my 2010 recap.

my friend, audrey, posted something on her blog a while ago about some years asking questions, and some years answering them.  2010 was definitely an answers year for me... and there is so much to be grateful for.  i figured it was worth taking a look back..

january

at this time last year, i was starting to count down to the big move/grand opening of chez snips.  i was having a hard time being patient and waiting until may (moving month).  luckily, there was lots to do in preparation.

i also tried to keep myself busy by doing stuff like going out to the old port to take photos so i wouldn't spend all of my time obsessing about the impending, big adventure.  it started to become a bit of a struggle to stay present/to "live in the now".  all my mind wanted to do was just think about what was coming up.

my friends helped me pass the time, and endured months of me yammering on about the tiniest little details.

february

i wrote what i consider to be the best song i've ever written.  so that was good.  but february was a hard month.  i could see the light at the end of the tunnel but, holy hell, it felt like it was taking forever to get to it.

then, mid-month, i cut my hand while washing the dishes and had to take a week off work.  i needed a break at this point and i felt like it was the universe's way of saying:  "if you're not going to give yourself time off, i'll make you take time off ".  thank you, universe.

at the very end of the month, my brother came to visit (!), and everything was better.

it was so good to have him around, and i was reminded that i am part of our small but powerful team.

march

march is when i found out that the salon i had been working at for 2 years, and had planned to work at until i left to open chez snips in may, was, in fact, closing down.  though i was a little freaked out at first (what was i going to do until may?), this turned out to be a blessing.  that salon was what i needed at the time but i had outgrown it.  again,  i felt like the universe had aligned itself to make things easier for me.  now, i didn't have to quit, it was just the end of that era.

april

by april, i was nothing short of a mental case.  i thought the wait was going to kill me.  literally.  i was so eager and anxious that i had insomnia.  when i did sleep, i grinded my teeth so hard that i cracked one of my molars in two. i did that twice, actually, and got well-acquainted with my dentist.

it's difficult, when you know that your life is about to change in a big, major way, to be patient and to just sit back and wait for that change.  i was about to move and start a business for the first time and i'm a bit of a control freak so i found myself trying to predict everything and anything that could possibly happen, which is... impossible... but lord knows i tried.  i really just wanted to get the show on the road at this point.  i kept trying to just relax, trust in life and tell myself that there is only so much i could do but my mind was out of control with to-do lists and what-if scenarios.

may (oh, heavenly month)

... and it finally came!  may!  moving month!  i remember waking up, on those first mornings, in my bright, beautiful, new place, thinking that i was the luckiest person on earth to be there.

there are few times in one's life when one feels such elation, such gratitude to the universe, such pride... but this was one of those times.  i had made it.  i.  had.  made it.  i was EXACTLY where i wanted to be.  all those years, after leaving television, of trying to figure out my new path and studying and working and hoping and struggling and having faith and trying not lose that faith and praying that i was taking the right steps and telling myself that if i just kept at it, i would get there.  and believing.  believing that it would happen.  for me.  and then, suddenly, there i was.  and there it was.  happening.  for me!  absolute elation.

... and so much support and love from so many friends and family... 

 it was.. an absolutely great month.

june

chez snips was off with a bang.  clients were calling.  old and new.  there was so much positive feedback.  i was busy, and i was so very grateful.

i made a garland!

july

winkle weekend = rosy cheeks & happy hearts

august

a quick trip to cali to see my BFF was good for the soul, as was...

 my mom's 60th.

september

 my little band played its first show ever!  (who plays their first show ever at the age of 37?  me, i guess)

... and i dragged jane to plattsburgh to celebrate her birthday...

... which is where i spent all of my weekends in september.

october

... and october (which is also where i celebrated my 38th birthday)...

november

... and november...

had a little health scare, which turned out to be nothing.  moved on.  with more gratitude.

i also started this blog!

december

a bit more time in the purgh...

decorating chez snips for christmas was ridiculously fun.

... and the NYE carnival was the icing on the cake that was 2010.

i'm not sure i can express in words how grateful i am for this year... for so many reasons... not least of which are the love and support of so many kind, creative, funny people:

dano, rob & laurie, lise, jane, gaétanne, tasha & erik, lana, audrey l., audrey PM, andy, matt & kristy, félix, shannanh, boris,  tasha j., lisa, roberta, tara, shauners, digs, vijay, marie-eve. aleks, bess, shannon, andréanne, james, bronners & etienne, sylvain & stéphanie, kathy kennedy, michel, tanya, erica, ellen, amélie, marie-claude, jen, van, alice, jason, jonathan n., jacky, hugues, JS, nadia c., my old TV friends, my awesome clients, carly, cait, cathy & joe cap, aidan & deanna ♥...
and, most of all, my mom & paps (nothing means anything without them)

thank you, 2010.  so very, very much.