Now it’s time for a quick rundown of some of my favorite things and personal “Best-Ofs” in 2022.
Yes, it’s time for the Lightning Round!
Let’s go!
Best investment . . . the time I spent (and it was considerable) re-vamping my blog (thanks for coming along with me!) (And . . . a very heartfelt thank you to Kat, who spent hours coaching and encouraging me at every step.)
Best view . . . that perfect sunset over Lake Michigan
Best thing I knit . . . the “big brown blob” of a sweater I knit for Tom (maybe not the most exciting knit, but it’s perfect for him – and so appreciated)
Best thing I stitched . . . those pumpkins
Never thought I’d . . . dress my dog in cropped t-shirts for weeks (after her surgery)
Can’t believe I . . . have “used car lot flags” flying in my garden
Total game changer . . . those flags! (they continue to do the job . . . )
Astonishing discovery . . . my hair is now at the length where I can have 4 inches cut off and nobody notices
TV worth watching . . . Fleishman is in Trouble (runners up: The Big Brunch and White Lotus)
Favorite movie . . . The Glass Onion (streaming now on Netflix) (runner up: Everything Everywhere All At Once; streaming, but you have to pay for it)
Song I thought would be #1 on my Spotify year-end thing . . . As it Was (Harry Styles), but – surprise – it was Mantra (Dave Grohl)
Best audiobook . . . The Netanyahus (runner up: Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon)
Book I recommend most . . . Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro (runner up: Becoming Duchess Goldblatt: A Memoir)
“Tech” I’m loving . . . my Revlon One-Step Volumizer
Biggest irritation . . . the damn roof project (or what I call . . . The Roofing Siege)
Can’t believe I watched . . . Hair videos on YouTube (ohmygoodness, that’s a Whole Thing) (who knew?)
Top Five Books for the year . . . The Transit of Venus (Shirley Hazzard), Trust (Hernan Diaz), The Netanyahus (Joshua Cohen), Lucy By the Sea (Elizabeth Strout), and The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois (Honorée Fanonne Jeffers)
Book I started but couldn’t finish . . . Lessons in Chemistry (Bonnie Garmus) (I know many people loved this book, and it’s very popular, but . . . I just couldn’t.)(It’s me. Hi. I’m the problem. It’s me.)
Favorite new product . . . JVN hair products (seriously nice) (I started with the Air Dry Cream, and it sort of expanded from there.)
Living in . . . my fleece-lined denim overalls (bought them for fall and winter gardening, but I’m wearing them all.the.time because comfort + warmth) (They don’t call me a Stylish and Opinionated Musicologist for nothin’!)
Changed my mind about . . . Wordle! I didn’t start playing until the middle of September. Even though I love word puzzles, I hate things that get “suddenly-groovy,” so refused to try it. (I’m strangely stubborn about certain things.) (Aries.)
Sucked all the joy from my life . . . the endless parade of bad news in the world
Best advice . . . words of hope about the world from my rheumatologist
Something I finally let go of . . . a long-time commitment to an organization that has outlived its useful life (and my only regret . . . is that I didn’t do it sooner)
Best thing in the garden . . . Planting a whole flat of Black-and-Blue salvia all over my flower beds – it was a magnet for hummingbirds all season long!
Favorite LaCroix flavor . . . Black Razzberry (runner up: Limoncello, but only in the summer)
Dinner I made on repeat . . . Spicy Chickpeas with Tomatoes & Greens (so good, and so adaptable) from The Weekday Vegetarians cookbook (by Jenny Rosenstrach)
Slipping back into this pre-pandemic habit . . . taking frequent, quick trips to the grocery store
Pre-pandemic activity I’m surprised I don’t do anymore . . . go to the movies
Biggest disappointment . . . my doctor leaving
Biggest surprise . . . those midterm election results
Magical moment . . . watching Paul McCartney work out “Get Back” (If you haven’t watched the Let It Be documentary – or if you just want to watch it again, you can watch the magic here.)
Words I considered for my 2023 one little word (but didn’t choose) . . . release, content, allow, weave, tend
Carrying into the new year . . . trying to reconcile the tension between living my good life. . . in a broken world
My wish for you as we head into the new year . . . All the good things, my friends. ALL the good things. I thank you for being here and hanging out with me, and I’m wishing for a 2023 filled with hope and joy and good health and happiness for us all.
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Join me tomorrow for . . . a tuneful way to wrap up my Year In Review posts!
Right back at you with the wish for YOU to have all the good things as well, my friend!
These are some awesome highlights! And go you drying your hair… I don’t do that often, perhaps I should LOL XO
So many teasers about 2023 words out there – I can’t wait to hear. And too many trips to the grocery store has become a thing for me too. Hope to remedy that in 2023.
There is so much GOOD in this post – joy and fun and reflection and I just adore how you’ve wrapped up your year this week.
This is the best for year-end reviews! I always let my hair air-dry but then lament that it never looks as good as when they blow it dry when I get it cut. Guess what’s now on the way to me? A Revlon volumizer of my own. I didn’t even know that things like this existed (along with hair videos on youtube). And it’s not you in terms of Lessons in Chemistry – it’s me, too. I would actually love to go to an author talk by Bonnie Garmus to better understand what she was thinking. I hope you fill 2023 with new adventures, accomplishments, happiness, and learning!
Reading this was like sitting across from you at Table of Contents: wide-ranging conversation with lightning (!!) topic changes! Certainly one of my highlights of 2022. Happy New Year, Friend! Thank you for this community service of a blog.
Wishing you all the best things in 2023.
I couldn’t get into the Netanyahu book, but I still have it on my shelf. I’ll have to give it a go again in 2023. So many people loved it and I should probably see why.
What a great review! It’s been fun to ride along…
Hm. Lessons in Chemistry is my local book club’s current read… now at least two of my “favorite” readers has given it the ol’ heave-ho!
All good things back at you, Kym. Your looking back is admirable because it is something I would never think of doing (or needing to do). In the all of it, you explore so much of what works, what doesn’t and what sinks and what excels. I enjoy your week of looking back and I hope, in the end, you feel it was a very good year!
Great review! Happy New Year!
My dr just retired this month and strangley, I found this dr after my other dr retired. I was really sad about the first one as I had that dr for many years, this one was just about 3 years. For now, I’m going to go to an APRN at the same office, we shall see after that.
Loved every word. And ditto re Wordle reluctance and grocery store shopping.
Oh, and Happy New Year! (Forgot it was the last post before 1923 – yikes).
This is such a fun post to read! I think we share a lot of the same high points from the past year. Also, that Revlon hair-drying brush is suddenly everywhere — I just bought one for my daughter after a stylist at our salon showed it to us and suddenly she can (mostly) dry her own hair!
Wishing you all good things in 2023!
Delighful, Kym (and how did I miss this on Thursday?!) … I’ve got to say that making peace with my hair (and even coming to love it!) is one of the very best gifts I’ve received in the past two years and it looks like you’re right there with me. (it may be shallow but oh well) Here’s to a new year and finding ways to make joy and magic in spite of all the crap that goes on around us. xoxo.