A Fresh Start with a Look Back

Goodnight 2012! You were a good one.

Happy New Year! As you'll read below, I'm not really into resolutions, but I do miss writing so much and have vowed to get back to it more in 2013. Speaking of 2013, it's off to one of the best starts yet. Whole post on that soon. For now, looking back on the year that was...

(I cribbed this survey from Hilarity-in-Shoes who pilfered it from somewhere else. Thanks to the source!)

1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before?

I climbed rock walls. I learned how to properly pan fry fish. I became less afraid to draw boundaries in relationships and tell people what I need from them. I discovered Brene Brown. I pushed myself to be more vulnerable.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? 

Resolutions are for suckers. (Just kidding, I just can't remember mine. I think, at some point, I pledged to be more relentlessly optimistic about my life. I liked that. I think I'll try it again.)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Compared to other recent years, I had to purchase relatively few baby presents this year. I probably should have appreciated that more. Damn.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

After dealing with my aunt's sudden death at the end of 2011, I was happy to not lose anyone else close to me in 2012.

5. What countries did you visit?

I did not leave the good ol' US of A this year.

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?

A better sense of bad dates before they happen? A really good kisser at my beck and call?

7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

I don't think this question is meant to be taken literally. But, this is a DATING blog people. So, here are some highlights from the blog this year:

January 2012: RIP Elevator Guy. The best non-relationship I've ever had.

February 2012 (not blogged about at the time): I went on a date. In rural Vermont. With a farmer I met through twitter. I stayed in a farmhouse, an old farmhouse, with no central heat and a hell of a lot of mold and that caused an asthma attack that seriously made me consider calling 911. My understanding was that it was a fun adventure with the possibility of a little making out. His understanding was that it was a platonic slumber party of un-truth telling. He has a baby due in early 2013. (Not mine.)

March 2012: Ah...the This or That dates. One that resulted in the Date Where Chivalry Died and the other that never resulted. Good times, good times.

April 2012: Although Back Pocket Plaything was one of my most popular posts ever, I've got to give the edge to Dimples Emoticon.

May 2012: Wherein I recapped every episode of the Bachelorette (God help me). Sadly for all of you, I peaked with my first entry.

June 2012: Men who have "things" should not be "things". Read and understand.

July 2012: Winner, winner, chicken dinner! Worst date ever. The Man Who Took All His Clothes Off.

August 2012: I could go with my road trip to California. Nah...I gotta go with the Olympics and Nathan Adrian. Revived my lady libido just looking back at that post. Yes, sir!

September-December 2012: I thanked many of you for your awesomeness, I fell in love all over again with San Francisco, I tried a few dates (many of which I still need to write about), and I made out on more than a few street corners. In fact, snogging on the streets of SF appears to be my new making-out-in-cars. Keeping it classy to start 2013. (More on this soon.) 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Overcoming inertia and finally making the move back to California. Happy, happy, happy, happy.

[Note: It is unclear to me why the font has suddenly changed. Sorry about that. Maybe I should resolve to master more technology in 2013.]

9. What was your biggest failure?
No, no, no. No dwelling. 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I was pretty damm healthy in 2012.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Renting a beach house in Charleston and having lots of friends pop through it over the course of a month was pretty spectacular.

12. Where did most of your money go?
Proportionately? Food. Most of my money goes to food. Always. And that is money well spent, people.

13. What did you get really excited about?
This is hard for me to answer because I'm generally rather excitable. Discovering a new honey at the farmer's market can make me giddy. The sense of possibility is always something I become revved up about. Oh, and kissing! The anticipation of a kiss. Yes! Nothing better.

14. What song will always remind you of 2012?

I know this is so wrong (um...so wrong it's right!) but I'll remember Taylor Swift's Red the most from 2012. I probably listened to "All Too Well" a million times in the last three months. Lines like this, just seemed to be speaking to me:

"And you call me up again, just to break me like a promise. So casually cruel in the name of being honest. I'm a crumpled up piece of paper lying here, because I remember it all too well."

Say what you will about the girl, she captures emotion in songwriting.

And, of course, Call Me Maybe. Duh.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder?  Loads and loads and loads, happier.

Thinner or fatter?  Probably the same. Maybe a little fitter. California and all.

Richer or poorer? Life is rich, friends. Every year it shines a little bit more. Aging, I guess, makes you appreciate it.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Well, three months ago, I might have said kissing. (If you've read this blog, like AT ALL, you know how much I love it.) But, San Francisco has been good to me, and I ended the year with a lot of smooching. I've also been cooking a lot more which makes me happy. 

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Dwelling. I'm not a big dweller on things past, but even a few of the days I spent in 2012 moping over situations I could not change were wasted ones.

18. How did you spend Christmas?

I spent Christmas with my favorite cousin and his family. It was lovely. Thoughtful, delicious and full of just the right amount of wonder and surprise. All the things you want in a Christmas.

19. What was your favorite TV program?

I love Scandal. As my friend JB says, "You feel that show in your belly." The looks that pass between Kerry Washington and Tony Scott are worth watching for alone. Yowzers. Chemistry.

20. What were your favorite books of the year?

Like half the planet, I loved Gone Girl. 

21. What was your favorite music from this year?

Asked and answered in #14.

22. What were your favorite films of the year?

Yeesh. Well, one thing I did in 2012 was started going to movies in theaters again. That was pretty exciting. I really loved Moonrise Kingdom and The Dark Knight Rises. When I go to the movies, I want to be entertained. I also have a girl crush on Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. 

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned thirty-fucking-eight last year. My friend KJ threw me a lovely little birthday dinner with homemade cake that will forever stand out as one of my favorite and most thoughtful birthday meals ever. I also had lots of little dinners with friends and a night on the town. I love birthdays.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Normally, my go-to answer would be meeting someone I really like who I'm also incredibly attracted to. A best friend whose bones I want to jump. You got to be careful what you wish for though (right, ML?). Sometimes, this happens and there are...complications. My year would have been immeasurably more satisfying (and I mean that in every sense of the word) without...the complications.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?

Evolving? I'm tentatively trying to be a bit more stylish.

26. What kept you sane?

My friends. This blog. Exercise. Kale.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.

Being vulnerable is totally worth it. It can hurt like hell and is completely terrifying, but my life is so much the better for every time I've put my feelings out there and let people see the real me. 

Here's to seeing you a lot more in 2013!