2010
Missed 2011 :(
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018 started off with a goodbye to my good friend Caity. I met Caity through a sports league and it was friends at first sight. She lives in Atlanta now and I miss her dearly!
In January I went to DC for my organization's annual Summit. It's always a whirlwind week but two highlights were visiting the incredible National Museum of African American History and Culture and taking my first Soul Cycle class!
In February some Northeastern friends visited Boston - always great to get together with the college crew!
Then I spent the rest of the month doing Whole 30. Although Whole 30 is not meant to be about weight loss, I'd be lying if this wasn't another attempt to drop some pounds. After I finished Whole 30 and experienced another cycle of the weight loss/gain despair, I said enough and started working with my nutritionist on something totally different. One day I'll write more about that.
In March Jacob and I went to our first concert of the year, Vundabar. It was my first time seeing a show at the Sinclair and was great.
And then we were off to Portland, ME to celebrate our two year anniversary! I LOVE Portland and this trip did not disappoint. We visited the lighthouse, lots of breweries, and finally had dinner at Fore Street.
Later in the month I went home to New York for Easter. Here's my cute sister decorating eggs.
I also took a trip to Atlanta in April to lead a 2 hour fundraising training for over 200 people. This was by far one of the scariest and most rewarding experiences of my year. I'm not so afraid of speaking in public, but I felt incredibly vulnerable presenting to a crowd that large. I was really proud of how I prepared and performed and hope I get more opportunities to do this in the future.
Later in April I was invited by Nike to attend the New Strategies Forum hosted by Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. It was a long and challenging four days. Luckily I had time to do some nearby sightseeing including a visit to the "Exorcist stairs".
At the end of the month we celebrated my lovely friend Cara at her bridal shower!
And early in May I finished up my year-long Institute for Nonprofit Management course and graduated!
I took MANY trips to New York this year. Here's a cute shot of Jacob and my dad during one of our May visits.
In mid-May I went to Denver, CO to speak at a corporate leadership lunch on behalf of my organization. Again - totally out of my comfort zone but extremely proud that I did it. I also had a decent amount of spare time to explore the city and of course, drink some beer! I traveled to Denver twice this year and absolutely loved it!
I made it back to Boston in time for my beautiful friend Kathleen's bridal shower.
And then me and Jacob went to the "Lamb Jam" - a super fun cooking competition and expo. He stole this little walking lamb balloon for me that I fell in love with.
At the end of the month, and my birthday weekend (!) I spontaneously bough ta ticket to Boston Calling, a weekend long musical festival at Harvard Stadium. I saw SO many amazing bands (The Killers, Portugal the Man, The National, Maggie Rogers, etc.) and it was a gorgeous and fun day with one of my best friends.
The rest of my 30th birthday was fabulous. Jacob and I took off work and had an adventure day in Boston including lunch at Neptune Oyster, kayaking on the Charles River, dinner at Coppa, an outdoor movie at Lawn on D, and a stop at the Trillium Beer Garden.
The weekend after, I was brought to the Cape for a surprise birthday weekend planned by some of my amazing friends. It was an incredible weekend and I am so lucky to have such fabulous people in my life who have truly become my second family. We visited breweries, played lots of games, threw confetti, and had a big lobster dinner!
And then it was back to New York for another visit. Here's a nice one of me and my dad.
I also surprised one of my best friend's for her 30th birthday party!
At some point over the summer I finally visited a bucket list restaurant - the Lithuanian Social Club. It's ridiculous this has been on my list for so long considering it was right down the street from my apartment, but something always prevented me from going. I can now say it was fantastic!
At the end of June I went to Charleston, SC with my oldest high school friends. This trip was a bitch to plan but it was so worth it. We stayed in a gorgeous house on John's Island. It was insanely hot so luckily we were surrounded by a creek and a pool. We spent lots of time catching up, eating, drinking, exploring and lounging.
In July it was off to Conway, NH for Cara's bachelorette party. SO much fun and I love tubing down the river!
In August Jacob and I saw Billy Joel again at Fenway. Always one of my favorite nights of the year!
And then our whirlwind couple of weeks began. First was the gorgeous wedding of Cara and Alex in Dartmouth. Such an amazing day celebrating two amazing people!
We had to head out from Dartmouth in the early morning to get back to our apartment to pack up our place. Unfortunately our landlord sold our building fairly last minute and we had to move out of our little South Boston apartment. Moving took over the end of the summer and was a true test of my patience and sanity. In the end, we found a great new home. Here's Jacob in front of our new place in Savin, Hill Dorchester!
And then in the morning, we were off to Portugal for a 10-day getaway! Portugal was AMAZING. I loved traveling with Jacob and we had such a blast exploring this beautiful country. We traveled north to south, making stops in Porto, Lisbon, Belem, Sintra and Portimao.
And when we arrived back in town, I was off again to Nantucket for Kathleen's bachelorette party. Such a blast with so many wonderful ladies.
In late September I was in NYC hosting an event for work at The Players' Tribune HQ. This event was one of my proudest work accomplishments of the year and was crazy to plan. It was super cool and we managed to get almost 500 people to show up!
And of course being in NY we had to stop for a visit to the family and my cute nephew.
The following week it was off to Newport, RI for Kathleen and Craig's wedding! There is nothing like watching one of your best friends get married. It was a beautiful wedding and an incredibly fun weekend with so many of my favorite people.
The rest of the month finally gave Jacob and I a chance to settle into the apartment and have some fun in the city, including a concert to see one of my all time favorite bands Mae at the Middle East!
And apple and pumpkin picking...
And game nights...
And dinner at Erbaluce, which is soon to be closing :(
And the Dorchester Short Film Festival...
And puzzling!
And pumpkin carving...
And the pumpkin beer festival at Cambridge Brewing Company...
And Hamilton!!!!
In November we made a few more trips to NY. I got some quality time with my sister, and spent some time with my friends from high school. I even got to meet my friends' baby, which is still crazy to me!! How are we old enough to have babies?
In November I celebrated Friendsgiving in Boston once again - I'm pretty sure this was our first year all eating at the same table! My how we've grown up.
In early December Jacob and I went to our last concert of the year - Mumford & Sons at TD Garden. It was awesome!
Then I attended Harry Potter trivia with my coworkers. We got fourth!
And just like that, the holidays were here!
I went to see the Slutcracker again this year, which is becoming one of my favorite holiday traditions.
Then we took a trip out West with Jacob's friends to see the Norman Rockwell museum and lots of Christmassy sites!
We went to a few ugly sweater parties...
And celebrated the holiday and my mom's birthday in NY.
We returned to Boston in time to celebrate Erica's birthday at the Envoy Hotel rooftop bar. The heated igloos were so cool -- not literally, they were warm :)
We also had Jacob's family over for a belated Christmas dinner. I'm so glad we were able to celebrate with both of our families this year!
And then hosted a New Year's eve party to wrap up the year!
