Hello beautiful friends! Long time no see, life gets busier and busier between work, traveling and side hustling! We all know that we’re here for one reason: it’s my birthday month, aka time to look back at the past year and see how far we’ve come!
I am twenty-four years old. Once you hit 25, you’re pretty much 30. It’s all downhill from there, they say. So this is my last “fun year”, it sounds like. Will it be better than 23? Because lemme tell ya, the past year was major.
Overall, it was a year of growth. I have learned so much along the way, more than in any of my other years on this planet. I have experienced extreme joy, satisfaction, sadness, disillusionment, pride, self discovery, excitement and triumph, and none of these emotions would have existed without each other.
But to get into the actual accomplishments and memories from the past year (just like I did when I turned 22 and when I turned 23) let’s look back at a fun list of occurrences (fancy word, huh?).
Graduated with a Master’s Degree
I graduated from my Masters program in PR and Advertising with a 3.95/4.00 GPA. While working full time. Along with my school best friends. On the same day, my brother earned his undergrad degree. And to top it all, my best friends from Italy crossed the ocean to see me cross that stage. I mean, how can you beat that?
Got an agency internship
Back in December, I had a full time job working in fundraising for healthcare. I knew I wanted to do more with my life and work in the field I majored in, so I took a leap of faith, quit my job and applied for internships at a couple of agencies. Slack and Company was high on my list, and after interviewing with seven different people, I finally got an internship there. And then…
Got promoted to my full time job
Two months later, after working hard on the agency’s largest account, I got offered a full time job. I have dreamed about this sort of stuff since I was a kid: working in marketing in a beautiful office on the main street of a big city. Now that I do it every day, it’s easy to forget how blessed I am for being able to achieve dreams such as this one. It can be stressful at times, but I’m grateful.
Went to London… Twice
In the past year, I traveled a whole lot, but no city was as special as London. I went to London twice, once in December of last year, and then once again in March.
The December trip was literally the epitome of YOLO. My brother, my best friends and I got tickets to the World Darts Championship at Alexandria Palace in London, just because. We are huge fans of the darts, so we made a cheap trip out of it: bought Ryanair flights, stayed at a hostel (bless Clink Hostels for our partnership!), and ate the cheapest food and beer we could find in London. We also dressed up to go see the darts and walked around all of Camden Town to find a Santa costume. But that’s a story for another day.
The second time in London was surreal. I went back in March with a sports management school program at DePaul, called the “Business of Sports in London”. The amount of absolutely unbelievable things we did there cannot be explained in one paragraph. Think: attending a World Cup qualifier game at Wembley stadium, visiting the European NBA headquarters, the Liverpool headquarters, venues from the London 2012 Olympic Games, Wimbledon, meeting the Club Manager at Wimbledon, the former CFO for the Olympics, going to a Premier League game, to see horse races at a track, to a rugby game and so on.
This experience was so important to me because it truly made me feel like my dream of working in sports – more specifically, the Olympics! – is achievable. On top of that, it gave me some new, incredible friends.
Got Collaborations I am Incredibly Proud of
Even though this year I spent less time working on the blog and Instagram in order to focus on the internship, my job and school, I still got to work with awesome brands on incredible partnerships. From my stay at Clink Hostels, to promoting assisted stretching with StretchLab, from a Taste of Chicago collaboration with Buona Beef, to being invited to Eataly’s annual party, I really got the chance to work on some fun stuff. I am very proud of myself for keeping it up with this little project of mine even when it’s overwhelming! It definitely has its perks.
That’s my brother and I at Eataly‘s September Fest annual party! As a loud and proud Italian in Chicago, this was the partnership of my dreams!
Survived a Break up
Y’all are all here to get those juicy details, aren’t you? Well, there isn’t much to say. I went through a breakup before the summer, and it taught me a lot. Mainly, it taught me to handle this sort of stuff in a mature way. It taught me that I am enough on my own. It taught me that you can have the best laid plan for your life, but that you can’t cling on it because it will change. It taught me that you can start again as many times as you want and that every day is in your hands and your hands only. Break up always leave a lot of “room”: you decide if you want to fill it with regrets and self-blame, or if you’ll allow it to be room for growth. Room for self-love. Room for you. It’s room for me now. And maybe someone else. We’ll see!
Saw Cirque Du Soleil, and in Montreal!
I know this might not be such a milestone for some people, but I got to see Cirque du Soleil twice. Once in Chicago, where I saw Volta, which was beautiful. But nothing can compare to the second time, when I saw the remastered version of my favorite show, Alegria, in Montreal, Canada, where Cirque du Soleil was founded (I wrote about it here). Now, I dare you to tell me that’s not the coolest thing in the world. I have been a circus fan for as long as I have been able to walk, so this was definitely an incredible experience for me. And talking about circus…
Went back to Lyra
I went back to practicing Lyra after years! Good lord, I am nowhere the level I was when I used to perform, but it’s so fun to be able to get back on the Lyra every now and then! A throwback pic from my performing days just because.
Meeting Inspiring People and Expat Women
If there is one thing I am particularly proud of, is the new community I have built over the past year. I have made tons of connections in real life and online, and some of the people I have met or got to know in the past year are now some of my best friends. I absolutely love meeting new people, and I have to say that Instagram played a huge role in it. It seems silly, I know, to fully trust a social network with real life relationships, but it truly did it for me. Thanks to Instagram, I am now connected to a whole community of expat women in the US, and even though I do not know most of them in real life, they make me feel less lonely when I get homesick. Social media can be a beautiful thing if you use it right. You can follow us at @italianwomenusa, if you’re curious.
Lastly, the First Times.
Every year, I seem to be doing so many things for the first time! This year was no exception: I changed a diaper. Drove a car. Got my license. Got a full time job. Met soccer players from my favorite team. Witnessed my hometown win the bid for the Olympics. Ate deer tartare. Visited the Motown Museum. Attended a rugby game. Had canederli. Lived through the day when Chicago was colder than Antarctica and Siberia.
That’s all I have for now, my friends. I don’t know why, but even though 23 was just amazing, I am incredibly excited for 24. It started well, and I have a feeling it’s going to be a bright year. So, stay tuned for updates!