A Cliche "2019 in Review" + "Looking Forward to 2020" Post

Let's just say 2019 was a wild ride. Just like my country, my generation, and my planet, I experienced many beautiful moments as well as many devastating moments...which sums up every year, to be honest!

(I understand that time is a construct, and there's no reason to believe "a new year" will automatically bring a fresh start or huge changes just because I write a new number on the top of my journal entries.  But one thing that isn't a construct is January tax season, and if that milestone can act as a concrete reminder that now is as good a time as any to make some strides towards a better year, than why not.)

As I'm sure you know by now, I'm a 'list person'. So let's start with a set of lists that summarize my 2019, shall we? (Feel free to skip to the end if you're here for the more hopeful "what I'm looking forward to in 2020" section, haha). For the most part, I only included things that I liked to keep a spirit of positivity, so while I definitely watched more TV shows/movies/webseries and read more books, I left the ones I didn't enjoy out of the post. If you are interested in that information for some reason, I do have a more thorough list on my phone, so feel free to message me, haha.

First Times:

• Playing an otome game (thanks Cindy!)
• Watching an Asian drama with English subtitles (so far I have only explored Chinese and Taiwanese dramas, but I have a Japanese drama, a Korean drama, and a Thai drama on my to-watch list. The only ones I've finished are Well-Intended Love, Lion Pride, Bromance, Murphy's Law of Love, Accidentally in Love, Miss Rose, and the Taiwanese version of Fated to Love You/You're My Destiny, so if you have recs please let me know!!!)
• Visiting Culpeper (went to La Bee Da Loca, a local diner, and Lowell Park and it was very cute of us)
• Seeing my favorite band, Marianas Trench, live (in Silver Springs, MD)
• First Hot Goss Reunion field trip to see my friend Lily as Charlotte in Pride & Prejudice (shoutout to Michayla and Angel!)
• Acting with Stage Door, a local theater in downtown Fredericksburg (Jane Eyre)
• Living in Richmond as part of my internship with Virginia Repertory Theatre
• First time "at" the 2019 Artsies awards (technically I was running projection slides but hey, I was there)
• Trying bubble tea (thanks, Keegan)
• Seeing a ballet: Ma Cong's "Chiaroscuro" at Richmond Ballet
• Experiencing the Christmas lights at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens

TV Shows I Loved:

• Queer Eye (watched seasons 1-4)
• Sex & Love Around the World (docuseries)
• Schitts Creek (1-4)
• Haunting at Hill House 
• Santa Clarita Diet (season 3)
• Derry Girls (seasons 1 + 2; season 2 was better by far)
• Rapunzel's Tangled Adventures (seasons 1 & 2) 
• On My Block (seasons 1 & 2)
• Russian Doll
• Pose (season 1)
• Your Lie in April 
• Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries (finished season 3)
• Lion Pride
• Bromance
• Murphy's Law of Love (except the four episodes before the finale--if you know, you know)
• Accidentally in Love

Movies I Enjoyed:

• Ocean's 8
• Jupiter Ascending (JUDGE ME ALL YOU WANT HATERS)

Webseries I Fell in Love With:

• Project Green Gables (finished season 3)
• Sam and Pat Are Depressed (season 3)

Books I Loved: 

• The Real Jane Austen by Paula Byrne
• Hacking Harvard by Robin Wasserman
• A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
• A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro (thanks Devon!)

Theatre Thingsssss: 
I made the effort to read more plays this year, including Sorrows of Stephen by Peter Parnell, A Separate Peace by Tom Stoppard, Butterflies Are Free by Leonard Gershe, Brooklyn Boy by Donald Margulies, and Keely and Du by Jane Martin.

I was blessed to attend a few productions as well, including Lonestar/Laundry and Bourbon (@Studio 115), The Country Wife (@UMW), Pride & Prejudice (@Goose Creek Players) 13 the Musical (@Cadence/VRT), and my favorite of the year, Fun Home (@UMW). 

Finally, part of my internship included house managing for VRT productions: A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder, Tuck Everlasting (TYA), and Cinderella. I am so excited to house manage the rest of VRT's season, particularly Fences.

Food (aka the most important adventures of life): 

FREDERICKSBURG:

• Taqueria Flávio 
• Baba Ganoush (you can see their hummus all over my sister's Instagram feed)
• CAVA (this isn't local but I'd never been there before soooo)

CHARLOTTESVILLE: 

• Pho 3 Pho 
• First Watch 
• The Local 

RICHMOND: 

• Lift Coffee 
• Saadia's Juicebox 
• Soul Taco (y'all already know)
• True's Cultural Kitchen
• CHOPT (this isn't local but I'd never been there before soooo)
• Tenka Ramen

LOOKING FORWARDS

I am hopeful that the beginning of 2020 will bring positive energy and blessings. My internship has already taught me so much, and I am excited to continue my archive work for VRT. While the quantity of archives left to be organized/digitized does make me anxious, I have accomplished a substantial amount in 4 short months, and I know I'm doing the best I can. Working to fight fear + anxiety in my life is tough, but necessary. 

In the fall of 2019, I started writing more frequently. This content made me happy and confident in my ability as a writer in a way that I hadn't felt for quite a long time. I ended up sharing select pieces on a public platform, and while I am nowhere near "popular", my work has around 400 regular readers, for which I am thankful. In 2020, I hope to continue improving and experimenting as a writer, whether that be through fiction, poetry, or this blog. 

From an acting standpoint, playing a character near & dear to my heart onstage this past summer brought me so much joy. Not only did I form beautiful friendships and sharpen my acting skills, taking on a "leading lady" when I have often felt I have only "supporting/one-scene-wonder" potential has increased my confidence. Coupled with the exposure to new-to-me plays that my internship has brought me, this experience has inspired me to pursue acting more bravely in 2020 than I normally do. That is to say, I will stop focusing so intensely on what I cannot do or am unable to bring to a character/audition and instead work on improving my weak areas (of which there are many, lol) and feeling proud of my strengths. 

Perhaps most importantly, I want to commit more ardently to the idea that "There Are No Rules" (laid out in this post here). It sounds silly, but in 2019 I started wearing my glasses in public more, which I used to never ever ever do. When my roommates joked that I should change before going to Kroger because I looked like a Sunday school teacher, I kept wearing my grandma skirt because I liked it, instead of switching to a more "normal" outfit. I stopped telling myself I could only post on social media once every few days at most because otherwise I would be fitting the "millennial stereotype". I don't hide my stuffed animals under a blanket anymore. All tiny and ridiculous little things, to be sure, but we start small, don't we? In 2020, I hope to commit to more tiny ridiculous acts of rebellion in order to stay true to myself.