Happy almost new year!
I know 2018 was a tough year for a lot of people, and it is definitely a tough time in our country right now, so I get it. But for me 2018 had a lot of great times, and I definitely want to celebrate those. I hope even if you had one of the worst years of your life you are able to make your own list and find some good from the past 365 days.
So here are my 18 times in 2018 that life was great.
1. Game changing movies: I see a lot of movies so they are rarely a highlight of the year but twice at the beginning of the year as I sat in the theater, I sat in wonder as I saw something in our culture had changed and we will hopefully never go back. Once was sitting in a crowded movie theater watching Black Panther. The audience I saw it with was predominantly non white and there were many kids in the movie theater. I could not help but wonder if this was the first time they had ever seen themselves in so many ways on a movie screen and then I wondered if their parents and even grandparents were feeling that same way. It was a great moment and I hope Hollywood gets the message loud and clear as Black Panther was the number 1 grossing movie of the year in North America
On a more personal note I watched the movie Love, Simon with a theater full of young people, and I will never forget their enthusiasm and hope they know how fortunate they were to be able to sit in a movie as teenagers with a same gender love story as the center of the movie. I grew up watching John Hughes movies. They were my Love, Simon, but LGBTQ kids had to "hope" that some of these characters were possibly gay when they grew up (see Duckie in Pretty In Pink and Watts in Some Kind of Wonderful), but none of them ever were actually queer in the movie. So it brought me to tears to sit by a young woman of no more than 11 or 12 who cheered when the two boys in the central love story kissed at the end. Even if that had been in a movie when I was a teenager we never would have cheered!
The game has changed. We can't and won't go back.
Ok the rest of these are shorter. :)
2. Quebec City: I went on a weekend trip to Quebec City. I had been wanting to go for a long time and it was charming and cold as I expected.
3. NYC: I usually go to NYC at least once a year and it never gets old This year I saw the Donna Summer musical and hung out quite a bit in Hell's Kitchen. I sense there will be a lot of NYC for me in 2019.
4. The girls come for a visit: one of Devon's nieces, a couple great nieces and his sister came for a visit this past winter. We took them to Harvard, I bought them some candy and ordered them a whole fish for dinner.
5. President's Day Weekend Day Trips: I like to travel pretty much any time I have days off but this past February I had not planned anything. So I decided to take two day trips to nearby towns I had not hing out in. One day I went to the famous Salem, Massachusetts and the other day I went to the underrated Providence, RI. Great experiences and proof that you don't need a lot of money or time off to have an adventure.
6. Devon got a new job: Devon got a new job at Wegmans that he likes a lot and it definitely made a difference in the house this year. This job should create a lot of excitement in 2019.
7. I started a different job in my company: This year I started a new position in my company. It requires a lot of travel, but I like it a lot and look forward to see where it takes me in the future.
8. Iceland: I had a lot of adventures this year and Iceland was one of the biggest. New experiences, new food and drink and I actually got out of my city comfort zone and got out into nature and discovered perhaps the most beautiful place I have ever been
9: Jennifer: I got to hang out with my friend Jennifer on a work trip in January and then again at the end of the year in Atlanta.
10. Wendy: My friend Wendy came to see me in Boston and we saw the Moulin Rouge musical and then in November I got to visit her in St. Louis for her birthday weekend.
11. Ptown: In August I went to Province town to for Carnivale with Frank, Kyle and Amy and we watched a great parade, went whale watching and saw James Franco eating dinner at the table next to ours.
12. Concerts: I saw a loooooooot of concerts this year. Let's see there was Brandi Clark, P!NK, Brandi Carlile, Richard Marx, Kesha (and Macklemore but eh), Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Jay Z, Beyonce, Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, and Crazy Ex Girlfiend the concert!
13. Seeing our old friends who live near NYC: We took a day trip to the Cape (Falmouth) and we saw our friends Selwyn and Gary who we had not seen for several years.
14. Hamilton: I saw many musicals this year including Summer, Moulin Rouge and Jagged Little Pill but Hamilton was easily the pinnacle experience of it all. Points off for the parent who let her child rap loudly along with the show next to me and my my very expensive seats.
15. Seeing more family on work travel: I got to see another of Devon's nieces and her children and his sister on one of my work trips.
16. Election Day: Sure the Democrats lost 2 net seats in the Senate but short memories forget they were expected to lose way more. The bright side is we got the House back and hopefully the next two years everyone will be working full force to get the Trump tragedy out of the White House. 2020 is coming.
17. Copenhagen Denmark: Going to Denmark during the end of fall ended up being a great idea! The highlights were Christmas markets, the walking tours and an amazing 6 course dinner
18. Stockholm Sweden: It was darker than Denmark but Sweden in the almost winter ended up being a good plan as well. Highlights included the ABBA museum, Christmas Markets and the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo walking tour. I also had a beautiful hotel here!
I wish you all a happy 2019 with lots of great adventures. I wish only the best of everything for all of us.
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