2025 Highlights

Let’s start with a highlight reel. This is a list that shows the quantitative summary and notable events of my year.

• Dined at 140 different Austin restaurants, bakeries, food trucks, bars, etc (Favorite Eats of the Year here)
• Traveled to Guatemala, Houston, Dallas, Round Top, and San Antonio
• Hiked a 13,000+ ft peak in Guatemala – Acatenango – possibly the hardest physical challenge I’ve ever endured
• Read 56 books
• Went fishing off the Texas coast and caught my first fish
• Went to great food events, including a pie potluck, Field Guide Fest, and 3 holiday cookie exchanges
• Hosted 11 mahjong meet-ups
• Completed a Stress and Rescue Scuba course to earn a SSI Master Diver rating
• Took 140 OrangeTheory classes where I ran 295+ miles on the treadmill
• Completed my first OrangeTheory DriTri
• Volunteered 12 times
• Worked on home projects like painting an accent wall, hanging art for a gallery wall, and finding a new dining table
• Partnered with 9 brands
• Featured 84 desserts on ATX Dessert Club
• Saw a few shows, including Cirque du Soleil’s Ovo, Maroon 5, and local favorite Midnight Rubies
• Took a few creative classes like stained glass, silversmithing, and candle making. See everything I made in this post
• Published 44 posts on Fearless Captivations

Favorite Shows: 

• The Pitt
• Slow Horses
• The Summer I Turned Pretty
• DOC
• Your Friends and Neighbors

Favorite Songs:

• If The World Burns Down – Kacey Musgraves
• cliche – mgk
• Sorry I’m Here for Someone Else – Benson Boone
• The Fate of Ophelia – Taylor Swift
• Golden – Huntrix

Things I Ate in 2025

This post shares some of my favorite eats of the year.

My Favorite and Most Popular Posts

9 Best Things to Do in Guatemala

How to Throw a Pie Potluck Party + Pie Recipe Ideas

Why Craft Omakase’s Sushi Tasting Became the Best in Austin

Take a Candle Making Class at 7th Street Candle Co in Austin, TX

How Field Guide Festival Inspires Austin’s Foodies

Guatemala Travel Guide + 1-Week Itinerary

Making Jewelry at Sisu Studio – Austin Silversmith Class

Where You Should Dine for Austin Restaurant Weeks

Which Pastries to Get at Rockman Coffee + Bakeshop

Guide to the Acatenango Volcano Hike in Guatemala

Where to Get Mochi Donuts in Austin

Holiday Cookie Party: Recap of 3 Parties and 43 Cookies

2025 Reflections

I’m proud of accomplishing a few of my goals from 2024:

• Volunteer more – the goal was monthly, and while I didn’t do that, I still volunteered 12 times
• Read 55 books – I read 56 books
• Host mahjong meet-up monthly – we only missed January!
• Reorganize my clothes closet – it’s not perfect, but there was progress
• Make my home cozier – things like painting and hanging art helped

Just like the previous year, 2025 was solid! It was a year of staying consistent with habits like exercising, eating healthier, finding community, saving money, making time for creativity, and giving back through volunteering. This is the life I wanted, and it is achieved through actions that may seem hard or mundane. I don’t always want to go to the gym or to go to an event and be social, but I know I rarely regret it, even if it doesn’t meet my expectations.

In reviewing my past recaps, 2022 and 2023 were years of destruction. (I like viewing life through the cycle of years lens.) Through the personal experiences of grief and death, those years challenged me to look at what matters in life. While grief is always teaching, 2024 and 2025 were years of growth, moving into year of mastery. I said it in the previous paragraph – “this is the life I wanted.” And I can feel the year of destruction coming around, asking what’s next. I know the next step in personal growth is going to therapy (I’ve probably talked about it for a decade!), and I know it will be a hard journey.

Thank you, 2025, for giving me the opportunities and ambition to make my life full and meaningful!

2026 Goals

You’ve seen some of my monthly goals that are boring by now: work out 12x, volunteer 1x, and host a mahjong meetup. My reading goal this year is 55 books. Some other goals on my list:

• Go birding
• Go to pilates regularly
• Keep working on home improvements

For travel, I’m looking forward to two big trips in 2026! I’ll be going to the Philippines and on a European cruise to Germany, Austria, and Hungary.

There will be a change on the blog. My monthly Captivations post will now be every other month, with the first post coming in February.

Here’s to the great things in this new year!

P.S. If you want to see recaps from past years: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014

The post 2025 Recap + 2026 New Year Goals appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

We’re here in 2025! My annual new year post looks back on the previous year and ahead at what’s to come. I hope you are starting this year with optimism and ambition.

2024 Highlight Reel

Per usual, I’ll start with a highlight reel. This is a list that shows the quantitative summary and notable events of my year.

• Dined at 197 different Austin restaurants, bakeries, food trucks, bars, etc 
• Ate memorable meals like Craft Omakase, Intero, Birdie’s, and Tare
• Traveled to Nashville, Cozumel, and New York City
• Read 50 books
• Took 140 OrangeTheory classes where I ran 358.5 miles on the treadmill and made a few PRs
• Partnered with 16 brands
• Saw lots of live music, including Keith Urban, Niall Horan, Zach Bryan, and Glass Animals
• Competed in the dessert category of a barbecue competition
• Took a few classes like croissant making, Italian dinner party, mosaic lamp, and crochet
• Celebrated big events with friends, including 3 weddings, 1 baby, and 3 40th birthdays
• Published 51 posts on Fearless Captivations

Also see my post about 14 new things I tried where I talk about cutting 13 inches of hair, walking the UT football field, and meeting a longhorn.

Favorite shows watched: One Day, Mr & Mrs Smith, Shogun, Hacks, Not Dead Yet, Emily in Paris, Crash Landing on You, Empress

Things I Ate in 2024

This post shares some of my favorite eats of the year.

My Favorite and Most Popular Blog Posts

Masa Omakase at Nixta Taqueria is a Tasting Menu Must-Try

Michelin Guide is in Austin, Texas – Here’s What It Means

10 Best Things to Do in North Austin

Sushi Omakase at Tare Surprises with Texas Flair

How The Prickly Pear Cooking Classes in Austin Teaches You to Cook Confidently

Why Craft Omakase’s Sushi Tasting Became the Best in Austin

11 Best Desserts in The Domain Austin Area

Best Spots to Play Mini-Golf in Austin

Japan Travel Guide + 2 Week Itinerary

2024 Reflection

After 2022 and 2023, 2024 was thankfully a breeze.

In my New Year’s post last year, I mentioned that a big goal of mine was service. I volunteered six times for different organizations. That’s not bad, but I want to do more this year, hopefully monthly.

I also wanted to focus on community. From hosting mahjong meet-ups to meeting with friends, this was an area I enjoyed growing, and I know I’ll continue this year. Relationships are important, especially as you get older, as I’m learning, and these connections are another way to grow.

It was a year of consistency, learning, and slow living. In some ways, I might call it boring. But I think it’s also a reminder to me that life is not always this big, epic extravaganza. It’s all these moments of fun, love, and adventure. And even in that, there is progress and evolution.

But even in the “slowness,” I ate at 19% more restaurants and worked out 50% more than the previous year. I made up for that time by posting 23 fewer blog posts!

Most of all, it comes back to being thankful for the gift of life and the gift of time with family and friends.

2025 Intentions and Goals

Year after year, I think these overarching goals summarize my vision of the future:

• create habits to be a kinder, more thoughtful, and more informed person
• look out for others, especially those who need my voice
• check in with my chosen family
• purchase from local businesses, farmers, and ranchers
• take care of myself by eating healthier, exercising, and improving my mental health

These are some of my goals this year.

• 1 hour of creativity every week
• Volunteer every month
• Read 55 books
• Host mahjong meet-up every month
• Reorganize my clothes closet
• Refresh my wardrobe
• Make my home cozier

Thank you for reading my blog! I wish you the best year yet!

P.S. If you want to see recaps from past years: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014

The post 2025 New Year Goals + 2024 Recap appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

So, in the spirit of continuously learning, I kept track of the new things I tried this year. Here are 15 things I did.

Make Croissants

I love croissants! That’s the main reason why I took a baking class at Sur La Table. Making croissants is a time-consuming task, and I have yet to try it at home, but this was a tasty and fun class.

Check out all the cooking class options in Austin in this post.

Try Non-Alcoholic Wine

The non-alcoholic beverage industry was valued at $1.46 trillion in 2023, and demand shows the interest is still strong. People want fun drinks without alcohol for a variety of reasons like to be healthier or to avoid alcohol. As someone who drinks alcohol, I don’t recall a non-alcoholic cocktail that has wowed me, and now I can say the same for non-alcoholic wine. The ones I tried were either terrible (like tasting Pine Sol) or lacked the depth I enjoy in wine.

Baked for a Cooking Competition

I joined my friend Scott’s barbecue team to bake the dessert. The competition was more about the barbecue categories (ribs, turkey, and brisket), but the dessert category was equal weight in points. The dessert had to be s’mores-themed and have chocolate, cookie, and toasted marshmallow elements.

It was an intricate 9lb, layered sheet cake, the biggest thing I ever baked. (We had to submit 5 servings.) The cake had graham cracker crust, chocolate cake, graham cookie butter, 2 kinds of marshmallow icing, graham cracker buttercream, tuile crumbles, and toasted marshmallows. 

The cake looked great and tasted pretty good, but it ended up in 7th place out of 10. Our team came in 5th out of 10 overall. My thought is the cake was too intricate and the elements weren’t very clear. But, it was a fun weekend overall and it was fun to flex my creativity in this way!

Made Gnocchi

I took a cooking class with Prickly Pear Cooking Classes, and we made a multi-course Italian dinner. It was my first time making gnocchi (pan-fried), and it was easier than I thought it would be.

Read about the Prickly Pear Cooking Class here.

Experienced a Total Solar Eclipse

While it ended up being cloudy in Austin, we experienced the darkening of the sky and saw the eclipse phases for a few seconds. It was a spooky thing to see. (Here’s Kaira being a cute glasses model.)

Cut 13 Inches of Hair Off

After a year of no haircuts, it was due, and with my hair being so long, I thought, why not donate it? The organization required at least 12 inches of hair and one day, a child will be wearing my hair as a wig. Local salon Urban Betty does half-price donation cuts and takes care of sending it in. 

My hair hadn’t been that short since I was a kid and it took some time to get used to. It has grown back to a familiar length, and I’m thinking I won’t cut it that short again!

Saw a Chiropractor

Dr. Kyle Hardwick of Adjusted ATX invited me in for a complimentary session. I had never been to a chiropractor before, and I could see how the services could be beneficial for temporary or chronic pain. Each part of our body is connected to another, and our spine is a crucial part of health and wellness. That’s how Dr. Kyle was inspired to become a chiropractor. He suffered migraines as a teenager and it was finally a chiropractor that helped him find relief.

While chiropractic care helps injuries or pain, it can also benefit your overall health, like improving your posture (who else sits at a desk all day like me?) and encouraging faster recovery. This can be a medicine-free solution to get to the root of health issues.

Served on Jury Duty

This wasn’t something I voluntarily chose, but I understand the honorable duty of civil service. Yes, it was slightly inconvenient to not be at work for three days, but the experience itself was eye-opening. It gave me a better understanding of the justice system, the court process, and possibly too many details about the assault definitions. It also showed me that while the justice system is not perfect – they call it a burden of proof for a reason – it is the fairest way to resolve conflicts and uphold the law in our society.

Dove a Cenote

I got to scuba dive this year and they were spent diving cenotes near Cancun. Our guide mentioned that divers usually don’t enjoy it the first time, and I can agree. It’s not something I want to do again. Being in the pitch dark 30 feet underwater is unnerving. I think I’d rather do that on a blackwater dive in the ocean where you’ll see sea creatures. However, I could go back and snorkel or simply explore the caverns above ground.

See more details about the cenote dives in this post.

Swam with a Whale Shark

Also part of the Cozumel trip was an excursion to swim with whale sharks near Cancun. While the experience was slightly chaotic – multiple boats, needing to jump in the water quickly – there were brief seconds of wonder being next to this beautiful, gigantic creature. I hope I get to happen upon one in the wild one day! 

Read more about swimming with whale sharks in this post.

Went to a Silent Disco

Have you ever been to a silent disco? Everyone has headphones with multiple stations playing different genres of music. Each station will show a different color on your headphones. Then you are all dancing in the same space. It’s a fun way to be your own DJ. Be sure to take your headphones off at some point. It’s funny to be in this setting and hear nothing but dancing footsteps and a lone voice singing along.

Walked the UT Football Field

Before the season started, I got the chance to go on the field for a media event! I have great memories of being in the stadium and around game days, and I enjoyed the season this year. Here’s to more success in the next season!

Pet a Longhorn

We went to Hyatt Lost Pines for a staycation, and they have a longhorn on the property. At a certain time, they walk the longhorn to a central location for guests to interact and take photos. Whoa, this is a big bull!

Tried Crochet

My friend Carme is a local maker who started crochet in 2021. Since then she created Karmi-Gurumi, a fun crochet business that sells a variety of things. My favorite is her plushies. She is teaching a crochet class at The Paper + Craft Pantry next March and put together a test workshop for friends. Crochet is a lot harder than I thought it would be! Hopefully one day I’ll pick it up and try again. The orange circle is what I completed.

Making My Own Matcha Drinks at Home

Ever since going to a tea ceremony in Japan, I’ve wanted to try making matcha at home. I went to a great matcha shop in New York City and picked up matcha while I was there. I was also gifted a matcha set for Christmas, so I was all set! I’ve been testing it out, and I’m enjoying practicing.

I’m looking forward to trying new things in 2025. I’m thinking of stained glass, embroidery, and archery. Have any suggestions? Let me know!

Do you want to try something new? Check out these posts for some ideas:

• Best Places for Creative Classes in Austin
• Food-Related Volunteer Opportunities in Austin, Texas
• 33 Foodie Goals to Check Off Your Bucket List
• Best Cooking and Food Classes in Austin

The post 15 New Things I Tried in 2024 appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

While 2023 is slowly completing for me, I’m also hopeful that 2024 will be magical. But first, let’s look back!

2023 Highlight Reel

It’s hard and maybe a bit unfair to summarize a year like this, but here are the highlights that fit in a bulleted list.

• Ate memorable meals like Rooster & Owl, Yugen, Olamaie
• Dined at 165 different Austin restaurants, bakeries, breweries, and bars
• Traveled to Florida, Seattle, Alaska, Washington D.C., and Japan
• Went halibut fishing and whale watching in Alaska
• Saw so many sights and ate lots of good food in D.C.
• Had an unforgettable time in Japan
• Read 50 books
• Saw Taylor Swift in concert
• Made plant pots at my first pottery class
• Took 90 OrangeTheory Fitness classes where I ran 207+ miles on the treadmill
• Hosted a fun paella party
• Took a chicken butchery class
• Went to my first MLS game – Austin FC
• Ate my first Texas-farmed oysters
• Published 74 posts on Fearless Captivations
• Spent more time (lots of time!) with my family – 3 trips and plenty of quick visits

Things I Ate

So many delicious things! I visited 165 food places in Austin in 2023, from restaurants and bars to bakeries and pop-ups. It was really hard to narrow down the best things I ate (and I might even have some regrets about things I should have put on the list), but here’s that post if you’re interested.

I went on trips to Seattle, Alaska, DC, and Japan where I enjoyed noteworthy dishes. Things like:

• Dumplings from Din Tai Fung in Seattle
• King Crab in Alaska
• Dinner at Rooster & Owl and Bar Spero in DC
• So many incredible things in Japan

My Favorite and Most Popular Blog Posts

Wow, 74 posts in 2023!?! That’s about 6 a month. It doesn’t feel like I wrote a lot but that number speaks for itself and that’s really cool to see. Thank you for being here and reading. I hope you gained a recommendation, insight, or inspiration from something you read here!

Here are 9 of my favorite/most popular posts from last year.

2023 Reflection

Six life lessons that I keep coming back to and am still learning today:

• Come soothing, not solving. 
• Start small and show up every day.
• Be an energetic match for what you want.
• Perfection isn’t attained, it’s uncovered.
• Navigate change by finding the constant within yourself.
• Stay curious. This leads the way to growth, understanding, and love.

I thought 2022 was hard. Someone in your family almost dying will make it seem that way. With it came a few more stresses, like more health questions and navigating the family dynamics strained by the stress of it all. While I’ve continued writing about death, loss, and grief, I didn’t expect the hardest part of the year – losing my friend. Many of the year’s highlights are overshadowed by that and it continues to be this uncomfortable thing I’m figuring out.

In the animated Spider-Man movie that came out in 2023 (Across the Spider-Verse), we’re introduced to many different versions of Spider-Man all at once. That’s an illustration of how we live our lives. We become different versions of ourselves when we have a life-changing event or some kind of epiphany. We’re continuously evolving. I know this current version of me – incredibly sensitive, overwhelmingly full of grief, discouraged, and hopeful – is here for a season and is teaching me. I believe in the good that comes from hard things, even when it’s heartbreaking to say it.

Looking at my goals and intentions from last year, I did learn about myself spiritually, and having the space and tools to journal help. Not only did I focus on learning new things – I made sure to keep track of it. You saw a lot of it in the highlights – taking a pottery class and going fishing. I had some memorable experiences last year and I am thankful for so much time with family.

2024 Intentions and Goals

A big goal of mine this year is service. Other than volunteering and blogging, I’m not sure what this looks like yet, but some questions I’m using to guide me are:

• What can I give to the world?
• How do I contribute to the highest good?
• What’s the larger conversation I want to be part of?
• How can I support others?

Here are some of my other goals:

• Build on my sewing skills – would love to regularly mend and alter clothing
• Take time for regular meditation
• Complete the DIY home projects on my list – lots of updates by room
• Build community – like mahjong meet-ups
• Go to therapy
• Read 50 books
• Go on a long walk/hike every month – hoping for more, regular time in nature
• Workout 12x a month
• Eat more locally
• Spend less – less thrifting, less impulse buys, zero Amazon (spent $524 last year)

As for the blog, I have a huge backlog of post drafts. I know I won’t get through it all, but I’d like to declutter this a bit. As always, I’ll be sharing more content about local farms, companies, and restaurants. We have so many resources with many more stories to tell, and I can’t wait to work through my list.

Thank you for being here! I hope you have a magical year and you are continually blessed with what you need. Cheers to 2024!

P.S. If you want to see recaps from past years: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014

The post It’s a New Year – 2024! + 2023 Recap appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

My 2022 Highlight Reel

Ah, the highlight reel. It’s the tangible, soundbites of my year. But I also remember: “Maybe accomplishments aren’t big, loud victories. Maybe they are gentle surrenders, peaceful acceptances, and quiet recognition of ways we are coming home to ourselves.”

• Ate memorable meals like Comedor, APT 115, Pasta|Bar, and El Naranjo
• Dined at 108 different Austin restaurants, bakeries, breweries, and bars
• Ran two half-marathons, including the 3M Half
• Traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah; San Antonio; the Texas coast; and Dominica
• Went skiing at Alta
• Visited a new country – Dominica (this happened in November so posts are coming soon!)
• Spent 6 different weekends in/near Texas water – lakes, rivers, the beach
• Read 35 books
• Hosted a crawfish boil
• Finished 15 puzzles
• Had lots of fun during SXSW
• Saw Glass Animals in concert
• Went to the movies to see Thor, Top Gun, and Avatar.
• Spent a weekend in one of my favorite Texas cities – San Antonio
• Toured a local flower farm
• Grew through a season of life coaching
• Partnered with cool brands like Yelp and HEB
• Published 49 posts on Fearless Captivations

Things I Ate

I ate a lot of things last year, visiting 108 restaurants, bars, bakeries, and breweries in Austin alone. Check out this post for my 10 favorite things I ate!

My Favorite and Most Popular Blog Posts

Here are my top 10 new posts from the year – the most popular and my favorites!

2022 Reflection

At the beginning of last year, I said 2022 would be a year of big love and wild magic – compassion and spirituality. It’s funny how things never quite end up being exactly what you expect but it works out.

I’ve been thinking about the last year and I keep coming up without a way to succinctly describe it. It was hard. I went through a coaching program that helped me process my feelings and desires but also brought up a lot of pain. There were a handful of deaths, almost deaths, and situations that felt like death that required processing.

And yet, the year was filled with big love and wild magic. The hardships required self-love, growth, and introspection. A quote I jotted in my journal: “Good and bad are not fighting in life; they are dancing. You need both yin and yang to experience life.” It’s a challenging and hopeful thing to wrap my head around, that life will never be without both the good and bad. We will continue to say goodbye to people we love and welcome unexpected blessings, and we will be ok through it all.

2023 Intentions

Most of my focus is on intentions, and while I have some SMART goals, I also want to create a curious mindset and not one based on accomplishments and failure. My intentions include learning about myself spiritually, learning new things in general, finding adventure, and being consistent with service. Some of the goals under these intentions include:

• Volunteer 3x
• Try breathwork
• Read 50 books
• Reflect on life/goals at least twice a month – beginning and end
• Write thoughtful and intentional blog posts

Cheers to a new year and the magic it will bring!

P.S. If you want to see recaps from past years: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014

The post Hello, 2023! + 2022 Recap appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

My 2021 Highlight Reel

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

• Had some memorable meals, including Uchi, Otoko, and Lutie’s
• Survived Winter Storm Uri
• Took 12 flights
• Traveled to: Telluride, Colorado; Orlando, Florida; Big Island, Hawaii; and Costa Rica
• Skied some green slopes in Colorado
• Dove with manta rays and tiger sharks in Hawaii (eight dives)
• Dove in a new country – Costa Rica (two dives)
• Experienced an incredible stargazing night
• Spent three weekends at the lake/river in Texas
• Got some very important shots
• Started working out at Orange Theory Fitness and made it to 50+ classes
• Got a work promotion
• Hosted two parties
• Learned to play pickleball
• Got new eyeglasses for the first time in 10 years
• Read 40 books
• Kept a fluffle of baby bunnies alive after their mama birthed them in our backyard
• Saw Chvrches in concert for the second time
• Successfully got through a year of no new clothes
• Grew a very small garden (figs, eggplant, jalapeno, shishito, rosemary, basil, cilantro, mint)
• Helped my sunflowers bloom and my houseplants thrive
• Celebrated Kaira’s second birthday and got through ear infections and allergies
• Repped Austin Marathon as an ambassador
• Tried lots of great beer at the Texas Craft Brewers Festival
• Collaborated with some foodie bloggers on this post
• Made 119 bottles of kombucha
• Spent New Year’s Eve in another country for the first time (counted down next to a bonfire on the beach in the rain in Costa Rica)
• Partnered with some fun brands, including Hopdoddy, Tiff’s Treats, Still Austin, Kitchen United Mix, Ranch2O, Fitzhugh Brewing, Hotel Granduca, Fierce Whiskers, Blue Genie Art Bazaar
• Published 55 blog posts on Fearless Captivations

Favorite Things I Ate This Year

So many great things! Sushi was a common theme. Check out this post.

Shows I Watched and Recommend

• The Great
• Only Murders in the Building
• WandaVision
• Loki
• Lupin
• Home Economics
• The Flight Attendant
• Never Have I Ever
• Sex Education

Songs On Repeat

• Chvrches’ new album, Screen Violence, especially the songs
  • He Said, She Said
  • How Not to Drown
  • Good Girls
• Shivers by Ed Sheeran
• It’s time to go by Taylor Swift
• Willow by Taylor Swift
• Long story short by Taylor Swift
• Wild Life by OneRepublic
• Wrecked by Imagine Dragons
• Ghost by Justin Beiber
• Hookup scene by Kacey Musgraves
• Simple times by Kacey Musgraves
• Justified by Kacey Musgraves
• Wouldn’t Come Back by Trousdale
• You Should Probably Leave by Chris Stapleton
• You by Troye Sivan
• Anyone by Demi Lovato
• Way Less Sad by AJR
• Unlearn by Benny Blanco and Gracie Abrams
• Let Somebody Go by Coldplay and Selena Gomez
• Shy Away by Twenty One Pilots
• THATS WHAT I WANT by Lil Nas X
• Roll over, baby by LANY
• Wishful Drinking by Ingrid Andress and Sam Hunt
• If I Could by Charlotte Day Wilson

My Favorite and Most Popular Blog Posts

• I Tried 5 Non-Alcoholic Hopped Drinks – Here’s My Favorite
• Telluride Ski Trip Travel Guide
• Where to Eat Chinese Dumplings in Austin
• Eating Sushi Chef’s Tasting at Uchi Austin
• Stargazing on the Mauna Kea Summit on Hawaii Big Island is a Must-Do!
• Best Asian Desserts in Austin
• Most Inspiring Travel Experiences in the Last Decade of Adventures

2021 Reflection

In last year’s recap, I reflected that 2020 was a year of unrest, but looking back on it now, it was also a year of destruction. (Do you know about the cycle of years?) 2020 was about being thrown into discomfort, uneasiness, and the unknown. Because of that, I went right into destruction by shifting my habits, my thoughts, and my desires. I slowed down. I looked within and started to create a world that aligns with what I want. That meant creating time to reflect, getting outside more, and becoming more low/zero waste in my consumption. That continued to a year of growth.

Looking back, my 2021 can be summed up with the word “home.” I continued to create a physical place that I love and it has a lot of houseplants! And I am learning how to come home to myself – to listen to my intuition and to recognize my dreams.

2021, I am so thankful for you. You were gracious and abundant. Thank you for giving me the space, patience, and insight to evolving into this version of myself.

2022 Goals

This year will be one of big love and wild magic – compassion and spirituality. The growing and simplifying will continue. The last few years have really helped create healthy habits, like making dinner at home the majority (if not all) weeknights, eating very healthy (few processed snacks and sugary drinks), drinking alcohol only on the weekends, going to bed by 9 pm, taking a walk in the morning, and finding ways to learn. This year will be about fine-tuning and finding ways to insert adventure.

Here are some of the goals I want to accomplish this year. I admit, most years I don’t accomplish even half of my list, but making goals gives me direction and reminds me to focus on progress, not perfection.

• Finish and publish posts about Hawaii and Costa Rica
• Complete a 30-day yoga challenge
• Cook a new Chinese dish every month
• Volunteer six times
• Read 50 books
• Read for 30 minutes every day
• Spend 3 hours writing every week
• Meditate for 10 minutes every day

I look forward to sharing some exciting blog content with you this year! If you have ideas and curiosities, feel free to send them to me.

I hope you have big dreams and plans for the year! I am sending you big love for a successful year, whatever you want it to look like. Here we go!

What’s on your to-do list this year?

P.S. If you want to see recaps from past years: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014

The post Hello, 2022! + 2021 Review appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

My 2020 Highlight Reel

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

• Had some memorable meals, including: Barley Swine, Kemuri Tatsu-ya, French Laundry, Lenoir, Tsuke Honten
• Took three flights
• Stayed in two hotels, one bed and breakfast, and one home rental
• Traveled to: Canyon Lake for tubing, Wimberley for a weekend getaway, Downtown Austin for our anniversary, Napa for a friend’s birthday
• Served my second year as PR chair of Austin Food Blogger Alliance
• Ran a marathon!
• Started working from home
• Attended many virtual happy hours, trivia nights, and meetings
• Read 47 books
• Ordered so many dessert deliveries
• Went to one new brewery in Austin – Willard’s Brewery
• Became a plant lady
• Celebrated our first wedding anniversary with an Austin staycation
• Watched Kaira grow and celebrated her first birthday
• Spent a lot of time baking and enjoying the outdoors
• Celebrated my friends Ashley and Beth’s wedding
• Made 122 bottles of kombucha
• Cooked so many vegetables from our CSA subscription
• Visited Russian River Brewing and drank my bucket list beer
• Shopped locally for most Christmas gifts
• Cooked through the Half Baked Harvest Super Simple Cookbook
• Partnered with some fun brands, including Prep To Your Door, Snowy Village, Chop Chop, Mozart’s Coffee, Blue Genie Art Bazaar
• Published 60 blog posts on Fearless Captivations

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!

• Little Ola’s Fried Chicken Biscuit Sandwich
• HhomDee‘s pandan treats
• Austin Rotisserie‘s chicken
• Omakase Dinner at Kemuri Tatsu-ya
• Pliny the Elder
• Bodhi Viet Vegan‘s Bodhi Spicy Noodle Soup (Bún Huế)
• Thoroughbread‘s Cookies
• Omakase Dinner at Tsuke Honten
• The French Laundry‘s Oysters and Pearls
• Lenoir‘s Whole Roasted Dorade

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

• Raclette Night at Antonelli’s Cheese House
• Anita Goes to Sweet Cakes 4 U
• A Month of Dinners: What a Blogger Eats
• What I Bought at Pop Up Grocer in Austin
• I Ran a Marathon + My Austin Marathon Recap

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?

The post Hello, 2021! + 2020 Review appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

I try not to say this all the time but it feels like it was yesterday I was writing the recap for 2018. The year flew by and it was full of wedding planning, honeymoon planning, and all the life things in between.

And a new decade! The 10 years of 2010-2020, like most years if you think about it, were hard and beautiful. My first 10 years of being a “real” adult involved learning about the real world, experiencing freedom, and becoming myself. What started tumultuous finally found some peace in understanding who I am and what I want. I’m relieved and thankful!

My 2019 Highlight Reel

What. A. Year! 2019 was a big year with a lot of life changes, many in the last couple of months.

First, here are some of the high points of my year:

• Took 13 flights
• Stayed in seven hotels, two vacation homes, and one boat
• Traveled to:
  • Fredericksburg for a memorable wine dinner
  • Las Vegas for our friends’ wedding
  • Georgetown for a day trip
  • Bonaire for a week of diving and eating with friends
  • San Antonio for my bachelorette party
  • Indonesia for our honeymoon and loved our Komodo liveaboard
• Had some memorable meals, including:
  • Pitchfork Pretty
  • Uroko
  • Dipdipdip Tatsu-ya
• Served my first year as the PR chair for Austin Food Blogger Alliance
• Read 64 books, including all seven Harry Potter books. See my reading recap post here
• Hosted a Crawfish Boil, Succulent Native party, and Holiday Cookie Party
• Went to Cider Fest and the Texas Monthly BBQ Fest
• Celebrated new babies with our friends (yay, Henry, Violet, and Milo!)
• Worked out a lot, including running a half-marathon and starting training for a marathon
• Logged my 100th dive
• Celebrated summer with days on the lake and a river float
• Saw Hamilton
• Planned our wedding all year long and our big day in September was a blast
• Adopted our rescue pup Kaira in November
• Learned lots and ate good food with my farm-to-table, local monthly challenge. It involved hanging out with baby goats, volunteering on a farm, and picking peaches
• Partnered with some cool brands, including HEB, Cabernet Grill, Cuvee Coffee, Treaty Oak, Woko Loko, Me So Poke, Big Swig, Georgetown CVB, Paddywax Candle Bar, Mighty Swell, 101 by TeaHaus, RAYS Spirits, Teo Gelato, Art of Green, and Still Austin
• Published 107 posts on Fearless Captivations

Speaking of blog posts, here are some of my favorite and most popular posts of the year:

• The Ultimate Austin Foodie Bucket List 
• Custom Candle Making at Paddywax Candle Bar
• Eating Pitchfork Pretty’s Tasting Menu
• Planting Party at Succulent Native
• Eating and Drinking in Bonaire
• Chinese Wedding Traditions at Our Wedding
• Farm-to-Table Challenge: Pure Luck Farm & Dairy

Hello from the top! This was my year of mastery, a year I was blessed with so many great things. Getting married and adding Kaira to our family were big life changes. Planning a wedding and going on a dream vacation to Indonesia were big checks off the list. Time with friends, a raise at my job, and so many cool experiences were welcomed with gratitude. Every part of my life felt good and then some. Can I live in this year forever? I’m so thankful.

But as the cycle of years go, 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.

My biggest lessons learned/reminded this year:

• It’s ok to let go. Expectations, friendships, desires, potentials. 
• I am always healing and growing. Healing is not a light switch.
• The grass is greener where you water it.

My 2020 Goals

Last year, I focused on feeling confident, flourishing, connected, and thankful. I built my skills and relationships and continuously recognized the good in my life. I think I’ll always want to feel those things, so I’m taking those desires into my new year.

For this year, I was drawn to two words – wild and brave. 

First, wild. In one sense, being wild means exploring my connection with the outdoors and being kinder to the earth. I want to breathe more fresh air, take long walks, and appreciate the natural world. In another sense, wild is a reminder to be fierce, curious, natural, and untamed. It makes me question the boxes I put myself in and the boundaries I allow to please others. It reminds me to dream and find wonder. What does it look like to be true to your own wants and desires? Where is my potential, the height, my best self? To me, that is wild.

And then, brave. The word connects perfectly with wild. Recognizing my wildness, how can I act with bravery? How do I go beyond my fear and push the limits? When I am true to my wildness, where will my bravery take me?

There are the general, constant annual goals of growing in our marriage, saving more money, giving to charity, working out, and drinking more water. In addition, these are some of the specific things I’m looking forward to accomplishing this year:

• Journal regularly
• Complete five craft projects
• Cook through a cookbook
• Spend time outdoors weekly
• Visit three state parks
• Run a marathon
• Start a garden
• Learn how to curl my hair
• Take a photography class
• Read 65 books
• Complete the Chinese Duolingo course
• Do yoga twice a month
• Complete three house tasks and one house project monthly
• Go on a unique monthly date

Overall, it’s hard not to be excited about a new year and all the promise it holds. I know there will be plenty of food, travel, and celebrations, and I hope you will be along for the ride!

What are you hoping to accomplish this year?

P.S. If you’re curious, here are my recaps and goals from 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015.

The post Hello, 2020! + 2019 Review appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

My Highlight Reel

Here are some of the high points of my eventful year:

• Took 18 flights
• Stayed in eight hotels, four vacation homes, and one boat
• Traveled to:
  • Miami and made some memories with friends
  • Cayman Islands and enjoyed the ocean
  • Mexico City and ate some of the best tacos
  • Wimberley and jumped into Jacob’s Well
  • Fort Worth and explored a Texas city
  • Egypt and marveled history and explored on a seven-day scuba liveaboard
• Volunteered with the Austin Marathon, Treefolks, Girls Empowerment Network, and Girl Forward
• Got to eat at Pujol and Quintonil
• Went on two brewery crawls (in one month nonetheless)
• Saw Trevor Noah, AWOLNATION, Book of Mormon, Taylor Swift, and the Backstreet Boys
• Read 76 books. See my reading recap post here
• Got serious about my skincare (and earned Sephora VIB status because of it, ha, oops)
• Hosted a Thai Dinner Party, Crawfish Boil, Urban Axes Party, a Fiesta, a Lake House Weekend, and Shellfishapalooza
• Watched Crazy Rich Asians and had some feelings about it. Same with Black Panther and Avengers Infinity War
• Worked out a lot, including monthly yoga, lots of spin, and training for a half-marathon
• Featured on a guest post (read it here)
• Logged 26 dives in the Cayman Islands and Egypt
• Got engaged and started planning our wedding
• Celebrated my birthday with dinner and dancing with friends
• Cooked through the Smitten Kitchen Every Day Cookbook
• Published 104 posts on Fearless Captivations (see the top and favorite posts here)

I loved this year, and so many memories were made. It was a solid year. I had some dreams come true, like visiting Egypt, seeing the Backstreet Boys in concert, and getting engaged. I made little strides to learn how to be more vulnerable and express my feelings better.

On the blog, I grew in the topics I wrote about and the quality of posts. I decided to write more about what I was interested in and not only what would get clicks. I dipped a foot into being more vulnerable by talking about growing up as a child of immigrants and mental health.

At the same time, this year felt safe and a little unsteady. I’m still trying to process some things and figure out what’s bothering me, so it’s hard to put into words. I try hard to celebrate the good instead of beating myself up about the things I didn’t accomplish. It’s why I write that list above. But I think there’s an opportunity to grow exponentially this year in ways I’ve been hoping for in my life.

My 2019 Goals

This year I want to feel confident, flourishing, connected, and thankful.

• Confident – This means accepting my worth and building my skills to thrive.
• Flourishing – This encourages me to hustle for growth and prosperity.
• Connected – This reminds me of my part in making the world a better place and my desire to build the relationships in my life.
• Thankful – This encourages me to continuously recognize the good in my life.

I’ve built my goals around these feelings. These are some of the things I’m looking forward to accomplishing this year:

CONFIDENT

• Excel in my new chair position for Austin Food Bloggers Alliance
• PR a half-marathon
• Try two new things a month

FLOURISHING

• Practice monthly with my camera
• Take a photography class
• Read 70 books
• Improve my SEO and copywriting skills
• Complete the Spanish and Chinese Duolingo courses
• Follow a budget
• Build my blog and social following

CONNECTED

• Volunteer 24 hours
• Complete a monthly farm-to-table challenge (see more info here)
• Take monthly trash walks to clean up my neighborhood
• Grow a garden

THANKFUL

• Wake up at 6 a.m. on weekdays
• Go to therapy
• Journal weekly to meditate
• Learn more about Chinese culture
• Do yoga at least once a month
• Work out at least three times a week

This will be a big year. I want to make big strides to be the best version of myself, physically and mentally.

This is the year I’m getting married! The responsibility of being a part of a marriage is exciting and terrifying. Maybe I’ll share some of these thoughts later. I want to prepare us for this change and host a memorable wedding.

Overall, it’s hard not to be excited about a new year and all the promise it holds. I know there will be plenty of food, travel, and celebrations, and I hope you will be along for the ride!

What are you hoping to accomplish this year?

P.S. If you’re curious, here are my recaps and goals from 2017, 2016, and 2015.

You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Bloglovin’. You can also subscribe to the exclusive email list.

The post 2018 Review + New Year Goals appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Happy New Year! The years are flying by as I get older. I hope 2017 treated you well! I like to reflect on “how I’m doing” frequently, but the beginning of a new year always feels like the best fresh start. It’s a good place to wrap things up and kick-off.

My word for 2017 was abundant because I wanted my abundance to overflow to others. I learned there is no limit to abundance and there is always an opportunity to do more. This quote from Jen Sincero is a good summary of what I learned about abundance this year.

“When we trust that we live in an abundant universe and allow ourselves to give freely, we raise our frequency, strengthen our faith, and feel awesome, thereby putting ourselves in flow and the position to receive abundant amounts in return. When we’re in fear, we hold on to what we’ve got because we don’t trust that there’s more. We pinch off the energy, we’re scared to share, and we focus on, and create more of, the very thing we’re hoping to avoid, which is lack. We live in a universe of give and receive, breathe and exhale, live and die, suck and awesome. Each side depends on the other, and each is relative to the other—every action has an equal and opposite reaction—so the more you give, the more you receive. And vice versa.”

My year involved a lot of eating, as my top nine Instagram photos above shows. I accomplished seven of my thirteen 2017 goals while I made a good dent on the ones I didn’t officially finish. With that, here’s a quick highlight reel of my year.

My 2017 in Review

• Hosted 12 parties, including Matcha Potluck Party, Cocktails and Appetizers, Pole Dancing Class, Aerial Class, 2nd Annual Crawfish Boil, Wine Tasting at Infinite Monkey Theorem, Galentine’s Party, Boyfriend’s Birthday Luau, Game Night, Miracle Fruit Party, 2nd Annual Shellfishapalooza, Cookie and Cake Decorating Party at Baked by Amy’s
• Ate at Apis, Juniper, Otoko, Pitchfork Pretty, and many, many other restaurants (2017 eating recap coming soon!)
• Stayed in 5 hotels, including Tin Valley Retro Rentals, Cocoview, and Hamanasi
• Took 14 flights
• Traveled to Nashville, Marfa, Big Bend National Park, Honduras, Disney World, and Belize
• Went to Sherwood Forest Faire, Float Fest, Busby Crawfish Boil, ACL Festival, BE Conference, Tiny Wardrobe Tour, and BlogathonATX
• Participated in the Women’s March
• Ate good food at (food events ->) Live Fire, CultureMap Tastemakers Awards, Austin Entertains, Pay It Forward, Texas Craft Brewers Festival, and Wine and Swine
• Ran the Austin Half-Marathon and 3M Half-Marathon to finish out the Austin Distance Challenge
• Partnered with Chocolaterie Tessa, Kellie’s Cookies, SoulCycle, PDQ, Captain Morgan, Enjoyful, and Tiny Pies
• Took a photography class
• Invested in a fancy, mirrorless camera
• Explored Austin by going to Hamilton Pool and Chicken Shit Bingo
• Visited 18 new-to-me breweries
• Volunteered by baking goods for Austin Bakes for Harvey, Austin Bakes for Natural Disasters, and Girls Empowerment Network
• Volunteered with Central Texas Food Bank and Urban Roots
• Tried bouldering, liked it!
• Celebrated my 30th birthday by going to Belize and enjoying lunch and dinner with friends
• Worked out 109 times, including lots and lots of spin classes
• Read 53 books
• Officially got my advanced open water scuba diving certification and got nitrox certified
• Logged 22 dives in Honduras and Belize
• Published 90 posts on Fearless Captivations

WHEW. Great stuff, right?! The stats are nice but there’s always the stuff you can’t quantify that mean so much more. Like becoming more comfortable in my own skin and getting clearer about how I want to support what I’m passionate about (local food, environment, giving back are some things). This includes growing my relationship and friendships. And finding clarity about what I want my life to look like and seeing examples of how we (the world) are all in this together.

Hello, 2018!

I’ve been thinking about what I want to accomplish in 2018 for a while. I think my last few years have encouraged me to cast my net wide and try many new things. This next year I want to go deeper into the things I enjoy. I think overall goals are about achieving happiness and living your best life every day.

I know I’ll be traveling, connecting with friends, and eating my heart out, so no need to make those easy goals. I don’t have one word picked out for the year but I know I want to make relationships, personal development, and giving back priorities. Overall I want to love harder, whether it’s being kinder to myself, doing my part in saving the environment, showing compassion to strangers, and being present with family and friends.

Here are a few of my goals for 2018:

• Journal daily gratitude
• Practice monthly with my camera
• Read 50 books
• Volunteer 24 hours
• Take a professional development or creative class every month
• Complete six craft projects
• Learn more about Chinese culture (not sure what this looks like yet)
• Finish the Spanish and Italian Duolingo programs
• Grow a garden
• Aim for zero food waste at home
• To make: black forest cake, bread pudding, kanom sai sai, Danish pastry
• Donate 5% of my income to charity
• Do yoga at least once a month
• Work out at least three times a week
• Make four new recipes monthly
• Meal plan weekly
• Collaborate with bloggers on two blog posts
• Do five in-depth food/culture blog posts (more info coming soon!)

I’m using a Passion Planner again this year to keep track of my progress. I love the format of the planner and the reflective pages after every month. How do you keep track of your goals?

I think it’s going to be a GREAT year, and I’m hoping for big things for you too!

What are some of your goals for 2018?

P.S. Curious about my past goals? Here are 2017, 2016, and 2015.

Keep up with me! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Bloglovin’. You can also subscribe to the exclusive email list.

The post 2017 Review + New Year Goals appeared first on Fearless Captivations.