Tag: year in review

2022 in review

Better late than never, I suppose. I barely posted at all last year, a mere 28 times! And 12 of those were monthly pics, so only 16 other posts? Actually that is more than I would have thought. Anyhoo, I’m going to try to post more in 2023. (For context, in 2014 I posted 342 times.)

January

We were in the middle of that Omicron wave so my birthday was low key. Obviously that’s the only important day in January. But it was a lovely day anyway, sitting outside with friends and drinking margaritas and eating king cake.

Also I got a new sewing machine. Love.

February

I took an amazing jeans making class from the inimitable Lladybird. It wasn’t just the sewing tips but also the camaraderie from other sewists and just being around happy people that was so lovely.

Mardi Gras. Parades came back!

March

Technically Mardi Gras Day was in March.

I found a really cute video of Miles that I could watch one million times in a row.

I visited Kiki after her mom passed away. I was happy to see her, but not happy why.

April

I went to visit Kiki again to help with her mom’s memorial celebration. We cooked a lot of fancy food.

The boys went to a dance.

May

The boys finished 8th grade, and had their last day at Lycee Francais. The end of an era!

Oh, and they all got Covid, one by one. George and I did not, somehow.

June

We got a new oven.

July

We went to Virginia! I stayed with Kiki, the boys went to Camp Aunt Jenny, and we all had a great time. (Kiki and I also went to NYC.)

August

The boys started high school. And competitive soccer again.

I got a tattoo.

September

My brother and Ellie came to town.

I made a coat, it’s beautiful.

October

I gave out candy on Halloween for the first time. (with Steph)

November

Went to Denver for my first work trip since January 2020.

Got another tattoo.

December

Took another sewing workshop with Lauren.

My babies turned 15.

We went to the Dominican Republic.

I did sew a lot this year, but I didn’t always blog about it. Here are some more things I made:

It was a bigger year for quilts than I would have thought!

2020, don’t let the door hit you on the way out

This is going to be a weird year-end recap. Let’s see.

January

I got to go to Lisbon! Thank god we planned our meetup for January, or my only trip (outside of Louisiana, anyway) in 2020 never would have happened. Also I turned 45 there. (My third birthday meetup since I started at Automattic.)

The boys finished up their season playing soccer for the school team, which ended in winning the championship! I adore this picture of Linus.

February

Kiki came to visit! Thank god. I’m so glad I got to see her this year at least once. We ate a lot and took a road trip to Alexandria and Natchitoches for Linus’s archery tournament.

Later in the month was Mardi Gras! Where we were probably all spreading COVID like crazy! I made a fun Mardi Gras dress. Maybe I’ll get to wear it again in 2022.

Also I got a new wardrobe from IKEA. I love it.

March

Well it started out okay. I had raised over $2000 for St. Baldrick’s and I was so ready for my hair chop scheduled for the end of the month. Yeah, that still hasn’t happened. I did get a haircut, but nothing too drastic. (You can still donate, you know!)

Friendship day at the beginning of March. Probably we were all spreading COVID like crazy here too.

I took two days off to spend with Linus and Miles, just like I’d done the year before. We ate lunch and escaped from rooms.

Two days before Oliver and I were supposed to have our day off, I was sitting at soccer practice waiting for the boys when I got a message from the school. It was going to be closed for the next two days because there was a possible connection to a COVID case. You know what happened next.

The rest of March was a lot of sewing, cooking, and watching movies.

Click here for the fun part of 2020

2019 in review

This year sure went fast!

I read about 100 books. (I didn’t keep track, but I think it’s safe to say 100.)
I sewed a million things. (Who knows? I also didn’t keep track.)
I went on 3 trips. (Serbia, Virginia/NY, Orlando)
I worked out at Orangetheory 85 times.
I wrote 46 blog posts (shameful!)

In 2020, I hope to read just as many books, and I probably won’t keep track of them. I’ll keep sewing, and hopefully I’ll get better about keeping track of my makes. I’m definitely going to travel more (Lisbon this month, Vienna in the spring, hopefully the UK in the summer, and Orlando again in the fall – all but one are work trips.) I have a goal of averaging 3 OTF workouts a week, but let’s say 150 workouts throughout the year. And since I’ve started another 366 project, my blog post count should definitely go up!

2019 in photos

January:

Was on sabbatical! Turned 44! Kristina came to visit!

Ferry mimosas
After lunch

February:

Still on sabbatical!

Rompers for my cousin’s sons
Mario shirt for Miles
Purple masks – $22

March:

Mardi Gras! Bought a new car! Sabbatical ended, went back to work.

Marching in Alla
Me as Frida
Shiny!

April:

Went to Serbia for work! Took the boys to Natchitoches!

Inside the High School Building

May:

Ran a 5K with the boys, sewed things, soccer ended (for the spring), went on a field trip.

June:

I made a bunch of shirts for Isa’s quinceanera! Soccer again!

July:

Road trip to Virginia and New York!

Linus cheering for his team

August:

The boys started middle school! Uncle Evan and Ellie came to visit! I sewed a dress for a friend!

September:

Went to Orlando for the Grand Meetup!

img 0246

October:

Hmm. Soccer? Yeah. Also I sewed stuff like Halloween costumes.

November:

Aunt Jenny and Uncle Rob and Emily and Andrew came for Thanksgiving! The boys started school soccer! I sewed a cool jacket!

December:

The boys turned 12! Christmas! We closed out the year with a bathroom flood!

Miles in his PSG PJs
I’m quite proud of how I wrapped the soccer balls
Yuck.

Top 5 sewing projects of 2019

For the first few months of the year, I didn’t do a ton of sewing for myself. I made a lot of Mardi Gras scarves for other people, so it kind of burned me out on sewing for a bit. Fortunately, it came back sometime in the spring.

My five favorite makes this year:

IKEA print Pona Jacket by Helen’s Closet

I can’t say enough good things about this. I get compliments every time I wear it. Lots of compliments. I was a little skeptical at first of using this IKEA upholstery fabric but it was the right call. Yet another great layering piece, and not at all hard to make. Read More

2018 in review

It’s time to look back at 2018 before too much of 2019 has gone past and I forget all about it.

It was a busy year! And I definitely didn’t blog enough, especially at the end of the year, where I had to rely too much on Instagram posts for my recaps. I’ll try to fix that for 2019. But my mantra for this year is “stop trying to do everything” which I’m afraid might turn into “turn into a lazy blob” so 2020’s mantra might need to revolve around moderation. We’ll see. Anyhoo, onto the year’s recap:

January

I turned 43. Had a nice day.

IMG_6649

It (sorta, not really, but close enough for the boys) snowed!

img_6958

But the best part of January was going with Steph to see My Favorite Murder live. What a fantastic night that was. Eeeek!!! The best part, of course:

 

Meeting and hugging the hosts of the show, Karen and Georgia, and getting a picture. Eeek! So fun.

And then, at the end of January, Linus said something to me that would change the course of the entire year. He said, “Mama, I think I want to play soccer again.”  Read More

2017 in review

Years that end in 7s have typically been pretty eventful for me. Well, at least two of them have. I spent a good chunk of 1997 in London, which was life-changing for me. And 2007 brought a trio of little clones into our lives. So I expected 2017 to be equally eventful for me personally. I mean, hey, it was also the year I was 42, so expectations were high.

But it didn’t end up being particularly noteworthy, at least not for me. In fact, generally speaking, I’d say it was not a great year overall. But for our family, it was fine. Let’s recap. Read More