Thinking · · 5 min read

100 things that made my year

The ultimate gratitude practice.

100 things that made my year

I’m taking inspiration from ​Austin Kleon’s recent Substack post of the same name​. I love the idea of going through a “favorites” list except we talk about all my favorite moments of the year. I’ll be doing a separate round up of all the shows, films, music, and things that I loved in 2024 in a separate issue.

Here are some things that made my 2024:

  1. ​Attending the Superbowl with Adidas​. This event was really what kicked off my decision of leaving my full-time job. I met such incredible people on this trip which really inspired me to go after my dreams.
  2. Being in Austin with the Notability team. I’ve LOVED working with the Notability team this year and just getting more familiar with the app in general. It’s now such a important tool in my creative process.
  3. Launching (then relaunching) my blogs, ​Coffees with Angel​ and ​Feel Good Studios​. (I’m still debating whether to move back to Substack honestly. Ugh.)
  4. Phone calls and face times with my LDR friend Janice.
  5. Board game nights with my family friends.
  6. Lagree sessions with my friend, Jun.
  7. Little mini girls retreats with my friends in Squamish
  8. Discovering new trails with Mika
  9. Quitting my job (CRAZY)
  10. Working with dream brands like Logitech, Adidas, Herman Miller, Hubspot and many more
  11. Discovering a new found love (perfumes)
  12. Rediscovering a long-time love (reading)
  13. The Europe trip of a lifetime with my girlfriends
  14. Sitting on a patio in Milan planning life goals with friends. I can’t even explain how much of a core-memory that was.
  15. Attending my first Milan Fashion Week event. Terrifying but so fulfilling.
  16. Discovering a new found love for tea! I didn’t give up on coffee, don’t worry. I just added another caffeinated beverage to my life.
  17. So much self-discovery. So many new personal goals. Really trying to dig even deeper (and heal more).
  18. The way Mika’s paws smell like cheetos. It’s adorable.
  19. Mika and I’s game: blanket monster. Aka I just throw a blanket over her head and tickle her while she tries to bite my fingers. It’s the best.
  20. Reworking my Notion (again).
  21. Joining Kevin Yee’s mastermind. Really just learning about masterminds in general. What an amazing, awesome, incredible thing.
  22. Taking Ali Abdaal’s YouTube course. It really just validated a lot of things I already knew but taught me some new things as well. Honestly loved it.
  23. Lighting a candle (or incense), having a hot cup of jasmine tea, and reading a book. UGH. Heaven.
  24. Rediscovering cushion foundation. Like genuinely why did I ever stop using them.
  25. Trying to cook new cuisines. Experimenting with Mexican, Moroccan, Vietnamese, Thai, and more.
  26. Putting on body lotion every night.
  27. Sitting in a cafe alone, on nobody’s time but my own.
  28. Starting my podcast, Feel Good Lab!
  29. Interviewing Terri, because having friends on the pod is genuinely the most satisfying thing ever.
  30. Mika being an absolute angel when I’m sick and happily spending all day lying next to me in bed.
  31. Spending random sister time with my sisters.
  32. Deep talks with my mom. Rare but beloved.
  33. Reading smutty romantasy. It’ll always be my guilty pleasure.
  34. Sitting on the sofa, writing newsletters. I want to do more of this year.
  35. Watching shows and movies after dinner and not feeling guilty. This is a new one for me.
  36. Todos Santos with Cathleen, Jun, and Kelly. Pure joy.
  37. Migrating and reorganizing all of my footage onto SSD chips.
  38. My new morning routine: Meditate, drink lemon water, have coffee while I read, journal. Bliss.
  39. Terri leading me through a yoga sequence.
  40. Putting my fingers on piano keys again and letting muscle memory take over.
  41. Decanting perfumes for my friends.
  42. Experimenting with my style.
  43. Using my new Hatch sleep machine to play soundscapes while I sleep. Is this what 30 is? Playing fake rain forest sounds because it soothes you? Cause I’m into it.
  44. Purging my closet. Best feeling in the world.
  45. There’s still nothing that feels quite as satisfying as pulling the perfect espresso shot in the morning.
  46. Dialling in your new espresso beans in one try. Pure fluke but makes me feel like a genius.
  47. Cleaning the kitchen. This one’s definitely a new one for me. Oddly satisfying space to keep clean.
  48. Sitting outside with my coffee and nutella cornetto in Milan in the morning as I journal. A different morning routine that I love.
  49. Strolling through Parco Sempione.
  50. Wandering Milan (or any city) with no real destination in mind.
  51. Flea markets in Berlin.
  52. Cafes in Berlin.
  53. Okay, just Berlin in general tbh.
  54. Speaking my novice Italian and feeling so proud that I can understand basic conversations now.
  55. Listening to Italian music and realizing that you can understand parts of it.
  56. Starting my unwind routine at 9pm.
  57. Putting on skincare at night time.
  58. Using a natural loofah with the Bioderma body oil cleanser. Elite combination.
  59. Seeing your readiness score go up in the Oura app.
  60. Waking up and not needing any pimple stickers. RARE.
  61. Watching my mom walk to a small Italian bodega and communicating with the shopkeepers. SO endearing.
  62. Listening to an entire podcast on my drive down to the city.
  63. Receiving book mail. Or perfume mail.
  64. Attending events and actually connecting with people.
  65. Meeting new friends in new cities.
  66. That one room in the Boston Public Library. Or the courtyard. UGH. I would spend all my days there if it was in my city.
  67. Getting matching tattoos with friends.
  68. Unanimously deciding it’s time to go back to the Airbnb and order take out after a day of meandering through a new city with Janice.
  69. Sleeping on Cathleen’s couch like I’m her adoptive child. (She’s one of my best friends).
  70. Creating. Just creating.
  71. Solo-dates. Doing anything really.
  72. When my partner strokes my hair.
  73. Forehead kisses.
  74. Making random late night snacks together. Quesadillas, popcorn, tacos, pancakes.
  75. Summer’s Christmas Crack.
  76. Drinking out of my Owala bottle. I’ll never get over what a satisfying user experience it is.
  77. Falling in love with Vanilla scents. Who would’ve thought.
  78. Stretching.
  79. Watching Mika bury her head in the snow.
  80. Getting together with my family friends.
  81. Getting dressed up.
  82. When your budget is all reconciled.
  83. When my content calendar is planned out.
  84. Having back-to-back exciting partnerships.
  85. Completing projects.
  86. When my things sell on marketplace. No haggling. No meet-up issues.
  87. Dog-sitting aka Mika gets to have friends over.
  88. Being on the couch with Mika and my partner with the weighted blanket over all 3 of us.
  89. Finding what you’ve been looking for in vintage stores.
  90. Intimissimi underwear.
  91. Taking gaba and magnesium before bed.
  92. Back-bends.
  93. Good hair days where every piece just lays right.
  94. Every single email response I get from you or my podcast listeners. SO fulfilling.
  95. Using my journal as a scrap book and adding stickers, travel ephemera.
  96. Writing random lists.
  97. My paper republic journals. I will love this forever.
  98. Writing cursive using a fountain pen.
  99. Shoes that don’t make my feet sweaty.
  100. Telling people I love that I love them.

This was both harder and easier than I thought it would be. I feel like this is the ultimate gratitude practice. So if you’ve never tried writing down 100 things that made your year, I’d highly recommend it.

2024 favorites round up coming soon!

Angel x

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