I’ve posted yearly recaps since 2008. I’m a stickler for tradition so here’s my recap for 2011.

Previous years: 2008, 2009, 2010

I had a good year.

Note: All links open in a new window.

January

• Rang in the New Year at Speakeasy with Alan, Jennifer, and company.
• Had girls’ night in with crepes.
• Battled an eye infection for a full month. It was gross.

February

• It snowed.
• I didn’t see Alan often because of his work.
• BDF (Best Dudie Friend) visited Austin! This ended up being the only time I saw him this year.
• BDF surprised me with cookies. His note gets me Google search hits that make me a little sad.
• Sent out Valentine cards and socks to my girlfriends.

Alan and I hanging out

March

• Alan took me to my first NBA game, Heat vs. Spurs.
• BFF had cake balls delivered to me at work.
• My solemate (deliberate misspelling) visited Austin.
• Went to Austin’s 2nd Annual Bacon Takedown.
• Went to Sketchbook Project 2011 tour stop in Austin.
• Hosted my first giveaway on the blog.
• Attended a free screening and Q&A with director of Meaning of Tea, a fantastic documentary about tea. Really!
• Alan and I had a two part dinner to celebrate our three year anniversary at Haddington’s and Uchiko (my favorite restaurant).
• Attended Austin Food Blogger’s Alliance Launch Party and applied for membership.
• March was a turning point in my life. I faced myself in therapy. I’m still reaping the benefits.

At Sketchbook Project event

April

• Visited Houston for dad’s birthday.
• Did a month of video blogging everyday in April (VEDA).
• Had a pillow fight in Ikea.
• Puppet showed a conversation between my parents for VEDA.
• Alex, Hillary, and I met up in San Angelo, Texas for a girls’ weekend.
• Took my little (Big Brothers and Big Sisters) to see a presentation about being a teen parent.
• Alan and I went to a drive-in theater for the first time and saw Back to the Future. Drive-in was on my life list!
• Joined Austin Food Blogger’s Alliance.

Hillary, Alex, and Me at the San Angelo Library

May

• I got bangs impulsively, changing my do for the first time in 5 years.
• Took a canoe trip with coworkers, facing a handful of irrational fears very reluctantly. Obviously, I survived.
• I participated in Leo’s Habit Course and developed a palate for vegetables by eating one serving a day for 30 days.
• Flew to Boston to see BFF. We drove to New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island, all three were states I’ve never visited.
• Read 8 books this month.
• Totes Awesome Channel was founded.

June

• Went home to Houston for Father’s Day.
• Rolled down a hill inside of a ball.
• I hit a boulder with my car. I always hit non-moving objects. Anyway, this was the start of a chain of bumper problems during the rest of the year.
• I hemmed my first dress! As part of my new year’s resolutions, I wanted to do 10 learning tasks with sewing. This was my first major lesson.
• Went to third Annual Cupcake Smackdown

July

• Met Ashley D, Ashley, and Nicole of Totes Awesome Channel and recorded a vlog.
• Celebrated my 28th birthday simply with a dinner with Alan and then a movie and drinks with friends.
• Made my favorite video: 28 Life Lessons from 28 People (for my 28th birthday).
• I caught up to 2007 and got my first smart phone!
• My friend, Naz surprised me with a vlog from my dad.
• I got really cozy with Tennessee Williams and his movies. Cat on Hot Tin Roof is excellent!

Celebrating my birthday

August

• Successfully completed VEDA despite being out of town twice and moving!
• Met up Hillary and Alex in Dallas for our second girls’ weekend of the year.
• Moved in with Alan.
• Used my passport for the first time since renewing it 2007. Alan and I took a vacation to Vancouver, Canada, my new favorite city.
• Saw the bats in Austin for the first time.

In front of the Vancouver Aquarium

September

• Adopted Bob from a shelter.
• I went to some of my Ten Year Reunion and was pleased to see all my classmates have blossomed to beautiful women.
• Brandi and I attended Jessica’s wedding.
• With a lot of conscious effort, I averaged 6 hours of sleep in the month of September! (I’m usually sleep deprived.)

Class of 2001

October

• I had a fluffy cable TV show debut.
• Had my first blogger date with Treavor.
• Donned a borrowed construction hat and went as Heidi in Home Improvement for Halloween.
• Cindy visited Austin!

November

• Posted a blog post everyday in November.
• Ran two blocks of a 5k for Race for the Cure and raised 460 dollars. Thanks to a lot of you!
• Went to Texas Renaissance Festival with Brandi and Jessica. It was our third year going and we decided to only do new things. We threw knives, shot bow and arrows, and had our face painted. It was the first time I’ve ever had my face painted!
• Had my second blogger date with Treavor.
• Attended a We Are Girls conference with my little. It was incredibly insightful.
• Had a Thanksgiving picnic with friends at the park. We threw a whole cooler’s worth of ice cubes into an enormous fountain, to create ripples, to help push a soccer ball to a sad toddler across the fountain. We were successful.
• Had a progressive meal day with Kim, Thomas, and friends.
• During breaks between eats, we made paper cranes for Kim’s tree.
• My bumper nearly killed Kim and me and got us murdered in the woods.
• Made our sparkly tattoos dance.

December

• I decide to like Christmas. I discovered it took more energy disliking it than it does to give into the cheer.
• Partcipated in Austin Food Blogger’s food swap.
• I was without a car the whole time I was in Houston for Christmas (the bumper needed to be replaced) and was touched to have friends pick me up for dates.
• Sewed couch pillows with help from mom.
• Hosting a “Never Have We Ever” dinner party tonight. Post to come!

Bob hanging out with snowman

In writing this post, I realized this year was really sweet for relationships. It may have a lot to do with my prioritizing close friends over acquaintances and then learning to set boundaries. Recently, I’ve been in a funk about not having a life’s calling but I have to say, I’m really content with my tribe. Word on the street is that it’s the relationships that really matter.

Wishing you a terrific end of year celebration! Lots of love!

It’s that time of year again! I share with you my personal recap of 2010. This year was much better than 2009 (which was much worse than my 2008). It was a year of recovery and regaining balance. I feel very fondly of 2010 but I’m ready to embrace 2011. Bring it!

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January 2010

• Rung in the new year with Alan, Jen, and friends.
• Started a book club.
• I finally organized my books.
• An old high school and college classmate randomly invited me to Gourdough’s. I’ve since had 13 of their donuts.
• Made a cooking video with my mom. Significant because it’s the most popular youtube video I’ve posted with over 10,000 views.

Celebrating New Year’s Eve

February 2010

• Will came to visit from Dallas.
• Launched a separate food blog.
• Sent out Valentine cards and socks.
• Had a Valentine’s Date with Alan at Joe DiMaggio’s and received beautiful flowers from Cindy and a lovingly abusive voice mail from Jon.
• Progressive meal in Houston that took us to three restaurants for one meal.
• Organized a trip to San Antonio to eat a 42 inch pizza.
• Spotted a car hoarder. This blog entry got a lot of Austin search hits.
• First real book club meeting. Discussed The Shack.
• Despite all of the above, it was still a tough month.

March 2010

• Watched An Education by myself.
• Had a crawfish broil.
• Went to Austin’s first annual Bacon Takedown!
• Participated in a food blogger’s workshop, called TechMunch during SXSW.
• Celebrated two years with Alan.

Crawfish Boil

April 2009

• Saw Anthony Bourdain speak!!!
• Went to Houston for my daddy’s birthday.
• I piped my first cake (disaster) and saw the famed albino squirrel at the University of Texas.
• Posted my first video blog.

May 2010

• Made my first lasagna.
• Learned to be more careful. More specifically, not to roam gas stations at night.
• Treated Alan and myself to a date with Conan.
• I ate a double down.
• Austin Wine Festival with Brittany.

The back of Conan

June 2010

• Went canoeing for the first time.
• Moved out of my 2 bedroom apartment which I shared with Brandi and into a 1 bedroom by my lonesome. Meanwhile, Brandi moved to Dallas for culinary school.
• Started a weekly writing exercise with my best friend.
• Celebrated Brittany’s birthday at a bingo hall.
• I ran into the same cat, dog, and mouse that I had previously first seen in San Francisco the year prior.
• Saw Anthony Bourdain speak for the second time this year. Also had the pleasure of meeting him. And touching his tricep.

July 2010

• Celebrated Fourth of July poolside and downtown.
• Seriously started to write letters and my pen pals actually wrote back.
• Hosted a girls’ weekend. Alex and Hillary drove in from Houston and San Angelo and we ate, drank, and were merry.
• Celebrated my 27th birthday with two celebrations. An one-on-one date at a fabulous new sushi restaurant and then a group birthday with a handful of friends.
• Jon who flew down and was able to make it to my birthday dinner, was in town an extra day and we spent all day eating, drinking, and being merry.

Jon and Me at my Birthday Dinner

August 2010

• Participated in VEDA and met some wonderful people.
• I vlogged my scoliosis scar which was a difficult feat for me.
• I had my heart broken by someone dear to me.
• Participated in an attempt to set a world record of most amount of people icing cupcakes at one time.
• Finished my 21st book of 2010 : A Man Without a Country. One of my favorites.
• Went to Houston to celebrate Aishah’s 27th birthday.

Aishah’s 27th Birthday

September 2010

• Alan took me to see Joe Rogan!
• Went to the wedding of Alan’s childhood friends.
• Finished Reading Cook’s Tour by Antony Bourdain. My 28th book of 2010.
• Made Bucatini All’ Amatriciana , my favorite recipe of the year.

Me & Joe Rogan

October 2010

• I planned and organized a regional conference for work.
• My dude turned 26! We celebrated for over a week.
• Tried my first absinthe.
• My half sister whom I haven’t seen in over ten years found me on Facebook.
• Dressed up as a cop for Halloween.
• Auditioned for a travel reality TV show after receiving an email from a casting director. I took Neville as possible partner and he totally outshone me.
• A close friend’s brother died unexpectedly. Being with her has been a top priority whenever I’m in Houston. I’ve grown deeper in love for and with her.
• Tried out Breakfast Klub, a culinary highlight in 2010.

November 2010

• Voted!
• Went to Austin’s first trailer park food festival.
• I posted a blog post everyday in November as part of Nablopomo.
• Walked Race for the Cure with Brittany and raised over 500 dollars for breast cancer research.
• Saw Louis C.K. thanks to lovely boyfriend.
• Saw old friends in Houston over Thanksgiving.
• I listed 100 things I am thankful for.
• Sent out Thanksgiving Day cards
• Joined the Sketchbook Project.

Brittany & Me at Race for the Cure

December 2010

• Participated in Reverb10.
• Road trip to Oklahoma! Why Oklahoma? To cross off another state.
• Attended annual Christmas Party for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America with my little and her cousin. This is our third year in attendance!
• Had hot pot on Christmas day twice. Lunch with Mary Ellen and her mom and her brother, and dinner with my own family. I did exactly this last year for Christmas!
• Tomorrow’s plan is to party on a rooftop downtown in celebration of a new and fresh year. A stretch Hummer may have been rented.

Annual Christmas Party with my Little

That was my year! I’m happy to have shared it with you and have your support, comments, and readership. It means an awful lot to me. Thank you!

Hillary, Alex, and me last Thanksgiving

I’ve been so homesick I could cry. I’ve been craving my friends in Houston. I’ve been wanting to check in my friend who lost her brother last month. I haven’t seen Ms. Kimmy in a while. I can’t wait for our girly date. I can’t wait for tonight, and having a cup of the best hot chocolate of my life (Chocolate Bar in Houston, trust me) with Hillary and Alex. And then again on Friday with Sarah. I can’t wait to see my parents and eat momma food. I’m excited about dim sum with my family on Sunday. I’m looking forward to listening to my dad talk over glasses of Scotch. I’m crawling out of my skin excited!

There’s something magical about picking up where you left things with your oldest friends. Friends who know where you came from and are coming from. We’ve all cultivated separate grown-up lives and reunions kind of bring us back to the roots of ourselves. At least for me they do.

Back in college, my roommate of three years and I had a running inside joke at her expense. She had this cheesy writing class and the last line in one of her essays she wrote, “It says home to me.” And her teacher ate it up despite how cheesy we thought it was. So even now, when something makes us feel so at home and at peace, we’ll half jokingly and half seriously say, “It says home to me.” Then we follow it with giggles, or if it was me who said it, she’ll curse at me for making fun of her. I tell you this because all the things I’m looking forward to about going to Houston, “say home to me.”

Houston, I’ll see you tonight! Insallah. (God willing in Arabic. I say “Insallah” a lot in real life.)

Growing up, I’ve always hated Christmas. As long as I can remember, my parents worked Christmas Day and they still do. As I matured, I’ve come to really love and appreciate them for working everyday of the year. I understand they did it for us and for the family. However, it makes the actual day of Christmas quite lonely. Last Christmas wasn’t so bad because I met up with Bestie (who visits from New England for the holidays) for some hot pot. This year, it looks like we’re doing it again, which is wonderful. It makes the holiday less lonely.

Bestie and Me, Christmas Day 2009

Generally, I love October through February. October, marks the beginning of the holidays. Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday because I really love celebrating gratitude. Also pumpkin makes an appearance in comfort cuisine in the fall. Mmm pumpkin. Mostly, what really makes October through December so wonderful is the people. Most of my closest friends have moved out of state or are in Houston. The out of towners come to Houston for the holidays since their parents are still rooted. I come home to Houston more to see the parents and it feels wonderful to be physically surrounded by your friends. As we grow older and start popping out babies, I know these friends will fly home to Houston less. :(

Finally, the euphoria lasts through February because February houses my favorite holiday. Valentine’s day!

P.S. This blog post was inspired by Stephany’s 11th confession on her latest blog entry.

Three hours shy of midnight, I’ve uploaded a VEDA vlog, filmed in Houston! I skipped Saturday but managed to do one today. Topic is hobbies. Cindy joined me. I’m sorry to blog and run, but I’m running late. Going over to Alan’s to watch True Blood! Apologies for the background restaurant noise.

A progressive meal is where you go to more than one place for one meal. Some people like to do it by course: an appetizer at one eatery, the main course at another, dessert at a last place. My friends and I do it by what the restaurant is known for. This entry is the third (out of four) progressive stop of a lunch we had in Houston. If you missed the other entries here is a chronological list:

1. First stop: Niko Nikos
2. Second stop: Asia Market
3. Third stop: Straits

Photos used in this blog entry were taken by Thomas.

Straits

800 W Sam Houston Pkwy N
Ste 940
Houston, TX 77024

(713) 365-9922
www.straitsrestaurants.com/

If you click on their website, you’ll see that Straits also has a location in San Francisco, in Atlanta, and in San Jose. I’ve been to Straits before for drinks but have never thought to try their restaurant. Willis, a Houston foodie, recommended that we tried Straits because everything he’s had there he’s enjoyed. Specializing in Asian fusion, the restaurant certainly has a trendy and modern flair in both their cuisine and their atmosphere.

The Food

Our group of four ordered the Roti Prata, a pulled duck sandwich, and Indian street noodles.

Roti is a crisp griddled Indian Flatbread. It came with the a curry dipping sauce. My three eating buddies LOVED it. I thought it was good. It’s like eating puff pastry with a delicious dip and really, that’s hard to go wrong with. I like my carbs.

Pictured above is the slow roasted pulled duck sandwich that comes with a dipping sauce. Seriously, out of all the dishes we’ve tried that day (I’m also including a dinner that is not included in this lunch), if I could only have one thing over again it will be this pulled duck sandwich. It was heavenly. The Asian Slaw and Shiitake Au Jus with the pulled tender hearty duck, dipped into that sauce was such a powerful fusion. You could taste everything! All the flavors and textures contrasted in such a harmonious way that it’s STUNNING. Shit. I’m not kidding when I say of all the delicious food I had that day, if I could only have a repeat of one, it’ll be this sandwich. The fries, dusted with garlic and Parmesan, were a nice complement.

The Bathroom

One quality I realize I cherish in my friends is their ability to have fun (almost shamelessly). Thomas left us girls to use the bathroom and came back reporting that the bathroom was “awesome.” So we three girls left Thomas to check it out. To our utter childlike amusement, we were delighted that in addition to the hot pink lighting, the bathroom was also a UNISEX. Party in the bathroom! So we came back and fetched our boy, Thomas and proceeded to have a photo shoot.

All in all, I’m pretty impressed by Straits and cannot wait for my next opportunity to come back. (Again, for that pulled duck sandwich!)

Next up and last for this progressive series, dessert at Juicebox!

Last weekend, Thomas, Kim, and Jessica and I embarked on a progressive lunch in Houston. Except for the photo of him and Jessica, photos used in this blog entry were taken by Thomas.

A progressive meal is where you go to more than one place for one meal. Some people like to do it by course: an appetizer at one eatery, the main course at another, dessert at a last place. My friends and I do it by what the restaurant is known for. Follows is the list of entries in series in chronological order.

Progressive Series
1. First stop: Niko Nikos
2. Asia Market
3. Straits

Asia Market

1010 W Cavalcade St Ste D
Houston, TX 77009
(713) 863-7074
asiamarket-hou.com

Asia Market was actually Willis’s recommendation and was supposed to be our last stop of a progressive meal the previous time we did a progressive in Houston. Willis took Thomas and me there but they were closed for Thanksgiving. You can see Willis’s review of Asia Market here. He wanted us to try the pastry puffs that were stuffed with curried chicken. (Willis couldn’t join us again this round because he went to LA. Funny, Thomas came to Houston from LA and Willis went to LA from Houston.)

Our little eating group of four trekked to Asia Market after our satisfying tasting at Niko Nikos. We each had a curry pastry (priced at under 4 dollars for a box of 4) and we sat our bottoms down at the very modest Asia Market and nibbled. We even shared a Dragon Fruit drink. I’ve confirmed with my parents that I’ve never had Dragon Fruit, a tropical fruit you can find in Asia. Very seedy, that fruit.

Yes. Kim and I totally inadvertently wore the exact same outfit. Leather jacket, leather boots, jeans, and striped shirt. What?

The puffs were tasty. The pastry was nice and flaky and buttery and the curried chicken, flavorful.

They had a Thai restaurant in the market with entrees for very reasonable prices. I’m tempted to come back to this place and try out their kitchen menu. It’s quite tiresome trying to eat the world.

So this concludes our trip to Asia Market. Next up, Straits! Stay tuned for stop number three of our progressive lunch.

A progressive meal is where you go to more than one place for one meal. Some people like to do it by course: an appetizer at one eatery, the main course at another, dessert at a last place. My friends and I do it by what the restaurant is known for. Follows is the list of entries in series in chronological order.

1. Niko Nikos: First stop of Progressive Lunch
2. Asia Market: Second stop of Progressive Lunch
3. Straits: Third stop of Progressive Lunch

This past weekend, Thomas, Kim, and Jessica and I embarked on a progressive lunch in Houston. Our first stop was at Niko Nikos. Photos used in this blog entry were taken by Thomas.

Niko Nikos

2520 Montrose Blvd
Houston, TX 77006

(713) 528-1308
www.nikonikos.com

Thomas alerted me that Guy from Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives went to Niko Nikos, one of my favorite Greek restaurants. He had the lamb shanks and honey balls. I haven’t had either but I LOVE lamb. Thomas nominated that as one of our stops and it ended up being our first eatery. Interestingly, the first time I ever went to Niko Nikos was in 2008 with Thomas! Our whole eating group has been to Niko Nikos numerous times but the famed lamb shanks and honey balls were new for all of us.

I’m a big fan of lamb. When cooked right, the meat just falls off the bone. We watched in anticipation as Thomas easily cut away the meat with a plastic knife. We all shared the plate because Thomas and I learned from the last time we did this, it was best to watch our portions. The lamb came with a side of the potatoes I always get when I go to Nikos. Buttery, lemony, soft potatoes.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

For dessert we had the honey balls. Tasted like donut holes that are dipped in honey and dusted with powdered sugar. Delicious. The four of us had 2 balls each. ;)

All in all, I’m a little upset that I loved the lamb so much. I don’t live in Houston, my stomach lining can only stretch so much, and I already love Niko Niko’s menu so much…. to add yet ANOTHER favorite from here? Torture.

A picture of our photographer.

Video Clip of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives at Niko Nikos