Hello there!

If you’ve made it this far and are still checking in on my website, I love you more than ending a satisfying trilogy book series. For that I am grateful, and entering into this new year grateful is a pretty good place to start. It doesn’t need to be said but we all know that 2020 was a garage fire of epic proportions and although I also understand that time is a construct and a New Year doesn’t necessarily mean everything starts over; I have hope.

Things I’ve Survived In 2020:

• My Honors English Class, Thesis and Honors Exam (and received Highest Honors no doubt!)
• My Third Miscarriage in Four Years (during a storm that knocked out the power in the hospital)
• A Whole Damn Pandemic (so far)

So there is no shortage of hope as we ring in this new year and try to keep in together again for another year. Apart from hope, there is one word that comes to mind for me as I step into 2021. That word is try.

Do you remember the iconic movie of 2006: The Devil Wears Prada?

Yes? Bueno.

In the movie after a particularly stressful night of not living up to Miranda’s (Meryl Streep) expectations, Andy (Anne Hathaway) stops to blow off some steam in Nigel’s (Stanley Tucci) office/studio.

Andrea:
She hates me, Nigel.
Nigel:
And that's my problem because... Oh, wait. 
No, it's not my problem.
Andrea:
I don't know what else I can do because if I do something right, it's unacknowledged. 
She doesn't even say thank you. 
But if I do something wrong, she is vicious.
Nigel:
So quit.
Andrea:
What?
Nigel:
Quit.
Andrea:
Quit?
Nigel:
I can get another girl to take your job in five minutes... one who really wants it.
Andrea:
No, I don't want to quit. That's not fair. 
But, I, you know, I'm just saying that I would just like a little credit... for the fact that 
I'm killing myself trying.
Nigel:
Andy, be serious. You are not trying. You are whining. What is it that you want me to say to you, huh? 
Do you want me to say, "Poor you. Miranda's picking on you. Poor you. Poor Andy"? Hmm? 
Wake up, six. She's just doing her job. 
Don't you know that you are working at the place that published some of 
the greatest artists of the century? Halston, Lagerfeld, de la Renta. 
And what they did, what they created was greater than art because you live your life in it. 
Well, not you, obviously, but some people. You think this is just a magazine, hmm? 
This is not just a magazine. This is a shining beacon of hope for... oh, I don't know... 
let's say a young boy growing up in Rhode Island with six brothers 
pretending to go to soccer practice when he was really going to sewing class and 
reading Runway under the covers at night with a flashlight. 
You have no idea how many legends have walked these halls. 
And what's worse, you don't care. 
Because this place, where so many people would die to work you only deign to work. 
And you want to know why she doesn't kiss you on the forehead and 
give you a gold star on your homework at the end of the day. 
Wake up, sweetheart.

I feel like this is a good way to think of how I’ve survived through 2020. A bit of sporadic hard work and a whole lot of whining and distancing myself from reality. So for 2021 I want to commit to trying. Trying to work consistently and aggressively towards my goals, my dreams, my relationships. Trying to be active in my life and the lives of the people I care about. 2021 is not just about showing up it’s about doing the hard work and trying.

So for this New Year I wish upon all of you who are reading this and all the souls you touch and the souls they touch, a fruitful, glorious, and inspiring year. I wish for you all the love and happiness in the world spread across these next 365 days. I hope that you give 2021 a try and let the powers of time (constructed or otherwise) to shower you in it’s gifts.

I wish good health to all of you. Please don’t forget your masks, social distance, and stay home when you can. Let us live long enough to see the end of this damned pandemic, and party safely.

I love you all.

Happy New Year!

Xoxo Besos.