Best of 2020 | A Month-by-Month Recap

Hi, friends! Happy Wednesday. 🙂 I tried my best to get this post up yesterday, but it ended up taking me much longer than anticipated! I have different ways of recapping my year, as sometimes I just list out my top moments or assign an emotion to each month. This year, it felt right to recap it month-by-month in a bullet list. It really shows the ups and downs of this year, from the beginning months where everything felt normal, to the uncertain early months of the pandemic, to life starting to slowly come back to normal near the end of the year. (A different kind of normal, of course.) Enjoy!

JANUARY

• I rang in 2020 at a small house party with a few close friends, which is my new favorite tradition.
• I had two reading dates, one at our local library and the other at my friend’s pool. (Reading by the pool in January—the perks of living in Florida.)
• I had my first Mazzaro’s experience! This is an Italian market that’s a staple in my city, but I had never been.
• I dog-sat for my fur-brother Chip and a friend’s adorable greyhound.
• I had book club at a friend’s home where she cooked a delicious pot of chili and we made plans for a kayaking weekend in March.
• I started physical therapy for my ankle.

FEBRUARY

• Mom and I hosted our annual Super Bowl party!
• I had a really fun lady date with my mom where we went out to lunch, painted pottery, got massages, and got pedicures.
• Mom and I completed our first mud run! I was not excited about doing this, but it turned out to be such a fun experience.
• I got to see Lisa! She came to Florida for a family beach trip and we had lunch at a local pizza place.
• I celebrated Galentine’s Day with Briana. We ate pizza and watched When Harry Met Sally. She also brought me a long-stemmed rose!
• My nephew turned 5 and celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese.
• Our book club had a photoshoot! This was an incredible experience and the photos turned out amazing.
• Mom and I booked a trip to New Orleans for early April.

MARCH

• Mom and I attended a pet portrait painting event at a local art studio. I painted Dutch!
• I went on a camping trip with a few friends. We stayed at an Airbnb on the Suwanee River where we were able to launch kayaks right off the property.
• Chip turned 2!
• COVID-19 started causing closures in my area—schools shut down, restaurants closed for in-person dining, etc.
• On March 13th, my company announced we would be shifting to remote work while they monitored the situation. This ended up being my last day in the office (but I didn’t know that then).
• I started feeling really anxious and worried about the pandemic. Empty shelves at the grocery stores, a toilet paper shortage, an administration that wasn’t taking things seriously… it was chaotic and scary.
• Mom and I canceled our trip to New Orleans. 🙁

APRIL

• Life started to feel very weird, as my state went into a stay-at-home order (finally!). Seeing people in the grocery store wearing masks felt so apocalyptic, though.
• Mikaela and I resumed our writing dates after taking a few weeks off to adjust to pandemic life. We met for two hours every Saturday morning on Zoom.
• My washer broke. Perfect timing!
• I felt very lonely, as I was isolated from everyone, including my mom. It was really, really hard.
• My friends and I organized a birthday surprise for Amber and seeing my friends again after so many weeks of isolation was a breath of fresh air. It was weird, though, as we all kept our distance from each other and some of us wore masks.
• I went through lots of ups and downs with my anxiety. There was so much misinformation and uncertainty about the pandemic, and it was hard not to fall down a rabbit hole of panic-scrolling through the news.
• Eloise turned 2! I tried to make a special cat birthday cake for her, but it did NOT turn out well. Sorry, my love!

MAY

• My friends and I pulled off another birthday surprise for a friend!
• Lila turned 2, and this time, I let the cats have some wet food and a few bites of a vanilla cupcake.
• I celebrated Mother’s Day with my mom, my brother, and my nephews. It was the first time I had seen my mom in more than a month, and had been more than three months since I last saw my brother and nephews. We ordered in food and mostly enjoyed just being around each other.
• Florida started the slow process of reopening businesses, and when my hair salon called me to make an appointment, I happily scheduled one. They had implemented a lot of COVID-19 protocols so I felt safe about the process. And I was so excited to have a fresh cut and color!
• My mom and I started a weekly Thursday night dinner, where we would order takeout and watch a few episodes of Golden Girls together.
• We had a socially distanced book club gathering in a friend’s backyard that included a book exchange. I loved lending out some of my favorite books to friends in need of reading material.
• On May 25th, George Floyd was brutally murdered by a cop, sparking nationwide protests and a time of white people finally dealing with their privilege and silence. It was a time of reckoning and change, one I can only hope follows us into 2021.

JUNE

• The keyboard on my laptop died after I spilled a bit of soda on it. I had to wait two whole weeks for a replacement keyboard, during which time I had to do all my work on my tiny, 13-inch Chromebook. Do not recommend!
• Our library system reopened for curbside pickup! Oh, happy day!
• My mom and stepdad closed on their house, and I got immediate access to a private pool.
• I spent a Saturday helping my mom paint her office in her new home and also enjoyed taking my first dip in the pool. So lovely!
• I finally felt comfortable enough to have maintenance come by to fix my washer. Turns out, I needed an entirely new washer/dryer. Niiiice.
• I experienced vertigo for the first time, and it was AWFUL. I couldn’t even walk a few steps without my head spinning so much that I felt like I was going to throw up. Thankfully, the worst of it cleared up within a few hours but I felt dizzy for nearly a week afterward.
• Florida became the epicenter of COVID with crazy-high case numbers and very little ICU capacity. It was a scary time—you never want to see your state as a CNN national breaking news alert.

JULY

• I met up with some family members for a quick dinner (on an outside patio). I was introduced to my cousin’s new baby (he’s delicious!) and it was just so nice to catch up with them.
• I took my mom’s birthday off work so we could have a fun day out. We got pedicures (we went to a nail salon that another friend had scoped out and said was following very strict COVID policies) and had lunch at an outdoor restaurant. Later, my brother and nephews came over for dinner (we ordered in).
• I launched a brand new blog design, and I’m still so in love with it!
• I went back to the office to pack up my belongings. It was so weird to see my calendar still stuck on March 13th! Oh, how times had changed.
• My friends and I surprised another friend for her birthday, showing up at her home on a weekday evening. We sat outside by her pool, chatting and catching up, for about an hour. It was so nice to see them!
• I started an Instagram for my cats! They almost have 100 followers and are definitely becoming the “catfluencers” they always wanted to be. 🙂

AUGUST

• I signed up to be a poll worker and attended my first training. I learned so much!
• I celebrated seven years at my company. Crazy!
• It was the tenth anniversary of the founding of our book club so a few of us met in a park for a socially distanced get-together. The weather was great and it was so wonderful to catch up with my friends.
• I started packing for my move and doing a ton of decluttering tasks.
• My mom and stepdad officially moved into their new house, and we all celebrated by getting together for family game night. Yay!

SEPTEMBER

• I moved to a new apartment! This was the highlight of my year. The move went really smoothly, although it was a lot of work for one person, especially moving to a third-floor apartment (with no elevator).
• I took a week off work for the move, which was so lovely! It meant I could move slowly without needing to get everything done in just a few days. (It also allowed me a lot of time to deep clean the old place, which needed a lot of work!)
• It was a busy birthday month as my stepdad, brother, and nephew all turned another year old. My brother turned 34, my nephew turned 12, and I think my stepdad would prefer if I kept his age quiet. 🙂
• My friends and I organized another birthday surprise for a friend (who then proceeded to feed us dinner because if she isn’t the poster child for an Enneagram 2, I don’t know who is).
• I was on Chip duty for a few days while my mom and stepdad took a little vacation. I loved hanging out with that dude!
• I had my first reading date with Amber since January! We met at a park and spent most of our time chit-chatting. We did sneak in about 30 minutes of reading before the sun went down, though.

OCTOBER

• Mikaela and I resumed in-person writing dates this month! We both felt comfortable meeting in public, so we started having Saturday morning writing dates at Panera.
• I bought a new, bigger desk and my stepdad came over to help me put it together.
• I got my hair cut at a cosmetology school for the first time. It took much longer than I anticipated, but I was pleased with the results (and even more pleased with the cheap price!)
• Briana and I resumed our monthly lady dates! We met at a restaurant downtown and sat outside, far away from anyone else. The food was delicious and it was just so nice to have this semblance of normalcy in my life.
• Another month, another birthday surprise! This time, we all surprised Mikaela during one of our Panera writing dates. It was so fun to organize this!
• Amber and I went to a local cat cafe to spend 45 minutes petting and loving on cats that are up for adoption. The best kind of therapy!
• My company announced that we were switching to a remote workforce, so I went to my office to pick up my computer system. Working from a desktop with two big monitors instead of a laptop was life-changing for my work life!
• I helped my mom pass out candy to kiddos on Halloween! There wasn’t a huge turnout due to COVID, but we had a fair number show up and it was fun to see them so excited.

NOVEMBER

• I was a poll worker for the general election, which was a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable experience. It helped that I worked with really fun people who made the time pass quickly!
• Biden won the election! Oh, happy day!!
• I had my monthly lady date with Briana. I asked for a shopping date at Tombolo Books, an indie bookstore. While we were perusing the shelves, all of my other friends stopped by to surprise me! I had been expecting a birthday surprise but was still somehow shocked when it happened, haha.
• I celebrated Thanksgiving with my family, and I know how lucky I was to be able to do that when so many people couldn’t see family this year.
• I turned 33!

DECEMBER

• My dining room table was delivered and assembled, three months after I moved in.
• My best friend’s daughter was diagnosed with cancer. The news is devastating and heartbreaking, and I’m praying every day for a miracle.
• I tried to enjoy the holiday season as much as possible: I went on a tour of Christmas lights, decorated my apartment, decorated Christmas cookies with the fam, and went on a fun Christmas stroll through the historic Tampa Bay Hotel (a National Historic Landmark in Tampa).
• On Christmas Eve, my mom, stepdad, and I enjoyed our favorite tradition: a fancy steakhouse dinner! We got dressed up and enjoyed a delicious meal at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.
• I had a lovely Christmas with my family and received so many thoughtful gifts!