The days are long, but the years are short, as they say! I initially felt like I maybe didn't accomplish much this year, but looking back, that's not true at all. I sometimes get stuck in that 2010s girl boss (blegh) way of thinking that the only meaningful accomplishments are related to work, but the last few years I've been writing down what I do every day, and it's been a good way to rehab that way of thinking. So, this is just a record of what I did this year, what movies I loved, what books I enjoyed and what music I bopped around to.

Things I did in 2025:

These were my initial goals for the year:

• Make one new friend
• Bike to Hamilton
• Find a way to volunteer in the community
• Learn Redshift or take a motion course
• Read 12 books
• Go on a solo travel trip
• Try paddleboarding
• Make matchbooks

From that list, I did the following:

• Make one new friend - While I haven't forged any new friendships, but vI was able to reconnect with a lot of old friends from my past, so I am going to count that!
• Read 12 books - I know for some this is not a lot of books, but for me this is a big deal (life is so busy and distracting!). I ended up reading 14 books.
• Go on a solo travel trip - Went to Montreal for a few days at the end of August.
• Try paddleboarding - I did it twice! I really need to work on my core, but I'm hoping for more of this in 2026
• Make custom matchbooks - Hell yeah, I did!

And then these were all the other things I did that weren't on my list:

• Did the 75km route for Bike for Brain Health
• Wore shorts in public all summer
• Did a lot of public swimming
• Had my first fender bender
• Summer ceramics class
• Travelled to Montreal
• Travelled to Scotland with my sister and dad
• Travelled to Barcelona with Rachelle and Mat
• Travelled to Japan with Anna

Favourite Media in 2025

• One Battle After Another
• Eddington
• Sorry, baby
• If I Had Legs I’d kick You
• Sentimental value
• Bugonia
• Sinners
• Friendship
• No Other Choice
• Marty Supreme

• Le Bonheur - Beautiful and devastating
• The Apartment - I love Shirley MacLaine
• Tokyo Godfathers - This is going to be my annual holiday watch
• Viy - Weird and strange Soviet cinema
• The Witch - Goats are freaky man
• Magnolia - I love Tom Cruise, sorry!
• Pee Wee's Big Adventure - Justice for Paul Reubens
• Goodfellas - I totally get the film bros
• Piano Teacher - Fucked up, I loved it
• Takeout - Early Sean Baker, anxious and harsh

• Wet Leg - Moisturizer
• Aminé - 13 Months of Sunshine
• Tyler the Creator - Don’t Tap the Glass
• Turnstile - Never Enough
• Tennis - Face down in the Garden
• Kokoroko - Tuff times never last
• Addison Rae - Addison

• Rejection
• Big Swiss
• Sky Daddy
• My Year of Rest and Relaxation
• Boy Parts

That's it! The only thing I wish I had done was to find a way to volunteer in the community. While that didn't happen this year, I was able to donate monthly to four different organizations in the city, and I'm looking forward to continuing that in the new year.

I'm not sure what 2026 will bring. I decided not to set any specific goals for myself and go with the flow. Will report back on how that goes for me!