A Very Fine Year

I started this year so sick I couldn't get off the couch and ended up sleeping through midnight. And I didn't even mind. I think that's the first sign of getting old. Here's what I can recall from 2015:

Relationships: Started dating my boyfriend AJ and met my coworker and friend Macy.

Concerts: There was the 3-day Coachella concert, Viva Pomona concert, Hairbanger's Ball, 2 Chainz and Florence + the Machine.

Celebrity Sightings: Ninja from Die Antwoord in the crowd with us at Coachella.

Trips: Phoenix to visit Anja, Las Vegas for my birthday, a million San Diego and LA trips, San Francisco for Palak's wedding, Yosemite for another wedding, the epic #SCBR to Raleigh, Myrtle Beach, Charleston and Savannah, and Denver for the first time.

Sporting events: Anaheim Ducks, Anaheim Angels, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Denver Broncos.

Visitors: I hosted Raf, Rob and Pearo for the MLK weekend, Raf and Priya for my Vagina Monologues performance, and Chrishon from Boston in the summer.

Weddings: My college roommate Becca's in May, Palak's in August, Jon & Nykole's in September, my cousin Brianna's in October, and Pam's in November.

I think those are all the major highlights that I can recall. If I had to pick my three favorites, I would say #SCBR, Denver, and F+tM! Here were my Top 9 Photos from Instagram in 2015:

And to quote a stupid picture I saw on Instagram: No I DON'T know where I'll be in 5 years, I don't have 2020 vision! (LOLOLOLOL). Goodbye 2015!

The End of December

Well Christmas was hectic and a half. On Christmas Eve, AJ and I stayed with his mom in Hermosa Beach and had Christmas with their family, then we went and Star Wars. Christmas morning there were cinnamon rolls and coffee and I made my deviled eggs for grandma's.

Grandma's gets smaller every year doesn't it? Womp womp. At least we got to FaceTime with Cherisse! And I think Kathleen was the first person to win LRC two years in a row.

After that we went by my aunt's house to exchange gifts, and then to my mom's for more food, and then finally home. It was quite exhausting to say the least.

Yesterday, I went to LA to hang out with my friend Shea. I got him into the Harry Potter books and he just finished them and we planned a whole day of going to the Harry Potter store Whimsic Alley to get our wands, and other events. Well they didn't have the custom wands for some reason, but they had the Great Hall! Shea wanted to buy me something as a thank you for introducing him to Harry Potter (it will change your life!) so I chose a book called The Witch's Guide to Wands (since our whole plan was to get our wands) and Shea kept referring to it as Chicken Soup for the Witch's Soul hahaha. After that we went and saw The Hateful Eight together, since Quintin Tarantino is another tradition of ours.

Tonight we're going to AJ's friend's for a birthday BBQ. It's been a nice little staycation!

Slow Down Christmastime!

It's going by too fast and I can't catch up! AJ and I have done just about everything I could think to do during the Christmas season... we went to the snow, we went to the Festival of Lights and drank coffee and looked at the Christmas lights, we watched Love Actually and did Christmas shopping and wrapping and crafts, but I still feel as though I haven't fully gotten to appreciate Christmastime!

Isn't that how it goes? You spend the first 3/4 not believing it really is the season and the last 1/4 realizing it all passed you by. I don't want it to be over yet! And it really doesn't help having to work the whole time either! I just need to get through the rest of today and then tomorrow and then I'm free until into 2016!

Needless to say, this is fast turning into the longest day and a half ever. Bah humbug.

If you follow me on Instagram  you already saw this, but here's what my super crafting wrapping looks like this year. Kiki likey!

Adenverture

A Denver adventure... get it? AJ and I went to Denver and it was SO. FUN. It was my first time and it didn't disappoint. It was a great time to go because things were very festive for the upcoming holidays and there was already lots of snow, and it even snowed while we were there!

I have to say that I adjusted faster than I realized to being back in California and no significant cold... I turned back into a delicate flower and even though I brought my warmest clothes that survived the East Coast move, I was still struggling at times. Mainly my fingertips were freezing and weren't used to that cold, even though I wore fingerless gloves in the NYC winters all the time.

Our flight out was delayed, so we didn't get in until about midnight, so we didn't go out on the town as originally planned but instead went back to AJ's friends place where we were staying and played pool and drank there. There were some adorable kitties in the house, and the one even LOVED her little cat tree and used it regularly. She even sat in the little bowl. Kitty soup!

In the morning we left first thing to head up into the Rockies. The friends were going to go snowmobiling and AJ and I were going to hang out in Breckenridge. It was snowing and the traffic was massive, so we had a change of plans that included all of us going to Breckenridge (SUCH A CUTE TOWN) for lunch, then taking the friends to Copper Mountain for their snowmobiling, and AJ took me over to Vail.

Downtown Denver

Long ride up the mountain

Blurry Copper Mountain

We went out to eat at the Dam Brewery and had beer cheese soup and I had a maple bourbon trout still on the skin. We stayed at a condo that night in Silverthorne, rented a movie, AJ made a fire, we had supplies for 7&7's but I fell asleep pretty immediately.

The next morning was BEAUTIFUL because it was no longer snowing and the sun was out!

We headed back down the mountain and went back to home base to relax and change before going to the Broncos/Raiders game!! AJ's friend works at an internet/cable company and he actually helped one of the Broncos players (#40) who in turn gave him 4 free tickets to the game in the 8th row!!! They were amazing seats and it was SO much fun, and Broncos stadium was fabulous! Big and beautiful and what a vibe! Such a following and the entire stadium was orange and going crazy.

AJ wanted to wear this bandanna to cover his ears and I told him NO WAY because he would look like a Raiders fan and I demonstrated to him what other people would be seeing when they saw him with that on

After the game we went for a fancy schmancy dinner at the fondue restaurant The Melting Pot. It was INCREDIBLE. We had the four-course meal of salads, the beer based cheese fondue with veggies and bread, meat platters in the hot pot with 6 different kinds of sauces, and chocolate fondue for dipping rice krispie treats, fruit, brownies, cookies, cheesecake, pound cake, and graham cracker-encrusted marshmallows. UNREAL.

And then of course we had to go home, but there was a photo op at the airport.

Our Frontier plane was hosted by Sammy the Squirrel, and we now have travel vouchers to make up for the delayed flight on the way out. I want to go back to the Christmastime snow!!