Hindsight Is: 2017 Edition

Here we are again, looking back at another year gone by. My oh my, dear friends, was it another doozy! Looking back at my 2016 reflection, I had to laugh. 2016 was an exceptional year, which I exited out of feeling really pissed. The state of the union was a real drag leading into 2017, and that shit-storm sort of loomed throughout. But beyond that, there was a lot of awesome stuff that went down.

So, let's take a little stroll down memory lane, and see how 2017 did right by me and what occupied my time these past 365....

• Soapboxing: Give me some markers, a piece of tagboard, and something to be enraged about and let me loose! This was definitely a year of shouting from the rooftops and Norma Rae'ing about. From the Women's March in January to the March for Science in April, there were a lot of beautiful voices trying to be heard. 
• Love was in the air: It was another headliner year of stellar weddings, with eight more "I Do"s witnessed. So many nuptial shenanigans were had. Also got my jam on at a variety of bachelorette parties - from a bloody/brunch crawl, to a waterpark/cabin adventure in the Dells, to a very memorable stint in Vegas (which my liver is probably still recovering from). 
• Wanderlust fulfilled: Travel is my lifeblood, and 2017 didn't disappoint. February had a week in Florida to explore the Disneyworld parks and of course Harry Potter World at Universal (which I will never pass up). Had a good old fashioned gal's trip to the Grand Canyon and Vegas (for the aforementioned bachelorette) in June. In August we returned to visit my heart, in that concrete jungle where dreams are made of - and extended my work trip to NYC into a vacation up the coast to Boston. Mini trips were taken closer to home, as well. I used mead to lure the beau to his first MN Renaissance Festival and pure enthusiasm to get him to the House on the Rock for the first time. 
• Family time: Many a cousin pub crawl was had. One which also allowed me to refine those zombie makeup skills I started learning in 2016 (see? useful!). There was a lot of family time around the final cleanup of my dear grandma's house as well, which lead to much bonding over eye drops from the eighties and the other junk we all keep. Extended family kicked in as well in November, with a combined Thanksgiving of my immediate family and the beau's fam (major adult points). 
• Boss lady: This year I created a new role, and convinced everyone that I deserved to have it.* It's been a challenge but it keeps things interested and has helped me grow. I'm constantly learning new strategies and even if it's frustrating at times, it's also weirdly rewarding. That promotion also came with a new title, a raise, and later a bonus. A badass year for business, bitches!
• Showtime: Many great movies were seen, much television was consumed. Also, we hit up several live events as well: we rocked out to Diana Ross, laughed our butts off at Alton Brown, and held back tears / the desire to give her a big hug at Hillary Clinton.
• Socialest of butterflies: Between hosting and attending, there was almost never a dull moment. Happy hours and going away parties. Housewarmings and coolings. Derby day, wine and cheese parties, Passover Seder, a Paella birthday bash, Friendsgivnakkuh, and taverns of the paddle and pedal variety. 
• Etc: Beyond the above, plenty of other things went down as well. I was a spectathlete extraordinaire for the 13 races the beau ran this year. Got my DNA test done! Did my own taxes. Finished up root canal number two. Hit and ran past my three year anniversary with the beau. Worked my way through various bouts of anxiety. Played hooky.

Overall, I can't complain. 2017 was my last full year of my twenties, and the big 3-0 is just around the corner. So, 2018, since you get to straddle this big decade divide, you sure better not disappoint! Hope you all have wonderful kickoff. See you on the other side!

2017 was kind of like me and this squirrel:
we were cool with each other but like, not BFFs.

* If anyone needs a career cheerleader or a fire lit under their ass, let me know, because I'm very adamant about women stepping up, grabbing that job success ladder, and climbing like hell, and I'm happy to discuss! (In fact, I probably won't shut up, but that's a different thing.)

Playing Hooky

Cutting class and going on madcap adventures is the golden stuff that 80s movies are made out of. It's glamorous. It's exciting. You always get away with it, and even if you get close to being caught, it doesn't matter because shenanigans!

Ferris Bueller is that cool guy who I aspired to date in high school. In reality, I ended up being more of a Cameron. Pretty sure the only time I really skipped class was in college - to go see then President-Elect Obama give a speech. So, even when I cut class, I was still a total Cameron about it. Guess I just wasn't cool enough to pull that shit off.

As an adult though, playing hooky is more up my alley, because I'm using my well-earned vacation time to do it! (#TypicalCameron) Since the year is drawing to a close, the beau and I decided to hook it up together, and took off a random Thursday. Here's what the adult version of madcap, skipping-class-and-being-youths adventure looked like...

We slept in - til 8 am. Before hitting the road, we scooped up some local donuts and coffee. They had a Homer Simpson style one, which was obviously my pick.

"I could be the walrus.
I'd still have to bum rides off people."

The destination: IKEA. Along the way: a Jelly Belly distribution center. So for second breakfast, we got to sit on a train, wearing silly paper hats, while our conductor explained all the delicious ins and outs of the jelly bean business to us. With all that knowledge, we promptly proceeded to raid the giant gift shop. Samples and sales meant that we walked away with at least five pounds of candy (in bags, and on our person). It was heaven.

"It's a little childish and stupid,
but then, so is high school."

Next stop: Gurnee Mills. AKA a giant mall also on our route. The remainder of the morning was spent walking about,* checking out the occasional store, buying miscellaneous things like a shower curtain and candy cane tights. We discussed life, the holidays, the logistics of hijacking a dinosaur mall scooter rental, etc. Naturally, I went from zero to starving at some point, and figured that since we were on a mini vaycay, we should escape to somewhere tropical... the Rainforest Cafe.

One raving recommendation from a hostess later, and I had a giant mango mojito in front of me (the glass came free with the drink - and was promptly re-gifted for a White Elephant exchange a week later). The beau had a beer and a sandwich, while I partook in chicken tenders. The creepy animatronic animals (whose homeland is the uncanny valley) raged on as each "storm" rolled through, and by the time we were ready for the check there was a beautiful starry sky above and a rainbow nearby. Yeah, I'll say it, being two of ten people in a Rainforest Cafe is my jam. I drank the koolaid. I'd do it again. It was worth every overpriced penny. 

"It's one of my personal favorites and I'd like to dedicate it to
a young man who doesn't think he's seen anything good today."

Following our jungle excursion, the beau proceeded to run about the oddly massive (for a mall) arcade area, attempting each and every claw machine. There were at least a dozen. All clearly rigged and not acting in his favor. This spurred our departure onto the next location, the end goal, the mecca: IKEA. The place most relationships go to die.

At approximately 90 miles away, our "local" IKEA is at what I like to call a "safe" distance. Just far away enough to not often damage my wallet and cause an overload to the small square footage of our apartment. I allotted three hours to roam, which was just barely enough. The beau knew going in that I treat IKEA like a scavenger hunt / playground. Since we don't make the pilgrimage often, I insist on going through every display area on every floor. I let the arrows lead me and follow the floor plan they've specifically designed to entrap me. Unlike a timid rabbit, sniffing around a trap, I simply walk right up and lay upon said trap, and die happy. (Too morbid?)

"The place is like a museum. It's very beautiful and
very cold, and you're not allowed to touch anything."

At various points, I settled into my lovely living room of choice and take a little sit break to tally up what things I plan to squeeze into the car (and to calculate dimensions to see if it will jigsaw into the trunk). The whole plan of attack went smoothly.** We also stopped for some meatballs #BecauseSwiss (and because whenever I'm even slightly stressed, the beau assumes hanger and promptly feeds me - a fair bit of assumption that I chose not to argue against). And in the end, we both spent barely any money (sub $100 between the two of us) but took home lots of goodies and a few essentials.

En route back home, we swung into a swanky strip mall restaurant (where the walls were literally just bottles of wine and we were next to a fireplace) to meet up with some of our best dear friends for a catch-up dinner. Hours later, after what was probably our fifth meal of the day, darkness surrounded us as we cruised up the super-secret-spy-route to avoid tolls and head home. We were exhausted, and we had work the next day, but we were content.

So there you have it, a skip day that was perhaps the opposite of oh-so-glamours (NO-so-glamorous?), but was just what the doctor ordered. Candy, cocktails, furniture, food, friends. And at one point, sure, maybe we randomly broke into song in the middle of a parade. Maybe. It's all a bit of a blur. After all, life moves pretty fast...

* Fun fact: mall walking is one of my fave things. Like, old people mall walking where you just get your steps in, not even like shopping mall walking. 

** Until we ran into the random houseplant section near the checkouts - where I ripped open my wallet, started making it rain credit cards, and shouted "take my money!" Or something to that effect.