100 Things that made my (2019) year

Inspired by Austin Kleon’s own 2019-summarized list (I always learn something new when reading his blog posts, go check him out!) here is my Gisselle-ized version that I hope to one-up by the end of 2020. I do hope to make my mundane and trivial moments in this wonderfully challenging year as interesting as Austin’s.

1. Read 21 books.
2. Became a hedgehog co-parent.
3. Met Simone Biles.
4. Learned how to make chocolate from scratch.
5. Drove the Hummingbird Highway more than four (!) times. Hugging the hills, stopping at the Xaibel gas station for snacks and bathroom breaks, chasing the sunset to Punta Gorda. Good Spotify playlists with good views.
6. Took a mini Easter vacation to Tulum.
7. Owned my first pair of Gucci loafers.
8. Got complimented on my writing.
9. Found a hidden blue cenote (hole) near my hometown.
10. Went to Hogsmeade. Gringotts Vault, took the Hogwarts Express, drank Butterbeer, got featured on Universal’s official ‘gram. Was lit.
11. Went to the southernmost town of my country for the first time.
12. Started building our little home with the love of my life.
13. Discovered virtually hidden watering hole in remote village. Took a dip, a dive, made some tamales after, roadtrip to nowhere that later became somewhere.
14. Saw so. many. dogs.
15. Saw toucans in the wild for the first time. They are as badass as they seem on the ‘gram.
16. Went horseback riding for the first time. Ever. To a Maya temple!
17. This photo.
18. Our fryjack art piece.
19. Watched great movies. Thought-provoking, comedic, just-to-kill-time and ones I made the effort to go to the theatre the next country over to watch movies. Shoutouts: Knives Out, Once Upon a time…In Hollywood, Joker, Ad Astra, Avengers: Endgame, Doctor Sleep, Shazam!, Booksmart, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Captain Marvel, Velvet Buzzsaw.
20. Finished first half of final season of BoJack Horseman. Cried. Cringed. Continued admiration for Princess Carolyn, acceptance of Diane Nyugen, Todd is the adorablest.
21. Started (and finished) Peaky Blinders.
22. Devoured new season of Dark.
23. Finished more Netflix shows. Living with Yourself, You, Mindhunter, End of the F***ing World, Unbelievable, Haunting of Hill House, GLOW, Russian Doll, The Good Place, Kominsky Method, Jane the Virgin, Derry Girls, Stranger Things, The OA, The Society, Dead to Me, Black Summer, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, If I Hadn’t Met You, The Order, After Life, Atlanta, The Punisher, The Umbrella Academy, Daredevil.
24. Became an avid listener to My Favorite Murder.
25. Office Ladies podcast debuted!
26. A (favorite) band, actress, and two authors engaged with me on social media.
27. Got reposted by my favorite author ever. Like, ever.
28. Went to Merida, Mexico. Felt like a princess.
29. This particular short story in The New Yorker.
30. Crosswords done at work during lunchtime, The New Yorker web versions, where it’s fun to click in the answers, scroll for hints and watch the timer go.
31. My Derry Girls mug, gifted to me for Christmas by a very dear friend.
32. Another gift, one for my beloved pup Simba, where I can immortalize his little paw print forever in clay inside a frame. Not creepy at all. (Gifted by my thoughtful boyfriend.)
33. Experienced the ethereal transcendence that is Battle of the Drums in Punta Gorda, Belize.
34. My mom’s famously delicious mechado and the jumbo-sized olives that were in it. You can never have too much olives. Especially during Christmas.
35. Drinking rumpopo at any time of the day during Christmastime.
36. Watching and re-watching Ratatouille with my sister. Starting The Mandalorian with my love.
37. Watching my pups lovingly lick Natsumi, our cat. Our pups chasing butterflies in the yard, where the zinnias are, bursting and colorful and forever being replanted. Spending time up on the roof at dusk, with Simba and Penny, their noses huffing at the violet garlic vines.
38. Face masks with my love and sister.
39. My baby sister coming back for break from her first semester.
40. Twenty One Pilot’s The Hype – Berlin version.
41. The perfect relleno only my grandmother knows how to make.
42. Seeing all the ‘Juans’ being burned on New Year’s Eve. The stuffed hand-made dolls being set aflame to burn all the bad of 2019, starting 2020 fresh.
43. Every Wings Thursday with my love, waiting for that day so we can watch The Office (U.S.)/Buzzfeed Unsolved/My Hero Academia while munching on barbecued drumsticks and fries.
44. Driving to Chetumal once a month to see a new movie, the Cinepolis nachos with extra cheese and the perfect chai latte to go with it.
45. Sophie’s baptism, her letting me hold her for the first time. That one time she saw me and came running to give me a hug, stopped when she reached me, and changed her mind. But I still counted it because she doesn’t get excited by many people.
46. To writing. Writing more fiction. Starting a manuscript. Getting rejected from publications because it meant I was submitting to publications.
47. Learning to cut my own hair without fucking it up (too much.)
48. Writing poetry on my Moleskine in the bus on my way home, a two-hour commute.
49. Attending Japan Day with my love, eating ramen and learning a specific form of calligraphy to write a word in Japanese. I chose the word strong.
50. Finally getting hands on my Ned shirt. Soft peach.
51. Eating dumplings & drinking tapioca while watching The Office in a crowded cafe.
52. The Husky I saw on my way to work everyday but was too shy to ask the owner if I could pet it.
53. Thrifting at the local thrift store, finding gems that would make a perfect planter or catch-all tray in my new home.
54. Going to Disney Springs with him. Walking all evening into the night, stopping into the store seeing the Christmas displays (it was July), him asking for a personalized Disney castle ornament, our names painted in sloped, elegant handwriting. Now hanging on our Christmas tree.
55. Eating at a Rainforest Cafe for the first time.
56. Learning the art of making hudut, a Garifuna dish that I now crave whenever the weather dips.
57. To meeting new people, making (and staying) friends with them.
58. Lighting my new Dyptique candle, sending a scent of cleanliness throughout my room.
59. Clique art.
60. Learning Tyler & Jenna are having a baby girl. Stupidly happy for them.
61. Becoming a Star Wars fan. But not yet a stan, (did I use that right?)
62. Seeing giant loggerhead turtles while snorkeling, swimming with sting rays and nurse sharks.
63. Kayaking at sunset in the Caribbean Sea.
64. Staying up at night on the dock talking with new-found friends, hearing the sharks splash and rays bump into each other.
65. Celebrating eight years with him.
66. Laughing at viral TikToks. Learning how to use TikTok.
67. Freshly-washed silk pillowcases.
68. Full moon on a beach in Mexico, trudging through the sand, getting lost in the shrubbery.
69. Random date by the Caribbean sea, spontaneous one-hour drive, oven-baked pizza and piña coladas. Driving back at sunset.
70. My birthday picnic, with a perfect straight-out-of a story picnic basket.
71. This quote by Austin Kleon: “It doesn’t have to be good. It just has to exist.”
72. Getting to know a new island, barbecue for lunch. Following baby hermit crabs around the island as they hid beneath rocks. Cupping big hermit crabs, crawling over my legs. Tickling.
73. My dog in a cowboy hat. That is all.
74. Having Thai tea for the first time after three years.
75. Listening to Yoke Lore non-stop, picturing using it as a music video set in Banff, Canada.
76. My pup insisting on lying together back to back when napping, no matter how much I scoot back.
77. The small, soft schnauzer at the pet store. It’s little licks as I stroked its head.
78. Driving 70 on the bypass at 5 a.m., windows down, Maps by YeahYeahYeahs blasting.
79. No. 78 but with Rivers and Roads by The Head & The Heart.
80. My first monogrammed item.
81. Snagging the Away Mini suitcase.
82. Falling in love with a Klimt “Expectation” at my thrift store. Debating whether to buy it. Didn’t. Regretted it. Came home, found out a week later that he bought it for me and gave it a new wooden, gold frame. It will hang in our new home.
83. Talking about movies at work, talking about shows at work.
84. Seeing a really dear college friend after two years.
85. Riding the Spider-Man ride at Universal twice.
86. The bus ride to Merida. Stopping at a tiny village for bathroom break, eating the local panades and salbutes, hopping back on the bus, napping for three more hours. Waking up to him, staring out the window at sunrise.
87. Getting to hold baby green iguanas.
88. That certain rainbow-ing splash in the water beside the boat when it speeds along the waves,
89. Sunsets in Caye Caulker.
90. Seeing the local art at Placencia’s Sidewalk Art Festival. The butterfly-wing art, the political art, the lovely jewelry made from scraps.
91. This photo I took.
92. Reef, the adorable white German Shepherd at South Water Caye. Goodest boi on the island.
93. The to-die-for salbutes at San Ignacio Resort.
94. Penny’s super long eyelashes.
95. The way Simba sits between my legs whenever I stand in the kitchen.
96. My sister’s laugh whenever Nicole Byer heckles a Nailed It contestant.
97. Watching Assassination Classroom with my sister before she left for college.
98. My pup waking me up on Saturdays by staring at me intently till I feel like I’m being watched.
99. My dad crying during “The King’s Speech.”
100. And this quote by Stephen Harrigan: “Start before you think you’re ready.”