Favorite things - 2012

Photos above from our walk in Central Park on New Year's Day

We spend the latter part of the year gearing up for these December holidays, and then they blow by us in an instant, leaving a trail of pine needles and wrapping paper in their wake. And suddenly, we're in the inexorable grasp of a new year. The traditional place for beginnings and endings. I did a lot of thinking in my time away from the office. Thinking about what a year it was for me, in my job, and my family. And thinking about how this new little blog is faring in the big world out there. I'm still finding my footing, people, I hope you can bear with me as I do so.

Here were some of my favorite things in 2012.

Favorite reads of 2012:

I have to start off my favorite book list with My Berlin Kitchen, written by the lovely Luisa Weiss of The Wednesday Chef blog, this food memoir about a life lived while criss-crossing two continents is a must-read. Dinner a Love Story is another cookbook that you can curl up in bed with - plus the down-to-earth Jenny makes me feel less guilty about not churning out three course meals on a weeknight.
Decorate Workshop, Habitually Chic, and Young House Love were my favorite reads for my home and office spaces and Grace Coddington's memoir, Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, and Gone Girl are jockeying for top spot on my kindle for the morning commute (I will admit that I have Grace's memoir in actual book format too - it's just so pretty looking!).

Favorite home finds of 2012:

Art was the name of the game for 2012, and I managed to gather a few great pieces for our apartment. My favorite site is 20x200: where you can find surprisingly affordable art in a beautifully curated setting - I took advantage of their low prices and snagged something from the Jane Mount Ideal Bookshelf series and I'm thinking about this NASA piece showing Europe and Asia from space. I also love Society 6, where I got several pieces, and still have my eye on this water piece. I spent a lot of time on One Kings Lane (there are some good new years sales on there now!) and getting inspiration from shops like West Elm and Anthropologie.

Favorite hobbies of 2012:

Creatively 2012 was a wonderful year for me. From starting this blog here, to exploring new photography skills (I took online classes at Bella Pop), to Pinterest, to Instagram, finding interesting ways to challenge myself creatively was so much fun. I cannot wait to find more to do in 2013.

Favorite tv shows of 2012:

Ooooh, this was a hard category to narrow down, but if I had to, here would be my favorites of 2012. Newbies: Girls, Veep, and Newsroom. Older faves: Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, Dexter, Nurse Jackie, and Breaking Bad. I can't even bring myself to add reality shows to this list (but there are some shameful ones in there).

I'm sure I forgot some, feel free to remind me.

Shows to start in 2013: Walking Dead, Homeland, and Being Human. I know, I know, it's ridiculous that I'm not watching Homeland. I'll get on that soon, I promise!

And of course, Happy New Year to you guys! Have you made any resolutions? I can't wait to see what 2013 brings.