2011: What We Made And Did

As I get my footing in 2012, I thought it might be worth a few minutes of reflecting back on all we did in 2011. It was a beast of a year. One where Mike and I were very fortunate to travel quite extensively, spend lots of quality time with our families and best friends and make many wonderful memories of our first year of marriage.

Ironically, many of my favorite moments of the year were intentionally not documented by a photograph. I tried to cement them in my psyche by absorbing them fully instead of worrying if my white balance was set correctly. But between our ever-ready iPhones and the new camera I got this year, there were no shortage of pixels captured this year. Here are a few of the highlights of 2011, in no particular order:

Some friends of mine and I started holding monthly craft nights. The first month, we made of of my favorite projects of the year—t-shirt scarves. (Get the tutorial here.) I was really fortunate to spend three weeks shooting these commercials in Capetown, South Africa. We worked really, really long days with these guys—the awesomely talented and very French director trio ABCDCD. But when we had downtime, we were able to see views like this: We even made it to the southernmost point in the Africa—The Cape of Good Hope.* Here I am with my friend and art director partner, Jenny, trying not to blow into the southernmost point in Africa. Mike and I spent a long weekend visiting my sister, Michelle, and her boyfriend, Gabor, in Atlanta. My other sister, Jamie, flew in from Colorado to be part of the shenanigans (read: overeating, laughing uncontrollably and making beaded bracelets.) Meanwhile, Richmond was punched in the face by Hurricane Irene. Which meant there were plenty of sticks that were mine for the taking. So I make these Hurricane Irene “Hurricanes.” (Get the tutorial here.) My mom and dad came to visit for a week… …And my mom and I fashioned some pretty cool DIY wall art out of coffee stirrers. (Get the tutorial here.) Simultaneously, and I mean literally as the paint was drying, we made a gaggle of these pretty felt flowers. (Get the tutorial here.) Mike and I spent Memorial Day in Providence visiting our dear friends, McCall and Danny. Although we don’t own seersucker pants or belts with whales on them, we hung on Rhode Island’s south shore with the best of the blue bloods. Or so I like to tell myself. Later, McCall came to Richmond for a week of crafting and snuggling on the couch. In usual form, we were making stuff the whole time, including while we waited for our BBQ at Buzzin Ned’s. In March, I cashed in a boatload of frequent flyer miles to go visit one of my besties, Katie, in Thailand. Katie and I worked as creative partners for five years before she hit the road for a year of traveling. I’m pretty sure we didn’t stop talking for more than two to three seconds the entire two weeks I was there. Mike and his boss (who also happened to be his golf partner) dressed up for their golf league team tournament. Their theme was East Coast/West Coast and Mike dressed up as the West coast half of the equation. I think he looks a little more like he’s going to deliver a 1891 newspaper. Irregardless, they ended up winning first place in the tournament and brought home a trophy the size of a 4-year-old. Later in the year, Mike ditched the pretty-boy look for a pretty-girl look when he dressed up as Amy Winehouse for Halloween. He makes a pretty convincing strung out rocker, don’t you think? To celebrate our first anniversary, Mike and I spend the day picking apples at Carter’s Orchard in Charlottesville. It was beautiful and romantic and it rained enough to keep the orchard alive for the next 100 years. One of the absolute best and most serendipitous developments of 2011 was when our friend Matt was promoted and transferred to Richmond from Portland. This meant that he also brought one of my BEST FRIENDS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD with him—his wife, Diana. I cannot emphasize the awesomeness of this serendipitous turn of events enough. Especially because two weeks after getting here, she found out she’s preggers. We promptly (and I mean like before that pee stick was even dry) went to Michael’s and picked up some yarn for her to begin crocheting a baby blanket. Speaking of baby blankets, our friends Erik and Myra gave birth to a perfect little baby girl, this summer and I whipped up this garter stitch baby afghan for her. Unfortunately, I got a little crazy with the casting on, so now she’s got a blanket that will also cover her first bed in the dorms. Mike and I spent an incredible week with his family in Hawaii where we walked around looking like the most touristy of tourists. It was my first time to Hawaii. In my humble opinion, I must say it lives up to the hype. Big time. We also tried our hand (which apparently has a giant black thumb) at gardening this year. After an entire summer of dutifully watering, this is what we ended up with—a 3 calorie carrot that wasn’t even worth its weight in organic fertilizer. The Thanksgiving “kids’” table officially moved to Richmond this year as Jamie, Michelle and Gabor came to visit for the second year in a row. I made us some special, exceptionally forgiving sweatpants for the occasion. (Get the tutorial here.) And if all of that wasn’t enough, Mike and I packed up every single thing we own and moved into a new apartment in December. Although we really like the new place, I am still mourning the loss of my mecca of creativity—the craft room. Phew. WHAT A YEAR. It makes me feel inspired, exhausted and extremely lucky to relive it all through these photos. And I cannot wait to see what 2012 holds!

What were some of your 2011 highlights?

* The actual southernmost point in Africa is Cape Agulhas, but since everyone gives the honor to the Cape of Good Hope, I’m going to roll with it. Mostly because I don’t have a photo of Cape Agulhas.
South Africa landscape and Cape of Good Hope photo credits: John Fullbrook