Yes, ladies and gentleman, it’s that time of year again… bring on the Top 10 lists! I used to get annoyed at all these lists, but I have to admit, it’s pretty cool to look back and remember the cool people, events and what was important to you in year’s past like 2008, 2009 and 2010.
While it may have started out a little rocky (like quitting my job without a new one in sight), 2011 ended as an unbelievable year. And, certainly one of my favorite. As I looked around the last few days of 2011, I read and heard a lot of people say, “Thank goodness this year is over, it [insert depressing/sucky word here].” This year, I disagreed with them all. 2011 is one year I’ll look back on with a HUGE grin on my face.
Without further adieu, here’s the Top 10 of one of my very favorite years:
- Backpacked across Europe in heels
- For the first time, I let a guy sleep over at my place
- Experienced two of my best friends becoming engaged!
- Got a new job. Again
- With the new gig, I road tripped back to the East Coast. These days, Columbus, Ohio is “home”
- I ran my very first half marathon
- Became an “Aunt” for the very first time
- Many a great lesson and experiences were had (including Skydiving!)
- I traveled like a mad woman – 7 countries, 48 cities and 197 days on the road
- I learned the meaning of true friends
Here’s to the best ride around the sun yet! This year, I was lucky enough to celebrate my birthday in several states with a few very special people. In the end, the actual day was spent in a new city with my Mom. I’m lucky to have a Mom who flies anywhere for birthdays I wouldn’t have wanted to spend 29 any other way.
Steve said his own eugology best. There are no words. But, there is and has been an amazing outpouring of expression. Steve, may we all be as bold as you.
If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right. It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.
- Steve Jobs (via peacesinglove)
Google really nailed it this Valentine’s Day with their Love doodle and Map Your Valentine e-card. Make your own here.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
The other night, as I was talking about travel plans and the possibility of going to Hawaii, the friend I was with said, “Wait on Hawaii.” He continued to explain that I should wait to go to Hawaii with someone special. In particular, a guy.
My response? Fuck that. You can’t wait your whole life for somebody that doesn’t exist. You can’t spend your life waiting or planning it around other people. As another friend learned this year, you can only control your choices, not other people’s. And sometimes, their choices affect your destiny, whether you agree with their choices or not.
I’ve waited ten years to go skydiving, four years to go to Disneyland and two years to leave Las Vegas because of other people. In 2011, I’m refusing to wait to do things I want to do because of other people.
The saying goes, to travel fast, go alone. To travel far, go with others. This year, I’m choosing to travel fast. Sure, I’d love to travel far, but I’m done waiting on ghosts and choices that others will never make.
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors and let each new year find you a better man. – Ben Franklin
2010 was an interesting year to say the least. I’m not sure what 2011 has in store for me, but I have a feeling it is going to be one hell of a good ride.
I learned some good, hard and silly lessons in 2010. Like I mentioned in my 10 Cool Things of 2010, it’s fun to look back.
So, here’s the top 10 things I learned in 2010:
- I still love cards and stationary. There’s nothing quite like a handwritten note
- A great bra is priceless
- I’m a hopeless romantic at heart
- The hardest thing to do is get out of bed. If you can do that, you can make it through the day
- I love hoodies. If I could wear one to work every day, I would
- The human spirit, if you let it, is indomitable. You can get back up again and again even when it seems impossible
- You can’t erase the past even when you know it’s wrongly coloring the future
- Reality is perception no matter how hard you try to get people to see the “truth” or what you see
- Connecting digitally pales in comparison to face to face time and phone calls vs. text messages. There’s nothing quite like connecting in person or hearing someone’s voice. It truly changes the entire dynamic and feelings
- Love doesn’t conquer all, but I still believe in it and impossible things
Yes, ladies and gentleman, it’s that time of year again… bring on the Top 10 lists! I used to get annoyed at all these lists, but I have to admit, it’s pretty cool to look back and remember the cool things, events and what was important to you in year’s past like 2008 and 2009.
Here it is, ten cool things of 2010 (in date order):
- Got a new job
- Traveled overseas (to Madrid) for the first time
- Got promoted and headed up marketing and public relations for a Las Vegas Strip hotel; the youngest marketing head in the industry by at least 10 years.
- Got a cat
- Fell in love with my best friends even more and made a few, unexpected new ones
- Got a real mentor
- Learned more about what I don’t like than what I like
- Took some big risks and made some changes in the relationship department
- Experienced the opening of the last hotel on the Las Vegas Strip
- Joined an online dating site. For realz
I’m a big fan of grand gestures even when they’re not grand. To me, grand gestures are not necessarily the boombox over the head like John Cusak in Say Anything, but they’re more about the little things that are meaningful to the other person. It’s sunflowers on a Tuesday and a puzzle box with Disney characters on it. They’re QR code cufflinks and a box full of Redbull Cola. Okay, I guess who could say I like all the “little” things that really add up to a grand gesture.
I’ve always believed that actions speak louder than words. Funny coming from a writer, but nine times out of ten my words come out wrong. But actions are a bit easier, as long as the other person gets them
And that’s the rub. Like gift giving, a grand gesture has to be about the other person. You can’t give your wife a lawn mower (really the gift you want) and think you did good. Same for lingerie. These are really gifts to you, not the other person. That’s what’s tough about grand gestures. As much as we try, as much as we plot, plan and think to make it the best gesture ever, if the other person doesn’t get it, then our gesture means nothing.
So how do you get the other person to see your meaning; your good intentions? Or better yet, how do we put our emotions aside, step into their shoes and create a grand gesture they can understand and appreciate?
After writing this, I started to plot my next grand gesture. But more so than ever, I’m struggling to find the right one. And maybe, just maybe, it’s more about lots of little things than one big, grand gesture.
I remember the year I almost stopped believing in Santa Claus. In fact, I remember it more than the year when I came to the adult conclusion that Santa was really my mom and grandparents.
The year I almost stopped believing was the year we read The Polar Express for the first time. I must have been about six because Christmases were still spent in New York. I don’t remember how it happened or what I said. But, I do remember coming back to Florida after that Christmas walking into my room and finding a sleigh bell in the track of my sliding glass door. In that moment, Santa and the magic of Christmas lived on for another year. You can never quite describe the magical moments, the feelings you get, but walking into my room and seeing that sleigh bell was one of the most magical moments I had growing up.
Maybe it’s silly, but I still believe that your stuffed animals come out to play at night, that there is a Santa Claus and impossible things can happen.
On this Christmas Eve, may you still believe in the magic of a white Christmas and impossibilities.
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