As per tradition, this is my year in review:

JANUARY

I slept in until 3:30pm on the first of January 2013 after hosting a very small NYE party in my home.  I also fell ill and missed work the first few days of the year.  I became well enough and continued my outings with my friends.  Working at The Green Apron and Equinox Rockefeller was exhausting but it began my transition to full time esthetician instead of barista and esthetician.  Mexican food is still not easy to find in NY.  Well, GOOD mexican food–but it didn’t stop me and The Professor (a good friend) from trying a place once in a while.  Casi Maggio (a former classmate from PCPA) visited NY for an audition and we found time for a quick meet up on one of my breaks from work.  We went to a Duane Reade where she got shoe inserts and we took a quick picture to prove we were both in NY at the same time once.  I started watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix.  Discovered Wine-Juice-boxes at Target, I also had Jury Duty, but wasn’t chosen and I’d like to think it had something to do with interrupting the questioning process by saying “Objection, relevance?” a couple times.  Shrug.  I began dating a guy I called The Gentleman, only to later call him The Convict.  smh.

FEBRUARY

STGA and working at EqRock was getting hard but it didn’t stop me from attempting to celebrate, even at the 1 year anniversary party of my location. heh.  I frequented the restaurant my brother Smurf was working at, often, and fell in love with the Outer Reef Burrito.  I was still dating a guy and still looking for a way out of the two-job world.  It was still winter and freezing and windy. I finally made it to the Slaps-giving episode of HIMYM, hilarious.  Just…hilarious.

MARCH

This one gets two people-pics.  Although I could put more pictures.  This was a busy month, apparently.  Full of Chocolate-Chip-Flirt Rice Pudding from Rice to Riches.  Pause for goodness…Thanks you.  I went to a Comedy Show where Janeane Garofalo chatted with me briefly afterwards in the bar.  I completed a Your NY, My NY special edition moment for Kaza.  A Youtube sensation on tour.  Character Miranda took a picture with me and the actor who created her later shot a quick shout-out video to Kaza thanking her.  I totally ROCKED that YNY MNY moment.  I went on a brief vacation to Florida to visit Boyfriend Jenn and the boys while her husband was away at work.  I got to be a Special Guest at her school for her students involved in the theatre department.  And Then I successfully ended dating the guy who appeared as a gentleman, for a number of valid and logical reasons.   His honesty at first was refreshing, but when his twisted past began to mess with the present I excused myself from further moments good enough for Days Of Our Lives.  The good part is I was strong enough to see it happening, and smart enough to walk away from all of it.

I also got hired at a cool Salon in LES called Kropps and Bobbers and quit Eq.  But was still unable to leave The Green Apron.

APRIL

Big news.  I dyed my hair red.  Sweet Sauce.  Lucy’s (34th & 8th) has the best nachos I have yet found in NY.  Macho Nachos.  It’s an appetizer but I can eat that whole thing alone, and I have–few times.  I was busting out a few shows on Netflix: Revenge, HIMYM, White Collar.  All very important to note here in my review.  The band Bound By Substance played at Webster Hall and I got the guitar player and singer to sign my chest.  Sweet Sauce.  I had drinks with The Professor and The Lady Schrift for my birthday and got a yummy cupcake for it as well.  I got a cool nail kit from my mom for my birthday, coolness.  I also attended a NY Bridal Fair and I’d like to say this “Holy Eff.”  These things are CRAZY.  My favorite booth was for a porta-potty where I picked up a mug that was shaped like a toilet.  And I had considered exchanging my CA Drivers License for a NY one, but didn’t do it.

MAY

I began my journey in Massage Therapy Education at The NY College of Health Professions.  My friend whom I affectionately call Mr. Gutter had recently moved to Jersey and came into the City for a some drinks.  My housemate made extremely tasty dinners.  I won the book I needed to get for my Myology class.  I watched “This is Spinal Tap” for the first time–I know..how dare I.  Watching Bones became part of my study routine, and it actually helped by the way.  I said this gem of a thing “More often than not, the approach in which you deliver your opinions, advice and comments will carry more weight than the content itself.”  I don’t remember what made me say it, but I said it.  I also gave notice to The Green Apron and my last day was the 23rd.  And, a sad moment in my year also happened in May: A dear friend in CA passed away on the 19th.

JUNE

My Anatomy Coloring book proved quite helpful (and I’d color in it while watching Bones) I frequented the 240z beverage Strawberrita (a strawberry margarita made with beer…) in my Chalice for summer evenings.  I found my iPhone cover that looks like zorie ((flip flops to some of you).  An extremely important find, mind you.  I began watching Grey’s Anatomy.  That’s a big deal, few people know why.  I was less stressed in life having left The Green Apron and my skin and nails on my hand were thankful as well.  The rest of The Guttersons moved to Jersey in May and I headed over.  Boyfriend Jenn and I went to a Bobby Flay Burger place and it was of course ridiculously good.  RIDICULOUS.  My Netflix shows were HIMYM and Fringe.  And, I sadly was unable to attend the celebration for Rich Stone’s life in CA on June 15. The last time I got to see him and spend time with him we sang at a Family and Friend BBQ while I was visiting from NY.

JULY

I had a disagreement with a teacher.  My argument and facts were valid and logical.  She still wouldnt’ budge on my question and observation.  So I emailed the author of the book we use as our text book, and turns out–I was right.  I LOVE THAT.  I didn’t like her.  She was a terrible teacher.  Terrible.  I could’ve dropped it, but I really wanted a win.  I needed a win from her.  Against her.  Whatever.  Sigh.  Shake it off. Flashback photos of Dance Company were posted on fb reminding me that I was not as fat as I imagined back in High School.  heh.  Thanks Baz. I was interviewed for a grooming blog, Brooklyn Grooming, as an authority on skin care.  Just working at Kropps and Bobbers was not earning me enough to survive, so I had begun the job search and interview process and was offered a position an excellent Boutique Spa.  In celebration Boyfriend Jenn made me a chocolate coconut cake  I wrote a This Is Who I am moment on the 12th on fb that echoed the times when I blogged more often for myself than for others.  A time when I was still in search and discovery mode.  It felt good.  I also had the boys in Jersey help me make Nana Terry’s pancakes for breakfast.

AUGUST

A cute little video of my nephew Bennett playing at a duck park made me cry.  Cry.  smh.  Sigh.  Boyfriend Jenn and I watched the last episode of True Blood together and my comment was “Hi…Alcide..hi” She and I were also asked for our ID to prove we were old enough to see the rated R movie “We’re The Millers” I handed over my ID then asked if they were still in High School with a workers permit.  I don’t think they understood what I meant…Must be our age difference.  I ran the 5k Color Run with Boyfriend Jenn.  Ran (jogged) the whole way and was rewarded with Cheesecake.  My own and bites from everyone else’s.  Many many bites.  heh.  At the end of August my brother Smurf moved out and back to CA.

SEPTEMBER

My second term in Massage school began.  New campus (in SOHO) and new classmates and teachers.  The best part? Was getting a standing date on wednesdays with my friend Sloan at Hair of the Dog in LES.  After Smurf left it was just me and Andrew at home, so I took the front bedroom, the room with french doors (my old bedroom) became the living room, and the small living room and back bedroom became Andrew’s Enclave.  I painted the front room from Tropical Night Skies (the color my brother had it) to Gentle Rain, of the grey family.  This began a painting frenzy in my gut…I took a trip to CA!! I sang at a friends wedding reception , their song for their first dance (Congrats again Anna and Jason Lee).  And I was able to attend my nephews Birthday Party.  He turned two, and when he pointed at me and said “Auntie Nani” my heart melted so hard I cried.  I went to Disneyland with my friend Jack 2013, and celebrated my mothers win over The McGophersons destroying her garden.  I started dating a personal trainer I used to work with.  Good month, other than I hurt my knee getting out of a car…I’m getting old.  hah.

OCTOBER

Palau was named one of the top 10 places to visit in 2014.  I plan to be there in 2015 in celebration of completing massage school and getting licensed.  I haven’t yet decided if I’m going after I graduate, or after I pass licensure–either way, the goal is 2015.  Maybe by then it will be one of the top 5. heh.  I got a free pair of glasses from coastal.com  A much needed pair of glasses.  I tried Pecan Pie flavored vodka at The Zebra Lounge (Planet Rose).  I said this “Home is at the bottom of a glass of wine, God is in the first sip of hard liquor.”  I thought it was pretty fantastic. hahaha.  My aunt didn’t understand if I was being fun or depressed.  The former, Auntie, the former.  Andrew let me know he’d be moving out when the lease was up, at the end of the year.  Giving me plenty of time to decide if I would stay-put and take over the lease or move out on my own.  hmmm.  My Mom visited!!!  One of the favorite days was walking around Central Park where she actually ate a HOT DOG…MY MOM??!!!  We also got to be in Jersey together with The Guttersons (read: The Moffetts) and went Apple Picking at a farm they frequent.  Super cute.  I was supposed to run a 10k with Boyfriend Jenn, but my knee hadn’t healed yet so my mom and I went to watch her leave the start line and cross the finish line. I read the book Divergent.  My friend Sloan took me to a rooftop for a view of where we live.  The City.  I cried, unsure how to deal with my feelings of…well…everything.

NOVEMBER

The painting frenzy that began rumbling in my gut back in September began to grow and surface and turned this month into a crazy overhaul of our apartment.  I had decided to stay-put and find new housemates.  The first thing I wanted to do was change the colors to make it more light, homey, and inviting.  Cleaner and brighter.  Mostly, it was nice that I was allowed to do as I wish.  The hallway went from Avocado green and espresso bean brown, to Cozy Cottage.  A very light beige.  The kitchen went from brick red to Tuscan Terracotta.  The bathroom from a dark purple to one and a half walls being sapphireberry (summer of 2012) to the now Straw Hat Yellow.  All of this before Thanksgiving.  All of this on my own with layers of primer first then paint.  All of this to also say: paint colors are called weird things.  BrightEyes (Amelia Stephens) came to visit! We had only a few days together but had some excellent food and karaoke and even a celebrity siting.  The Trainer and I had gone on a few dates, seeing each other once a week or so.  He brought me cupcakes at work one day for no reason.  I read Insurgent.  Boyfriend Jenn ran a half marathon and while she was running Mr. Gutter and the boys and I, after hours of walking around in the cold closed-down town,  had breakfast at some cafe where the french toast was HUGE and layered with a flavored cream cheese that was delicious.  I hosted Thanksgiving again.  Making the turkey, potatoes, and stuffing.  Andrew these yummy glazed seasoned carrots.  The Professor his Bourbon Dark chocolate chip Pecan Pie.  The Lady Schrift a marvelous salad.  Sloan and Allen homemade biscuits and green bean casserole.  It was lovely.  Truly.

DECEMBER

Finals for second trimester happened.  I finished with a B in A &P II, the class where my very old professor sat reading a power point to us…smh.  It was HELL once a week for 3-4 hours.  A B+ in technique class, an A in Myology, and an A in Fundamentals of Channels and Points.  Four more trimesters to go for my degree, I start up on January 6th.  Winter got here for sure, a couple snowy blizzards.  I got up to season 8 of Grey’s Anatomy.  Catching Fire was released and I saw it with Boyfriend Jenn.  Began reading Shadow of Night and tweeted the author–and she totally tweeted me back.  It was about the weather, but she totally tweeted me back!  I bought a new-to-me TV off craigslist.  My first TV in ten years that was actually mine.  I bought a new-to-me dresser, and a DVD player and watched my christmas movies in my room, the one with french doors.  I moved back into it when Sloan moved into the Front bedroom at the beginning of this month.  Mr. Gutter told me to get a Chromecast and it’s awesome.  I celebrated Christmas in Jersey with The Guttersons.  My first Christmas in YEARS with kids around.  They certainly change the morning. hahaha.  I played games and at good food, then got on the transit home for work the next day.   I had a cold for a few days after, but I didn’t have to go to the doctor’s office.  That’s nice.  Had dinner at place called Zest in LES, yummy sushi and happy hour is until 7pm.  I started watching Scandal on Netflix. I also finished season 1 and 2 in 2 1/2 days.  Thanks to a mean cold I just kept hitting play the next episode.

 I fell asleep early NYE, and woke up to the sounds of people yelling, fireworks firing, and car horns honking.  I didn’t say anything, I looked at the time on my phone, then went back to sleep.

Sometimes the party isn’t about the booze, or the dress.  It’s about the celebration of the roof over your head and the 4″ foam topper that cradles you against your cloud-like comforter.  It’s feeling safe in an empty apartment in the city of Manhattan.  It isn’t about the time ticking back, or a ball dropping.  It’s about looking forward to the time starting again and accepting the ball is in your court and not-dropping the ball.  heh.

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I did not read as much this year as years past.  But I also did not have the same kind of time to spend on “free-time.”  School can be very demanding, and I will rise to the occasion.  I’m paying for it.  I want to learn, and the subjects interest me.  It is hard work, and competition already exists so I must push myself to be as good and better.

1) In two-thousand-thirteen I learned the importance of Credibility.  Accountability and responsibility were lessons I had learned prior to this year, but they are also important for continuing education in this college of life.  Credibility, however, is to me something that is considered a lesson learned, and learned well.  It is based on me.  And that’s it.  How I respond, react, and take action all results in an almost-score for what my credibility is, or will be, or could become.  Right now my close friends and family have their own opinion of my credibility.  Whether that’s in good standing or not is not for me to say.  I score points, I lose points.  This particular point, to me, IS this simple and almost mathematical.

The hard part is: now that I know, making the choices.  The easy part is: now that I know, making the choices…

I also learned how others build “points” with credibility with me.  How to recognize something that’s not good (for me) and how to clear it out.  The hard part is: making sure I see things for what they are, and not making them something else.  The reason this is the hard part is because everything is not black or white, right or wrong, true or false, valid or not valid.  Recognizing credibility is not the same as assigning the way in which to score it.

2) I continued to practice the use of the word “no.”  It has such a negative connotation, doesn’t it? Learning it when we are young is easy.  Then, we miss use it, over use it, under use it, say it when we don’t mean it.  I mean…why is it so complicated???  It’s just “no.”  It can be simple, if we let it.  And this past year I practiced the simplicity of the word “no.” And found that it was at times a discovery, and sometimes freeing.  A simple freedom, for the win.

3) My heart and brain are not the only organs that make decisions.  One does not get followed easier than the other.

4) This past year, I cried.  And for the first time, in a very, very long time.  It felt “normal.” I didn’t cry out of utter depression or anxiety.  I cried when I read something or saw something that moved me to tears.  I cried when I hurt my knee, and my back.  I did not cry because I didn’t…couldn’t leave my bedroom to get to work or school.  I cried at what I deem appropriate-normal-non-situational-depression reasons.  Reasons that are mine that I find logical.  Reasons I am able to understand.  This, was also extremely freeing and very important to me.  I do not want this part to become a place of political volleyball on emotions or mental illness or anything other than:  I just want to say it, because it is about me and my experience.

This coming year I, as usual, have made no resolutions.  There are the goals.  I’m currently on an “up” swing and would like to continue that motion up, and or forward.  I feel strong.

There are the overall goals/wants, in no order::::::

I want to play my piano more, remind myself of the songs I’ve written and possibly record them.

I want to learn sign language.

I want financial freedom and will revisit my Dave Ramsey files to remind and reteach myself of  steps I can accomplish this year and set myself up for success as time progress and moves forward.

I want to do voice overs.

I want to use my crockpot more.

I want to make my NY photo albums on snapfish.

:::::Things….stuff.  What I want to make sure I do is not take steps backwards in my constant learning and adjusting to my adult life.  I’m in my mid thirties.  I live in NY.  And what should, or rather could, that mean and what does it say about me?

* And, I’d like to close with this: Marty McFly does not come to the future this year either.  It’s 2015.  Got that? October 21, 2015.  smh.  Where are those stinking flying cars?