HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope 2020 is your happiest, most magical, love-filled year yet with many new adventures and wonderful memories along the way! I have a good feeling about this one.
Before I really start getting into 2020, I wanted to reflect a little on last year. 2019 was a pretty good year for me. It wasn’t as lifechanging as I had hoped it would be and I didn’t achieve all of the goals I had set for myself at the beginning of the year but I did make some pretty wonderful memories along the way, and that’s what counts. I spent time with loved ones, went on two incredible trips, read 20 books, and did a lot of daydreaming about the future. Below are some highlights and favorites from the past year.
1. Turning 25!
In January of 2019, I turned 25 and my parents, brother, and sister-in-law surprised me with a trip to Universal in Orlando, FL. Despite what my mom might say, I really do like surprises and it was so sweet of them to do this for me. We had a lot of fun that weekend!
Turning 25 came with a lot of questioning and soulsearching. I didn’t have a quarter-life crisis or anything but I did think a lot about the kind of life I want to live. I now have a much clearer vision of the life I want to build over the next few years. Getting there, on the other hand, is the part I’m still trying to figure out. Here’s hoping that 2020 brings some more insight.
2. Traveling to Spain
In March, I traveled to Spain with my friend, Caitlin, and fell in love with Barcelona and Madrid. We visited La Sagrada Familia and several other works by architect Antoni Gaudí. We also rode bikes along the Mediterranean, visited a lot of museums, and ate some delicious vegan food (I don’t know about the rest of Spain but both Barcelona and Madrid are very vegan-friendly).
I am so grateful I got to visit the country my dad’s family is from. I am really big on family heritage and my ancestry so visiting Spain was a really special trip for me. My dad’s parents immigrated to the USA from Cuba but, a few generations prior, his relatives had moved to Cuba from Spain. We still have distant cousins that live in Northwest Spain. I would love to go back with my dad one day and explore more of the country my ancestors called home.
3. Traveling to the Pacific Northwest
In the summer, I traveled to Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, with my family. I had been wanting to visit Portland for so many years, both for the nature and the vegan scene there, so this trip was really exciting. Some of my favorite things we did on this trip included:
- hiking the Skyline Trail on Mount Rainier
- day-tripping to the Oregon Coast, in which we went to Cannon Beach and hiked the Cape Falcon Trail
- visiting Mount Hood and hiking around Mirror Lake
- eating some damn good vegan food at Virtuous Pie, Veggie Grill, Back to Eden, Nectar Cafe, and No Bones Beach Club
- visiting Wayward Winds Lavender Farm
- touring Duck Pond Cellars winery
4. Living a more conscious lifestyle
I have been passionate about the environment and climate change since I was a little kid and I always look for ways to lessen my impact and live in alignment with my values. Continuing to live a vegan lifestyle is the main way I have lowered my impact on the environment, and on animal suffering, over the past five years but there is always more that can be done. The main shift I made in 2019 was quitting fast fashion. I prioritized shopping more mindfully and supporting sustainable and ethical companies. It is important to me that the companies I am giving my money to are implementing sustainable practices, using natural and/or recycled materials in their products, paying their workers a fair wage, and maintaining safe working environments for their workers. I am happy with the progress I made last year and will continue to improve in 2020.
2019 Favorites
Before wrapping up this Year in Review, I want to share some of my favorite books, movies, shows, documentaries, and music I read/watched/listened to last year. I love a good story no matter what form it comes in and I like sharing the stories that made an impression on me with others. Let me know in the comments if you, too, have enjoyed any of the below.
Favorite Books:
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
- Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
- The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel
- The Folk of the Air Trilogy by Holly Black
- Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
- The Bird and the Blade by Megan Bannen
- The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury
One of my goals for 2019 was to read 20 books and I did it! I’m honestly really proud of myself for following through on that goal and for making the time to read more. I noticed that my reading preferences started to change last year. I have always enjoyed a range of genres, including contemporary, historical fiction, sci-fi, and fantasy, but I usually read Young Adult novels. Last year, I started gravitating toward more Adult novels (13 of the 20 books were Adult and the other 7 were Young Adult), which makes sense given my age. I still like YA novels but I’m definitely gravitating toward more mature stories.
P.S. If you want to be friends on Goodreads, click here and select “Add Friend”. I love using Goodreads to keep track of the books I’ve read and books I want to read.
Favorite Movies:
- Little Women
- Five Feet Apart
- A Star is Born
- Captain Fantastic
- Arrival
- BlacKkKlansman
- Boy Erased
- Call me By Your Name
- Gifted
- Captain Marvel
- Avengers: Endgame
- Joker
- Wonder
- Rain Man
- Suffragette
- Love, Rosie
- The Hundred-Foot Journey
- Aladdin
- Instant Family
Favorite Shows:
- Schitt’s Creek
- Anne with an E
- The OA
- The Handmaid’s Tale
- Unbelievable
- When They See Us
- Stranger Things
- Looking for Alaska
- Shine On with Reese
Favorite Documentaries:
- The Game Changers
- Free Solo
- Our Planet
- The Need to Grow
- Abstract: The Art of Design
Favorite Albums:
- Lover by Taylor Swift
- Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves
- Fine Line by Harry Styles
- Heard It in a Past Life by Maggie Rogers
- Nation of Two by Vance Joy
- Strange Trails by Lord Huron
I’d love to hear a bit about how your 2019 was. What is one thing you did last year, whether it’s a goal you achieved or a trip you went on, that you are really happy about? And what are you looking forward to in 2020? Let me know in the comments below.
Wishing you love and happiness in the year to come,
Victoria