So anyone who has ever read
this blog knows that it's pretty normal for me to use quotes, or plays on
quotes. This one is particularly awesome, me thinks, but let me just set the expectation now; this will just be a run of the mill reflection on the previous year. (So long to all of you who tuned out and clicked elsewhere!)
And what a year it was!
January - March:
For my birthday I got Lion King tickets. Lion King was my favorite animated Disney movie for ages (until they collaborated with Pixar) and I have been dying to see this show for as long as I could remember.
There are a handful of movies where I know every single line and this is one of them. (If you are curious about the others, they include, but aren't limited to: Jerry Maguire, Clueless, Friday, and Almost Famous. Talk about random, right?)
The show definitely did not disappoint. If you have never seen it, this is a ::MUST SEE:: in my humble opinion. The opening song is worth
the ticket!
As I mentioned in previous blog posts, I was lucky enough to travel to Hong Kong, Manila and Bali in February and March.
Even now, as I look through the pictures, I crave that meal after the bike ride that should
have resulted in my first time getting stitches. (Didn't get any, but I
neosporin-ed the HECK out of the gash on my hand. Healed decently, woo hoo!)
As it's raining and a
wee bit chilly in SoCal, I would love to be reading under an umbrella on a
beach chair in Bali. (That's right, RAIN in So Cal!) I also wouldn't mind
having a piping hot bowl of noodles on Victoria's Peak in Hong Kong.
I am blessed to have
found such great friends and traveling partners from grad school. Knowing us,
there will be several more!
April to June:
I also got to see The Book of Mormon this year. If you've seen it, then you should really enjoy this rendition of its opening song "The Book of Mormon Comes to South Park":
I went to Boston for work, which is always a huge treat since so many good friends are still in the area. There is never enough time to see people, but I sure tried! :)
It was a good time to go since it was finally warming up. My colleagues and I were supposed to go in March, during a bad storm, while there was plenty of snow. I can't say that I'm not glad that our trip got postponed!
Another good set of friends from BU got married in San Francisco so we had another mini reunion that included a road trip and some wine tasting.
Since I was on the way, my friends picked me up, but the best part was that I was able to introduce another person to American Ale; home of the best burger EVER!
July to September:
My summer started off
with a cousin reunion. It has been over 4 years since we have been in the same
city. We had planned on going to Disneyland, but they were in Cali during the
hottest days of the year. Ummm... no thank you!
Instead, we roasted in
my aunt's house in the IE (AC was on the fritz) and finally escaped the heat by
gorging on Korean BBQ and going to a movie. It definitely doesn't compare to
the Happiest Place on Earth, but with that heat, having a leisurely meal and
catching up really just hit the spot.
I also had a few visitors that actually came through Santa Barbara
itself. This isn't the first time, as I had plenty of visitors that came to see
me specifically in 2013 (love you guys!), but usually if they aren't there to
see me specifically, LA is the closest they will get. Not surprisingly, I
also took both sets of friends to American Ale. (I wasn't dutchess on yelp for nothing! And believe it or not, it didn't take long to
dethrone me... sigh... I can't wait to get back there!)
October to December:
Halloween is my favorite holiday. It's the time of year when
people's inner creativity (and for some ladies, a inner something else, ahem)
comes out.
I've always been a huge
fan of dressing up, but I can't always say I've executed well. Part of that is
that I don't start thinking about it until late, but another is that I'm often
reluctant to spend a lot of money on it.
There have been some
really amazing costumes from my co-workers ranging from Brangelina to a group
costume of Clue.
This year a group of us
got together for a brainstorming session.
The ideas were flowing:
Hunger Games, Star Trek, Phone Apps... we finally decided to be the US Women's
curling team (coach and all!). We got brushes, created our own curling stone
with a kettle, attaching it to wheels with duct tape and aluminum foil; we got
brushes and even an American flag.
It was so fun! We even
won the costume contest!
Thanksgiving week was
pretty exciting. My brother and I went to the Justin Timberlake concert, I went
to my boss's retirement party and went to another good friend's wedding.
That was a darn good week!
I ended the year in my
favorite place... San Diego!
Throughout the year, I
have been working on being more creative. Towards the end of 2014, I
started doodling on
a white board, mainly recreating superhero minions.
My creative writing has
slowed down a bit, but I got really good at drawing on dry erase boards! I even
started getting specific requests. I captured most of them here.
But recently one of my
good friends at work and I have started writing haikus.
My project for this year is to continue hump day haikus. One of many.
Books:
Of course I had to
continue my annual list of books! While the number is quite low, the number of
pages was a feat! (3000+) The authors have mostly been reoccurrences over the
years, but at least I know what I like!
- David and Goliath - Malcolm Gladwell
- What I Talk About when I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami
- Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin
- Sword of Storms - George R.R. Martin
- Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? - Mindy Kaling
- Dexter's Final Cut - Jeffrey Lindsay
