It’s that time of year where all of us take a moment to reflect on what’s happened and plan for what’s to come. However, this New Years Eve is particularly different, because it marks the end of a decade and the beginning of a new one. It’s the first time in my life where I’m taking a moment to really think about the last ten years and I wanted to consider what’s happened and how it’s shaped where I am now. I started out the decade as a sophomore in high school – considering I’ve graduated high school, undergrad, and grad school since then, there’s been a lot of change in the last ten years.
2010:
The beginning of the decade was all about performing. I was going to an acting/dance studio with all of my best friends, and it was definitely the year where everything peaked in this “era” of my life. We performed “Grease” February 27th of that year – which, at the time, I frequently referred to as the best day of my life, because I just remember every single moment of it feeling awesome. We also got to then perform Grease in Walt Disney World together as a group. This was a particularly amazing experience for me – I had never been there before, and got to go with literally 25 of my closest friends. I shared a hotel room with some of my girlfriends, dressed up as Eloise (while my friend Meg was Madeline!), played the role of Sandy in front of a ton of strangers, and felt extraordinarily happy. This was also the year of my sweet 16 – my parents rented a heated tent for the backyard and we all danced to songs from our favorite musicals (lol) and did some routines from our dance team. There was an ice cream cake my older sister made with broadway posters she drew and a New York City landscape crafted out of tootsie rolls. We were also lucky enough to perform at Radio City Music Hall as the opening act to the Christmas Spectacular. This was a particularly cool experience, and I got to do it with my closest friends. I also had tons of sleepovers with Molly, and this year was pretty foundational in a lot of the friendships I have today. <3
2011:
2011 was another year of serious commitments to performing. It was also the first year that I went to Prom, and I went with my bff Alex King, who I am still so close to. We happened to have prom on the day that Prince William and Kate Middleton got married, and I was wearing a white dress, so we joked that we were William and Kate all night. Our giant group of friends rented a double decker bus to take to prom, which was so much fun on the highway. Honestly, I remember one of the highlights being getting off the bus on the way home and goofing around at a local McDonalds in our prom attire. Despite some other personal lows, the year definitely had some great moments. In the Spring, we put on a play called “Suburbia” as a group. That summer, I played three lead roles: We performed RENT, which was the show all of us had been wanting to perform the entirety of our time together, and I played both Mimi and Maureen in separate casts. I also was lucky enough to play Puck in Midsummer Nights Dream, which got me on my Shakespeare kick. RENT was our last show as a group, which was a sad moment, but (upon reflection) the right show to end things with. We also performed at Radio City again for the last time. 2011 was really the last year of constant shows – which, in reality, was a good thing. However, it was also the first year I had a hang out with Jake and our friend Kristina, after Spirit night in the fall of our senior year…which was certainly a pivotal moment!
2012:
This was the year I graduated from high school and started my freshman year of college!! It’s also the year I started dating Jake. 🙂 We had the best time ever going to prom together that year, and got to spend the weekend afterwards in Watch Hill with all of our friends. I went to York Beach with Pj, which makes me realize we’ve literally been close for the entirety of the decade. Molly and I also went to Rhode Island together this year and had an absolute blast. Not to mention we had our luau party at Pj’s house – you know we love a themed party! I remember this year feeling like the beginning of the end, when it reality I think it paved the way for all the great stuff that came with the rest of the decade. The first two years of the decade were jam packed with rehearsals, performances, MTV pilot filming, and not a lot of chill time. This was the year I found more of a balance. It was also the start of freshman year of college at Endicott, where I met Caley! <3 Neither of us stayed, but I’m so grateful I went simply based on having found one of my very best friends.
2013:
This was the year I was finally accepted to New York University. I was beyond thrilled after having been on the wait list the year before. I basically spend the entirety of my year at Endicott studying – which, paid off in the end, with a 3.9 and an opportunity to go to my dream school. This was also the year my cousin Laura got married, which was the first family wedding I ever went to. We had the best time ever and it’s still one of my favorite weddings to this day. This was also the year we went to the Taylor Swift Red Tour, and my first TSwift concert. I was so thankful that both Pj and Molly were living in the city too at this time. NYU was such a blast, but getting used to city living was harder than I had anticipated it being. I also got bangs this year (big surprise with all that change…), which directly correlates to me having bangs squished to my forehead in my current passport picture. Oops!
2014:
This was the year that Jake, Pj and I visited our friend Meaghan in Ireland. It was the first time I had ever left the country before and we had the best time. To this day, we still have a wide variety of inside jokes from the trip, including that time Pj accidentally fell asleep on a woman on the bus because of our jet lag. It also made us realize what an awesome travel team we are! 2014 happened to be the year that my family made their brief move to Minnesota (nine months…) which, like most things, ultimately happened for a reason! It was a little blip for our family, leaving New England, but it also taught all of us a lot. I was still going to NYU at the time, so it was a little tough for me to be further away from my family like that. We also had a fun Halloween party where Jake and I dressed as Gatsby and Daisy! Of course, there were plenty of York Beach and Boston trips, since Pj was going to Northeastern for grad school at the time.
2015:
This was the year I really started getting close with my NYU group of friends and started my senior year of college. I really started diving in to exploring New York City. I was nannying when I wasn’t in class, and was feeling really good about my college experience. My NYU friends came to visit my home in CT and went to the Big E, which to this day was one of the best experiences. A couple of them had never experienced a huge fair like that, so it was so much fun to see their reactions and just enjoy it together as a group. I was also exploring taking acting classes outside of college life, which ultimately led to some commercials and big auditions down the line. Although not the right path for me, I’m grateful I did this during college so I figured out it wasn’t what I wanted by the time I graduated. This was also the year my little cousin Brayden was born, which was such an exciting moment for our whole family! <3 Jake and I also recreated our classic preschool picture this year!
2016:
This year was huge. It’s *technically* the year I started the blog, although I didn’t really delve in until the following year. It’s also the year I graduated from NYU, which was super bittersweet. I loved living in my dorm, right in Gramercy, so I was super sad to leave it. Jake and I took our first ever couples trip to Disney World during our senior year spring break, which was an absolute blast. We were happy literally the entirety of the trip, and even got to spend time in Harry Potter World. I also traveled to Portugal for the first time with Jake and his parents, which is one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. I had never been anywhere like it before, I just felt like I couldn’t stop looking everywhere! It was also the year I got to know more of Jake’s cousins through Rachel and Taylor’s wedding – we’ve been close ever since! We even went skiing with some of them that year – it was my first time ever skiing, and I personally think I kiiiiiinda rocked it. 😉
2017:
This was the year I really felt the blog started. I began posting more regularly and figuring out what type of content I wanted to put out there. It’s also the year that I started Grad school (!) and decided I wanted to be a teacher. I started my two-year masters program at Uhart in January of 2017. I also went from working part time at L.L. Bean to my first job at a school, where I met some amazing coworkers and really started delving into my teaching world. This was also the year I marched in the Women’s March in New York City. My sister also got married and we had a wicked fun bachelorette weekend in Rhode Island! My other sister, Sam, graduated high school and started college. This year was a busy one for sure for everyone!
2018:
This was such an amazing year – so many wonderful things happened! I got my glasses this year and visited my friend Katherine in North Carolina, which I had never been to before. I also managed to pass all of my certification tests for teaching and we celebrated Pj’s golden birthday, which was probably the most iconic themed party we had this decade. I also went to Portugal again with the Peterson family, which was unbelievably fun and we explored so may other places I hadn’t seen the first time. Also, I touched Taylor Swift’s hand at the Reputation concert, which was incredible. I went to Cape Cod for the first time with my best friends. Jake and I also really found our love of Rhode Island this year with our weekend get-a-way there. I saw Hamilton, J.K Rowling liked my tweet on twitter after I dressed as a Hufflepuff for Halloween, we had my Grammy’s 90th birthday party, my parents gifted me my car, I GRADUATED GRAD SCHOOL, and finished the best student teaching experience ever. Plus, my other little cousin, Jackson, was born in May! It was a crazy awesome year.
2019:
Wow – so so so so much has changed since 2010. This past year, like all years, had its ups and downs. However, so many wonderful things happened. This year, Jake and I moved into our first apartment together and we moved to another part of the state. I also started a brand new job that I love! Katie had her 30th birthday party, we visited Pj in Boston, and I celebrated graduating with my masters by walking during the ceremony. My friend Katherine had her bridal shower and married her husband Sam (I caught the bouquet at her wedding!!) AND Jake’s Uncle got married so we celebrate with the Peterson family at the Cavalier in Virginia Beach. We also went with my family to Washington D.C and visited Pj in Maine during the summer time. I had quite a few friends come visit me at our apartment (especially when the Taylor album came out!) and visited friends at theirs. My sweet Gracie girl passed away, which still makes me very sad, so that was definitely a low point for me. But I also turned 25, which marked a lot of changed since that sweet 16 party I wrote about happening back in 2010! We also went to a fun Christmas party with friends this December, which was a blast.
I’m so proud of all that I’ve accomplished this decade an so grateful for my friends and family that where there along the way. Here’s a great new year and decade to come! Here comes 2020!!!!
