Thursday, January 1, 2009

my 2008, in review.

2008 is over, and damn was it a good year. Amazing, even. Let's review, shall we? I know you're shaking with anticipation. I can feel it. I'm cool that way.

January started with ringing in the new year with my lovely Lady Lumps. We celebrated at Danielle's house by drinking sparkling cider, playing the notecard game, and eating copious amounts of food prepared by Danielle and her mom. Next up was my twenty-first birthday, and what did I do to celebrate this monumental event, this transition into adulthood and walking through the doorway of Legal Drinking?! ...I went ice skating. Because I'm really a ten-year-old, not twenty-one. ANYway, I did start drinking this year - I had wine coolers with my family on my actual birthday (rebel, I know). Since then I've tried fruity drinks at dinners out with friends, Bacardi with cranberry and orange juice (yum!), self-mixed margaritas with the Lady Lumps, light beer with the familia, and my newbestfriend, Smirnoff Ice. Keep in mind that my reference to "drinking" means... indulging in one or two drinks every couple of weeks, and actually, I have yet to really even get buzzed, nevermind drunk. Mainly because I'm really adverse to the whole vomiting thing. So instead I'm super cautious and won't go past like, two drinks in one night. BUT MOVING ON.

February was the beginning of my interest in the election. I figured I should probably get informed, considering it would be my first time voting in a presidential election. My decision to support Obama grew stronger as the election process went on, and I'm glad to have gotten involved. Valentine's Day was fun regardless of it being another year without a valentine - Danielle, Melissa and I ordered Italian food, had sparkling cider, ate chocolate covered strawberries, and cried ridiculously over watched Waitress. Rehearsals for my very last dance competition were getting underway and stressing! me! out! I actually forgot about that whole ordeal ... probably for my own good, seeing as I was so pissed off.

March brought along my final dance competition, which was sad for many reasons. One, it was the last one. Two, I really wasn't at my best, even though I felt like I'd been improving for the past few years. Three, the whole crew wasn't there to share it. It was a real let-down in the end, just because of my lackluster performance and the stress outweighing the fun. Then what? Oh yes. My oh-so-fun experience that involved a crush on my close friend, a SUPER LAME confession of my feelings for him, and the eventual let down and confusing non-explanation. Sounds fun, right!? Anyway, by this time I thought it was over, and I was moving on.. but then I thought all over again that he really did like me and got way confused. Good thing I moved on anyway, cause um.. he really didn't like me that way. Awk-kward. Oh! And this was also the beginning of Super Awkward Roommate Drama. Fun! ...not.

April. Ohhh, April. I went to my very first real nightclub to see Carnival, which is a semi-annual choreographer's ball. It was amazingly fun. I felt so grown up going into the city, showing my ID, getting my hand stamped, and sitting in the VIP section to watch the performers. I participated in Relay for Life again, and of course the following day happened to be when Lynds and her family were touring my school. So, I gave them the "unofficial" campus tour and was really excited to show them my townhouse. I'm pretty sure this is when I got through my first successful stint of not biting my nails.. which eventually failed. But! It was the farthest I'd ever gotten. Hm.. there was a lot of stress about getting end-of-the-semester work and studying done, and a TON of things to do for RHA. Speaking of which, we hosted an AMAZING carnival on a GORGEOUS day - it was the best one out of my three years of participating. It just went flawlessly, and we were all really happy with the event and the job we'd done. And wow, I totally forgot that Danielle invited Natalie and I to the EMS formal, where we danced the night away. Seriously. We were the only ones on the dance floor, from bascially after the awards were handed out until it was time to leave. I had a blast. And who knew what would eventually come out of that one night... hmmm, is the suspense killing you!? No?! Well you're no fun. What I'm talking about is, of course, The Boy. A week or two after the formal, Danielle comes back from a study group with him and tells me this unbelievable story about how Boy chased after her when she left and asked if I wanted to date him. And I just about died because it was just about the cutest thing ever, and it was happening to me. Yay, boyfriend!

May was when the relationship between The Boy and I really developed. The month started off with the anxiousness of really getting a chance to know him (we called it pre-dating.. how cute are we?!), which was piled on top of stress over finals. I finished up my junior year of college, and moved out of the townhouse. It was so bittersweet, because that year was definitely the best in terms of all-around experiences. We had so much fun in that house, and I always wish we could go back to that. I went clubbing with my dancers as soon as I was done with school, which was hilarious and a wonderful bonding experience. Of course, I think that was when I found out Barb was moving to Vegas, and I was seriously bummed. I spent more time talking to The Boy (and introduced him here as "A Boy," teehee), and set goals for the summer. We celebrated my parents' twenty-fifth anniversary with a little party, which coincided with a nasty cold that left me exhausted after I spent the whole day rushing around to decorate and keep everyone happy.

June brought on a lot of social events and its share of drama. I met up with all my roommates again, filled everyone in on The Boy, and also really started to get comfortable with him. I got to spend time with him in the comfort of my house and over at his house, which were one-on-one situations. I went clubbing in NYC with my friends for Katrina's twenty-first, which turned out to be tons of fun, even if she did take only about and hour before she was done for the night. Sadly, we had our final dance recital. It was my first and only year to perform a solo, and Ashley, Cortney and I performed a tribute which consisted of choregraphy from the various memorable routines. The night before was spent stressing, mixing music, and spending hours upon hours working out seating arrangements. In the end, it was a lot of fun, and I finally had my Lady Lumps and Lyndsay there to see what I can really do. Mostly they see me goofing around, but they got the chance to see me in my element, and that made me really happy. The drama turned up when I had to pick between sleeping over at Lynds's shorehouse after her brother's graduation party, or going to see The Boy on a spur-of-the-moment invite to his sister's grad party. I made the awful decision, and ended up with The Boy. Was it worth it? Yes, because in the end.. I got my very first kiss. It was just what every first kiss should be - incredibly, adorably awkward. Of course, immediately after that we had a Big Discussion about religion and ended up on a "break," which I put in quotations because it really didn't last.

July. Um.. mainly uneventful? The Boy took his MCATS for the first of two times. My boss moved. Is that really noteworthy? Not really. I went for my annual visit to Lynds's shorehouse, and got really sunburnt. But! I ended up with a totally semi-noticable tan.

August had me striving to be healthier - I was walking every couple of days, stretching and doing crunches a lot, and trying really hard to eat healthy. It really didn't last, but.. it was good while it did! That counts, right? I went to my very first concert with the dancers and Natalie. We saw Sara Bareilles, Maroon 5, and about five minutes of Counting Crows before we decided we didn't really care and that we were hungry. Isabella, my dance teacher's adorable little girl, turned three, and we had a really fun time eating Ariel cake at her party. After a bit of a hair dilemma, I got it cut shorter than usual and got bangs! Yay, bangs! Can you tell that I! Love! Bangs! Ahem. I also went to the dentist for the first time in two years, and got freaked the fuck out when he told me I had four cavities, needed my wisdom teeth out, and required gum surgery. I almost cried. That weekend I went down the shore again to take part in the blockparty that was happening, which had a fun Christmas theme. Lynds, myself, and her other friend all wore the same colors and had tons of fun walking up and down the block, pigging out, and eventually dancing the night away and sweating our asses off. It was the absolute perfect ending to summer. I went back to school, "caught up" with The Boy (what?! We hadn't seen each other all summer save for like, four times. Don't judge!), and started the Semester from Hell.

September. I was really seriously about kicking academic ass, and was doing so even if it meant staying up super late to finish homework instead of my previous tendency to just blow it off. Also, I started the school year with some scary throat rash, which ended up being some weirdo virus that went away a week later. I always come down with crazy things. The Boy had his twenty-second birthday, only to find out he hadn't done as well as he'd hoped on his MCATS. We dealt with that disappointment and his subsequent breakdown, and also with the drama that went down with visiting Danielle at med school. As I settled into classes, I also settled into applying for interviews and going on them. Eep! It was scary, but I got through them, unfortunately with no luck.

October brought about some freak-outs. The combination of the stress from my classes, my lack of sleep, spending a ton of time with The Boy and not that much with anyone else eventually wore me down, to the point where I was going home in the middle of the week. I dealt with some big mistakes I was making in terms of managing my time. I went to the So You Think You Can Dance! Season 4 Tour with Katrina, and had a blast as always. Halloween was spent at Melissa's house, where I dressed as a cat and The Boy was a Love Doctor. Yeah, yeah, cheesy. I know. I know.

November's shining moment was the election, a pivotal moment in history. I was so extremely excited by it - when the results were announced, I could hear cheers and screaming all across campus. I cried as Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech, and just felt incredibly excited to be involved in this whole thing. The next day, I found out that a friend from middle school, who I had still seen recently through other friends, had committed suicide. My friends, which ranged from old hometown friends who I hadn't spoken to in years to highschool friends who I still keep in touch with, and I all attended the wake, which was extremely depressing. We were all in shock and spent the evening reminicsing and comforting one another. Thanksgiving came late, and I spent a relaxing day with family. The Boy and I bargain shopped until 5am Thanksgiving day for a digital camera, webcams, and other various electronics.

December flew by. I studied for and took finals. I celebrated the end of the semester at various times with all my friends - attending our school's holiday party with Katrina, venting about accounting finals and hanging out with the guys, and watching the Hills with Natalie and drinking boxed wine with her and her roomies. The Boy and I had our six-month anniversary, even after a bunch of ups and downs. My first week of break was dedicated to shopping and prepping for the holidays, which went by in a blur. Christmas Eve and Day were held here at my house, and every ounce of energy was poured into baking, making appetizers, wrapping and presenting gifts, and taking ridiculous pictures with Lyndsay. Monday was Arun's birthday party, Tuesday was my very first official trip into New York City, and I rung in the New Year at home with my family.

So here we are! 2009. When you're in school, whenever you start, the year you graduate seems so far away. When I started high school, 2005 sounded so foreign. In college, 2009 sounded even stranger. But here it is, and in a few short months, I'll be done with college and done with school. That's really scary.

I hope to find some energy to type up a blog about my NYC experience, which was amazing but ended on a super dramatic note. For now, I've gotta get to sleep. I seriously didn't plan on spending this much time on this blog, and now.. it's, um, 5am. SLEEP, PLZ.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

oh the memories!!! good times good times...and i know exactly what you mean about graduation year...i freaked out when it became 2007...but things turned out just fine and the same will happen for you