All These Things That I've Done

I did good this year.

In the spirit of reflection, I've decided to take a look back at the things I've accomplished (insert pat on the back here) and be seriously grateful as well as even more inspired.

This year certainly started with a sheBANG. I rang in the new year at my favorite local spot in New Brunswick, the Ale n' Wich. Condusive to smoking packs of cigarettes and drinking heavy-handed jack and cokes all while beating everyone at foosball, this place housed most of my college drinking. It got to the point where I was there six nights a week. Before I was 21. No lie.

Promptly after I jet-setted out to Disney World, fulfilling my life-long dream of overcoming my resentful childhood and setting foot in the world-renound land of magic...except I was doing this with my ex. Try taking a week-long vacation in Disney World with your ex-boyfriend sometime. Let me know how that goes.

Beginning of January = Kings of Leon concert at Madison Square Garden with Sarah. No words are good enough.

The end of January and on put me into full-responsibility mode with the Folk Festival. I lived in a house with all girls but essentially lived alone. Getting up at 6, going to bed at 2, spending the majority of my days at the Gatehouse (those who saw me through the NJFF know what's up). Occasionally I would get annihilated with Sarah and stumble home from whatever local bar was the flavor of the evening. Decided to move to LA & picked a random date: June 22nd.

Enter March-April. Greg floated in and out of my life, I thought maybe things could be right with us again. I still stayed focused on my own career (school) though and only became more diligent.

Last Saturday in April - 35th Annual New Jersey Folk Festival - I saw all of the hard work I never knew I could possibly accomplish manifest in one day. It was the best turnout of any folk festival ever and I had put it together. I have never had a child, but I imagine that this kind of joy is only ever rivaled by that. Some of the best folks I've ever met (pun absolutely intended) were a part of this team and I will never EVER forget what we all created together. Go New Jersey.

May rolled around and before I knew it, I was writing final papers and getting drunk at Senior Seminars wondering what life might be life after graduation. I knew I was headed for California but every time I would say it, it just sounded like a line; I heard it but I wasn't even sure that I believed it. I soaked up every minute though, partook in every senior activity. Sarah and I had become best friends and I savored every second of our careless Tuesdays at the Olive Branch. I don't think I've ever created so many memories in such a short amount of time. May 21st I graduated - a day I never thought I would see. Finishing something so big never seemed so awesome.

June was a month of soaking up everything I could. My mom and I did everything together - Phillies games, dinners, crying over fear of the future...June 22nd was the day I had planned on for so long and feared more than anything I've ever done. I had my graduation party two days before I moved and I never realized how many people I had in my life that really truly loved me. I said my goodbyes and on Monday morning, packed up my Honda Civic with my best friend in tow and embarked on the 3ooo mile journey to the West coast.

July was the buffer month. I soaked up the new fabulousness of living in LA. I went to the beach a few times a week, worked on my tan while I revamped my resume, went on interviews with no success but because I was in the honeymoon phase, I didn't really care what happened because I was in a state of total bliss...

July 31st was again one of the most joyful moments in my life. I watched my best friend Sarah get married. I cried like a bitch. Those two mean the world to me. My other best friend, Bryan, was the best date and I'm sure he'll never let me live down how I tried to convince him to be straight so I could wife him.

August came and went - a month of interviews and again, no success. Started to wonder what would become of me.

September hit me hard. What was I doing? Would I be successful? Would I make my life work? Was this all just some crazy pipe dream? I just kept going because I didn't know what else to do. Enter Starbucks.

October I finally landed my job - working at USC. I was able to quit my job at Starbucks and throw that fucking green hat out and right there and then vowed that I would do whatever it took to never make a latte with no foam at 180 degrees again. October was by far the most tumultuous month for me in every sense of the word. I never wish to relive that month; it was one of the worst of my life. I've never been so humbled and worn down in a thirty-day span.

November. Missing the seasons change actually got to me. I never though those annoying multi-colored leaves on the ground and sticking to my shoes would mean something. I never though seeing rain would be so impressive. I never anticipated how much I would miss my family.

December, here I am. I've never been so happy in my life. I have everything I could dream of and more. I have a spectacular life. I live in one of the most lively cities in the country, working at a world-class university, have an amazing apartment with my self-proclaimed soul-mate sleeping ten feet from me every night. I am dating a guy that is so wonderful that I quite frankly don't know what to do with. I feel so proud, so happy, so content and so ready for the next step.

Bring it on, 2010.