Categories
Fabulous living

2023 Year in Review

Hello all! Happy Christmas week! I hope you had a wonderful day with loved ones and lasting memories.

A look at my tree on Christmas Day.

It’s the end of the 2023, this year flew by. I feel like just yesterday I was setting goals and resolutions for the next 12 months and here we are almost 365 days later with most of them accomplished.

Going into 2023, I anticipated it to be a year of change and new beginnings and while there was change and I tried new hobbies and went to different places, this year was filled with lots of routine and structure which I love and crave.

Over the past twelve months, I have kept in touch with friends from out of town and made it a point to touch base with them either in-person or via facetime. I traveled a lot this year by taking day trips or longer vacations with my family. I continued to grow in my profession by working on different long-form projects and challenging myself each day. The biggest things that stand out to me from this past year would be my newfound love of trying different hobbies. 

What a year for 2023!

Let’s take it back to January for a recap of this year before we get into my favorites of 2023:

The year began with lots of cozy days indoors and lots of cooking, I tried lots of new recipes this year from soups, to pizzas, and baked goods. 

A new recipe, Shrimp Avocado Medicine Soup
Fresh cookies too

Even though it was cold outside, I bunded up and took winter walks to some of my favorite spots, as much as I love the hygge vibes of being inside, there’s nothing quite like getting fresh air and exercise.

Winter walks in the snow

February brought a day trip to Cleveland for a day at the Art Museum and dinner and a show.

A show in the city at night!

The second month of the year brought Valentine’s Day and the first of many uses of my Kitchen Aid.

First time using my kitchen aid
The Kitchen Aid made baking them so much easier!

March was a continuation of testing out new recipes and getting outdoors more as the temperatures began to rise. 

First Zoo trip of the year

Spring finally made an appearance in April with Easter, family time and the start of sunshine.

First of spring walks
Our favorite Easter dessert-our bunny cake!

April also brought the start of my running journey.

Some of my early runs

May took me to Canada and my first visit to Niagara on the Lake, Ontario for a work trip.

Picnic season was back in May and I celebrated my 25th birthday.

Picnic season
Celebrating 25!

I tried to spend as much time outside in the summer. This summer I began to grow my first garden which saw success for its first season. I also began running consistently in preparation for my first 5K.

Runs at the beach!

June was a month of travel with day trips to Columbus and NYC for a day, which you can read about here.

The sights and sounds of NYC

I also got a chance to visit family in New Jersey which was well overdue. 

The beauty of the beach!

July began with the Fourth of July included lots of running, checking on my garden, walks, and reading poolside. 

Our Fourth of July spread
My first set of veggies! Peas!
Reading by the pool days
More running

August began fast and furious with my first 5K, then it was off to a day trip to Toronto.

Finishing my first 5K!
The iconic Toronto sign

My family and I got away for a few days to San Diego which was great to have quality time together and go to new places.

Hello San Diego!

Summer wrapped up with bonfires, ice cream and more success of my garden.

Summer S’mores!
Soaking up summer with every last ice cream!
The fruits of my labor

The fall was a time of savoring the outdoors as much as I could and seeing the seasons change. 

Hello fall walks!

As it got colder and I stayed indoors more, that meant more time in the kitchen by trying new recipes for baked goods and dinners. 

Back in the kitchen

November and December brought me my first Turkey Trot followed by Thanksgiving and getting into the Christmas spirit and celebrating all month long.

Turkey trotting!
Our Thanksgiving Dinner at home
All is calm, all is bright.
A very Christmas spread

This past year brought lots of favorites too.

Here’s some of my all-time favorite things from 2023:

Favorite Book: Spare-I know it was a controversial book, but I found it fascinating to read all about Prince Harry and his life from his perspective. I also have been a fan of the Royal family for years, so his autobiography was very eye-opening. Plus the timing between the death of the Queen in 2022, Charles’ Coronation in May and final season of the Crown makes his story even more prevalent.

Favorite T.V. ShowThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ended this year, I really loved following this show from the beginning and thought the ending was so fitting and fulfilling. A close runner-up would be Ted Lasso, another favorite from this year

Favorite MovieBarbie– This should be no surprise but I really enjoyed the Barbie movie this year. Although, I’m not a Barbie super fan, I thought it was very well done and had a great message.

Favorite Fashion Item– Tennis dress from Amazon– I wore this so many times this summer. It was so easy to throw on during a hot day or after work. It was fashionable and affordable and I loved the color, perfect for summer!

Favorite New PodcastThe Lazy Genius– I was introduced to this podcast and find it so helpful when it comes to life hacks and ways to streamline things in your life. Although, my all-time favorite podcast is the Simplified podcast.

Sometimes I listen to the Lazy Genius

Favorite App- Substack– I love using substack to keep up with some of my favorite authors and writers like Emily Ley from Simplified and Elizabeth Holmes for all things Royals.

Favorite New Hobby– My favorite new hobby from this year has been running. I never thought I would be a runner and love it as much as I do, but here we are. You can read about my running journey here.

One of my latest runs

I am also proud of my consistency with growing my first garden this year. 

My tomatoes!

Favorite Trip- Doing New York City in a day was exhausting but so worth it and I made so many memories with my family when we went to San Diego.

Memories from family trips!

This year was so full with new adventures, building relationships, growing in my profession, spending time with loved ones and trying new hobbies. The best way I can describe this year is by feeling fulfilled. 

Here’s a look at the resolutions I set out to accomplish this year. My top goals were to Eat healthier and run a 5K (which I accomplished big time), I wanted to take advantage of local spots and park (which I did a great job especially in the spring and summertime), Plan to do more things on days off (I accomplished this by doing day trips and making the most of my vacation days), and lastly, I wanted to continue to grow more in my profession (I achieved this goal by tackling different work projects and tasks).

I’m proud of myself of how I have grown and evolved this past year and I’m excited to see where 2024 takes me. 

Cheers to closing the chapter of 2023 and starting fresh for 2024.

Here’s to a new year!
Categories
Currently

Currently #44

Happy Wednesday! I hope you are having a great week! Remember how I felt like July went by in a blink of an eye? Well August went by even faster. This month has been a whirlwind between traveling, big work projects, back to school, and wrapping up summer fun! 

As one month end and another one begins, I’m recapping this past month and all the memories and adventures that came with it.

Here’s a look at this month’s Currently.

What I’m Up To: This past month has been all about soaking up the final days of summer, from hiking in new places, completing bucket list items, and traveling to new places, I have been busy but in the best way possible.

It’s local festival season!
And local farm show season!
Plus, no summer event isn’t complete without a funnel cake!

I’ve attended community fairs and festivals, been spending lots of time outside and have been reading lots of fun, summer books. 

My trip to Toronto was a highlight for sure!

What I’m Wearing: I have been continuing the trend of shorts and graphic tees.When my family and I went on vacation to San Diego, California, I wore a lot of neutrals to mix and match and keep it simple for travel. Here’s some of my favorite summer outfits. My shorts are from Old Navy and so are some of my shirts too.

A few of my looks from vacation.
Lots of color coordinated outfits.
And some bright colors too!

I have also been doing my best to wear all the bright colors for my dresses for work. I only have a small window to wear in the warm months, so I’m doing my best to wear them all. 

Bright blue for work!

What I’m Reading: This past month has been such a good month for reading for me 

 Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch follows the story of a young girl who loses her mom and her mom’s dying wish is for her daughter to go to Florence and reconnect with people from her mother’s time when she lived there. This book checks all the boxes for a cute rom com book. Dreamy city, beautiful description, incredible Italian food and desserts, and a little romance too. I blitzed through this book and was so sad when it came to an end. 

The sweetest summer book!

Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune tells the story a young woman who takes over her mother’s resort on the lake. She plans on making some changes when she gets some unexpected help from someone from her past that she always wanted to forgot. I really enjoyed the story and finished it within a week. I’m also excited that it’s going to be making its way to the screen as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be working with Netflix to turn it into a movie.

 

Better than Fiction by Alexa Martin and it combined two of my favorite hobbies, reading and hiking! This book follows the story of a young woman who inherits her grandmother’s book store. As she tries to manage this new project, enter a fan-favorite author. He’s visiting her small town for inspiration for his new book and they make a deal. She shows him around the area and he teaches her how to love books. 

Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler follows the story of a young woman who makes it her mission to deliver her neighbor turned best friend’s ashes to her long lost lover. However, the journey to get the ashes delivered does not go smooth. She ends up traveling with someone from her past and they endure all sorts of detours. The book goes back and forth between the past and present and there’s so many twists and turns, you will question if they will ever make it to their final destination.

What I’m Watching: As summer winds down, I’m finishing up my summer shows. I finished season two of the Summer I Turned Pretty. Overall, I thought the season was pretty good. I definitely enjoyed the first season more but I thought the second season had some great storylines and the finale left a lot of questions for season 3! If you watched, what did you think of the finale and Belly’s choice?

I also finished the first part of Outlander. This was another show that had a lot of ups and downs this season. There were some major plot twists with characters that I did not see coming. I’m anxious to see where it picks up and how things get wrapped up when it returns. 

I also finished season two of “And Just Like That”, it was such a good season. I loved the callbacks to earlier seasons of the show, the fashion and the friendships. The finale was really good, especially with the surprise appearance by Samantha! I was also excited to see that the show was renewed for season 3! I already can’t wait for next season!

And last but not least, I finished the new season of Sweet Magnolias. Although, there was some drama this season including some fights, fallouts and relationship shakeups between characters, I really enjoyed seeing the characters come together in the end.

What Inspires Me: I have been enjoying all the summer salads with fresh fruits and vegetables. I hate wasting food, so I have been enjoying salads and bowls with lots of food that I already have in the fridge. Here’s been some of my favorite salads. 

A spinach and strawberry and pecan salad. This is the perfect blend of fruits, veggies and some crunch too. 

Strawberry and spinach salad

A steak salad on top a bed of veggies keeps you full and gives you lots of flavor.

A steak salad
A peach and chicken salad

Speaking of fresh vegetables, I have been so inspired and proud of my garden. Although, I have lost some plants, I’m so happy with the ones that have grown and flourished. I’ll be doing a bigger blog post on this later in the season, but seeing seeds turn into bright, red tomatoes is certainly inspiring. 

My baby tomatoes
The fruits of my labor
Four fresh tomatoes

What I Accomplished: August was a busy month. I kicked it off by attending our local National Night Out. 

My boyfriend and I did a day trip to Toronto, you can read about our adventure here. 

The iconic Toronto sign

My boyfriend and I also went blueberry picking for the first time which was so much fun and I made some tasty muffins too!

Our haul
The best way to use blueberries!
Soaking up the end of summer with nighttime concerts.
Summer S’mores!

My family and I took our family vacation to San Diego which was so fun! We packed a lot in and made a ton of memories. It was the best way to spend time together before we all went our separate ways from school to work.

From the palm trees
The hikes and ocean
Enjoying some iconic West Coast food.
The San Diego Zoo
Balboa Park

Goals from Last Month: I accomplished my goal of running my first 5K, you can read about my journey here. 

Finishing my first 5K!

I accomplished almost everything from my summer bucket list. There were a few things that I didn’t get done, but I plan to do them in the fall.

The best part of this past month was all the family time. The older I get, the more, I realize how important family time is and how much I try to treasure every moment I have with my family and siblings. This summer has been so special that we have all been home under one roof.

End of summer Lobster rolls!

Goals for Next Month: Even though it’s September, I still plan on enjoying the warm weather and soaking up the sunshine. I’m not ready to think about fall yet, but I know I will have to eventually, right now, I’m all about savoring every last bit of summer. I will also be sharing my fall bucket next week!

Enjoying evening walks after work can continue in the fall.

There you have it, another Currently in the books. Tell me, what were some of your favorite parts of August?

Let me know in the comments below! Have a great rest of your week and end of August! See you back here on Friday!