Want to read more on this tradition? 4th Year Photos and Quotes 3rd Year Photos and Explanation of Tradition

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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.

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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!

photo credit

• Reach $2,000 in my Vietnam fund. As of 1/1/2011, the balance is $580.48.
• Max out my Roth IRA. I haven’t contributed to this account in two years!
• Make $3,000 extra income outside my full-time job. I don’t know how but this sounds like a fun project.

• Complete 10 sewing tasks. I’m completed my first tiny project. It was sewing on a button! I know, elementary, but I needed to start somewhere.
• Publish three food blogs a week. I’m starting next week. For every week that I’m off, I will up the Vietnam fund goal by ten dollars.
• Try out 10 Vietnamese recipes. I’ve never cooked anything that was of my own culture.
• Try 10 slow cook recipes.
• Visit two new states.
• Have a new experience once a week. This is my 6th ongoing year!
• Visit best friend in Boston.
• Take a trip with Alan.
• Leave the country.
• Read 40 books.

• Drink 24 oz of water everyday.
• Have an active date with a friend twice a month.
• Donate to every sponsorship for charity my friends take part in.
• Start a shared gratitude journal with my little from Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America.
• Run a 5K for charity.

photo credit

Although I’ve failed several of my resolutions, I’m still much better off for attempting than had I not made these goals at all. For instance, I wanted to go to Houston 10 times to visit family and friends because in 2009, I was in Houston only 3 times. I fell short of 10 visits but I still managed to be home and see my loved ones more than twice the year prior. Also, I didn’t make it to my goal of 40 books this year, but at 39.4 books, I read 19.4 more books than I did in the year prior. I’m much better off now, deepening my relationships in Houston and broadening my horizons in terms of my reading. So you see, I’m always a big fan of resolutions, even if you don’t fully meet your goals!

Alas, it’s time to let go these resolutions and make new ones for the new year. I’m already 4 days late, finalizing the list for 2011! Before I finalized 2011 resolutions, here is my final progress report for 2010.

Financial

• Rebuild year’s worth of emergency fund.
• Transfer over my 401K from my previous job to my Roth IRA. FAIL
• Do my own taxes.
• Keep outings with my little from Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America on a budget.



Leisure

• Continue doing 1 new thing a week.
• Visit a new state from my list. Drove to Oklahoma with Cindy a couple of weeks ago.
• Read 40 books. (39.5/40) FAIL
• Organize a book club.
• Be more or less abreast with updates on 202 things in 1001 days. FAIL
• Leave the country. FAIL
• Write 15 letters.
• Try out 20 new recipes (19/20) FAIL
• Update movie, gratitude, quotations, and collage, and reading journal at least twice a month.



Community

• Run a 5k for a charity.
• See my little from Big Brothers & Sisters 2-3 times a month.
• Donate to every sponsorship for charity my friends take part in.



Personal

• Try at least 3 times to mend a relationship.
• Not leave drawers and cabinet doors open.
• Go to Houston ten times this year to visit friends and family. (7/10) FAIL
• Be more organized. (Blog post to come on how I’ve become more organized)

It’s been two days into the new year and I’ve had such a lovely time already! Alan did a great job organizing a safe and glamorous night out. The stretch Hummer saved us from spending hours trying to find taxi rides back home. Bottle service and a great table reservation on a rooftop kept us merry. The company was spectacular. The kiss, our best yet. Many cheers to 2011!

It’s 6 PM. My curls will fall out and my hair will be pin straight again in about 20 minutes.

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!

A couple of days ago I took part in the 4th year of my absolute favorite holiday tradition. Kim and I have been releasing balloons in honor of New Years for four years now. (Read about the tradition here.) One balloon with a quotation about letting go and a list of things we’re letting go from the current year and avoiding in the upcoming year (Liars and cheaters always make the “avoiding” list). Another balloon listing all our hopes and desires (meeting Oprah always makes this one) for the upcoming year with corresponding quotation.

This year we did two quotations per balloon. For our releasing 2010 balloon, we chose:

And for our embracing the new year balloon, we chose: