tags: #annual #review [[2021 Review]] | [[2023 Review]] As of the time of me starting this review I'm on an airplane from New Orleans headed home to New York. It is already 2023. I procrastinated on writing this. Instead I chose to prioritize my 2022 Instagram reel, which is infinitely more fun, self-indulgent, and overall happy feels inducing than sitting with my thoughts and reflecting on my year. But there's nothing like an airplane with no Internet for encouraging self-reflection. New Orleans is hazy, gloomy, frenetic, vibrant. A chaotically fun city with a beautiful decaying veneer. We stayed at the Roosevelt, a Waldorf hotel with a gorgeous lobby adorned in lights trees and ornaments for the Christmas season. It was *busy* for New Year's-bit too busy for my taste. Service was meh, rooms showed their age. The food is goddamn delicious. Chargrilled oysters, fried seafood po boys, great Asian options for dim sum and Viet, the beignets, and a NYE splurge at GW Fins - heavenly lobster dumplings and festive fun! I've been reading A Confederacy of Dunces. I had hoped to finish it while in New Orleans. Fell short, but it's a doozy. What an adventure. Ignatius - what an arrogant, insufferable, revolting fool, and yet my heart breaks for him, and in him I see the worst of me. The anger, the frustration, the visceral disgust I feel when reading about his misadventures, is what I feel towards me, my pretension, my arrogance, my clumsiness, my failures to launch. Learn to love Ignatius. Give him a hug. Love me. As of the time of me publishing this annual review, it's nearly a month later and I'll admit that I've dragged my feet on starting this year. I'm avoiding the passing of time. But time passes even if you avoid it, so I'm hitting publish and facing it head on. To be honest - I didn't pursue a good amount of the questions I had set to explore at the end of last year, and I'm ok with that. I'm finding that I need to focus on the one question that matters. # This Year - Wordle - Millionth failed attempt at fitness habit. - First omakase at Sushi Ginza Onodera to celebrate 5th anniversary with the Boyfriend. Four omakases total this year! My favorite was Sushi Sho Rexley in St. Petersburg, FL - I treated my dad for St Father's Day. - Released myself from any obligations to practice design in my spare time. I was forcing myself to finish Shift Nudge, but it filled me with a sense of dread. Just wasn't having fun with it. So I let go. - Visited a good college friend of mine in Atlanta. Road tripped down to the marshy middle part of Florida, then Clearwater, then back. Whole lot of time spent talking, whole lot of time spent reflecting. One thing about this friend - they really have the courage to stand up for what they believe in. I envy their courage. I envy their conviction. - Flew to Las Vegas for a self-storage industry conference. Faced discomfort in this type of professional environment - I felt like a kid who didn't know what to do with herself or how to talk to the adults. But I got used to it. Walk like an adult, talk like a adult, you're an adult. Networking niceties. Took notes on industry learnings (virtual/remote management was a big topic this year). Ate alone in my room. Went out to some bars. Got high with a surprising character. Played slots at 4am in the airport. - Treated my parents to watch the Moulin Rouge musical on Broadway. - Went through some difficult things with my family. The decision was made to admit my 102yo grandmother into a nursing home. I think this was probably the best way to ensure she gets the care she needs, but given our culture and our family and all that we owe to her, I think we all can't help but feel that we failed her. Also political polarization, cousins and siblings drifting apart, some moving on with their lives. I don't think I've written about this enough. My cousins are all much older than me, so I was never that close to them, but they were close to each other and for me that felt like enough. What happens when they drift apart? - Spent a month on the Gulf Coast of Florida in St. Petersburg reflecting on how to let go. [[gulf living, florida feels]] - Flew to Chicago for a company wide retreat. We talked about culture. Culture is tough to build in remote teams. There's always a culture. It's a question of if you're being intentional about the culture you're building. Tried deep dish again. It's good, but I still refuse to think of it as pizza. Played billiards and darts in a dive bar with some coworkers. I cursed my limited life experience in dive bars and the resulting deficiency of skill with billiards and darts. My early 20s was all about house parties more than bars. Give me pong, flip cup, watermelon any day. - Explored Austria and Switzerland with my parents. - Frenetic social calendar in the fall. I don't remember much of it other than that I was tired and happy. - Led product side of two new app integrations at work. Dealt with lots of stakeholders, external vendors, cross functional teams. Communication +++. I really need to write more about this. - The Boyfriend proposed in Paris, becoming the Fiancé. I said yes! I also really want to write more about this. - Started Highrise, a leadership coaching program. I admitted to myself that I don't get anywhere without external factors holding me accountable. I also admitted to myself that I'm lost. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know what I value, what type of career I want to have, what type of leader I want to be, what I want my impact to be. I look forward to seeing where this takes me. - Danced to Flume at the Brooklyn Mirage. I've been a fan of Flume since college, but he rarely tours the USA, and a pandemic happened. He didn't live up to the prolonged, heightened expectations. - Sigma broke my heart one last time. I'm closing the door once and for all. - Saw Young the Giant live for the first time at the Beacon Theatre. They've been a part of my life ever since I heard a girl sing Cough Syrup at the summer camp talent show. - Road trip to DC for Dab the Sky at Echostage with an old friend and a new friend. - Strenghtened relationships with friends, new and old. Feel like I've made breakthroughs with one of my Oldest. I wondered for a while if Oldest would remain in my life long term, but I think for the first time I finally trust that they will. - Started planning the wedding. Also want to write more about this. - Got my Spotify Wrapped to look like music I actually listen to, AKA, fill my life with more music that I love - Learning how to integrate the Fiancé into my family. Growing pains. - Continuing to learn how to best communicate with the Fiancé and love him and be loved by him. - Learning Spanish. This has truly been a joy and delight. - How do i want to grow? Is it bad that i can think of a million ways that don't involve my 9-5 "career"? - What is healthy form? - Thinking about how to be a good daughter but live my life how I want. What are my responsibilities? - Learning to trust myself. # Looking Ahead The question for next year - the one question that matters? What makes my heart sing? Pursue it relentlessly. --- Created: December 31, 2022 Last Updated: January 23, 2023