't know exactly how many I purchased this year (at least a baker's dozen), but they really kept me company during quarantine, gave me purpose in caring for them, and amazed me as I witnessed their evolution on such a micro, daily scale. And oh, how the successfully planted propagations brought me satisfaction.
- Ryan Heffington's Sweatfest dance classes: I never felt more joyously in my body this year than during one of Ryan's ebullient Instagram Live classes, often experienced with thousands of other dance enthusiasts across the globe. How can one not grin when joining a bald man in short shorts in confidently prancing across the living room doing the "pretty pony" to a Sia song?
- Classic films and musicals: Nostalgia was a highly effective coping mechanism for me in 2020. Films, and in particular musicals-turned-films, let me escape into a simpler, more charming and witty time. A few favorites from the year: Funny Girl, To Catch a Thief, Meet Me in St. Louis, and The Philadelphia Story.
