2012: A Year in Review

Only a few days left of 2012 and I have to admit... minus a few rocky weeks in the beginning, it's been a phenomenal year for me. I have very few complaints about everything that happened this year, and anything that I could really complain about honestly made me a better, stronger person, so I can't really even complain about those...

Let's take a closer look, shall we?

JANUARY
I rang in the New Year with my best friend and two (nearly) perfect strangers, but it was a good first step toward my major resolution for 2012: meet new people and make new friends. I spent most of January trying to figure out what was going on with my relationship, which was technically off, but realistically still on. Matt went to Italy for the last week of January and we spent a lot of time writing emails, g-chatting, and further realizing that we really didn't have much of a choice: The relationship was certainly not over.

FEBRUARY
I don't necessarily remember much about February, other than receiving a Kindle Fire from Matt for my twenty-fourth birthday. This machine would change my entire perception of ebooks and I quickly became addicted. And I mean... buy-one-or-two-books-per-week addicted. Daily Deals are examined closely every single day and the monthly deals blow my mind. I no longer shunned ebooks, though I almost always have a hardcover or paperback on hand or in progress. Best gift ever. Even, possibly, better than my Pandora bracelets.

MARCH
I visited Andrew in NYC for St. Patrick's Day. Despite being pinched by complete strangers (I forgot to wear green...), I had a great time. He introduced me to The Strand, which is a little slice of heaven for every book lover, and I remember telling him that someday soon I'd be working in the city. I didn't know how true those words were when I spoke them.

APRIL
Matt and I book a somewhat last-minute six-day trip to Chicago and completely reconnect. We decide to "officially" pick up our relationship where we left off and we celebrate our seventh anniversary (because we're in agreement that the break didn't really happen... it was all a dream nightmare) in style at Moto. Then we dine at Alinea for the second time in two years and seriously make a memory that will last a lifetime and then some. We spend some time with my cousin in his natural habitat (Lincoln Park) and we walk all the way to Hot Doug's and experience a cocktail tasting menu at The Aviary. We spend more money than I make in a month and we go home and rarely leave each other's side the rest of the month.

MAY
I am completely miserable at my job. I don't like what I'm doing, I don't feel appreciated, and I don't feel respected. I force myself to get out of bed in the morning and I can't sit in my seat a minute after 5:00. I feel like I'm wasting my time and I start applying for jobs in New York. I apply for a job as an editor and am told that, despite my three combined years of working for a book production company, I don't have the experience necessary to edit trade books. So I ask if there is anything open at said company and I'm invited to interview for an internship on May 14. On May 15, I'm offered the full-time, paid internship. On May 16, I give my two days notice. On May 18, I cash out my final week of vacation time and say goodbye to my old office and coworkers.

I spend the next week packing my apartment, convincing myself that my relationship will survive this decision, and looking for somewhere to live in NYC. My start date is May 30 and I need to be settled in somewhere by Memorial Day. I have one full week to find somewhere to live. Andrew hooks me up with the woman he stayed with when he went to Columbia and I promise her a full month's rent in exchange for a bed, a shelf in her fridge, and the use of her bathroom.

My first day as an intern, I proofread more material than I was given in a full year at my old job. I know I've made the right decision for my career.

JUNE
Work is easy, work is fun, work brings new friends who have a ton of the same likes, dislikes, and attitudes. I do what I'm told, ask for extra, and am loving it. At night, I hunt for apartments, expecting to find a place with a July 1 move in date. Matt has agreed to move to NYC when I find a place for us and I'm determined to make that sooner rather than later, as I'm stuck in a tiny room all night by myself and am still in an unfamiliar land. Before I moved to New York, I'd been there three times: once senior year of high school for a Broadway show, once for a conference in college, and once to visit Andrew.

Matt visits early in June and we meet a realtor I've been emailing. He shows us three places within an hour and we decide to take the third place. Two bedrooms, separate living room, separate kitchen, laundry in the building. We're set. We receive a move-in date of June 15 and the woman I'm living with flips outs. Long story short, I was out of there on June 15.

During the last week of June, I'm offered a full-time, salary position at my company. I accept without any hesitation and soon find myself working with the editorial director, managing editor, the publisher, and a bunch of really great people who are all close to my age and are extremely personable.

JULY
Washington Heights is... different. (You'll get a glimpse if you watch the new MTV show Washington Heights, which debuts in January. I won't be watching. Because I already know that "in the heights, shit gets real." Uh huh...) I stick out, men speak to me in Spanish, and I'm afraid to walk around alone. But I love the apartment and have no problem being there alone until Matt moves in on July 9. After more than seven years of dating, we finally live together. And living with a boy isn't too bad... especially since we work opposite shifts and get a lot of time to ourselves.

Matt starts his job at DBK and kind of likes it, but knows it's not where he ultimately wants to be. He hates burgers with all his heart, but he sucks it up for a bit. A paycheck's a paycheck. For now.

AUGUST
I acquire my first book, a healthy cookbook written by a woman who is more than enthusiastic about the process. I catch the acquisition bug and am soon reviewing proposals sent directly to me by various agents and authors. I love my job. I don't regret a single decision I've made all year.

SEPTEMBER
Matt continues to hate his job. I feel guilty, but I know other opportunities are out there for him. He just has to want it.

One of my best friends moves to Washington—yeah, the state. Despite the distance, we talk almost every day and I'm mostly happy that she's happy. It really sucks that she's so far away, but... other people are starting to fill the void. That's not to say that she has been replaced; no one can replace her. But I've grown close to a few people in the office and am excited to be invited to lunch, dinner, happy hours, and shopping as often as I am. Again, no regrets.

OCTOBER
Matt and I celebrate our seven-and-a-half year anniversary because we've learned to really appreciate our time together. We're closer than ever and it's clear that moving in—and away—was a great decision. The hurricane hits the East Coast and power is knocked out in almost all of lower Manhattan. We barely feel a thing in the Heights, but my office and Matt's restaurant are closed and we get to spend an entire week together. We eat horrible food, watch a ton of superhero movies, and walk the streets on Halloween, weaving our way in and out of clusters of children dressed as Disney princesses, Spiderman, and Batman. All the subways are still down, so we really have no place to go. But that's okay, because we're perfectly happy on our couch.

NOVEMBER
Matt stages (interns, pretty much) at wd~50, a Michelin-rated progressive restaurant on the Lower East Side. He works for free for five days and comes home every single night with a huge smile on his face. He's truly happy with the work he's doing for the first time since we moved and I couldn't be happier for him. The day he goes back to his full-time job, he comes home with absolutely no spirit. The light is completely out.

Two days later, he quits his job at 2 in the afternoon. Three hours later, the chef at wd~50 calls him (completely unprompted) with a full-time job offer. I receive the news while waiting in line for a bus to take me home to W-B for the weekend and desperately wish I could celebrate with him. Instead, I settle for texting nearly every person I work with and every family member I can think of. Shortest unemployment ever, happiest guy ever.

We moved to NYC for our careers and now we're both actually making progress. All is well.

We get to spend Thanksgiving together for the first time in seven years. Since we started dating, one of us always had work, be it at the grocery store where we both worked in high school or at whatever restaurant Matt worked at. We cook a turkey big enough to feed my entire family and I eat leftovers for a week and a half, which undoubtedly added to the slight weight gain I've experienced since moving.

DECEMBER
My parents visit, Matt's parents visit, and my sister's boyfriend speedily recovers from a horrible accident. My grandparents are as healthy as can be and everyone's looking forward to the holidays. Amy asks me to be in her wedding; I say yes. Two years till the big day.

Matt loves his job, I receive a positive review and a substantial raise at mine, and I agree to help a friend of the family and a very talented young woman with her first young adult novel off the clock.

We struggle with the idea of breaking our lease and moving south. Matt's commute is way too far. We're still not sure what will happen, but I don't think we'll be in the Heights much longer.

I find a gym closer to work, we find a grocery store that delivers with a very small fee, and we recommit ourselves to a healthier lifestyle. We'll see how long this lasts.

Like Thanksgiving, we get to spend Christmas together for the first time since we were in high school. We make a very small amount of food, spend about three hours in the kitchen drinking an entire bottle of wine, and finish the night with the season finale of Dexter and the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead. We get two full days together, as I took my only vacation day the day after Christmas. I couldn't be happier.

RESOLUTIONS FOR 2013

• Eat great, lose weight
• Cook more
• Move closer to Matt's job
• Write creatively
• Become more organized (if at all possible)
• Meet more new people
• Reconnect with some people from the past
• Become more confident
• Continue to be happy

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year everyone! I love you all. Thank you for accompanying me through one of the greatest years of my life. And, if you were around for 2011, thank you for sticking by my side while I struggled to overcome my issues and move my life forward. <3

Apartment Hunt #2... Already? (Maybe.)

My six-month anniversary in New York and at Skyhorse came and went as of November 28. I noticed it a day or two later, but really didn't have time to acknowledge it. Now that I finally have a night to myself that doesn't include passing out early (although I could definitely go to bed right now...), battling a sinus headache, or burying myself in freelance (although I do have some I could be working on...), I can give it the recognition it deserves:

WOO! SIX MONTHS AND STILL NOT BROKE/DEAD/SINGLE.

Things have been going very, very well. Everything at home is finally stable, it seems, so I'm not afraid to check my texts or answer my phone anymore. For a while, I was afraid something even more tragic would happen that would beckon me home for a few days (and put me under the weather for a few months), but I think we're in the clear for a while. Everyone is (mostly) happy and (getting) healthy, so that takes a lot of stress out of the equation.

Matt loves his new job at wd~50. Love, love, loves it. The only problem is the commute. (And, for me, the hours. But... We moved out here to work, so work we shall.) His shifts run from 11am until about 12:30/1:30am. So he's already working a hell of a long day. Add to that a 45 minute to 1 hour commute in the morning, plus 1.5 to 2 hours at night, and he's spending between 3/4 am and 9:45/10am at home. And those hours are spent sleeping. And I am also sleeping during that time, and then leaving for work, so we're not seeing a whole lot of each other. And he's running on empty.

A shorter commute wouldn't exactly give us a ton of time to spend together, but it'd at least get him an extra hour or two (or three?) of sleep a night. So, the only way to get a shorter commute is to move. And our lease isn't up until June 30 and we really want that security deposit/last month's rent back. He said he could handle another seven months of this schedule, but I really don't want him to have to...

My parents visited this weekend, and my mom suggested subletting. Not sure why that thought never crossed my mind, but a severe sinus infection/head cold stopped me from thinking logically for about a week and a half so I like to think I would've eventually arrived at that idea. But the world will never know now...

Not sure if our landlord allows subletting. I emailed our realtor, who said he'd be happy to help us find someone to take our place, but we need to get the landlord's approval first. Before I even attempt that, though, we need to get through the holidays. Pay all those bills. And I need to have my six-month full-time review at work. Which should come with a substantial raise. Then we can figure out what we can afford, where we want to live (thinking southern Manhattan, possibly on the East Side, but not entirely sure yet), and if we want to use a realtor again (uh... yes. lol).

If we lived on the Lower East Side (or at least close to it), we probably will have to give up some space. We may lose a second bedroom, but Matt's maybe used the room for more than an hour approximately twenty times in the nearly six months he's lived with me. So it's really unnecessary (except, of course, having a guest room is nice for our guests). So if we have to part with it, then that's fine. We also are giving up the idea of having a dog anytime in the next year, since our schedules just won't allow it. So that opens up a few more potential places than it did originally.

But anyway, if we move closer to his job, we could go out together more often. I could meet him after work for drinks (which I can't do right now) on the weekends and we could hang out in the morning before he has to leave. We'd be surrounded by people our age, instead of angry Dominican grandparents, and most people down there speak English, that we've seen. And that'd be nice.

So maybe I'll get up the courage to ask about subletting in mid-January, and we could be out by mid-February? Depending. I think if we do go this route, we're skipping birthday presents and Valentine's Day next year. Which would kind of suck because I love presents, but I'd get over it.

So much to think about!