2008 - Here I Come!!

As I've done for the past two years, I'm continuing my tradition of doing a yearly recap. Looking back on 2007, I think it was the fastest year of my life. The time just flew by! And, while I'm sad to see it go, so many amazing things happened that I can't help but wonder what the heck 2008 has in store for me. Starting from the beginning, here's what happened:



1. I rang in the New Year at a club in New York City with my old roommates. While being in New York was exciting, the night wasn't. I didn't even get to see the ball drop! I was convinced (once again) that NYE was the worst holiday in existance.
2. After recovering from the fateful first night of 2007, Michelle, Brooke and I headed up to Boston to learn some lessons in colonial history (okay, that may have been just me). We walked the Freedom Trail, ice skated in Boston Common, learned how to crack open a lobster, found out that Boston ROCKS and got to love our home away from home in Revere.
3. Once back in California, I began the post-college graduate job search. After plently of career fairs, interviews and a month of pure stress and confusion, I landed my first "real" job.
4. After about a week at the aforementioned job, I realized that maybe it wasn't as great as I had imagined. I spent my days missing college and wondering if PR wasn't really what I wanted to do. In between the endless pitching I made sure to constantly look for new opportunities. And take some vacations.
5. Thanks to Todd's amazing job, I found myself being whisked away to Miami to spend one glorious week relaxing on the beach and dancing the night away on South Beach. The weather, food and trip in general was a great way to escape for a while. I never did get a coconut though.
6. Todd and I brought a little bit of the Latin heat home with us and started taking Salsa lessons. We were pros in no time, and found ourselves spending many Thursday and Friday nights dancing among the best of them at places like Cafe Sevilla and Club Miami.
7. On a whim I decided to apply to USC, and much to my surprise, I got in! While Todd partied it up in Vegas with his bosses (haha), I wondered what to do. Grad school meant moving to LA and leaving everything I loved behind. After much avail and many tears, I decided that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to study public relations in the city of angels.
8. April was a month of birthdays and celebrations. Todd spent Easter at my house, where we were plesently surprised by way too much chocolate. I also got to meet Todd's parents for the first time on their trip to sunny San Diego!
9. As always, I took a three-day weekend to go meet my dad and the rest of the fam in Las Vegas. I was once again forced to stay at Circus Circus, but got to see the Tournament of Kings and visit one too many buffets. At least I didn't lose any money!
10. Once May rolled around, I was nervously counting down the days to grad school and getting ready to officially graduate. My dad and grandparents came to town to help celebrate my accomplishements at SDSU. And, on May 19, I finally had my official college diploma in hand. My friends and I celebrated the end of an era at an amazing beach-side party in Mission Beach.
11. In between the boredom at work, the fear of grad school and the excitement of graduation, I stumbled upon an amazing PR job posting online. I decided to take a chance and see what happened.
12. After two interviews and a writing test, I got a phone call that would change everything. I found out that I had landed the job - a once in a lifetime opportunity to work at one of San Diego's top PR firms. More thinking led me to decide that getting some experience here in San Diego was what I needed to do. Thus, I began my career in public relations.
13. June was a month of weekend getaways and new beginnings. I found out that I really did like PR and that you can still have a fun summer when you're working 40+ hours a week.
14. With tons of baseball games under our belts thanks to our Padre's 12-pack (including a Red Sox and Mets game), Todd and I hopped on a plane yet again to go back east. This time, we landed in Boston, rented a car and drove 6 hours to Ithaca. After meeting the college friends, discovering some gorges and dancing the night away in the Commons, I realized that maybe the hippie lifestlye was for me, afterall.
15. Once our time in Ithaca was up, Todd and I drove back to Boston where we met up with Lin and Todd's parents for dinner in Little Italy. Then, it was off to Hampton and the Camp, and my first look at where Todd grew up! I had tons of fun kyaking on the lake, meeting Todd's family and relaxing in the East coast sun. It was hard to leave and get back into the working mode.
16. The end of July marked my birthday and a great day of celebrating with family and friends. Not only did my dream come true of making a real pizza at a pizza palor (thanks, mom), but I also got to hang out with some of my best friends at Dave and Busters - one of the few places you can truly be a kid and an adult at the same time.
17. After moving out of Fermi, my old roommates and I went our seperate ways. It was weird to be moving out, but also oh, so wonderful to be moving into a new place with my own space. I even got a new roommate and friend, Steph!
18. August was full of work, work, work. I tried to make the most of my last couple weeks of summer hours and headed to the beach directly after work on some Fridays. Todd and I also took a quick trip to Texas, where we spent some ridiculously hot days hanging out with the other side of my family.
19. Before I knew it, it was fall. By the time Halloween rolled around, I was wondering how the past year had gone by so fast!
20. Todd and I celebrated Halloween as a bee and a beekeeper with the kiddies. We went trick-or-treating, ate tons of candy and celebrated the day we met. Two days later, we were on our way to San Francisco for a weekend full of sightseeing.
21. San Fran was amazing, and after touring Alcatraz, eating bread bowls at Pier 39 and riding bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge, we were ready to come back to America's Finest City and just do nothing for a bit.
22. The relaxation ended soon as we were thrust into the holiday season. Thanksgiving was here before we could say gobble, gobble, and my mom and I cooked up a storm to celebrate. Lin came out to join the festivites, as did Todd's roommates Eli and Derrick. It was a Thanksgiving to remember - and to be very thankful for.
23. The weeks continued to fly by and the Christmas parties, cookies and gift-giving needs started to stack up. I really got into the holidays and tried to buy everyone the perfect gifts. Then, all of a sudden, it was Dec. 20, and time for my trip home.
24. After flying all night and landing in snowy Boston at 6 am, Todd and I lugged our suitcases through the freezing cold air to Lin's apartment in East Boston. A few hours of sleep later, I had Todd hurrying through the city on a tour of all of the colonial sites we could fit into one day. I finally made it Bunker Hill and ended the night in Cambridge with a bunch of our favorite east coast people.
25. The next few days were amazing, and oh, so Christmasy. We spend an early Christmas Eve at Todd's aunt's house where I tried some Swedish pickled herring, met some more of the family and ate some of Todd's mom's delicious apple pie. When the celebration was over, we headed to Hampton. The next day, I was off to Jersey.
26. As always, being home was great. I saw all of my family and friends and tried to cram as many New Jersey things as possible into 10 days. It made me happy to be able to see everyone, and even happier to have Todd come and experience some more of where I grew up. Plus, we saw Phantom and ate about every type of east coast food possible. I'm surprised I can still fit into any of my clothes!
27. And, this year, for the first of my "adult" years, New Year's Eve was actually FUN! Todd and I met up with a bunch of friends and truly CELEBRATED! We started off at Puglias eating scrumptious Italian food and wondering when the waiters were going to stop bringing more wine. Once Jorge was finished singing "New York, New York," and our bill was paid, we cabbed it over to PRESSURE, for a night of dancing and picture taking. At about 3 am, the party ended, and we headed home, knowing we had ended the year the best way possible.

So, here we are... in 2008. What will the next 12 months bring? I guess we'll just have to wait and see :)