Well, I have decided to take a crack at the ubiquitous end-of-year questionnaire. I used Sundry‘s new shortened version, since I’m kind of getting in just under the wire here.

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?

Ran a half marathon. Bought a house. Practiced as a litigator. Got pregnant.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don’t think I made any resolutions last year. For next year, I’d like to:
- Compete in a triathlon
- Drink enough water
- Let myself be in more pictures, and resist the urge to delete.
- I feel like should add something about parenting, I’m sure, but I don’t know if it’s a resolution so much as a hope that I get my feet under me and do it as well as I can without being too hard on myself.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Two very good friends and several others. Something in the water, it seems.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

A close friend’s mother died of brain cancer in September.

5. What countries did you visit?

Spain, Italy (layover), Turks and Caicos.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

A healthy baby. And a fully functioning toilet in our first floor bathroom. (Sexy!)

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

February, when I travelled to New Orleans for the half marathon.  July, when we found out I was pregnant.  October, when I started my new job.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Running the half marathon was a big accomplishment for me. I’ve never thought of myself as athletic, and I was scared of the distance, and I pushed through and made myself do it.
(Again, feel I should say something baby-related here, but getting pregnant does not feel like an “achievement,” so much as us being lucky to be able to do it.)

9. What was your biggest failure?

I failed to even throw my hat in the ring for a dream job, assuming I wouldn’t be qualified and wouldn’t get it.  I think I was right, but I wish I’d tried.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I had several colds? And had some hip and back pain from running? I’ve been very lucky that that’s about it.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Our house. Even with the mice, the floods, and all the other surprises, we love it, and plan to stay here a very long time.  Also: our seltzer maker.

12. Where did most of your money go?

See above.

13. What did you get really excited about?

We’re pretty excited about this impending kid.

14. What song will always remind you of 2010?

Empire State of Mind, which was a running and working anthem this year for me (even though it came out in 2009)
The Sleigh Bells album, which I listened to every day on the commute to work when I was morning sick.  I kind of can’t listen to it without feeling a little queasy now.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

–

- happier or sadder? Happier.

- thinner or fatter? Substantially more girthly
- richer or poorer? Financially poorer. But hey, I own some mice now, so that’s something!

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Initiated plans with friends.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Accidentally putting things in the dryer that are supposed to line dry.  (Wait, are we supposed to be thinking like Big Important Things? Hm. In that case, I’d say dithering around aimlessly on the internet when I could have or should have been doing something more focused.)

18. How did you spend Christmas?

At my parents’ house.

19. What was your favorite TV program?

Mad Men, The Good Wife, Pawn Stars

20. What were your favorite books of the year?

Let the Great World Spin by Collum McCann
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel,
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

21. What was your favorite music from this year?

Mumford and Sons.  The Winter of Mixed Drinks.  “Welcome Home” by Radical Face (another 2009 release that I just got hip to this year.) Frightened Rabbit, Hockey, Vampire Weekend, and Jeffrey Fouccault, all of whom I saw put on excellent live shows this year.

22. What were your favorite films of the year?

Wow did I not see a lot of movies this year.  I really liked The Kids Are All Right

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I co-hosted a baby shower for my good friend Mason.  I turned 31.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

I don’t know.  I’m pretty satisfied with my life, and grateful for that.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?

Stretchy

26. What kept you sane?

John. Cooking. Running.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.

That whole “take it one day at a time” thing? Yeah, that actually helps.

So it appears that I have inadvertently gone and gotten myself Joan Jett’s haircut, circa 1981.

I went to a new salon, where my adorable and super-fashionable friend Nacho gets her hair cut. That was my first mistake. Nacho is 400% more fashionable than me, so it stands to reason that the place where she gets her haircut would be very, very hip. Sure enough, the lovely girl who cut my hair had her dimples pierced (true story) and an outfit that was the perfect mix of 80s vintage and American Apparel. I was way out of my league, here.

“How can I make you happy?” she asked.

“I’m thinking that for winter I might try turning my side swept bangs into blunt bangs” I said.

“Awesome!” she said. “Do you like layers?”

“Um, yes? Kinda?” I replied. “The last haircut I got ended up looking really feathered and frizzy because the guy got kind of carried away with the layers, and I don’t like that. But yeah, I like layers.”

“Great!” she said.

A few snips later I had blunt bangs. Even while they were still wet and wavy I already liked them. I was mentally patting myself on the back for taking a successful hair risk when she started combing the rest of the hair on my head forward and cutting off rather alarming chunks.

“Um,” I said.

“Oh,” she said “this will just give you super subtle layering in the back. It’s going to look amazing.”

Since she’d already started, I thought “okay! subtle! I can do subtle!”

Then she started cutting all these teeny tiny pieces in the front, adjacent to the bangs, in what looked suspiciously like feathering. And then she got out the razor.

“I’m, um, not into too much razoring,” I noted.

“I’m hardly going to do any,” she said. “Just to give it some movement.” And then, like a weed whacker, her hands started moving so fast that I couldn’t really tell what was happening and then she turned me around and by the time it was all over….Joan Jett.

It’s a cute haircut, actually. I like it. It’s exactly the kind of cut I would see on someone else and think “I wish I could pull that off.” But having a haircut that is 400% more fashionable than you are seems like… a bad idea. I wear a lot of ill-fitting 5-year-old Banana Republic business casual pants, and when I’m not wearing those, I wear jeans and tshirts. My haircut is going to be embarrassed to be seen in my wardrobe.

Seriously, I can tell it’s already mortified by today’s outfit, which features neither leggings nor skinny jeans nor a long ironic boyfriend sweater:

‘

Plus side: shiny hair distracts from oddly mottled and sickly skin tone.

I need to learn this lesson: every time I try to get a dramatic haircut, I end up feeling silly. What I need, I think, is to find a salon where no one is cool, no one is hip, and there is zero chance that I will get caught up in the moment and think that I can pull off something trendy. To be clear: I really liked this salon. They were super friendly, reasonably priced, and clearly know what they are doing. In fact, it’s because they were so good that I managed to convicnce myself that I, too, could pull off a cute fun trendy look. Who do I think I am, someone who pierces my dimples? Come on, self. I clearly need to find a salon populated by 30-somethings who have nice boring swingy haircuts and wear v-neck sweaters. That salon would give me a perfect haircut, I bet. Any suggestions?

Jetlag makes you surprisingly awake and alert in the morning.

Things John and I accomplished yesterday morning before work:

• 9 holes of golf (John)
• 30 day shred (pseudo)
• bike ride to farmers’ market to pick out week’s veggies (pseudo)
• shower (both)
• reviewing of credit card statements and paying of bills (John)
• finishing artwork for top secret web-based project (pseudo)
• breakfast (both)
• packing lunch (both)
• folding laundry (pseudo)

Seriously.

Of course, we were falling asleep in our dinner plates by 8:30 pm, but that’s a minor detail.

My car is in the shop.  Remember a few weeks ago when my car got hit in a parking lot?  Well, the stars finally aligned and I got things coordinated with the insurance company, the repair place, and the car rental establishment to fix my car starting today.  It will hopefully be done by Friday.

In the meantime, I am driving a tin can on wheels rented Chevy Cobalt.

Look, my car is not particularly fancy.  It is not a luxury brand.  But after one day of driving El Craptastico (I name all my cars- this pet name seemed fitting for the Cobalt) I miss all the little touches that make me love my car.

Such as:

• the ability to change radio stations with a button on the steering wheel
• a steering wheel that adjusts upward high enough that it does not graze my knees
• a cupholder deep enough to accommodate a standard-sized soda can without threatening to tip over
• automatic door locks
• automatic windows
• automatic side mirror adjustors
• automatic anything, really

What’s funny is that I distinctly remember, when I was in the market for my current car, thinking that it was silly to pay for such “extras”.  At the time, there were really only two options packages available on my car: the one I got, and the one fancier than I got.  So I didn’t have to choose, individually, whether I wanted the sunglasses case that drops down from the ceiling, or the cd player- they were included in the base package.  But I remember thinking that if I could have paid a couple hundred bucks less to NOT have those options, I would have.

Now, of course, I cannot imagine being so penny pinching when making a major purchase like a car.  It’s not like I’m planning to jump into deluxe extras like exotic wood trims or heated seats with my next car purchase or anything, but in retrospect the value I’ve gotten from these seemingly  “extra” features like the auto-lock button key fob thingy have DEFINITELY been worth a couple hundred bucks.

I suppose this is part of growing up, becoming more financially stable, and feeling less panicky about comparatively minor expenses.  These days, I occasionally spring for the diet coke when I go out to lunch and don’t mentally berate myself for spending the $1.19.  I buy ground turkey from Whole Foods instead of the discount grocer because it tastes a lot better.  Recently, I purchased a plane ticket that was $25 more than the cheapest flight I found, simply because it took off at a more convenient time.

Seriously, what kind of money-burning maniac have I become?  If I’m this way at 30, what will 40 bring?  Ordering something other than the least-expensive glass of wine on the menu?  Buying socks from a place other than Target?  God forbid, a moonroof?  The mind just reels.

My birthday was Saturday.  It was a big one: the kind that end with a zero.  I feel relatively unfazed by it, perhaps because I haven’t given it too much thought (busy at work, sister just had surgery, dear friend in personal crisis- too much going on to really fret over it).  One thing that does make me uneasy about birthdays, however, is how they serve as a stark reminder for the various ways in which I sometimes suck at friendship.

I am truly surprised and sincerely grateful when people remember my birthday.  I’m not picky about the medium- I love and appreciate cards, texts, and even facebook messages.  But with each birthday wish that I receive,  I feel a vague sense of panic as I run through my very fuzzy memories of the past year, trying to remember if I remembered to wish that person happy birthday when it was their special day.  Too often, I’m afraid, the answer is “nope, I totally forgot.” And then I feel bad and berate myself for being such a disorganized loon.

I fear it says something sad about me that one of my primary feelings associated with receiving birthday wishes is guilt.