#‘23 recap

[carrigank]

Need some new bangers? Check out my most played this year. #1 will always have a special place in my heart🖤

Check out my top 5 👇🏼

[teddybearsticker]

10.15.23 | Some more spreads I want to archive

Left - quick recap of places visited during our Great Smoky Mountains / Dollywood trip this summer

Right - july monthly review

[expatesque]

Monthly Recap - Nov

Second round of this, under the cut

Read

Mansfield Park, Jane Austen - Do not recommend, was decent in the start but a slog by the end. Fanny is the most insipid protagonist I’ve come across in Jane by a mile, truly wishing her the worst.

Death in the Clouds, Agatha Christie - a top notch Poirot, very fun and twisty.

The absolute drama around Yellow Bittern has been so jokes, Vittles as ever had a great take

Ann Helen Peterson on how to show up for friends (meh, some interesting suggestions, very American oriented) and whether the kids are too soft (oriented towards journalism but a good question to be asking in any industry).

So much about the last 6 months of the economy (tuned out for my gardening leave, now have to catch up).

Watched

This month included Halloween so we had Practical Magic (an absolute must watch for the season for me), Beetlejuice (first time watching, more entertaining than I thought it would be), and I Married a Witch (the second you see Veronica Lake in this you understand why someone would risk their eternal soul and stay married to her)

A lot of West Wing - election season always gets me back to here, one of the best shows ever

Drop Dead Gorgeous - a fun one for a wine-filled night in with a friend

A hungover binge of Man on the Inside - sweet and cute and sad, especially if you know people who've had memory issues.

I am continuing to watch Charmed at night before bed, which is low stakes and amusing enough. Also watching Vampire Diaries, which is terrible but great fun mainly because I live text my reactions to my friend who’s already seen it while I watch, so it’s really half a friendship exercise.

Did

Attended: The ballet! Saw Encounters: Four Contemporary Ballets at the Royal Opera House which was largely eh but (1) the Royal Opera House is amazing, worth seeing anything there for the venue (and esp the bar), alone, and (2) the final piece, The Statement by Crystal Pite, was absolutely mind-blowing, one of the best things I’ve seen in a long time.

Went to three V&A Young Patrons things: Portrait Miniatures handling session (v cool), opening party for the Great Mughals (v fun), private viewing of the Great Mughals (v good, see below).

Learned to: Use hot rollers. Really recommend, they're a super easy way to look way more polished and genuinely take <10 min start to finish. I used this tutorial (and can confirm the volumizing spray she talks about is very good).

Made new friends!: Ana I think is going to be a good one, maybe Parker too. And Beatrix is a perfect tennis friend, not sure if we'll graduate beyond that.

Revarnished my outdoor furniture: trying to help it survive this winter better than last.

A lot of soaking in oxygen bleach of towels, tea towels, stained shirts, etc: getting things into shape for when I go back to work.

Went to a Thursday singles event and went on a date off the back of that: event was scary and kinda meh but I met someone so, worth it.

Found someone to play tennis with during the week (and played twice outside of drills): a big accomplishment, she’s lovely and a good player and available the same kinds of times that I am. Jackpot.

Last Month’s Goals

☑️Use all class pass classes: Actually had to buy more passes, did a lot of F45 and Qigong this month.

☑️Read a book: see Read section above.

☑️New Recipes x4: (1) Confit Chicken Legs - so good and how amazing that they keep for months, (2) Rick Bayless Slow cooker mole - a really good mole recipe (available on YouTube) with a huge amount of depth for (relatively) little work, (3) Brazilian Stroganoff - made this for the Brazilian GP (I try to make themed food for every GP) and it was decent but not my fav and I’m unlikely to make again, (4) Not proper recipes but did a lot of making my own condiments and syrups, e.g. rosemary simple syrup, pickled chillis, slow roasted cherry tomatoes.

☑️Go to a new museum: The Wallace Collection, can’t believe I haven’t been before, it’s free and lovely. The Swing is actually very cool in person, I hadn’t realized how small it is. And the recently completed conservation is wonderful, the colors are really stunning. There’s also a nice cafe. Recommend!

☑️☑️Go to an Exhibition (x2): The Great Mughals at the V&A (very interesting, lots of little details, was glad to go to private viewing with two of the curators as that added a lot), Silk Roads at the BM (incredibly good but also incredibly packed. Try to go first thing in the morning). Note: This one means a major exhibition at a museum I’ve been to before.

☑️Go to the theater: See above, Did section.

🟧Crochet: Making progress, still want to get better about doing this more regularly at night.

❌Write More: Total fail here, need to reconsider how to prioritize this and figure out what the main blockages are.

❌Lay morning foundation: Also total fail on this, probably should reconsider what's realistic for these colder months.

☑️Budget: Barely, was tougher this month. I'm ready to have income coming back in.

🟧Memorize a poem (x2): okay really this is a fail but I had to memorize a rap for Russian class so I'm counting that as a half tick.

☑️Russian flashcards: This is going better and my vocab is improving.

🟧Screen time: Better but still not good. May need to think about how to cycle this through the week / month vs blanket bans/reductions.

🟧Job prep: Unlikely to have any interviews until Jan so this has slowed down but is in progress.

Next Month’s

Carrying Over

Use all class pass passes (I expect to use less because I got home for Xmas midway through the period)

Four two new recipes (shrinking this as I will be doing less regular cooking and more holiday cooking)

Read a book

Visit a new musuem

Go to an exhibition

Go to a show (off for this month, busy start to the month and then I’ll be home)

Crochet

Write more

Morning foundation

Budget

Memorize a poem

Russian flashcards

Screentime

Job/interview prep

New

Quality time with people at home (grandmama, gran and pa, Jack, parents, Grace, Anna, M&M)

[eslanes]

Top 23 of '23

I was tagged by @plumbewb @madeofcc @wolfavens @mickimagnum @fl0pera (thank you pals ❤️)

I honestly thought hard about doing this one. This year for me was not a good one, in real life and simblr. I almost deleted multiple times and felt like I was screaming into the void for all of 2023. I guess that's what happens when you spend so long being unhinged on main. But anyway, this morning I did go through my archive and picked a few shots I didn't hate.

[world-of-wales]

FASHION DIARIES

ROYAL ASCOT || The Princess of Wales attending Royal Ascot over the years.

↬ White Lace Dress by Dolce & Gabbana with Una Jane Taylor Hat - 2016

↬ White Lace Dress by Alexander McQueen with White Floral Cocktail Tail - 2017

↬ Ice Blue Skirt and Blouse by Elie Saab with Blue Floral Philip Treacy Hat - 2019

↬ Black and White Polka Dot Dress by Alessandra Rich with Black Floral Sally-Ann Provan Hat - 2022

↬ Red Dress by Alexander McQueen with Red Floral Philip Treacy Hat - 2023

[theoryandahalf]

You don’t have to call me out like this, YouTube 💀

Nice.

[suzie-shooter]

F2 sprint race Barcelona 2023 :  James Blair race commentary highlights

I'm doing this on my phone because Clem is the more technologically advanced one of the pair of us - and it obviously goes without saying that Marcus has got no clue whatsoever.

We're going to get a replay of - Clement Novalak on Lawson! Two friends of the show.

Oh it's raining! Fuck me!

Okay so the race is starting with a rolling start, so already they've made it boring.

We're going to hear from Vesti, who's having a cracking year....very straight teeth.

Would have been less spray if they'd done a standing start, but what do I know, I'm just an insurance broker.

It's Verschoor going through on one of the thousand and two Red Bull cars we have in the field today.

Novalak's put a move on his team mate Stanek - he's up to P15, bloody good on yer mate! How about it! Four positions on lap 1 for the man from Avignon.

Come on Novalak! yeah I bet you’d like to eh James

As Novalak does Daruvala! Come on! Up the Clem!  [...] And Novalak! Is up again! He's done Juan Manuel Correa! Finally - the giant has awoken from his slumber of shit performances but this is an absolute stonker from Clement Novalak. Up the man!

[on the Leclerc Monaco curse] I think there is a genuine curse. Maybe we could do some sort of - maybe we could sort of perform - next year, Screaming Meals could sponsor it - we could perform some kind of exorcism before the Grand Prix weekend, we'll livestream the whole thing.

I do dig [Cordeel's] hairdo. It's really regal. Um, and you want to see regal hair go well, you know? You don't want the balding folks - like Marcus - occupying the podium.

The stewarding's been fucking questionable at best over the last couple of weeks, so we'll see where they land on that one.

The Norwegian man. He'll be used to going sideways on the roads.

And Novalak's done Maini! He's had almost no coverage on the tv and that's probably because F1 media hates us.

Overtaking delight from Novalak, that was pornographic!

Not gonna be too one-sided, but they do say in the rain it's where the real  talent comes out - you know, your Schumachers, your Sennas, your Novalaks.

Maybe it's time for a come back, I don't know. I don't have the funding. After a week of partying my tits off in Monaco, funding isn't exactly looking super healthy at the moment if I'm perfectly honest.

I'll probably end up talking a lot about the carrying on and the carrys on and the shenanigans if you will from Monaco in tomorrow's race [...] we're going to go on board Stanek in the Trident who's right behind Juan Manuel Correa who may or may not be involved in a lot of those stories from Monaco.

Leclerc having a sniff around the back end of Fittipaldi and he can sniff and sniff all he wants because it's Clement Novalak behind them.

That was the infamous evening of the Hungary episode with Juan Manuel Correa and Clement Novalak - I think he was still a guest at that point, he hadn't quite weaselled his way into the franchise. Whereas he now owns thirty percent of the company.

I met Mitch Evans on Sunday night in Monaco and he knew who I was and it was the best fucking evening of my life.

Come on Clemogio. And come on Trident. Please just pull a good pitstop out of your arse. Find it within yourselves. And that kind've also implies that they're pulling it out of their - alright we're just going to glaze over that one.

Fuck you and your virtual safety car! Fuck you and your virtual safety car! You've just given a free fucking pitstop to the front thirteen drivers and now my mate Clemogio - you've just fucked his chances of a race win! Fuck you, and fuck your virtual safety car! You c-you-next-Tuesdays. Bastards!!

Bit of a slow stop for Leclerc - sure as death and taxes.

Goodness gracious. This is why I've got grey hair at 25.

Nice shot of Clem there.

Vesti's smashed it, I mean, again. Having a great year. The Great Dane. Was Scooby Doo a Great Dane? Does anyone know? If so I'm going to start calling Frederik Vesti Scooby Doo.

Back on board here now with Patrick Swayze, looking at the back of Victor Martins. Who's hotter? This is a real clash of the titans between two of the hottest drivers in Formula 2 [...] two real hot dudes.

Fuck your virtual safety car. That's a t-shirt.

Let's hear it for Clem, that's a great drive. Still no points, but I mean great drive, proud of him for that one.

Not too much more to say, other than I'll be back tomorrow, gracing your screens with my bullshit.

[jordanaskbf]

Meet the cast of 'Dancing with the Stars' season 33

watch video

"GMA" reveals the cast who will be competing in the ballroom for the new season of "Dancing with the Stars."

[ultimateaclrecovery]

Checking in on my 2023 goals!

23 things for 2023

1. buy 1 horse

Done!! Bought Luna!!!

2. Knit a pair of socks

I knit a sock, that I finished today. But I mostly decided I wanted to knit other things instead so this is fine

3. Three camping trips

went to mt of the holy cross, and New Mexico for two camping nights, plus a day hike in winter park. So technically no but pretty close!

4. Plant four pumpkins

…..no. I bought seeds and did nothing and I don’t feel that bad about it

5. Handstand (five fingers) press

Lol no. Did nothing for it. Never made a plan and so did not achieve

6. Kill side yard weeds (because weeds are the devil 666)

Success? I paid a Gardner to pull them all so yes! Feels like a failure because I didn’t really deal with them or the yard in general, but they are all gone now.

7. Go to Loyola social justice meeting (7th heaven)

I went to a meeting! And baked cookies for an event. (And then never went back oops)

8. Mail 8 letters to mates - birthday cards probably

Success! (Rebecca birthday, Sarah birthday, Clare get well card, Callie birthday, Alison birthday, clare birthday, Callie wedding, clare kt recipe card)

9. Research 9 hours of getting a cat (9 lives)

Decided a horse was enough so stopped researching 🤷‍♀️[ read complete guide to adopting a cat 3 hours]

10. Do ten full pull ups

Total yes, in a row like intended absolutely not. I can do like 2.5 in a row. Made haphazard progress, but now I have a pull up bar so hoping for better next year!

11. Buy 11 things off of my to buy eventually list

Success! This was easy and I did it! (air fryer, air mattress, nice soap dispensers, office mat, thermometer, fire extinguisher, white tank top, little plates, shower cleaner, plastic drain pipes, sheet pan organizer, bonus: back door light bulb, rainbow flag and holder, more bras)

12. Go on 12 dates

Success! I thought this would be really hard but then I just got my boyfriend by like February and it ended up being the easiest ny resolution ever. He even asked me out to start.

13. Run a half marathon 13.1 miles

Success! (Okay this was a gimme because I signed up for it and had a training plan in 2022 but still)

14. Hike a fourteener

Success! mt of the holy cross and it was terrifying and very long but we did it!

15. Read 30 (15x2) books

I read 27 and have three in various states of completion. I kind of wanted to power this one thru but it wouldn’t have been fun and then what’s the point. This one is hard because I abandoned so so many books this year. Like I made it at least one chapter into like 40 and a couple half way thru. So close but no cigar but I refuse to read things that aren’t fun just to hit a goal so I feel fine about it.

16. Host 8 things

Hosted 3, organized a couple others so partial credit. I would like to do better in the future. ( galentines, whimsy brunch, birthday, organized brunch at watercourse, organized lake day)

17. Go out dancing (must be more dancing than drinking, dance class counts.)(dancing queen only 17)

Nope. But also that’s fine.

18. Upgrade phone and deal with all photos. Upload belize to fb and save others. Data management

Mostly. I got an external storage for Christmas so I can finish when I get home. So solid partial credit. (uploaded some. Upgraded phone plus new battery, still need to get data off of it) emmapictures2222_2@gmail.com emmapictures2222@gmail.com

19. General contractor for house cracks plus install air conditioner

Success. Installed ac. Got the cracks looked at once and they were fine and then they got worse and now I’m getting foundation work done. So success I guess.

20. Get 20 layout ds

… I did not count. I def got some but probably not 20 so partial credit. (4 from leiout)

21. Go to frisbee Masters regionals

Success! Another bit of gimme but we went and qualified to nationals!)

22. Buy purple navel jewelry (I’m feeling 22)

Success! (And I love it)

23. volunteer for 23 hours

No and I feel bad about it. I need to find something to volunteer with. I feel like I should have the time/be able to make time but it also feels like I never have time and also never want to. But I think it’s important.

So overall full success on 11 of the goals, happy partial on 5, annoyed partial on 2, abandoned 4 and failed my last one and feel bad about it.

But overall pretty good success!

[apomaro-mellow]

this court system needs to stop playin wit my feelins

[drawnecromancy]

New Year's in two days, so why not subject you all to my inability to stay on topic ? I keep changing what I'm working on every month. It's fun :)

I don't think I ever released those Aether skins on Flight Rising. They're just living in my hard drive. Eating all the paper

[teddybearsticker]

11.1.23 | October Reflection and November Tarot

Starting my November with a cold but I’m very happy with the cards I drew for my monthly reading. Good things are coming!!!! I am ready for change!!!!!

[witch128chick]

Now that everyone's posting those videos where they filmed themselves every month, i realised i should've done this too in '23 lol

I changed a lot and many things happened it's insane

I got 4 of my birthmarks removed through surgery around my birthday (how fun)

I got my hair dyed (i'm a redhead for almost a year and i'm obsessed)

I've been single for a while after a bad relationship but that got changed too by the most wonderful girl ever

I got 3 piercings (a helix and two second lobe piercings)

I graduated from uni

So i got a lot of things checked out that baby me was only dreaming of. Getting my parents to allow me to dye my hair?? And to have piercings??? Okay yes sure i'm 22 but that doesn't mean anything (it's so complicated). But i didn't even have to argue with them?? They didn't like the idea first but they made peace with it and... yea there was no drama. I'm still pleasantly surprised

I think baby me would be happy for me. She'd be proud that i'm slowly taking back my own life and i'm living it the way i want to. I often forget that i'm an adult and i can make decisions of my own and that my mom isn't behind me at the store ready to tell me off if i buy smth extra for myself. Or that i can decide what to wear just fine and i don't need my parents' approval for that. (I still live under their roof tho and don't get me wrong i'm really grateful for everything they've done for me and continue to do. It's just that not every family is perfect and ours is another example of that.)

Omg idk why i posted this it just felt nice

If anyone else wants to do smth similar to this, i'd gladly read it! I'm curious (tag me if you want ;) )

[tigers1o1]

… thank you, priceline

[rjhpandapaws]

This week's drawings!

[alkylic]

my 2023 recap:) productive year! (continues to be obsessed with dark-haired men)