Last week I wrote a blog post about my favorite San Francisco Giants moments of 2016, so I thought that this week I would write about my personal favorite moments of the year. 2016 is the first full year that I’ve lived in Los Angeles and I couldn’t be any happier in this city that I love. While 2016 didn’t go as well as the majority of the country had hoped (get my reference here?), I want to remember it for all the amazing memories.
New Year’s in Chicago
I began 2016 in Chicago and got to watch myself on TV during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Billboard Hollywood Party (wait what, I was in two places at once?) (PS: Watch the show this year because you may see a familiar face again! 😇😏)... and I also happened to take one of my all-time favorite handstand pictures in Chicago at the Willis Tower.
Climbing in Windows, Jumping in Pools
It was only my second quarter when I got back in January so I still had time to party nonstop. Stay out until 11:00am the next morning? No problem. There’s something about jumping off the roof into a pool at 6:00am in random clothes you find in someone else’s laundry room that screams “I have no worries in life, let’s just have some fun!”
Published in the Hollywood Reporter
My photos got published in an article on the Hollywood Reporter and it was really cool. You can check out that article here.
Spring Training
I watched my favorite team win some games, I felt at home surrounded by my fellow Giants fans, and I took a cool handstand photo. My first Spring Training experience was a successful one and I cannot wait to go back in March.
Giants Baseball at Dodger Stadium
I got yelled at, people booed me on the streets, and I loved it (for the most part). In fact, I thoroughly enjoy arguing with Dodgers fans solely for the reason that they don’t have any good comebacks. I’m not sorry about it. Beat LA!
Signed My First Apartment Lease
…because student housing is lame and we grew out of it. This was definitely one of those "Oh wow, I'm an adult... I'm old!" type of moments. But I love being able to say that we live on our own in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. And we can also pretty much do whatever we want so, uh, yeah... I'd say independence is a great thing.
Hawaii
I won two free tickets from my favorite baseball team to anywhere on Virgin America’s network so I decided to go to Hawaii. The water was blue, the vibes were chill and I got a really nice tan while laying on the beach. This was the perfect way to end my first year at FIDM and just relax.
Baseball in San Diego
By the third time the Giants came to LA, I decided to skip the games at Dodger Stadium. I didn’t want to associate annoyance with a game and team that I love. And I knew that if I went to the games, I'd just sit there annoyed at all the Dodgers fans around me. Instead, I went to San Diego for two games. Fun fact: Petco Park is actually the ballpark where I saw my first MLB game when I was five.
Oregon
Instead of going home between summer quarter and fall quarter, I decided to take a trip to Oregon to visit my childhood best friend. I fell in love with Salem's weather as it truly felt like fall.
NLDS Game 3
I've written about this game so many times before. Read this: Onto 2017 Giants Baseball
Bernie Sanders at the Hollywood Palladium
On November 6th, I went to Hollywood to learn more about Prop 61 from Bernie Sanders. The documentary we watched about the pharmaceutical industry was extremely eye opening and it was so cool to hear Bernie speak in person about it. I also fulfilled my dream to be on the Los Angeles Live Snapchat story with BOTH of my Snapchats from the night making it.
“We reject the president-elect!”
I’m proud to say I was one of the many who walked through the streets of downtown Los Angeles to protest the president-elect. When so many people are living in fear and more than half of America voted for Hillary Clinton, something needs to be done.
Quitting My Restaurant Job + Becoming A Freelancer
I think one of the best decisions I made this year was to quit my hostess job. I now work on my own time and get to create content, schedule posts, strategize, and learn something new every day about social media.
Concerts, TV tapings, + LA Things
We all know how much I love concerts and I’ve had the pleasure of seeing way too many people to name this year so I’ll just mention some of my favorites. I got to watch James Bay, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and Brad Paisley all on Jimmy Kimmel Live, I went to tapings of James Corden’s Late Late Show and Good Morning America After the Oscars Special, and I attended the iHeartRadio Music Awards, American Country Countdown Awards, and the Emmy’s. I saw Blackbear, Kenny Chesney, Cole Swindell, Flume, Hunter Hayes, Drake, Future, The 1975, Lukas Graham, and Porter Robinson. I also did a lot of stereotypical Los Angeles things and truly lived to the very fullest. It’s been an exciting year and the best year yet. Here are just some of my favorite photos from the past twelve months and I wish you all an incredible 2017!
