Picture this: It’s January 8th, 2024 around 11pm-ish living your last half hour in your 20’s. You reminisce about the last decade; every milestone you hit, every heartbreak you experienced, every defining moment that makes up your identity. I was very local about my 20s specifically; most of it has been documented in almost 1,000 blog posts in the course of 7 years. So now it finally hits midnight; it’s January 9th, 2024, which now makes you 30 years old. You take a deep breath in and turn off your bedroom light for the night: welcome to another year of life, and the first of your fuckin’ 30s.
Fast forward and it’s now June 27th, 2024 (hypothetically speaking if you know my blog posting habits) and you let out that same deep breath. Only this time, it’s followed by a, “goddamn, it’s already gonna be July?!”
Hi, my name is Liz, this is my mid-year self-aware check-up post as we are nearing the middle of the fucking 2024 year. That’s crazy, y’all.
I started off the year going to California to celebrate my 30th birthday. I was so excited to scratch of another place off of my bucket list to travel to. It was the first time on a flight across the country, landing in a different time-zone than my own back in NYC. That particular trip kickstarted is whole want to travel more and see different places. Of course there was no place like home, but I also knew when it was time to get out of the city and go to a different one. This summer, I’m planning on taking another trip! This time, it will be some place along the east coast; something local. As the time I am typing this, nothing is set in stone yet, but of course once everything comes together, pictures will be taken and a travel diary will be written for the blog!
In February, my sibling and I went to go see Chicago on Broadway, of course when Ariana Madix was Roxie Hart! I’m a big Vanderpump Rules fan and Ariana has been a fan favorite since the beginning of her run on the show. She was amazing, so amazing that she even got called back to do the show again in August. Needless to say, this was our first Broadway show in about 17 years; it was a nice change from the loud concerts I attended last year… although I’m literally going to a concert within weeks of me writing this.
Speaking of going out, I (successfully, kinda) went to another party! Back in April, I was invited to Obie’s “Back to the 90’s” party, and I (successfully) did not have an anxiety attack. Of course, whenever I go into these type of settings, I am constantly judging myself and thinking about ways to improve in the future… that’s where the ‘kinda’ part comes in. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve come a long way since being 22-years-old nearly crying my eyes out of its sockets after being at a birthday party with no coping mechanisms whatsoever. I simply now have goals when going into any social gathering, which is just being myself as much as possible.
I’ve learned that I don’t need to get up and dance with a random stranger just to have a good time; instead, I can sit in my seat and dance along to the music and fill up my social cup with just that. I don’t need to mingle and make myself socially available in a party if I know that my battery quickly drains. I’ve learned a lot about myself just by going out and being around more people these days, and I think with more practice and using better techniques to get through a social setting, I will be able to actually walk out of a party having had a good time. I don’t want to have to think my every move; parties are meant to be fun, not work. But again, I am proud of how far I’ve come, as past versions of myself would have not gone out of her way to do. These days, I tag along to studio sessions and witness music tracks being made. These days, I walk around the Downtown neighborhood and stop at a happy hour after a long day at work. I feel like I am embracing my social life more than I ever did in my 20s, whihc isn’t too far off from my “late bloomer” brand.
On top of everything that I’m doing in my social life, I am also working towards growing as a professional. Late last year, I decided that I wanted to go back to school to pursue getting my doctorate degree once I settled into my current position at my job. While that is more of a long term goal, one of my short term goals was to take the Notary Public Exam and pass it to get my license. I spent most of March and April solely studying for this exam, and ya girl passed! It was a nice add-on to my ongoing quest of becoming a more well-rounded professional in the field I work in. It was nice to know that my workplace has supported me through the various processes in my professional development. Having set goals like growing professionally allows me to focus my energy and my task-driven brain towards something that will benefit me in the long-run. No more of the day that I would think mindlessly without any real reasoning behind it.
Mentally, I’ve been pretty good this year (so far). Of course, I am naturally dealing with things that just come with my age: needing more independence on the things that I don’t already have, unlearning some of the behaviors and beliefs that we as children were embedded to think and believe, and in a general sense of what my 3rd decade of my life looks like. I already feel like it’s drastically different than my 20s, and I am hoping that I continue to better myself in different aspects of it: socially, professionally, liz-ally.
Some things I am looking forward to as I write this: my first concert of 2024! By the time this is posted, I would have gone, but I am going to see Tomorrow X Together (TXT) in the city this June! Of course, I am nervous to attend such a huge K-pop concert like theirs, but I am more than excited to cross another artist off of the list I am looking to see live in concert. Some concerts I’ve gone to in the past include Kelly Clarkson, Pentatonix, ITZY, Demi Lovato, NMIXX, Jonas Brothers, and Woodz; a nice little list of people, might I add. I’m also going to take the well-needed PTO and go on vacation this summer. I’m hoping all of our plans go as planned, but needless to say I am just excited to do something during the summer since I haven’t done anything super Summer vacation-like in God knows how long. All I know is that I want to be in someone’s bar with a drink in hand and sunglasses on.
And I think that’s it! I guess check back in December (Twelve Letters of Lizmas, even?) to see how the latter part of the year went! Haha!
Until then!
Letters From Liz. 