Hi y’alls, and Happy New Year!
Yeah… I’m fashionably late for 2014.
I was all excited to regale you with One Thousand and One Nights-style tales from Morocco, but my anal-retentiveness refused to let me post anything for 2014 without formally wrapping up last year’s adventures.
Mine is a militant and unforgiving super-ego.
So I hit rewind and crafted a 2013 Retrospective to keep the old bird happy.
January 2013
After a motley New Year’s Eve spent in Lisbon, Portugal, January truly began in Amsterdam discovering Indonesian rijsttafel, considering life on a houseboat, and attempting to keep a wide berth of scary sex mannequins.
The frigid New York winter forced Mr. M & I south of the Mason-Dixon Line to Charleston, South Carolina.
I’m determined to spend a least a few months of my retirement in Charleston with (1) Mr. M, (2) an impressive collection of gaudy Church Hats, and (3) an obscene knowledge of the local foodie scene.
I love that city.
February 2013
Despite not being chillax-on-the-beach type folks, Mr. M & I decided to celebrate our 15-year anniversary with a nouveau-honeymoon in Jamaica.
Three days of conducting life in a bathing suit almost had me reconsidering our no-beach-resort vacation policy. (Almost.)
March 2013
March ushered in a few weekend trips around the Northeast as we tried to make the most of our last months as New Yorkers.
First off was Philadelphia and a particularly engaging afternoon in prison with Steve Buscemi.
Later that month, we took Charlie Mae snow-hiking in The Berkshires. Thankfully, the little beast is stubborn like her mother and took the trails boasting snow higher than her head as a challenge.
April 2013
A weekend trip to Boston let us celebrate the wedding of one of my dearest college friends, see spring in full bloom, and witness first-hand the resilience of the city immediately following the Boston Marathon bombing.
I found flimsy excuses to visit the Boston Public Library every single day I was in the city because- aside from the library Mr. M & I got hitched in- it is my favorite public library anywhere. If you haven’t spent an afternoon in the courtyard and live near Boston… drum roll… weekend plans!
May 2013
I got a brand new sister & ready-made friend when Brother B wed my new sister LP in Texas this spring. Bonus: my grandma Tutu and I had a lovely time wine-tasting in Austin. (Read: we got sloshed on blueberry wine. I imagine this is how your days with grandma are spent, too, yes?)
June 2013
After Bash & Jess got engaged last New Year’s Eve while we were in Portugal, awaiting their June nuptials near San Diego was a countdown to excitement.
It’s nice when life has the courtesy to come full circle.
July 2013
Independence Day found us in the rugged landscape of Iceland eating puffin, nearly killing ourselves on rogue snowmobiles, and discovering a new level of bad-assery known simply as “being Icelandic.”
August 2013
Our merry band of three became bona fide Californians again, relocating from downtown New York City to our very first house in Southern California.
September 2013
Time for a meandering trip up the California coast to Pismo Beach to celebrate my good friend Ev’s Guatemalan-Jewish wedding at the gorgeous Point San Luis Lighthouse. Mazeldades, kids! (Mazel tov + felicidades = mazeldades!)
October 2013
October was all about exploring our new hometown. Usually on bike.
November 2013
An impromptu weekend trip to Portland had Mr. M & I in caffeinated, hipster heaven.
Before hosting Thanksgiving at our new house, I joined my family in Las Vegas to celebrate my uncle’s 60th birthday.
December 2013
December began back in my old hometown of New York City. I got to spend a week being a true New Yorker in a real, live six-story walk-up apartment.
And before joining family in Morocco for New Year’s, Mr. M & I had an extra-long layover in Barcelona, Spain.
Once in a great, great while, my inner Drill Sergeant has the right idea.
The rear view mirror deserves at least a glance as another year accelerates us forward. Yes, it’s important to live in the present and keep your eyes on the horizon and all those other quotes that we like to pin on Pinterest and see on cute coffee mugs… but it’s looking backward that propels me to change, grow, and progress.
The more I take stock of the passage of time and recognize how precious little time we’re gifted, the greater my desire to live fully, completely, and honestly.
I hope your own rear-view-mirror glance at 2013 has you excited for the year ahead… methinks it’s gonna be a good one!
Explore the 2012 Retrospective, from Puerto Rico in January to London in December!
Wow! What a year! Your pictures are amazing....I love the one of Charleston.. I'm going there some day...:) looking forward to your next adventures....happy new year!!
Aw, thank you! I hope 2013 was a blessed year for you & your family, too! (Honestly, I didn't realize all this stuff had happened until I started digging through my calendar... an added perk to blogging!) Whenever you end up going, you'll love Charleston, Jenn. It really is one of my favorite cities in the U.S. And it doesn't hurt that the food is AMAZING!
What has been your favorite trip? What has been your bravest moment? Did you have resolutions this year?
She comes out swinging! :) My favorite trip of 2013 was Amsterdam because it exceeded my non-existent expectations of the Netherlands! I could've kept on uncovering treasures there (little shops, good restaurants, conversations with locals) for days. Because I'm a cheater, my bravest moment of 2013 isn't really a moment: I finally learned to feel comfortable being by myself. It's liberating not relying on having another person around to enjoy life! I always have resolutions! Let's see... learning the Cyrillic alphabet, accepting spontaneity rather than needing to plan e-ver-y-thing in my life, and learning to play one song on the accordion. Bonus resolution that almost was: For 2 brief days, Mr. M & I were under the misconception that one did not need to actually attend law school in order to take the CA Bar Exam... and a joint resolution was to take it, pass it, and officially add "Esq." to the end of our names. It was a good dream while it lasted. :) Now that you've Barbara Walters'd me... what has been YOUR bravest, grab-life-by-the-balls moment of 2013?
Hmm... not wanting to devote too much time to introspection during work hours, I'd probably settle for my trip to D.C. for the NAS conference. I felt brave because (1) I gave myself permission to self-identify as a "scientist" and "science advocate", whereas previously I thought only others could bestow those labels on me, (2) I went above and beyond my usual lazy/avoidant techniques to get the trip funded and convince the director I should be there, and (3) I planned for nothing during the trip, and still managed to have a really good time trying new things. :)
I like this game a lot. Now I want to know other people's bravest moments. That would make a cool coffeetable book: random bravest moments. It's rather inspiring. Thank you for that! (And for the reminder that a complete & utter lack of planning can still yield Big Fun.) :)
It looks like you were a very busy girl in 2013 Miranda. You visited a couple of our absolutely fave places as well. We lived in Charleston for a year, and Amsterdam for three months. And if I can give you one piece of advice: if you ever get an opportunity to live in either or both of these places, don't miss it. We rented a tiny apartment in the historic district of Chaz (Queen St.) and it was one of our best living experiences in years. In fact, the only reason we left was to go on our last RTW. And as you know, Amsterdam is really cool, but it's also a wonderful hub for exploring the Netherlands and beyond. Best of luck and have a great 2014! ~James
James, I wouldn't dare miss a chance to live in either Charleston or Amsterdam! (Especially after reading about some of yours & Terri's adventures there.) You actually read my mind... curiously, rather than making me feel more settled, our recent move has had me itching to try living in more places around the world! Maybe one of those two will be next up... Thank you for the well wishes, and a very happy 2014 to you, too!
Oh wow! I've always known you travel a lot, but I never realized how much until I saw it listed like this! 2013 was a busy, but amazing year for you!
I honestly didn't realize it, either! I somehow boiled 2013 down to "moved to the west coast," but a whole heck of a lot more schtuff happened on either end of that. It's nice having it all written down in one place. And my mild OCD agrees. :)
Just stopping by from the SITS Girls comment challenge. Sounds like 2013 was a great year. Here's to any even better 2014.
I can't complain- 2013 was a fantastic year! Hopefully yours was just as wonderful. :) Thanks for stopping by, Nicki! And happy 2014!
I love these retrospective posts, and yours is one of my favorites. You have such awesome travels! And I am behind with a few of them, so I am in need of catching up. Can't wait to see where this year has you going...
Thank you, Erika! :) I was worried it was a bit long for a retrospective, but what're you gonna do? I didn't want to leave any adventures out. I love reading retrospectives, too... they're like little time capsules in a post! Hope your 2014 is amazing so far!