Best of 2023 | A Month-by-Month Recap

JANUARY

• I went to my first meeting of Silent Book Club Tampa with my friend Amber and it was such a wonderful experience! It was so nice to be surrounded by bookish people and to have a solid hour of quiet time to read my book.
• I had a doctor’s appointment from hell. I wanted to get my meds adjusted because my anxiety was feeling overwhelming but instead, the doctor I saw wanted to talk to me about my weight (and even said he recommended Ozempic for weight loss!!!). After that appointment, I immediately scheduled an appointment with a psychiatrist and it was the best decision. My psychiatrist is kind and warm and helpful. She increased my Lexapro dose (from 20 mgs to 30 mgs), which provided a vast improvement.
• Playoff January – I love January because I get a ton of family time thanks to all of the playoff games. We try to watch them all, which is a lot during the first two weeks, as there are multiple games on Saturdays and Sundays. The Dolphins were in the playoffs but lost in the first round, which is par for the course.
• We published season 3 of our podcast, which was all about relationships.

FEBRUARY

• My mom, my brother, and I went to see Jim Gaffigan live. It was the best night!
• My nephew’s favorite team, the Chiefs, won the Super Bowl so he was very happy!
• Bri and I had our 8th annual Galentine’s Day date at The Library where we dressed up, had fancy drinks, and great food.
• I went on my first date with the woman I would end up dating for five months. We had coffee at this cute place, but I did not realize they did not have inside seating so we sat outside and froze a little, as it was a colder day than we expected. Brr!

March

• My friend Amber and I took a knife skills class at Sur La Table, which was a lot of fun! (And made me really want to buy an expensive knife to make chopping much easier!)
• Chip turned 5 and Lucy turned 2, and I took them both on PetSmart shopping sprees for their birthdays! They were mostly anxious about being there, so it wasn’t as cute as I was hoping, but they got some fun items out of it!
• My uncle was diagnosed with lung cancer this month, and it was a devastating blow to my family.
• We launched season 4 of the podcast where we talked all about our work lives! It was really fun.
• I had lots of fun dates and we made things official near the end of the month. Squee!

April

• I saw TAYLOR SWIFT! She was incredible. One of the most amazing days of my life.
• My mom and I went to a local u-pick farm to pick flowers. It was disgustingly hot but we had a great time and went out for lunch afterward.
• I was on dogsitting duty for five days while my mom and stepdad went on a cruise. We had a fun time together!
• This was a busy month for me between fun events, dates with my girlfriend, and work… social burnout definitely affected my mental health.
• I went brunette! This was a super fun change that I had been thinking about for a long time.
• Eloise turned 5!

May

• My new bed arrived and it was so nice to finally sleep on a non-lumpy mattress! My brother is the one who delivered and set up my mattress (+ my new bed frame), and it was cool to see him in the middle of a random weekday!
• I celebrated Mother’s Day with my mom, my stepdad, and my brother. After breakfast, my mom and I visited Grandma’s grave and brought her flowers.
• I had to get two moles removed from my back, which entailed 7 stitches and a lot of pain. I was so happy to get those stitches out two weeks later so I could finally itch my back as much as I wanted!
• I spent Memorial Day at my mom’s house where we enjoyed a good amount of pool time with the dogs and then Robert cooked us a hearty lunch of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. It was the perfect way to kick off summertime!
• Lila turned 5!

June

• I participated in Pride for the first time ever! I did a Pride-themed photoshoot with my then-girlfriend to announce our relationship on Instagram (and thus, announce my sexuality to the world!) and went to the parade with her. We had to leave early because she started feeling terrible (the heat was killer!), so in 2024, I desperately want to see the actual parade, too.
• For my mom’s belated Mother’s Day gift, we went to a DIY crafting night where we made gorgeous creations. I made a lazy susan and my mom made a sign for her front porch. The crafting was nearly foolproof, which was good news for these girls that aren’t super crafty.
• I spent more weekend afternoons at my mom’s house, cooling off in the pool with the dogs. Chip loved jumping on and off our rafts (when the raft got close enough to the edge, so he could jump on/off easily) and even started to get the hang of swimming himself. Lucy just wanted to run around and get dirty, sigh.
• Bri and I celebrated nine years of friendship with a lovely lady date to Fairgrounds St. Pete, this super kitschy museum that was all dressed up for Pride.
• We released season 5 of the podcast: all about traveling! This one was especially fun because our friend Amber, who runs a travel business, came on the podcast to talk about work travel and how she plans travel for people.
• After many weeks of chemo and radiation, my uncle was declared cancer-free and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

July

• My mom and I took a quick weekend trip to Charleston, South Carolina. We had such a great time! We did a ferry tour, viewed the fort, saw Rainbow Row, took a ghost tour, and ate lots of good food.
• My blog went down for 36 hours due to my site being infected with malware. I was so sad and worried that I had lost everything, but thankfully, I was able to get the malware removed and my site was fine!
• I had a LASIK consultation and learned I was a perfect candidate for the traditional procedure! And thus began weeks of trying to decide if I really wanted to spend the money on the procedure.
• I saw Barbie twice this month! The best movie.
• At the end of the month, I broke up with my girlfriend. It was the hardest and easiest decision for me; hard because I didn’t want to hurt her or lose her as a friend, but easy because I knew it was the right thing to do.

August

• I took the month off blogging, which I needed for my mental health and to process my breakup. It was a good month off, although I desperately missed writing!
• My mom, my stepdad, and I went river tubing and had the BEST time! The weather was hot, the water was cold, and spending two hours just slowly floating down a river while enjoying the sunshine was perfection.
• We had family in town and spent a lovely weekday evening catching up with them over dinner at the beach, and then we went down to the beach to watch the sunset.
• I started seeing a dietician and she has been WONDERFUL. She has really helped me better understand what I need from my diet and unearth some of my diet culture tendencies.
• There was a DOLPHIN in the canal near my mom’s house, which was wild.

September

• I got my third tattoo, which I had been wanting to get for a long time: something to commemorate my grandma who died in 2015. I am so happy with the way it turned out, although the healing process was a bitch.
• We found out that my uncle’s cancer had returned, metastasized to his brain, and there was very little we could do for him. It was a devastating blow to our family.
• I got a raise at work, and I’m super proud of this raise because not only did I work hard for it, but I also fought hard for it. I knew what I was worth and I didn’t stop asking for this raise until it was mine.
• We released season 6 of the podcast where we did more deep dives on personality frameworks.

October

• I returned to Silent Book Club after taking a few months off due to scheduling issues, and it was so delightful to be back.
• I got my Covid + flu vaccines at the same time and had no side effects. Astonishing!
• I got LASIK! My recovery was pretty easy; I was able to notice a difference in my vision almost immediately!
• I went to my mom’s house to pass out candy to trick-or-treaters and we had a record-low number! Such a disappointment.

November

• I participated in NaBloPoMo for the third year in a row. Writing a blog post every day (and keeping up with other people writing a blog post every day) is not for the faint of heart!
• I celebrated Thanksgiving with my family – my cousin hosted and my uncle was able to join us for a bit of time before he got too tired and needed to rest.
• I turned 36 at the end of November and celebrated with a Day of Stephany: there was a facial, a bookstore shopping trip, and dinner with my family, among other things
• I got the cutest pet portraits done of Dutch, my beloved dog who passed away in 2018, and the girls. They have a prominent place in my home and I love them so much!
• We released season 7 of the podcast, which was all about mental health and personal growth. I’m particularly proud of these episodes!

December

• The hardest part of this month: My uncle died on December 12th. It was shocking to lose him so soon. We were really hoping he would make it through the holidays.
• For my birthday, my bestie Bri gifted me a ticket to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Disney World. It was such a generous gift and we had the best time together!
• I had my first illness of the year with a head cold that moved into my chest. Oof. Do not recommend.
• I enjoyed the holiday season to the fullest! I decorated my apartment, went to see the lights, decorated Christmas cookies, and so much more.
• I spent the last week of the year in Tennessee with my mom, stepdad, and the dogs. We had a wonderful time and loved living that winter cabin life!