I saw this tweet that basically says last week was onboarding, and 2022 actually starts this week—and I so relate to that sentiment, especially because I only worked two days last week! But during “onboarding week,” while I wasn’t necessarily the most productive since I was still on PTO for the majority of it, I did spend a lot of time thinking about my goals for the year ahead.

Last year, I didn’t set any goals that I shared here on the blog—but my biggest goal heading into the year that I didn’t share publicly was to get promoted at work. Other than that, I didn’t really have any big goals for the year—especially given there was still a lot of uncertainty about the course of the pandemic at that time. (Hopefully, when I write this post next year, that won’t be the case!) I earned my promotion in July, and spent the back half of the year working on the biggest work project of my entire life. It was really rewarding, but all-consuming, and I know that lifestyle isn’t sustainable for me for the long term. At the end of the year, I was really burnt out and my life was out of balance.

As such, I knew going into 2022, I wanted to be a little more intentional about where my energy and time are going. I was texting with an old friend this week and I told her the vibe I want for this year is more fun, less fucks. I will always care a lot about work and will still do my best, but I don’t want work to be at the expense of other things going on in my life anymore—especially my physical and mental health.

Given all that, I wanted to share a few of my 2022 goals + priorities for the year. Like last year, I have a few I am going to keep private for now—but maybe I’ll share one day when they are a reality. I have a good feeling about the year ahead!

Read more “My 2022 Goals”

What a YEAR! I say this every year, but this blog post is always my favorite to write. (You can read the ones from year’s past here—2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016!) It’s so fun to reflect and take stock of everything that happened over the last 365 days. It’s also a good reminder to see how far I’ve come since the last ball drop—as someone who always seems to be looking ahead to the next accomplishment or focusing on the challenge to overcome, I often forget to take a step back and celebrate the wins of each year.

While 2021 had some really great moments, generally speaking, I was ready to say goodbye and have a fresh start with 2022. For me, 2021 was a much harder year than 2020—the isolation from another year of the pandemic combined with a really intense six months at work made for one of the most stressful periods of my life. I was really burnt out by the time I closed my laptop for ‘adult winter break’—the slightest inconveniences would send me over the edge, I was thinking about work even during non-working hours (I’m usually much better at boundaries!), and I cried a lot.

I took two-and-a-half weeks off over the holidays—I go back to the “office” on Thursday—and it’s truly one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. I’ve had time to completely disconnect from work, catch up on a ton of personal to-dos, sleep in without an alarm, spend lazy mornings reading in bed, try new recipes, spend time with my family, and travel with one of my best friends to one of my favorite places. It’s been so restorative and I am finally at that place in vacation where I am ready to get back into a routine and head back to work.

As we started to approach the new year, I was really beating myself up about the past year and focusing on the negatives about 2021. After we finished our delicious Christmas feast, my family went around the dinner table and talked about the highlights and wins of our year and that really helped to remind me how many great times this year held. I’ll also say that I had a really hard time narrowing this post down to just 10 moments of the year, which goes to show that even though I was focused so much on the negative, there’s still a lot of positive to remember about the year—and I am sure, as time always does, my view of 2021 will soften in hindsight. But for now, I am so excited to see what 2022 has in store, and I have a feeling it’s going to be a really great one.

So without further ado, here are my top 10 moments of 2021: Read more “My Top 10 Moments of 2021”