year in review

Fourteen years ago, I found this questionnaire, and I’ve been filling it out every December since. See? 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 and 2003. Three years ago, I decided I was going to add a few new questions every year from now on. I’m not really doing that anymore. But the ones I added are still marked with an *asterisk

2017 was BUSY. The coworking space, Fathom Coffee, and our technology consulting company are all growing. We have about 70 coworking members, a bigger roaster on order, and some really amazing IT clients who consider us a part of their teams. We’ve accomplished a lot over the last year, and have some even more exciting things up our sleeves for 2018.

Anyway, here’s my year in review.

What did you do in 2017 that you’d never done before? Served on a non-profit board, played golf, .

Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I think so. I never posted my resolutions on my blog this year, but I did jot them all down on some post-it notes. I’ll take a look tomorrow and see how I did. I have a feeling I knocked a bunch of them out.

Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes. Tina had a daughter, Essie, on December 21.

Did anyone close to you die? No.

What countries did you visit? A little bit of this one — got six or seven new stamps in my National Park Passport this year! Lake Mead NRA, Death Valley NP, Joshua Tree NP, Santa Monica Mountains NRA, Shenandoah NP, and Eastern Shore National Wildlife Refuge.

What would you like to have in 2018 that you lacked in 2017? A vehicle with a functioning defroster.

What date from 2017 will remain etched upon your memory? Honestly, this year has been a whirlwind. Been racking my brain, and I can’t come up with one.

What was your biggest achievement of the year? Probably just making it though the entire year without having to go find a job and work for someone else again. 🙂

What was your biggest failure? Failing to recognize when people were taking advantage of my generosity and continuing to help those people at my own expense. Also failing to make it to NJ over the summer because my car is an idiot.

Did you suffer illness or injury? I got sick in late January with a nasty cold that left me with a lingering cough until April. In May, I tripped while I was running, and banged up my knee pretty badly — it wasn’t back to normal until September!

What was the best thing you bought? This sofa and swivel chair from West Elm to decorate my new house!

Whose behavior merited celebration? My brother’s for making some really tricky decisions, landing a sweet new job, and moving to Northern Virginia, without spending too much time worrying, sulking, or generally wasting time.

Where did most of your money go? Payroll, coffee beans, furniture, rent (business and personal).

What did you get really, really, really excited about? Moving into a sweet new house.

What song will always remind you of 2017? Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man.  My brother says listen to this song while watching this video, and tell him it doesn’t look like they’re dancing to it.

Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder? About the same.
Thinner or fatter? About the same.
Richer or poorer? Probably richer. I don’t have a lot of accessible cash, but I’ve got it all invested in businesses that are growing, so I’m going with richer.

What do you wish you’d done more of? Traveling.

What do you wish you’d done less of? Giving things away for free.

How will you be spending Christmas? I headed up to New Jersey for Christmas, as usual. I traveled with a coffee grinder and brewing kit, and a whole bunch of Fathom Coffee to brew and give away as gifts. It was a record-breaking 12 hours from the time I left VB until I got to my parents’ house because I took a scenic detour to the Eastern Shore National Wildlife Refuge and I stopped at the Nordstrom in Delaware to do some last-minute shopping on my way up. On Christmas Eve, we did lunch at my grandparents’ house with all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I spent about three hours making coffee there. After that, we swung by my Uncle Bobby and Aunt Gail’s house, where they surprised me with a delicious flounder francese and gluten-free pasta! Then I made my fourth annual late-night Christmas Eve drop-in at Regina’s before I went home to open pajamas and go to bed. Oh wait, before I went to bed, I wrapped my parents’ Christmas gifts in the basement. I did manage to work in giving each of them an empty box wrapped in Star Wars paper. Each said (on the inside of the box), “Want to go see Star Wars later?” 🙂 On Christmas morning, I opened gifts with my parents while we talked to my brother in Japan on Facebook Messenger Video. (Fancy.) We had a quiet dinner with my grandparents, and then we went to the movies. Tuesday morning, I had an early breakfast with Kristy, then went back to her house to see Frank and the kids. In lieu of my normal day-after-Christmas shopping, I visited a chilly warehouse full of mid-century furniture I can’t afford, and then I picked up Regina for a coffee adventure to South Plainfield! We visited Royal Coffee New York to pick up 268 pounds of Kenyan and Ethiopian beans for me to bring back to VB. We were treated to a pretty detailed tour of the entire facility, so that was pretty awesome. On the way home, Kerri called me out of the blue — she was in NJ to see her grandmother — and we were able to squeeze in a quick meeting for coffee before I met up with my mom and Ryan for dinner at Taka in Asbury Park. On Wednesday morning, I met up with Ed, Jane and Aidan for breakfast, which was fun and delicious. I love that with my New Jersey friends, we never waste a bunch of time talking about what we did that year — we just pick up old conversations right where we left off even if we haven’t spoken in months or years. My mom and I did a little shopping on Wednesday afternoon. Then Linda and Jimmy arrived, and we went out for Italian food with them and my Aunt Debbie. I left first thing Thursday morning to come home with my coffee delivery. 🙂 That was the longest answer to this question ever.

Did you fall in love in 2017? No.

Who were your best friends? In alphabetical order: Amie, Jeff, John, Stephen, Vince.

What thing did you do that was meaningful to others? I helped a whole lot of people start and grow businesses.

What was your favorite TV program? The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Stranger Things

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Nah. Hate’s a strong word.

What was the best book you read? Chasing Slow by Erin Loechner (Thanks for swapping books with me, Sheena!)

What was your greatest musical discovery? Beta Love by Ra Ra Riot.

*What was your favorite meal? The day we moved into the new house, I discovered we had this really cool griddle on our stove. The next morning — even though we didn’t even have anywhere to sit yet — I invited friends over for breakfast, and we all had pancakes, eggs, bacon, coffee, and mimosas around the counter. We’ve been eating pancakes at least once a week ever since.

What did you want and get? A dishwasher at 1701.

What did you want and not get? A quick late-summer/early-autumn weekend trip within driving distance.

What was your favorite film of this year? The Last Jedi.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 36. Drank coffee we roasted from Maui that is the most amazing thing on the planet. Went to lunch outside at Rudee’s. Celebrated at 1701 with a cake. Went to dinner at Jessy’s Taqueria.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Not owning a cat.

What kept you sane? Coffee, ToDoist, Xero, Evernote, good music, YouTube videos about minimalism, moving into a new house and getting rid of a bunch of stuff.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I have no idea.

What political issue stirred you the most? Still sticking with my 2015 answer: Donald Trump is ridiculous. Also, National Parks.

*What mystery from 2017 was never solved? Who is Oceanfront9?

Who did you miss? Grandma Tillie, Courtney, my brother after he moved away, my parents because I didn’t really get to see them much this year.

Who was the best new person you met this year? Drew Monroe at Prosper Insurance.

*Did you start any new traditions this year? We celebrated 1701’s first birthday with lunch and a cake! And hopefully it becomes a tradition going to the Chesapeake Bay Wine Classic Foundation’s Grand Auction because that event was pretty incredible.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2017: Don’t run in shoes that are a half size too big. And pick up your feet.

Quote that sums up your year: “So how’s your Salesforce?”

Thirteen years ago, I found this questionnaire, and I’ve been filling it out every December since. See? 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 and 2003. Two years ago, I decided I was going to add a few new questions every year from now on. I’m not really doing that anymore. But the ones I added are still marked with an *asterisk.

This post is going to sound a little redundant. My business partner and I opened a coworking space this year. Thinking about it, working on it, and working in it take up a majority of my time at the moment, and it’s definitely the thing I’m the most excited about and proud of right now. So I’m basically going to talk about it over and over and over again in this post. 🙂

Overall, 2016 was pretty amazing. The first half was full of epic vacations. The second was full of business successes. Can’t ask for much more than that.

Anyway, here’s my year in review.

What did you do in 2016 that you’d never done before? Rode a jet ski, snorkeled with a turtle, drove on the opposite side of the road, leased a commercial building.

Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I only had one real resolution, and I kept it. I will probably go back to my normal list for next year.

Did anyone close to you give birth? No.

Did anyone close to you die? No.

What countries did you visit? A little bit of this one plus the USVI and BVI.

What would you like to have in 2017 that you lacked in 2016? The perfect project/task management system for a team. I’ve tested so many, but I’m still looking for the right one.

What date from 2016 will remain etched upon your memory? June 8th – We signed the lease on 1701 Baltic Avenue and opened a coworking space.

What was your biggest achievement of the year? Turning off an old quoting system at the company where I used to work (without anything going drastically wrong, anyone crying or complaining about it, and hardly anyone in a high-level position outside of the department changing systems even realizing we had switched). Making this sweet video of my trip to Florida with my mom. Opening a coworking space in Virginia Beach, filling it up with furniture and members, and creating a real community where people have begun collaborating on projects and working together.

What was your biggest failure? I’m so far from being a failure right now that I’m not even going to justify this with an answer this year. 🙂

Did you suffer illness or injury? I got a mosquito bite in St. John that hung around on my shoulder for so long that I actually gave it a name. Ursula. Other than that, the closest thing to an injury was probably the huge red welt that popped up on my arm after I got a flu shot in October…and took a few weeks to go away.

What was the best thing you bought? This waterproof camera housing for my iPhone that enabled me to take some really amazing photos on my two vacations earlier in the year.

Whose behavior merited celebration? Anyone who had anything to do with getting 1701 up and running: Ray for helping us find the building. Joel for telling us to go for it. Peter for becoming our first member. 39 other people for becoming members after that. John, Bob, Susan, Monique, Jordan, Tommy, Willie, Sam, Alexis, Michelle, Courtney, Laurie, Lindsay, Louis, Mike, my parents, Mary, Alex, Shawn, Tommy, Fred, and anyone else who painted, built furniture, carted debris out of here, delivered us pizzas, manned the front desk, promoted us, gave people tours who walked in off the street, accepted UPS packages, hung art on the walls, posted about us online, prepped for an event, sold coffee, and/or helped us in pretty much any and every way possible to get this place up and running. Kelsey for painting this incredible mural on our wall. My parents for loaning me a few dollars here and there when I needed it. And Jeff for being the best business partner I could have found in this world.

Where did most of your money go? Into my businesses, mostly 1701.

What did you get really, really, really excited about? This sea turtle (and opening a coworking space).

What song will always remind you of 2016? Native Tongue by Quinn XCII. My cousin played it for me the day she moved in for the summer, and I’ve had it on repeat on and off ever since.

Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder? Happier.
Thinner or fatter? About the same.
Richer or poorer? I can’t really tell. I have less cash, but I invested it all in my businesses, so we’ll see.

What do you wish you’d done more of? Trusting my first impressions of people.

What do you wish you’d done less of? Crying about my old job, trying to please my old team, giving people I didn’t trust right off the bat the benefit of the doubt.

How will you be spending Christmas? I headed up to New Jersey for Christmas, as usual. I baked gluten-free cookies with my mom. My brother’s ship came back Christmas Eve, so we watched some footage of that live on Facebook. I spent Christmas Eve at my grandparents’ house with my parents, aunts, uncles and not-so-little cousins. I stopped at Kristy’s, then Regina’s after that. Regina gave me the Oregon Trail card game as a gift, and we played it. It’s for 2-6 players, but the goal is to get to the end with at least one person in your wagon still alive, so we played with four imaginary players: Steve (our friend who couldn’t make Christmas Eve this year), Tater (Regina’s dog), Porkchop (Regina’s other dog), and Colby (Regina’s bird). We won. On Christmas morning, I opened gifts with my parents, and we went to my Uncle Cricket and Aunt Angel’s house for dinner. I spent Monday shopping with my mom, and then catching up with Ed, Jane, Ren, Robin, Aidan and Jennilee! On Tuesday morning, I met one of the owners of Cowerks in Asbury Park and then had lunch with my mom, Ryan, and his mom before headed back.

Did you fall in love in 2016? No.

How many one-night stands? I said last year I was deleting this. So deleted.

Who were your best friends? John, Regina, Kristy, Jeff, Courtney, Courtney, Tina, Michelle.

What thing did you do that was meaningful to others? I’ve been trying to do things that are meaningful to others every day — help them with websites, Salesforce, building businesses, and making them coffee. I love making people coffee. 🙂

What was your favorite TV program? Good Girls Revolt, Mozart in the Jungle.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Yup.

What was the best book you read? Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age by Kurt W. Beyer.

What was your greatest musical discovery? Sonos.

*What was your favorite meal? Courtney moved in with me for the summer, and there was this one night we went to Beach Movie Bistro. I have no idea which movie we saw, but we ordered an impressive amount of items off the menu. We ate enough for eight people, and it was amazing.

What did you want and get? A new mattress.

What did you want and not get? A dishwasher for 1701/Fathom Coffee.

What was your favorite film of this year? Moana.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 35. I had brunch with a few friends at Metropolitan Oyster Exchange, and then went shopping with Cassie. Later I had dinner with John. And the following weekend, we celebrated again at the Jimmy Buffett concert with my parents, Amie, and Byron.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? I can’t really think of any a single thing. This year was pretty satisfying.

What kept you sane? Coffee, Evernote, Smartsheet, good music, Salesforce, smart people, ToDoist, sunshine, running, Xero. (Or maybe Xero made me feel insane. I’m not sure.)

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I have no idea.

What political issue stirred you the most? Sticking with my 2015 answer: Donald Trump is ridiculous.

*What mystery from 2016 was never solved? Will people get towed if they park in the lot behind our building?

Who did you miss? Grandma Tillie, Mele, my brother while he was on deployment, and Jessie.

Who was the best new person you met this year? I met so many interesting and amazing people this year. I really can’t name just one.

*Did you start any new traditions this year? Yes. Small Business Saturday Pop-Up Marketplace at 1701 in the ViBe Creative District!

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2016: Do what you want to do, not just what you can do.

Quote that sums up your year: “The best way for us to get something done in 20 minutes is to start working on it 20 minutes before it needs to be done.” ~Myself