2018 in Review

Compared to my activity in recent years, 2018 had far less international travel and lot more domestic, especially in my home state of North Carolina. I’m still working on embracing the simple pleasures of home and s l o w i n g down, and I made some good headway on that this year.

2018 challenges: Unfortunately, my beloved Aunt MJ lost a several-year-long battle with cancer in October. She was a very unique woman, the proud black sheep of the family, and an animal lover/rescuer, musician, and dreamer. I will truly miss her presence at family events. I donated blood a few weeks later in tribute (shout out to Lindsey for encouraging me to do so and helping me brave it out).

Somewhat related, I was contacted by the Gift of Life bone marrow/stem call registry earlier this year, with news that I was determined the best DNA match for a man ill with leukemia. I’d completely forgotten that I registered as a donor while visiting Israel – in 2007! After a lot of deliberation and tears, I decided I would go through with the procedure. But, just a few weeks later, I received a call that an even better match had been identified; I wasn’t needed after all. I later found out that the man didn’t receive the donation in time, and sadly passed away. The whole situation impacted me profoundly. After losing my aunt, I’ve been reminded of how urgently patients need varying types of donations. I encourage anyone reading this to consider joining this registry because there’s truly no better gift than that of a prolonged life.

Ok, now onto the highlights…

Ending 2017 with a magical sunset on the San Juan Del Sur Beach in Nicaragua. I’m heartbroken for the current situation in Nica- a police-run state where citizens are experiencing human rights violations through restriction of their basic rights. Before all hell seemed to break loose, I enjoyed 11 wonderful days backpacking alone and ended my trip boarding down an active volcano in Leon. I really hope, for the sake of this beautiful country and its giving people, that things take a turn for the better, and soon.

Celebrating Caitlin and Shaun’s wedding in Exuma, Bahamas. I wrote a separate post about the long weekend because it was such a great trip! Other than attending this beautiful destination wedding, I did some really cool things in Exuma like swim with giant pigs, dance at a Bahamian junkanoo, and stare down a sting ray… who (thankfully) turned out to be very friendly.

I hosted another great Passover seder. Just like last year, I had way too many people in my small apartment where we went through a progressive seder (very 2018) and ate a lot of food, potluck style. It seems as though every year there’s a new person at the table, experiencing their first Passover. It makes me happy to share this Jewish tradition. Pretty sure I counted 18 bottles of wine in the recycle bin the next day… oops!

Many trips to the NC mountains. I hit a personal record for mountain trips this year, with 5 separate visits. Once for a work conference, then for a String Cheese Incident show, two different weddings, and also to go camping with my boyfriend. Whether I’m hiking, camping, seeing live music, or enjoying the great Asheville eats, I’m always happy and at peace in western NC.

I visited Mexico City! I had been wanting to see Mexico City for years and finally made it happen with a friend this summer. It was somewhat spontaneous, in fact we decided one night over a Mexican dinner in Raleigh and booked flights a few days later. What an interesting and happening city. We ate the best food, visited the Teotihuacan ruins, had fancy cocktails at the Four Seasons, and went to a lucha libre wrestling match. Expect a CDMX blog post soon as I have tons of pictures to share!

An ~~unforgettable~~ unFLOgettable girls trip to New Orleans to celebrate Tracey! NOLA is definitely one of my new favorite American cities. The art, jazz music, Cajun food, hot weather, history, voodoo culture, and Bourbon Street blew my mind. It was such a fun bachelorette party with a solid group of girls. Our departing flight from Raleigh was canceled because of Hurricane Florence so a few of us drove… hell of a 14 hour road trip!

Hamilton! Matt’s parents generously invited and took us to the show, and wow, the seats were great! Musicals often test my attention span but Hamilton is worthy of all the positive reviews its received. It’s the story of America’s founding fathers (featuring the forgotten one- Alexander Hamilton), brilliantly paired with humor, great tunes, and hip hop influence. Be prepared to reconsider the ways in which we learned about the origins of this country.

“I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love! Da da da dat da dat da da da da ya da”-King George, You’ll Be Back

Congrats to my good friends (and their new mates!) who got married this year and allowed me to share in their big day: Caitlin + Shaun, Jess + Bert, Danielle + Nolan, Phil + Hailey, and Tracey + Ryan. Cheers to you awesome people!

And new babies!! Stephany, Michelle, Brittany, and Nikta brought super adorable new munchkins into this world and I just love being an honorary auntie <3

Harry turned 10. If you know me at all, you know how special I consider my fur baby, Harry. He has brought me joy, laughter, <and grief> over the past decade and I can’t wait for many more years together. Happy milestone birthday to my little shadow!

Countries visited in 2018: Nicaragua, Bahamas, United States, and Mexico. The year ends in Costa Rica, and 2019 kicks off with a backpacking trip though a few more Central American countries. I very much love this region.

New U.S. cities visited in 2018: Chattanooga, TN; Pilot Mountain, NC; Orlando, FL; Pittsburgh, PA.

Favorite new destination of 2018: It’s a toss up between Mexico City and New Orleans. Highly recommend a long weekend in either or both if you’ve never been.

Favorite movies of 2018: A Star is Born and BlacKkKlansmen. A Star is Born because it’s the modern-day Johnny Cash and June Carter love story, with phenomenal acting. And BlacKkKlansmen, because WOW. This movie left me, as the kids say, *shook.* It’s so many things: alarming, funny, dramatic, intense, enlightening. Based on a true story, this is one that you will not want to miss. Trust me.

Favorite book of 2018: I Love You’s are for White People by Lac Su. This well-written and inspiring memoir is the experience of a young Vietnamese immigrant growing up in a rough part of Los Angeles, juggling adaptation to the American way of life with his strict father’s rules/preservation of Vietnamese culture. I cried. A lot. I really enjoy international literature and memoirs, and welcome any recommendations you may have.

Favorite song (and artist!) of 2018 (Spotify year-in-review confirmed): “Beyond” by Leon Bridges. This guy is on his way to a Grammy award, mark my words.

There were so many additional great moments, like the spontaneous trip Rachel, Jules and I took to Charleston, the Topsail Beach girls weekend that was perfectly good for the soul, and catching my possibly first-ever fish at Emerald Isle. My pop-star themed birthday bash, seeing Dead & Company on tour, taking the train to Durham for St. Patty’s shenanigans, and dressing like scooters for Halloween (it made sense, I promise) are other standouts. And not to sound too cheesy, but one of the best happenings this year was meeting my boyfriend, Matt. Well, re-meeting. We technically met 15 or so years ago, in high school, but never seemed to cross paths much over the years. Our mutual friend, Bob, accidentally reintroduced us at his graduation party this summer. And when Juliana had to bail on a concert we were supposed to attend together, I took a chance and invited Matt instead. The rest is to be continued…