Every year, I keep a running list of small (and big) delights. It’s not exactly a gratitude list (I’m grateful for A LOT more than 100 things, and writing that stuff down just feels repetitive or forced). It’s more like a list of the things that surprised me, stopped me in my tracks, or exceeded my expectations. It’s kind of a love letter to my year, that I make public either to ring in the New Year or close out the old year.
Here’s my list from 2024:
1. The sunny orange Halo sticker stuck to the bottom of my sock that I noticed when I got to yoga.
2. Watching the Lions beat the Rams in their first playoff win in 32 years.
3. A warm yoga shala on a cold winter’s day.
4. A big, steaming, creamy bowl of oatmeal lovingly prepared by my love with ginger and cranberries.
5. Watching the Lions beat the Buccaneers and advance to the NFC Championship.
6. 70-degree days in January.
7. Our Sunday adventure to buy 2 bonsai trees from the guy who sells bonsai trees out of his van on the side of the road. Love my little Jade tree! I hope it brings me luck. (Update: we killed both bonsai trees within a few months 🥺)
8. Visiting the Kadampa Center, the Buddhist temple in Raleigh, for the sand mandala event.
9. Meeting Ayesha Rascoe and getting her to sign a copy of HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience.
10. Discovering Jacob Collier’s Tiny Desk Concert from 2020.
11. Impromptu trip to snag some local honey and shop at the outlet mall in Mebane.
12. Delicate raindrops clinging to branches on a late winter morning’s walk.
13. Wearing “business clothes” and attending an in-person conference in another state for the first time since before the Covid pandemic.
14. Spending a weekend in Buffalo, NY in early March with Heidi to attend a conference and do our quarterly business strategy session. Even though the conference was a bust, the business planning was super helpful and we had fun.
15. Visiting Niagara Falls with Heidi, even though it was raining and sooooo cold.
16. Being required to check my bag at the gate in Buffalo because I was in group 9, being pissed off when I got on the plane and saw all of the free overhead bin space, then realizing I wouldn’t have to lug my backpack around during my 5-hour layover and I didn’t have to pay to check my bag.
17. Getting moved from the very last row to the very first row on my flight from Buffalo to LaGuardia.
18. Watching the sun come up over the New York City skyline while sipping a delicious latte and eating an incredible bagel sandwich with turkey bacon and egg.
19. Watching a family race each other down the moving sidewalks at LaGuardia. 2 kids were running in the opposite direction on one of the belts while the mom and 2 other kids were running in the same direction as the other belt. The kids running against the belt won the race. They were all belly laughing the whole time.
20. Watching my sculpture spin in the early morning sun.
21. Waking up to the birds singing just before my alarm goes off and feeling the first gentle breezes of spring through the window.
22. Half-Baked Happy Hour with Erin Braford.
23. Going to see the Bob Marley: One Love film on a Sunday afternoon.
24. Saturday day date to Pittsboro to look at art and then heading to Elon to eat at Mediterranean Deli.
25. Seeing how green everything gets after a spring rain.
26. Finishing the edits of my book manuscript.
27. Caitlin Clark and the NCAA Women’s Final Four and Championship games. Congratulations to the University of South Carolina!
28. Impromptu eclipse watch party with the neighbors.
29. My husband telling me he’s the “Muhammad Ali of husbands.”
30. Seeing Antonia dance in the Big Red Dance program.
31. Getting back to my morning walks.
32. Sending my last round of edits on my book. Solo celebration at the Cheesecake Factory.
33. Watching Unfrosted, Jerry Seinfeld’s fictional film about the making of the Pop Tart.
34. Magical Reiki training weekend at the home shala.
35. Seeing a sweet older couple going for a walk, arm-in-arm as the sun was setting.
36. Seeing a humming bird in the Mimosa tree outside of the yoga shala before we started practicing.
37. Bananarama’s “Cruel Summer” playing on the radio as I pull into the Jordan Lake boat launch for my first paddle of the year.
38. Stax record documentary on Max.
39. YoPo with my love during the unofficial first weekend of summer.
40. Waking up to the soft coo of morning doves.
41. Blooming sunflowers.
42. An energizing conversation with good friends.
43. 5 spider plants in cute little pots going up the stairs.
44. Gardenia blooms on my birthday.
45. Birthday lunch at the Cheesecake Factory with my love.
46. The fresh smell after a summer rain.
47. Holding my book in my hand for the first time.
48. Attending my first modern dance class and finding out I enjoy it.
49. Chillin’ on the hammock with my love on July 4th.
50. Cornelia’s 4th of July party at her house in Southern Village. Watching great fireworks in the rain.
51. Connecticut Suns WNBA game at Mohegan Sun with Laura, Ryan, and Odin.
52. Swimming in a pond in CT.
53. Meeting up with long-time LinkedIn friend, Amanda Stern, IRL over some delicious Thai food in Chester, CT.
54. Steam train ride to a riverboat and back to a steam train with Laura, Ryan, and Odin.
55. Candle making with Laura.
56. Tiffany M. Griffin’s Creative Mornings scent journey on the theme of trust.
57. Watching Simone Biles’ triumphant return to the Olympics.
58. Mooring out on Power Island with my parents.
59. Surprising Joel for his 40th with family.
60. Sword-fighting with the youngest nephews.
61. Seeing Chromeo and The Midnight at the Ritz in Raleigh with Laura and Ryan.
62. Unwritten book launched and reached #1 on Amazon in two categories!
64. Heading to Topsail Beach with the hubs for a week in October.
65. Long bike ride to Surf City Beach.
66. Epic Unwritten Book Launch Party! Great food. Great cake. Great conversation.
67. So much fun hanging out with Jill and the fam during the Book Launch Party weekend.
68. Barre Cardio class at the Sweat Lab with Carolyn.
69. New boots from J. for our anniversary.
70. New paintings from J. for our anniversary.
71. Gorgeous fall weather in October.
72, The perfect lake house on Lake Norman, NC for a writing retreat I hosted with Erin Braford.
73. Paddleboarding on Lake Norman after a productive day of writing.
74. Writing 5 articles for a total of 5,137 words during the writing retreat.
75. Hanging out with 4 amazing women, talking all things business strategy and feeling inspired to execute on some new ideas.
76. Meeting Trumpet Monk who was playing jazz on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill and only just picked up the trumpet 2 years ago.
77. Being able to open the windows in November.
78. Reminders from Lyndsay and Gina to feel the abundance all around.
79. “You look beautiful today,” a lovely compliment from my love and a reminder to feed myself beauty on a random, sleepy Tuesday morning (and every random day of the week).
80. Watching the plants we bring inside for the winter bloom again inside the warm house.
81. Writing in the coffee shop on Friday mornings with Lyndsay.
82. Hearing Mayor Leonardo Williams talk about his and his wife Zweli’s entrepreneurial journey at a networking event.
83. Walking around Apex on a sunny Saturday and bumping into Heidi.
84. Shoe shopping with my love.
85. A milestone day, two days before Thanksgiving, leaving me feeling more optimistic than I have felt in a long time (perhaps all year).
86. Thanksgiving with my favorite friends who have become family.
87. Reading by the cozy fireplace on a lazy Saturday.
88. This quickie interview with Ira Glass about the difference between his real life vs. on-air persona.
89. My love and me laughing ourselves to tears in the middle of the night.
90. Watching the Lions beat the Packers in a close Thursday night game at Ford Field.
91. J. doing his Edith Bunker impression to make me laugh. I think he’s in his Edith Bunker Era.
92. Listening to Amelia Hruby on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast with Glennon Doyle, Abby Wombach, and Amanda Doyle.
93. Seeing A Real Pain at the Chelsea Theatre (which got new seats since the last time we were there.
94. Trying the new Indian place in Chapel Hill, Zayka.
95. Christmas shopping, and as usual, buying more for myself than for others.
96. A rainy Monday morning fitting for a slow start to the week.
97. Sprouting the Bob Ross Chia Pet.
98. Finishing the last of the Creamy Tuscan Chickpea Soup that I made. Delicious. Will be making this again very soon.
99. Odin (3 years old) saying that he wants blueberries for Christmas.
100. Full moon in Gemini party at Lyndsay & Micah’s.
Now, I’m ready to fully embrace 2025!Â
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash