Life

Hello, 2021! + 2020 Review

Posted On January 3, 2021

HELLO, 2021! Wow. I can’t believe it’s finally here. Are you sure we didn’t go through five years in one year? It really felt that way.

My 2020 Highlight Reel

As usual, here’s my highlight reel from the past year.

Favorite Dishes

It was really hard narrowing down this list! I’ve shared most of these dishes on my Instagram, and there are so many other delicious meals posted there!

Products I Love

  • Roomba: As you know from this post, it was a life-saver!
  • SOCO Botanicals Symphony: My go-to, easy face oil for much of this year
  • Favorite Pen: Paper + Craft Pantry sells these and they are amazing
  • Athleisure: I’m thankful for the shorts and leggings I lived in this year!

Shows That Kept Me Entertained

We discovered and obsessed over Schitt’s Creek and Brooklyn 99 this year. This is just a small list of the MANY things we watched!

  • Zooey’s Extraordinary Playlist
  • Euphoria
  • The Umbrella Academy
  • Watchmen
  • The Good Place
  • Killing Eve
  • Emily in Paris
  • Virgin River
  • Bridgerton

Songs on Repeat

I mostly listen to pop and I had Taylor Swift’s new albums on repeat for the last half of the year. Here are some of my favorite songs this year:

  • Heat Waves – Glass Animals
  • Slow Grenade – Ellie Goulding ft. Lauv
  • Wild – John Legend ft Gary Clark Jr.
  • San Francisco – Niall Horan
  • Souvenir – Selena Gomez
  • the 1 – Taylor Swift
  • willow – Taylor Swift
  • Chlorine – Twenty One Pilots
  • Past Life – Trevor Daniel and Selena Gomez
  • Mood – 24kGoldn ft iann dior
  • Easy – Troye Sivan with Kacey Musgraves ft Mark Ronson

My Favorite and Most Popular Blog Posts This Year

2020 Reflection

In my post for 2019, I talked about being at the top in the cycle of years. This is what I wrote:
But as the cycle of years goes, there will come some unrest. It’s an uncomfortable time, but it helps build bigger things in the future. I’ll ask “what’s next?” and start on some new goals and journeys. It’s natural to have this unrest continuously in life and I welcome it knowing years like 2019 exist and will come again.

It’s funny reading that now because 2020 sure did bring some unrest. I get choked up thinking about how much the past year demanded of all of us. It was hard seeing companies struggle, seeing co-workers let go, seeing people sick and grieving loved ones, seeing people show racial hate, and seeing people so beat down. The year had this heaviness to it. It made the good stuff all the brighter.

My goals last year focused on the words wild and brave, fitting as I look back. I’ve gotten more outdoor time than I could have imagined. I’ve been pushed to grow at my job. I’ve learned to be brave in my relationships by speaking up and thoughtfully making decisions. In other words, 2020 manifested so many opportunities to be wild and brave, though not quite in the way I had imagined.

I’m incredibly blessed. Things are never perfect, but it’s so easy for me to see how last year brought so much good. While the year was hard, it helped me lean into feeling everything. It helped me break open.

I’m sure you can spin the dumpster fire of this year in many ways. Here are some of my quick, pithy lessons learned/reminded from the year.

  • Time is invaluable and it’s ok to slow down. Do what is essential.
  • Time with friends is priceless. Face-to-face interaction is uplifting.
  • Find adventure in every day.
  • Make your house a home, especially when you’re spending a lot more time there.
  • Invest time and money in the things you love.
  • Life is messy.

My 2021 Goals

I’m trying to commit to fewer goals this year so that I can focus more. Here are some of the goals I’ll be striving for this year.

  • Read 65 books – focusing on food, self-improvement, and books written by Asians
  • Start a garden
  • Complete five craft projects
  • Cook dinner three times a week
  • Follow a budget and save more money
  • Take more photos of people

Plus one more goal…

Fearless Foodie Challenge

I knew I wanted to do something with food, so this goal combines cooking and baking, diving into foodie subjects through tv and books, and going out and exploring Austin’s restaurants.

  • January: Watch a foodie show. There are so many great options!
  • February: Try a new ingredient. It could be a spice or vegetable. We’ll see…
  • March: Visit a new grocery store. This is part of my snacks series.
  • April: Read a foodie book. My bigger goal is to do this monthly, but there’s no shortage of options here either.
  • May: Take a mini food tour. This will involve visiting four places in Austin to try a particular dish. Any recommendations on what the dish should be?
  • June: Do a food tasting. I’ll pick up five items from different brands for a taste test. Maybe sweet potato chips or craft chocolate bars?
  • July: Recreate a dish I loved while traveling. This will be a fun one! I have a feeling it will be something from Thailand.
  • August: Nailed It Challenge. Have you seen this Netflix show? I’ll pick a seemingly difficult dessert and try to make it.
  • September: Bake something new. I’ve got a few options on my list: the Milk Bar birthday cake, babka, or maybe croissants.
  • October: Learn to make a favorite childhood dish. I don’t have ideas about this one yet but I’m thinking about it!
  • November: Try a new cuisine. I should be able to find a restaurant in Austin to help with this.
  • December: Bake holiday treats. I’m planning to do cookie boxes this year!

This will be a fun challenge! I made a bingo card to help me keep track and you can use it too.

Here’s to a new year, big possibilities, and moving upwards!

What are you looking forward to in 2021? Do you have any goals?

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