A Look Back at 2016

Last year was a roller coaster. So I began this year knowing I had to rediscover myself. I felt hopeful, but to be real, much of that initial hope was forged. I wasn’t quite convinced I could successfully put myself back together, so I had made a list of what I thought I needed to do to recover my identity.

I completed a shitload of that list. In the past twelve months, I….

Got scuba certified
Learned how to make nom dot com cinnamon rolls
Started dancing again
Watched my brother graduate college
Ran a marathon
Visited not one but two countries (three if you count Burning Man)

I remembered how much I love swimming, LOVE cooking, am a mediocre but dedicated dancer, don’t love running but can somehow do it, and still have so many more places to travel to.

Then there were things that, in my Type A planning obsessed self, occurred spontaneously and took me out of my comfort zone. I…

Raved on a beach in Mexico
Surfed in Hawaii
Started a kickass job with some kickass coworkers
Supported some pretty delicious new restaurants
Ate this insane meal
Rediscovered the East Bay
Cooked some pretty good shit
Started a relationship and experienced its dissolution

…and in a few days, head to Cuba.

I guess my takeaway from this year is that…life is still chaotic. But instead of being all over the place, I think it’s safe to say that this year, I got to be all over my place. SO CHEESY I KNOW. But honestly so real tho. This year, I got one step closer to figuring out how to do all the things I want to do. I’m still not even close to being done, but if I can run 26.2 miles, I can do this.

I’m ready to further my intentions with SLM with more recipes, partnerships, and something new—teaching classes! More on that in January. For now, hands up in the air for 2016—you were cool, but 2017 needs to be and is going to be lit.