yearly recap 2011

It's weird - every year i say i'm not going to do this recap. and then every year, i do. stay tuned for my PREFERRED recap, though, which is 2011 in travel :)

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

went to south america & sri lanka. took a job with a startup. went on a cruise. had my car break down in a blizzard. started seeing a chiropractor. had my home broken into. moved in with my boyfriend (..for more than 3 weeks). rode a horse. experienced my first earthquake!

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

i sort of forgot to make any this year. in 2012, however, my goal is to be more thoughtful.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes! Shannon has a beautiful daughter, Lily. my friend darlene had a son, my friend olivia had a daughter, and SEVERAL of you blog folks had exceptionally adorable babies.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

luckily, no.

5. What countries did you visit?

more on this in the next post, but: the Bahamas, Brazil, Argentina, & Sri Lanka.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

um. an immersion blender? the ability to be a thoughtful friend/person?

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

April 11th is pretty noteworthy as the day we showed up in Rio de Janiero to find that the company we'd booked the trip with had "gone out of business" after taking all our money & canceling all of our reservations...

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
i'm pretty psyched about having landing this new job back in April. i still love it.

9. What was your biggest failure?

not keeping up the charity donations from 2009.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

HAHAHAHAHAAAA that's a hilarious question every year. short answer: yes.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

hmmm... probably the trip to south america (despite what happened) & the trip to sri lanka.

12. Where did most of your money go?

haha. South America & Sri Lanka.

13. What did you get really excited about?

can i say S. America & Sri Lanka for three in a row...? :) also, while i was too hesitant when it was happening to get excited at the time, i'm retroactively excited that moving in with chris went so great.

14. What song will always remind you of 2011?

i can never do this one. i don't know, that mr saxo-beat one? they played that a ton at the sri lanka wedding.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

– happier or sadder? the same

– thinner or fatter? i'm fatter but weigh less. when i stop working out i get all mushy but LOOK thinner because my arms aren't bulky and giant. it's very depressing.
– richer or poorer? richer.

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

playing piano; blogging.

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

..watching tv? i'm not sure. i'm pretty bad at being reflective.

18. How did you spend Christmas?

at my parents' house, as always. opened presents in the morning, then laid around sloth-like the rest of the day, eating about every 2 hours. it was awesome, in other words.

19. What was your favorite TV program?

game of thrones. period. times 100.

20. What were your favorite books of the year?

the hunger games, probably. and the song of fire & ice series, books 1-3. (4 and 5 can suck it.)

21. What was your favorite music from this year?

uh. adele? i'm.. not very music-y.

22. What were your favorite films of the year?

harry potter 7.2, bridesmaids.. um.. what else came out this year..?

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

i was in NJ for fakesgiving; 31.

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

i can never answer this one well. i had a pretty great year; i don't know that anything could have made it THAT much better.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

i.. tried to have pants on when appropriate.

26. What kept you sane?

the interwebs. you guys are pretty fantastic.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

do not assume that 50% of your guest list will decline an invitation just because it's the week before christmas.