This was one of those years that felt like two or three or maybe four.
Every year around this time I do some reflecting and reviewing on the year that’s coming to a close. I ask myself questions like: what were the highlights? Am I happy with how I spent my time? What worked well? What do I want to change? How much did I earn (as a hybrid W2-Freelancer each year is a little different.)
When I was gathering my articles to review what I had written and watched throughout 2019, I was in disbelief to find that I saw The Music Man this year. It had to have been last year. It HAD to have been almost two years ago. Nope. Just goes to show what a full, full year it has been.
Motherhood! Working mom life! Work from home mom life! Phew. Curveballs and lessons galore.
For context: I returned to work from maternity leave on January 3. When you start the year completely sleep deprived and heading back to work with a baby that’s not sleeping and shows no signs of any kind of predictability, it makes the days and months feel long. For me, the fog lifted in a major way when Eloise began to sleep through the night in May. And from that moment on time moved forward like a high speed train. I couldn’t keep up! Life feels so very, very different than it did during those early infant days. My brain can hardly come to terms with the fact that this all happened in the same year.
So, as skeptical as I am that this all occurred in the past twelve months, I ‘d still like to present my 2019 by the numbers and some of my favorite things I’ve gotten to create and be a part of in this grand and bewildering year that closed out the decade.
Best of 2019:
Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Honors Dave Chappelle. This was a wild experience. I got to interview folks on the red carpet before the big event. You’ll be able to watch the whole thing when it airs on PBS in January.
Review: Mike Birbiglia’s The New One. This just so happens to have been the first live theatre date night JC and I got to go on since Eloise was born. And the whole show is about the experience of becoming a parent for the first time. It was hilarious. And it’s now on Netflix. So go watch it ASAP.
Captain Marvel, Disney+, and Star Wars: 8 Content Marketing Lessons from Walt Disney Studios. This is the year I became a marketing conference speaker! I loved sharing what marketers can learn from Walt Disney Studios with audiences in D.C., Boston, and Raleigh. I hope to take this show on the road again next year and visit some other great cities. If you’d like me to speak at your thing, HMU!
Podcast Interview with American Idol’s Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon. My most popular Hustle & Grace episode of the year was with my sweet-as-can-be friend Jeremiah. His talent is jaw-dropping and the world took notice when he was on American Idol this year. We had a fantastic conversation and I am still chewing on his insightful perspective on minimalism.
5 Ways Hiring Managers Can Get Positions Filled Fast (Washington Post Careers Blog). A personal highlight of the year (especially as someone who lives in the DC metro area) was getting an article published on the Washington Post’s Careers Blog!
How I Spent My Time in 2019
I got to take in 11 live shows in 2019 from Kristin Chenoweth in Concert to Jagged Little Pill on Broadway. I loved (most of) what I saw. Here is the vault of all of my reviews for DC Metro Theater Arts in one handy spot.
I also got to attend the Arts Summit at the Kennedy Center and get an early tour of the new buildings at the Kennedy Center called The Reach. Have I mentioned that the Kennedy Center is my favorite place in Washington, D.C.?
I spoke at three conferences this fall and moderated a panel at another. Speaking took me from Boston to Raleigh this year and I had a blast. With each new engagement I grew in confidence and really felt I got to improve my speech. I love, love, loved this—and it wasn’t something I planned or a goal I set for this year. Life lesson alert! Sometimes when doors open you just walk through them. Can’t plan for every awesome thing (as much as my Enneagram 7 heart wants to have all the things to look forward to.) Huge highlight of the year.
I ran a 5K in March and attended the weddings of three friends this year. The 5K was brutal for several reasons (basically having to do with that I hadn’t fully recovered from having a baby when it was time to train for the race). The weddings were fabulous.
JC and I celebrated our first Mothers Day and Fathers Day with Eloise. It is an utter delight being her parents.
We hosted out of town guests several times this year and loved taking Eloise to ten different states to meet people who already loved her. She is quite the traveling baby.
I saw only six movies in the theater this year. Big change from last year. In 2018 I wrote down that I had seen 17 movies by July (RIP MOVIEPASS!!) and then I stopped counting, but I’d venture to say I probably saw 20 or more. ‘They’ were right about the whole “you don’t go to the movies as much when you have kids” thing. I LOVE to go to the movies and treasure every time I get to go.
One of the bigger highlights of 2019 was that we finally settled on a local church and have gotten involved. Our family attends a community group twice a month with other families who have little kids and I volunteer with the music and worship ministry. I sing vocals on a regular basis and also really enjoy live hosting on stage.
And here is my year by the numbers:
40 articles
26 podcast episodes
15 trips
15 new words (Eloise’s ;-))
12 months of nursing
10 new teeth (Eloise’s ;-))
5 reviews
5 months of sleep deprivation
3 speeches
1 surreal trip to the south lawn of the White House
1 wasp sting
That about sums up my year. I absolutely LOVE reflecting on the past and looking toward the future. I freakin live for this week between Christmas and New Years to do JUST THAT.
What a brief moment in time NOW is. Let’s soak it up and live in gratitude for what we have, right here, right now. (*I think it’s ok to not be grateful for the wasp sting though.)
