You have no idea how glad I am to say bye bye to 2022. The year started with me drugged at a party in NYC (Don’t worry I ended up safe in bed) and I said “at least it can only go up from here” boy was I wrong. 2022 brought me lots of change, heartbreak, loss, and confusion… but also so much growth, opportunities and new appreciations.
❀Favorite things I read in 2022:
- Three Women Lisa Taddeo
- A Little Life Hanya Yanagihara
- Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies Tara Schuster
- Animals Emma Jane Unsworth
- Hood Feminism Mikki Kendall
I read a total of 64 books this year, with a lot of really great ones, so I had a very long list to narrow this down from.
❀Favorite things I watched in 2022:
- The Crown – Netflix
- Conversations with Friends – Hulu
- Sex Lives of College Girls – HBO Max
- From Scratch – Netflix
- Love Island UK
I am an avid re-watcher of shows but I did branch out to some new binges in 2022.
❀Favorite albums of 2022:
- Obviously Midnights: Taylor Swift
- Harry’s House: Harry Styles
- Being Funny in a Foreign Language: The 1975
❀Favorite movies of 2022:
- Where the Crawdads Sing
- Don’t Worry Darling (genuinely do not understand the negative feedback.. A MASTERPIECE)
- My Policeman
Can you tell I like Harry Styles?
5 things I learned in 2022:
- It’s okay not to have a plan.
- Patience
- No matter what you’re dealing with – always be there for other people
- You don’t have to be the best version of yourself after one change – you’re a constant work in progress and that is perfectly okay.. You should always want to be better
- Friendships → Quality over quantity
Highlights of 2022:
2022 was a big year for me really, it came with lots of growth, loss, confusion and change and I was writing a long message about how awful the year was for me, but I decided why would I want to focus on that when there really are so many great highlights from the year.
Graduating college: So many tears were shed in those last months of college. I was so afraid that I hadn’t done enough of being a college student. I picked the wrong major, I never did an internship, I didn’t study enough, I didn’t put myself out there enough. Months of worry worry worry. How would I ever find a job when I had no idea what I wanted to do anymore. Up until high school I had wanted to be a teacher – then I really wanted to be a book editor throughout high school. Yet.. I majored in Finance because, you know – opportunities. I probably started applying for jobs late too, like I said I was feeling very unprepared for life. I had (still have) no idea what I wanted from life. Probably the scariest change of the year, but the biggest. It’s scary not to have the “student” card to pull anymore. Scary to be thrown into the adult world, but here I am and so far I’d say I’m doing okay.
Traveling – London, Dublin, Amsterdam: The day after graduation my mom dropped me off at the Austin airport while my dad drove a truck of my entire packed up college life back home. And I went to explore some cities I’d always wanted to go to, all by myself. I had never even been out of the country before besides a cruise when I was like 10. Somehow after spending months with so much anxiety about the littlest things in my life, I was so calm on that 12 hour plane ride to London. I spent 2 weeks throughout London, Dublin, and Amsterdam and it really was wonderful and so so eye opening to me about the kind of life I wanted to live. Sadly I was there for too short an amount of time. Definitely planning another Europe trip for 2023.
Got my first corporate job: Is it the job I envisioned myself having? No. I’m currently a “product coordinator” – don’t ask me what that means because 6 months later and I still really have no idea. It’s a great company and my boss is the best. But it’s nothing I would have ever imagined myself doing. The job itself isn’t horrible, it’s just an incredibly boring industry that I have absolutely no interest in. I’ve always pictured myself doing something I would think is very cool. I also make barely any money, for a girl with boujee tastes and a shopping problem this obviously is not good. It’s just really not what I want for myself. But I keep telling myself the office experience is nice until I find what I really want to do.. So maybe 2023 will be the year I can find what I actually really want to do.
Chin Lipo at Elite Body Sculpture: I ended the year with a bang and got Air Sculpting done on my chin/neck. Honestly the best thing I did all year. I am still a bit swollen, but the results are already so great and I really do feel 20 times better about myself. Which is weird because to others it’s probably such a small change but to me it’s a WOW
Family time: One really great thing that came out of all the hardships this year put my family through, is now everyone seems to be dedicating more time to being together. My brother is around more, we make more time for family dinners and occasions. It reminds me of when I was a kid, and I really do love it. Especially as my family grows, I love being around my nieces and nephews.
Personal growth: I really learned a lot about myself and who I am this year, and really ended the year so confident and happy with who I have become. Yes, I’m still a work in progress, but I’m so excited to see where the progress takes me.
2023 aspirations:
- Dedicate more time to writing
- Work on learning French
- Go on more dates
- Find a new job
- Another trip to Europe (maybe France)
- Stay more open-minded to new experiences
- Spend more time with my teenage niece
Where I want to be at the end of 2023:
Honestly there are so many different scenarios in my head for where I will be at the end of 2023 and they all sound pretty good with me. I think one goal for the year is to go with the flow and let my life progress as it will. I know when my time comes I will be where I am meant to be.
