Wrapping up 2020.

 1.  What did you do in 2020 that you'd never done before?

Saw Billy Joel live at MSG.

Lived through a global pandemic.

Lived back home with my Mom for 4 months - longest we've lived together since I was 17!

Went to Coney Island.

Experienced the phenomenon known as Blursday.  Time is fake.

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

My New Year's resolution for 2020 was to Be Open. I like to think I started the first 2 months of 2020 strong; then March hit and honestly, I think I speak for the majority of us when I say that the year just became about survival.

As we flip the calendar to 2021 a lot remains the same - there's hope with a vaccine and a new administration coming, but right now still feels a lot like what the last nine months have felt like... so I'm going to keep it very simple for 2021 - Be Open and Keep the Faith.  Seek out goodness and joy whenever possible.

On my laptop, I have a sticky note I wrote earlier in 2020 when I was feeling utterly overwhelmed by work and life.  It reads: "Focus on the next right thing."  I'd like to remember that mantra throughout 2021 when I feel overwhelmed - just take it bird by bird. 

3.  Did anyone close to you give birth?

A friend of mine in NYC had a baby in October.

4.  Did anyone close to you die?
 

We had to have our beloved corgi, Bailey put down in January. He was my Mom's dog through and through but the rest of us adored and loved him to bits as well. He was a member of our family for a long time and is still missed. 

5. What countries did you visit?

Zero.  First time in ten years that I haven't left the country at least once in a year.  Thank you, Covid-19.

6.  What would you like to have in 2021 that you lacked in 2020?

No virus, no pandemic.  The ability to see friends and family on a whim without the worry of spreading or catching the virus.  The opportunity to travel again.  Live theater.

7.  What dates from 2020 will remain etched upon your memory and why?

March 13th - the last day I worked in the office and seemingly the last day life still felt * mostly * normal.

March 16th - the day I left NYC for my Dad's house in NJ.

March 21st - the day I flew from Philadelphia down to Atlanta, to my Mom's house.

July 3rd - the day I left Georgia to head back to the Northeast, after what I initially had thought would be a 2-3 week stay to wait out the pandemic. (Shockingly naive, I know.)

July 12th - the day I stepped back into my NYC apartment after almost exactly 4 unexpected months away.

November 7th - when the election was finally, wonderfully called with Biden as the new president-elect.

8.  What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Surviving.

I don't mean to sound all dramatic or anything but this year was freaking hard.  For all of us, in a myriad of different ways.  While every day felt like the same I tip my hat to any and all of us who just got up, put one foot in front of the other, and in a time of such stress and uncertainty made it through another day of 2020.

9.  What was your biggest failure?

Truly, this year didn't lend itself to a lot of opportunities to try new things or stretch our wings so I don't feel like I had any straight out failures.  I mean, I wish I had written more, I probably lost my patience over a few things that I shouldn't have, but again, see above.  We all just needed to survive this one.

10.  Did you suffer illness or injury?

Oh my gosh, no and in this year I feel especially grateful and thankful for that.


11.  What was the best thing you bought?

A new mattress! My lower back is thrilled! 

A grown-up leather chair and ottoman which was actually a birthday treat for my 40th birthday...but I didn't buy it until early 2020.

Before the world shut down - theater tickets.

After - more comfy clothes.

A new iPhone - which, as much as I hate technology, I will admit the new camera is pretty amazing.

12.  Whose behavior merited celebration?

All of those on the frontlines of battling Covid-19.  The health-care and essential workers, everyone who kept showing up day after day for work that forced them to literally put their life on the lines.  Those people who volunteered to test the vaccines. 

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Donald Trump.  I think I have written that name every year for the last four years.  I thought maybe it couldn't get worse with him - but look at that, in 2020 it did.  I cannot wait to see him and his cronies get the heck out of the White House come January 20th.

14.  Where did most of your money go?

Rent.

Paying off that new mattress I bought myself.

15.  What did you get really, really, really excited about?

The opportunity to see friends (safely) when it arose.

My Mom got a new puppy in August. 

Actually finding a good book to read.

16.  What song will always remind you of 2020?

Probably Taylor Swift and Bon Iver's exile.
 

17.  Compared to this time last year, are you: a)happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

a) happier? sadder? depends on the day, the hour, the minute this year...

b) about the same? But honestly who can keep track? I appreciate the joke of how this pandemic has gone on long enough that I got in shape and then got out of it again...

c) richer - simply because there wasn't a whole lot to spend $ money on this year. 

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

travel, seeing friends and family in person, going to the theater, reading.


19.  What do you wish you'd done less of?

worrying about trivial things.

20.  How will you be spending Christmas?

I spent it in Georgia with my Mom and her adorable and awesome new pup, Tully.

21.  Did you fall in love in 2020?

No.

22.  What was your favorite TV program?

It is not possible to pick just one in this, the year of nothing much to do besides TV!
Top 3:

Ozark

Schitt's Creek

Anne with an E

23.  Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

No.

24.  What was the best book you read?

Father of the Rain by Lily King

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Truthfully I didn't discover much new music in 2020 (hello, distraction!) but I did learn about Katie Pruitt through a good friend and I like her music a lot thus far.

26.  What did you want and get?

Time with family - ironically (and thankfully) I actually feel like I saw my Mom the most this year than I ever have in one year...and I saw my Dad in person a fair bit too.  I didn't get to see my brother and his family in person but thanks to Zoom, we actually spent more holidays together in 2020 than ever before. 

27. What did you want and not get?

The pandemic arrived so quickly into 2020 there wasn't a whole lot of time to make plans for the year ahead.  Of course I had trips I wanted to take and people I wanted to see but we all dealt with those frustrations.

28.  What was your favorite film of the year?

This question, it's such a challenge every year...

I watched more TV series than I did movies, truthfully. Did they even have the Oscars this year? I honestly can't remember! (I just googled - and yes! They did! In early February -a lifetime ago. How about that?)

The only movie I saw in theaters this year was Little Women.  I'll pick that one, for nostalgia alone.

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

I turned 41 in September.  In true pandemic fashion, it was a very quiet day but I got to spend it with some family with time outdoors. I heard well wishes from family and friends, near and far. 41 - let's get it done.

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

Being able to see my friends and family in person.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2020?

Ha! Cozy, soft clothes.  Elastic waistbands! No make-up. 

32.  What kept you sane?

My friends. My dear, wonderful, amazing friends.

Streaming yoga classes.

33.  Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Oh, Dr. Fauci. For sure.

34.  What political issue stirred you the most?

The Minneapolis policemen who murdered George Floyd.  The men who shot Ahmaud Arbery.  The senseless shooting of Breonna Taylor.  Sadly, there are far too many to name and list here.  A reckoning is due.

35.  Who did you miss?

my friends!

36.  Who was the best new person you met?

I didn't meet them in 2020, but I reconnected with an old coworker who lives a handful of blocks from me in NYC. She and I didn't know each other too well at our old jobs, but we've started meeting in Central Park for daily morning walks together before our jobs ramp up for the day and it is one of the nicest new routines to come out of this strange and surreal year. 

 37.  Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2020.

Take nothing for granted; things can change - for better or for worse - in an instant.  

The little things are the big things.

38.  Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Thank you, next.