Wednesday, December 28, 2022

2022 in review and 23 things to do in 2023



it feels like i say this every year, but SERIOUSLY: how is 2022 over already? i loathe the passage of time. anywho, it was a good year. a great year, even. it wasn't omg-best-year-of-my-life-all-my-dreams-came-true or anything, but you can't win 'em all. here are the highlights, and some to-dos for next year that will hopefully provide some inspo!

in 2022, i:

  • resumed my tradition of winter getaways with a trip to visit my friend alissa in st. petersburg, florida, where we ate, drank, went on a museum scavenger hunt, drank coffee at cute cafes, stalked adorable houses, watched inventing anna, bought a drink for a tiktok star we saw at a restaurant, and watched the super bowl halftime show at a bar




  • saw 40 artists/bands live (including 2 festivals, 16 acts i’ve seen before, and the long-awaited and twice-postponed def leppard/mötley crüe/poison/joan jett show at fenway)

  • met andrew mccarthy of brat pack fame at a travel show





  • started a substack newsletter, which will be returning in 2023; shameless plug to subscribe!

  • took my first dance class (hip-hop) since before COVID!

  • met my internet friend danielle IRL and had a fun-filled overnight trip in mystic, CT 

  • drank frosé, people watched, and jumped around to ABBA at the tea dance in provincetown 

  • enjoyed a completely idyllic weekend at a farmhouse in upstate new york with 6 other ladies for my best friend gleni's bachelorette extravaganza — we drank wine, made dinners and breakfasts and french press coffee, lounged in the pool, took edibles and sang karaoke under a blacklight, watched legally blonde, did nail art, had a coastal grandma photoshoot, and made s'mores by the fire pit


  • went to brooklyn for for gleni’s wedding, gave a toast, and danced the night away


  • dealt with the insanity that is salem, massachusetts on a saturday in october, but apple cider cocktails eased the pain

  • reunited with my marist friend tati in vegas for a whirlwind adventure that involved a distillery, high winds, meow wolf, magic mike, and a frantic but ultimately successful search for when we were young sunday tickets after the festival was canceled on saturday


  • did the stranger things thing as eddie munson with my friend cassidy (who was max) at the liberty hotel halloween party

  • got a new couch!


happiest moments:

  • sitting for hours at a wine bar in porto, portugal with my new tour friend nolene — looking at the douro river, eating cheese and sardines, drinking wine, and chatting 
  • marveling at the natural beauty of the caves on the algarve coast on a boat tour
  • singing and dancing like a fool by myself at a machine gun kelly concert
  • seeing a man walking his pet pig at the hollis flea market
  • finding a random magic 8 ball on the sidewalk on my way to get a scone and sourdough and iced coffee on a summer sunday morning
  • drinking painkillers at the treehouse bar + watching youtube videos with danielle in our b&b room in mystic
  • floating in a random suburban pool cassidy and i rented through swimply
  • walking 45 minutes to honeycomb creamery in cambridge and ordering a scoop of port cherry vanilla ice cream and a scoop of salted caramel crackle and walking home
  • screaming "pour some sugar on me" with thousands of other people at the stadium tour
  • singing karaoke for hours, watching family feud, and then sleeping in a magical canopy bed during the bachelorette weekend
  • listening to "away from the mire" by billy strings several times on my solo road trip and tearing up every time
  • seeing my best friend get married and dancing to the best wedding playlist!
  • smoking a joint in my bathtub and listening to d'angelo on a random tuesday night
  • reliving my emo glory days and catching up with tati 

pop culture favorites 

note that these did not necessarily come out this year (though some did), i just consumed them in 2022.


songs: HERE


albums:








movies:

promising young woman

hotel mumbai

jackass forever

barbarian

top gun: maverick


books: 

mary jane by jessica anya blau

miss fortune by lauren weedman

in five years by rebecca serle

the paris apartment by lucy foley

everything i need i get from you: how fangirls created the internet as we know it by kaitlyn tiffany

cackle by rachel harrison

one italian summer by rebecca serle

a novel obsession by caitlin barasch


tv shows:

inventing anna

the 7 lives of lea

the sex lives of college girls

the summer i turned pretty

maggie

the bear


2022 to-dos review

well, out of 22 items, i did 11, which is kind of par for the course at this point. not bad!

visit portugal

sing karaoke

visit a friend in a different state

take a road trip

find one of the records on my vinyl wishlist out in the wild and buy it (the list includes MC5, the stooges, and crosby, stills, and nash) found CS&N at bull moose in portsmouth!

take one day off work for no reason other than to relax and recharge

see a live play/musical counting lost spirits distillery and magic mike in vegas

finish the new york times crossword every day for a week

order a cocktail that involves fire got a smoked old fashioned at two different bars, so i'm counting it

hang out on someone's boat technically, the p-town ferry is someone's boat, right?

watch a classic movie rome adventure


23 things to do in 2023

  1. do a sound bath meditation

  2. visit a state i’ve never been to (looking at you in may, utah)

  3. dine at the olde pink house in savannah, georgia

  4. go to a sofar sounds show

  5. finish taking (and develop!) the roll of film on the disposable camera i bought last summer

  6. take a pole dancing class

  7. finally learn to parallel park and do it successfully

  8. get published on one of my bucket list publications (the new yorker, the new york times, travel and leisure, condé nast traveler)

  9. go to a poetry slam at lizard lounge

  10. make this bourbon cheddar apple pie

  11. find the acler raven midi cutout dress secondhand for less than $100 because i fell in love with it last summer at saks off 5th and have thought about it nearly every day since, but have nowhere to wear it

  12. go to a GVF show with danielle because we haven’t seen them together yet (bonus points if we get barricade on jake’s side of the stage so we can realize our banger sisters/cougar dreams)

  13. host a dinner party for real, for real this time

  14. try a tasting menu (maybe at tasting table?)

  15. go to the encore casino since i haven't been

  16. make dinner using a majority of ingredients from the farmers market

  17. be a guest on a podcast

  18. get a cute vintage table + chair set for my dining room

  19. visit montreal

  20. crash. a. wedding. SOMEBODY DO IT WITH ME!

  21. complete and shop around a book proposal to literary agents

  22. get another eerily accurate psychic reading from raymond at the tremont tea room

  23. stay at a luxury hotel or resort (thanks, heather!)


also! i decided to take a look back and note the stuff that i've had on previous lists that i eventually accomplished in a later year. this was kind of a fun exercise. there were 45 in total!

2012:

visit san francisco 2015
go to a talk show taping 2013
take a pottery class 2019
go to an open house (with no intention of buying) 2014
visit nashville 2013
go out to a sit-down dinner by myself 2015 if bar dinners count, 2019 if we're talking an actual table
take pictures in a photobooth 2016
go to tampa & st. petersburg 2022 
go to the rock & roll hall of fame induction ceremony not the ceremony, but R&R HOF in 2018
make my own bread 2015
stay at a bed & breakfast 2016
go speed dating 2017+ 2019 with two different companies, and they were each comically awful and everyone received refunds because literally 20 women and 2 men showed up both times despite the fact that you had to prepay???
ride a bike 2016
finally get my cheeseburger tattoo! 2015

2013:
see blue man group, because i've never seen it and that's just wrong 2019 and it was one of the cooooolest manifestation stories ever
visit the pacific northwest (preferably portland, OR) 2017, seattle and portland!
drink a mint julep 2017
hula hoop 2022 when my neighbors were throwing theirs out and i swiped it from the curb
play a musical instrument 2022, trying guitar again!
send a query letter to an editor or literary agent 2014
go on a picnic 2015

2014:
try air bnb 2017
get something that i wrote published on mcsweeney's 2016, 2019, and 2020!
win at pub trivia 2015

2015:
secure a book deal 2019
go zip lining 2018
relax in a hot tub 2018
get a tarot reading at the tremont tea room 2017

2016:
take a day/weekend trip to providence and/or newport, RI (i've never been, somehow??) 2018 and 2017, respectively, and then newport again in 2021
sing karaoke (preferably a rap song) 2017, but i sang harvey danger
give a toast 2022

2017:
book a trip to south america 2018
jump into a ball pit 2018 
read seinfeldia 2020 i think?
adopt a shelter cat 2020
go to a renaissance fair and order a giant turkey leg 2021
find and buy liz phair's exile in guyville on vinyl from a brick-and-mortar record store 2018

2018:
visit south america 2019
related: take a selfie with an alpaca not a selfie, but a photo with one, 2019
get my aura photographed 2019
eat fried dough on hampton beach 2019
watch an outdoor movie 2019
see the sunflower fields at colby farm 2020

(weirdly, nothing from my 2019 list)

2020:
renew my passport 2021
spend a weekend in philadelphia 2021


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Sunday, December 4, 2022

my 22 favorite songs of 2022!



well, it was another banner year for music, folks. we're having a good run! i narrowed down this list from like 55 songs, so this is just a fraction of the tracks i loved in 2022, but hopefully you find at least a couple you dig as well! full spotify playlist for easier listening here.

honorable mention:

widowspeak - "the drive"

arlo parks - "softly"

ty segall - "hello, hi"

partner - "time is a car"

soccer mommy - "don't ask me"

alex g - "runner"

44phantom - "hurricane"


22. parker gispert - "stuck inside someone else's dream"

i've vehemently held that the whigs are one of the best and most underrated bands of the 2000s — mostly just to myself because nobody else cares that much or even knows who they are. buuuut if you're so inclined, i highly recommend listening to all of their albums because they're flawless. while the band is on indefinite hiatus, frontman parker gispert has ventured into solo work in recent years that retains the alt-country swagger i know and love. this rollicking deep cut from his latest, golden years, was an immediate standout for me.

21. wednesday - "bull believer" 

y'all know i'm a sucker for that early '90s sound, and there are a handful of current bands that i think are really nailing it, including wednesday. this song is a true *journey* and trying to describe it in words would be a disservice; you just have to listen to it to understand what i mean. preferably while feeling angsty in your bedroom at night.

20. quarters of change - "t love"

it's giving gen z fitz and the tantrums! i dare you to listen to this song and not nod your head and/or smile real wide. 

19. harry styles - "keep driving"

confession: personally, i think harry's house is the weakest album in harry's discography (don't @ me!). but that's probably because i am decidedly not into it when every artist/band inevitably makes a synthy pop album. why do they all do it? you don't have to do it! so it's no surprise that my favorite songs on this record are the '70s soft rock, fleetwood mac-y tracks that are more reminiscent of fine line fare: "grapejuice," "daylight," and this one! i also dig the vague, slightly naughty stream-of-consciousness lyrics that include "cocaine, side boob, choke her with a sea view." ope! you wildin', mr. styles.

18. dry cleaning - "don't press me"

in theory, i should dislike dry cleaning, because in theory, they're quite similar to black country, new road, whom i cannot STAND. you know that nick cave quote about the red hot chili peppers? that's literally me with black country, new road. pretentious, pseudo-intellectual, critic's wet dream nonsense. but i digress. i love, love, love dry cleaning. it must be the female vocalist, because their lyrics are just as ridiculous ("don't touch my gaming mouse, you rat!"). but the guitars are tight and searing and i can't help but bop along to this quirky gem; it's very reminiscent of the british indie rock acts of the mid-2000s like the cribs, art brut, and the subways.

17. bad suns - "life was easier when i only cared about me"

bad suns have been churning out upbeat, '80s/new-wave flavored indie pop for the past decade that just makes you feel all sparkly and happy and bright. the chorus alone rockets me to the moon.

16. camp blu - "madame murder"

i've been in my *~spooky~*/darkwave era for the past year — please hit me up if you want some playlist recommendations — and omg, "madame murder" makes me want to don a red velvet cape and sulk around my lair in a vampire's castle. or, like, do the pulp fiction dance in the basement of a goth club with a dude wearing eyeliner. 

15. day wave - "blue"

hearing a lotta shoegaze and a little early smashing pumpkins influence here and it soothes my soul. this song is a big, cathartic sigh and a big, cathartic hug from someone who gives really good hugs at the end of a bad day. :)

14. pool kids - "i hope you're right"

pool kids are a florida-based emo outfit with a pop touch. "i hope you're right" is lush, dreamy, and haunting. i especially love the "ha-ha-ha-ha" pre-chorus and when the guitars are totally unleashed at the end!

13.  diane coffee - "our love/the run"

i've been a fan of diane coffee, the solo project of foxygen drummer shaun fleming, since i caught his absolutely electric live show at the 4knots music festival in brooklyn back in 2016 (i also highly recommend his fantastic NPR tiny desk concert, my favorite to date!). since, shaun and i have struck up a bit of an internet friendship on twitter and instagram and it's great to know that he is just a super cool and funny human in addition to being an incredible singer and musician. the latest diane coffee record, with people, was a bit of a return to form in terms of his soulful retro sound while incorporating the synth pop elements of his last release, internet arms. i always lean toward the former, so "our love/the run" caught my ear right away. it draws you in with a unique, isolated vocal melody that is constantly stuck in my head and and slowly reveals a soaring chorus. 

12.  PHONY - "the middle"

my only complaint about this song is that i wish it was two to three times longer! neil's songwriting and melodies just resonate so much with me — "great white" was my #3 song last year before his full album, at some point you stop, was released this past summer. but "the middle" manages to pack so much gorgeous, raw emotion into two minutes. love the production on this track, too.

11. dani mack - "fleabag" 

one thing about me is that i love a good banger about catholic guilt. just kidding, sort of. i don't really know how to explain it properly, but "fleabag" is one of those songs that just sounds so much like ME, from the vocal delivery to the sarcastic/deadpan lyrics to the handclaps, because another thing about me is that i fucking love a song with handclaps.

10. golden apples - "high school"

fuzzy, hooky, lo-fi goodness straight outta philly. the "come and get it, don't regret it" part and subsequent instrumental just hits my earholes so darn favorably.

9. sorry - "key to the city"

i don't know if i've ever described a song as "evocative," but that word really encapsulates this beautiful, dark, understated but surprisingly complex tune. it's one that stays with you. and, like, the lyrics "i know that you're somewhere out there, being fucked in someone else's bed?" oof oof oof. been there, babe.

8. kurt vile - "hey like a child"

quoth a random youtuber: "oh you like a little twang? a little distortion? a little trippy and totally groovy? songs that feel like the sun is shining directly on you? lyrics that hug your insecurities and give you an understanding that you aren't alone? you should definitely listen to kurt vile." preach, sister.

gotta be honest, though: (watch my moves) is definitely my least favorite KV record. i know the man likes to wander around within songs a lot and i love that about him, but he went off in some very meandering, strange directions a bit too often and for too long for my taste on this one. but! there are several bright spots, including "fo sho," "like exploding stones," "mount airy hill (way gone)" and this one! if you listen to nothing else, listen to the way he says "in a-da-reeeeam i da-rewww my blueprint" because it's 100% kurt vile core. god bless.

7. the berries - "prime" 

first, i will urge anyone reading this (for the second time) to listen to the berries' jaw-droppingly good album, high flying man, immediately. while there's not a filler or skip track in the bunch, the undeniable riff and catchy, simple-yet-relatable chorus of "prime" wormed its way into my brain this summer and it came out on top for me. so goddamn groovy.

6. russ - "yes sir"

my introduction to russ was kind of funny and quite roundabout. i was visiting a friend in portsmouth, new hampshire for the day back in the spring, and i forget what exactly we were talking about, but she brought up the remix of his song "handsomer" — which had been making the rounds on tiktok — and played it for me in her car. i immediately loved it and added it to my playlist. the next day as i was scrolling, because the 'tok is always watching and listening, this clip came up of a smiling, happy fellow drinking a cocktail on a boat and without even seeing who it was, i was like "who is this man with such IMMACULATE VIBES?? I MUST KNOW WHO HE IS!" and surprise, surprise, it was russ!

"yes sir" was undoubtedly my #1 summer jam. russ' style is sing-songy, fun, and playful but also delightfully clever — e.g. "baby i'm a star, of course i'm hangin' out the moonroof" and "come here, kitty kitty/i don't mind a couple whiskers." we love a body positive, feminist king! yes sir, we do. side note: the scenes in this video of him eating pasta on a parisian rooftop are going onto my vision board because this is the energy i want and need in my life, always.

5. bendigo fletcher - "broken routine"

can someone pay me to write about music like this (minus my gratuitous "like"s)? because music writers generally don't, and i feel like they should instead of trying to be clinical and academic, because feelings are the essence of why we love music, right? right?! thaaaanks!

ohhh, how i love bendigo fletcher. "sugar in the creek" made my top 10 last year, and the first time i heard this tune from their new EP wingding, i was like "those bastards have done it again!" i'm typically not super into lyrics when it comes to music — it's usually all about the sound for me — but BF's lyrics so beautifully capture the mundanity of everyday life in such a gorgeous, humorous, authentic way that i can't help but pay attention to them above everything else. i can't be sure, but "broken routine" seems to elegantly describe the idea that as long as you're with your person, even the boring, bad, annoying stuff is no big deal because you're together. "how can i ever be ornery?/doin' your laundry/i imagine you slippin' into every garment/walkin' a clothesline over the carpet"? or "how could we ever be off base?/gettin' stoned in the crawl space/we imagine the locked door turning to chocolate/we are eating our way out of every problem." relationship goals. and that high note in the chorus? chills. every. time.

4. nilüfer yanya - "the dealer"

a track from one of my other favorite (and one of the most underrated) albums of the year, PAINLESS, "the dealer" is somehow urgent and ethereal, mysterious and familiar all at once. no one is quite doing it like she is right now, IMO.

3. my idea - "cry MFer"

ah, yes, my requisite "main character in a '90s movie stares out a window moodily during a train ride" soundtrack. from that hypnotic, looping riff to the yearning chorus, it's easy to get carried along for the four-plus minutes without even realizing it's been that long. 

2. shane t - "night drive"

it's so funny to think about the first time i heard this song because i really liked it, but i had a completely different impression of what it was until a few listens later. it originally came across to me as pure sugary pop, but i soon realized that shane is an indie singer-songwriter that reminds me a lot of briston maroney, whom i also love, and listening to his EP painted a clearer picture of his sound ("deeper" is also pure FIRE.) "night drive" is immediately catchy and intriguing, but goes in a bunch of unexpected directions that it definitely doesn't have to, and that — along with the copious amount of pure VIBES and eminent danceability — is what takes it from good to great for me. 

1. momma - "speeding 72"

big year for songs about driving, i guess! momma first appeared on my radar back in 2020 ("biohazard" was my #3 favorite song) and they struck gold again with their sophomore album, household name. while admittedly, i enjoyed the slightly darker tone of their debut, two of me, overall, "speeding 72" is by far the best song they've written thus far. its sunny, windows-down feel and crunchy riff perfectly match the laid back theme of the track; there are major shades of veruca salt and the breeders, and even a reference to my favorite pavement song in the chorus! as most know, guitar is v personal to me and i'm a slut for good riffs and solos, and that little mini-jam outro makes my mouth water. that TONE, dude. 10/10, no notes.

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