January
We kick off the year by gathering leftover bits of fireworks from our roof on January 1st ✌️and I also continue with one of my traditions, the Yoga With Adriene “30 days of yoga”. Early in the month, we drive to the woods and go for a long walk, a foreshadowing of the year to come’s many small hikes.
We make fish tacos, spanish tortilla, a (failed) Galette des Rois, canederli soup and dumplings; I manage to get a stomach bug mid-month (thank you Kindergarten) but still make it to a Taekwondo weekend retreat in Feldkirch, where I have a heart to heart with my TKD master about where I’m at and my Taekwondo journey.
At the end of the month, my almost-in-laws come visit; it snows.
📝 This month I learn to be honest, vulnerable and open about my feelings, because they might matter to someone else more than I think. 📈 Something to improve in the following month: 🎵 I listen to a ton of Betterov, Keaton Henson and Caroline Polachek; I’m especially obsessed with Keaton Henson’s version of “You can call me Al“ and Caroline Polachek’s “So hot you’re hurting my feelings”. 📚 My favourite read of the month is “Snowflake” by Louise Nealon, with “Convenience Store Woman” by Sayaka Murata being a close second.
February
The month feels a bit scattered, at home and at work. We go for a couple of small walks in the neighbouring woods, then for a family holiday to a ski resort in Italy, where our daughter tries skiing for the first time. I particularly enjoy early morning walks with the dog, when the world out there is quiet, the snow crunches under my feet, and the sun starts to rise behind the mountains.
Back home, we drink Italian beer and eat Cipster (one of my fav Italian snacks); bake cheesecake, make homemade burgers. At the end of the month, I test positive for covid and spend the next week quarantining in my own home.
📝 This month I learn that raising a child really takes a village (or: that’s it’s easier with a village). 📈 Something to improve in the following month: writing goals in a way that makes them more actionable, and sticking to them. 🎵 I listen to a lot of Ken Yates and CHVRCHES, and continue my streak of cover albums with Josiah and the Bonnevilles’ “Country Covers“. 📚 I read Laura Kalbag’s “Accessibility for everyone” for my Design&Engineering book club, and fall in love with Celeste Ng’s “Our missing hearts”.
March
After slogging through covid, I slowly regain my health. We start to make plans for our terrace, I get frames for some prints and artwork I’ve purchased from friends to decorate my home office, our peach tree starts to bloom, and so does the magnolia tree at the end of our street. I work on a small, silly side-project to get my mind off difficult tasks at work.
We take a short trip to a cabin in Ulrichsberg, where we spend a weekend hiking, eating, and sitting by the fire.
📝 This month I learn to take it easy and allow my body to rest, especially by going to bed earlier rather than staying up to “get things done”. 📈 Something to improve in the following month: improve my evening routine and get to bed on time. 🎵 I spend some time with Death Cab for Cutie’s acoustic “Asphalt Meadows” album, which was released this month, and listen to a lot of Novo Amor while writing and coding. 📚 I read the absolutely stunning “Dschinns” by Fatma Aydemir, which easily becomes my favourite read of the year.
April
The days start getting longer and it finally really starts to feel like spring. I bake cheesecake, M makes bread, we go on longer weekend walks, our daughter spends a lot of time with her balance bike. I make wild garlic pesto and finally again mac n cheese; I pick up the pace with Taekwondo training to prep for an exam. At the end of the month, I drive to Berlin with P for a Taekwondo weekend where I do my 1. geup exam (long overdue). I meet friends for a donut a Brammibal’s, take photos under the cherry trees, and eat lunch in the sunshine near the planetarium; in that moment, life feels a little bit perfect.
📝 This month I learn that sometimes I only need to ask the question to realise I already know the answer. 📈 Something to improve in the following month: Avoid procrastination at work. 🎵 I listen to some old playlists I made years ago that remind me of spring with Charlotte Martin, Starlet, and Asobi Seksu; another walk down memory lane with Blink-182’s self-titled album and Thursday’s “Full Collapse”. I also obsess over the Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights”. 📚 After dragging myself through “Everything I need I get from you”, I finally finish it mid-month.
May
I kick off the month with driving theory classes, because why not; every night after class, I stop to look at people’s gardens, the lights flickering when I walk past. For my birthday, we feed the deers at the natural park and I get a neon sign for my home office ( a birthday present from M) that reads, “Trust the process”. Spring is fully here, and we’re constantly at the park, in the garden, outside, going on walks and start going to kindergarten in the morning by bike.
I bake chocolate cookies and, for the first time in years, lemon pie. J & A visit us with their daughter, and we spend a long weekend in Germany with family and then head to Berlin by train for a few days where we pet dogs, eat pizza, see friends, go swimming. I don’t make it to training (maybe next time) and we head home on May 31, happy but also sad we didn’t get to do all the things we actually wanted to do. Our peach tree grows its first tiny fruits (still green).
📝 This month I learn that while I can’t change some things about how things go at work, I can still be in charge of my own emotions around how a project goes. 📈 Something to improve in the following month: lower my expectations for family trips. 🎵 I mainly listen to Wickerbird’s “The Crow Mother”, Julien Baker’s “Turn out the lights”, and Volcano Choir’s “Repave”. Favourite track of the month is probably the super sad “once upon a poolside” by the National. 📚 I spend my time with “A tale for the time being” by Ruth Ozeki, a weird little book filled with wonder. I also read “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” which I enjoy.
June
I see a heron in the park and N starts learning to ride her new bike (a real bike!). We make Jamie Oliver’s pea mint soup, dumplings, and start to barbecue in our garden. We also head to the local pool, eat the first ice cream of the season, pick the first raspberries of the year in our garden. At the end of the month I go to our company’s first in-person Open Space since I joined and see some of my coworkers IRL for the first time. I also see a timid hedgehog, and make some big steps on a side project redesign!
📝 This month I learn to shut up and listen. 📈 Something to improve in the following month: Focus on single tasks, and try timeboxing. 🎵 Lana Del Rey and Angie McMahon, mostly. 📚 I read “Passing” by Nella Larsen in one sitting.
July
The ducks in the park got ducklings and we greet them every morning; it’s the season of salads, strawberry risotto, sandpits, BBQ fried chicken and training in the park again — Diana even joins us for a training session from Berlin. We spend a few days as a family in Fuschl am See where we swim and hike. We buy tickets to go see Taylor Swift in 2024! N starts to pedal on her bike perfectly, my aunt and uncle come visit from Rome, we pick the first tiny pink peaches from the garden. After a lot of back and forth with the pool company, work resumes on our pool.
📝 This month I learn that it’s ok to lean into the moment and be more spontaneous. 📈 Something to improve in the following month: go to bed earlier, because I’ve been feeling tired and out of energy. 🎵 A scattered month for music: I mostly listen to Taylor Swift and Big Star, as well as SYML and (seemingly) whatever Spotify dumps into my Discover Weekly and Release Radar. 📚 I do a buddy read with M and read one of my favourite books of the year: “The Overstory” by Richard Powers. I also read “How High We Go in the Dark” which leaves an impression on me but also makes me miss Emily St. John Mandel books.
August
We swim in our brand new pool (a lot!), also at night; I make dinosaur- and fox-shaped pancakes and onigiri; I meet my friend R, who’s in town for a few days from Edinburgh, for a playground date with her two kids. M and I have a date night and go for bibimbap and frozen yogurt. We drive to the climbing gym with N for the first time and it’s a really fun experience (who would have thought that toddlers would love a place where they’re allowed to climb everywhere? *sarcasm off*); we celebrate her birthday at home and at daycare, where she says goodbye to her group to move into the “big kid group” (😭); M’s family comes to visit.
I look through old photo albums, and wonder at time passing. I lean into that feeling of summer holidays, that feeling of them lasting forever.
📝 This month I learn that taking time off is fucking great. 📈 Something to improve in the following month: focus on the essential. 🎵 I listen to a lot of Mt. Joy, Bon Iver and William Fitzsimmons, especially the cover of “Light Years”. Also “Thirteen” by Big Star and “Sinking Friendships” by Jónsi. 📚 A month for mindblowing (and weirdly sad) books: “Our wives under the sea” by Julia Armfield and “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy.
September
September, I don’t even know where to start…
We spend a night away just the two of us, in preparation for our big trip to NYC without N. I pass the first part of my driver theory test, we buy new tiles for our terrace, we play with plastic dinosaurs and play Super Mario on M’s new analogpocket — how surreal is it to see a 3yo be super into video games?? I make a small “advent calendar” for N with photos of us that she can open every day while we’re gone. I text my friend C to ask him a big, big question.
NYC is fucking perfect. We eat at diners, eat pancakes and arepas and burgers and mac’n’cheese; soup dumplings, cheap pizza, tacos and nachos and drink margaritas and I even try the Oleato coffee (with olive oil! fuckin’ hell). We go to Dumbo, to Brooklyn Bridge, to Chinatown and hang out in the village and do a music tour and walk on the high line and go to the MoMA and go to central park and do all of the Beatles things (Strawberry Fields, the Dakota) and the Jeff Buckley things (seeing the old Sin-e from the outside). And: we get married in Manhattan, with my friend C as a witness; we go see Death Cab for Cutie and the Postal Service at Madison Square Garden ❤️ I have an awkward conversation with Jenny Lee Lindbergh in our hotel elevator (!!) which I will remember forever, especially the part where I didn’t recognise her until after we stepped out of the elevator.
We fly home and things feel weirdly normal, back to real life.
📝 This month I learn that sometimes, all you need is time away to reconnect with a person. 📈 Something to improve in the following month: avoid spreading myself too thin. 🎵 Listen to Samia on repeat. I also check out the new Olivia Rodrigo album “GUTS” and of course, listen to DCfC and the Postal Service. Towards the end of the month, I listen to a 5-track playlist of random, 90s-sounding songs (including tracks by Indigo de Souza, Charlotte Cornfield, and blink-182). It’s a weird music month. 📚 I read the absolutely brilliant “We Do What We Do in the Dark” by Michelle Hart and “Alone in Space” by Tillie Walden (part of my NYC book haul).
October
On our first weekend back from NYC, we go for a hike in Hohe Wand and see reindeers; mid-month, we head to a spa & family hotel with some friends for a weekend and spend all day, every day going down waterslides. My friend K visits from LA; we visit our first pumpkin patch and carve pumpkins. We see ducks sleeping in the park. We bake bread, fondant cake, make waffles, enjoy the kind weather and the softness of the autumn sun.
I think a lot about grief. For days and days, I think about D and how it’s been ten years since his death.
📝 This month I learn that friends truly don’t gaf how tidy our place is, so I should stop obsessing over tidiness and cleanliness and rather, enjoy things. 📈 Something to improve in the following month: Adding movement and a small wind-down into my work day. 🎵 I very much obsess over Sufjan Stevens’ new album “Javelin”; it breaks my heart, and I keep listening. Also noteworthy: the Tegan and Sara “The Con X: Covers” album, Grandbrothers, the Mountain Goats, and my friend Chris Garneau’s new single (and first music in a while) “Out of Love”. Also, “Beautiful Baby” by Elizabeth, because it’s sad and soft. 📚 “Five little indians” by Michelle Good breaks my heart, and so does “When we fell apart” by Soon Wiley.
November
We take advantage of a sunny bank holiday and go for a long walk in the forest. My mother in law sends me a Taylor Swift record. Our driveway is finally finished! we make salmon bowl, mac n cheese, dumplings; we buy new matching Christmas PJs and I get my 5th covid shot. We go to N’s Laternenfest and feel so proud when we see her sing along and interact with other kids. I bake puff pastry apple rings and chocolate cookies with ganache. I do a ton of Christmas prep! We get the first snow of the year, N has a little Taylor Swift dancing (running?) party in the kitchen and I get excited at the thought of Christmas baking.
📝 This month I learn that I can’t always plan everything. 📈 Something to improve in the following month: Do a couple of fun things on weekends to end the year on a good note. 🎵 A ton of “Formentera” by Metric and “The Sunset Tree” by the Mountain Goats. A ton of music that feels cosy and familiar: Taylor Swift, Ryan Adams, the Weakerthans, the National. 📚 Another buddy read, this time “Babel” by R.F.Kuang (somewhat disappointing). Better luck with “Piranesi”, which my friend P also seems to read at the same time. Also, I finally finish “Form Design Patterns” for my book club.
December
An exhausting month; overall, we are sick on and off for most of the month and the tiredness of the year starts to shine through. But: I make it to Berlin where I hang out with friends, go to a tea house, have a bit of me time, eat a lot of awesome food (angry chicken, dumplings), and go to our dojang’s Christmas party.
It snows a lot and our neighbourhood is covered in snow; doggo and N enjoy it, we make some ridiculous snow people in the garden. We also go to my a little Christmas workshop organised by my friend A, decorate a gingerbread house (note to self: don’t eat store-bought gingerbread houses, they’re gross), make bracelets with wooden beads, bake and decorate sugar cookies. I meet my friend A one last time before the end of the year, we go for a manicure and coffee and a walk and all you can eat Asian food.
Finally, a few days before Christmas the whole family is (somewhat) healthy again: we celebrate Christmas a day early at home, then take the brand new NightJet to Germany to see family and celebrate there. We eat turkey, I drink a lot of wine, I get an engagement ring (a few months late). On the way back, I accidentally press the alarm button and bring the train to a full halt (hello, yes, it’s me).
Back home I put together N’s new closet, have a few good hair days, meet my friend S from FM4 radio and his dog, meet E and her daughter for a playground playdate, wear my Taylor Swift sweatshirt all day every day (thank you husband). We ring in the new year sleepily, with sparklers and pink palomas (my new favourite drink). Hello, 2024.
📝 This month I learn that some planning ahead of time can really help me feel more relaxed during the holidays. 📈 Something to improve in the following month: better communication, especially regarding my needs and expectations. 🎵 I listen to Baswod and Snail Mail; I hear Lana del Rey’s cover of the song “Take me home, country roads” on the radio and obsess over it. And of course, “Schlaf Gut” by Betterov, and a couple of Christmas songs — mainly “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”. 📚 A month for semi-disappointments, in terms of books: I read the bizarre “This is how you lose the time war” and also “Tokyo Ueno Station”, both of which just.. didn't quite work for me. I also start a book I absolutely love — title will be revealed in next year's Year in Review :)
My year in numbers
👟 I went on 1 run, and ran a total of 3 kms (yeah, running definitely wasn’t a priority in 2023). 📚 I read 38 books: 34 in English, 3 in German, 1 in French; most were fiction (only 6 were non-fiction books). A lot of them were amazing reads, so I'm really happy about my reading year. 🎶 I listened to a total of 1,658 artists (apparently a 22% increase from the previous year) and 2,656 different albums. My top artist was Taylor Swift, my top album “The Weakness” by Ruston Kelly, and my top track was “Younger & Dumber” by Indigo de Souza. Other top tracks were “Schlaf Gut” by Betterov, “So Hot you’re Hurting my Feelings” by Caroline Polachek, and “fairweather” by Ken Yates. As always, this only includes digital music. 🥋 I trained at 2 different dojangs (Berlin and Feldkirch), and also at our new gym in Vienna, and in my garden <3 💪🏼 I did a total of 89 workouts (mostly yoga and taekwondo) so considerably less than in 2022; this also includes swims and skiing. 🏊🏻♀️ I added swimming to my arsenal of physical wellness, and went on 12 little swims at the local pool. 🧘🏻♀️ I managed to keep a semi-consistent meditation practice, almost every day. 🐾 I walked a total of 2,963,236 steps throughout the year; not my best, but it's still almost 8000 steps a day!
In 2024, I will…
Lean into the passing of time, and the good little things in my everyday. Reflecting on 2023 more deeply than I have in the last years made me realise what a gift my life has been, but also how much I’ve overlooked things that can bring me joy. It’s time to change that for myself.
My word of the year this year is wonder.
I fucked up with my word of the year last year, and it felt like a complete failure not to be able to carefully listen and focus. I chose my word differently this year, thinking about what I wanted for myself but also what I’ve been trying to bring into my every day. To me, wonder is about childlike joy but also questioning things I want to question, and not taking everything for granted. I’m curious to see where this leads me in 2024.
As always, no new year’s resolutions for me, but a focus on goals and general feelings and values (learning, financial security, creativity being a few of those). But: Here’s a quick overview of things that will matter more, or less, in 2024.
In 2024 I will…
reflect a little more. take deep breaths. set more boundaries, but have less rules. focus on creativity. ask better questions.
In 2024 I will not…
take my phone to the bathroom with me. multitask. fall into the trap of productivity for the sake of productivity. go through the motions. say, “we’ve always done it this way”.