2025 was a year of incredible highlights and low moments, too. I’ve been thinking long and hard about what my favorite parts of the past year were. It’s one of the best exercises because sometimes it can be just so easy to keep barreling down the runway of life and forgetting all the good moments. I haven’t been as good about journaling as I wish I could be, so these kind of serve as yearly reminders of the best of the best.
Here are my 2025 favorites:
1. MAHJONG
2025 was kind of defined, for me, by mahjong. It was such a blessing. It came into my life, right at the beginning of the year, at the most perfect time and served me so well. Not only did I find a hobby that will hopefully be a lifelong passion of mine, but I also found some amazing friends through the game as well. I have a group of girls I meet with every week to play– strangers at the beginning of the year and close friends by the end. I feel so lucky. I met a handful of other great girls through mahjong events around town and it’s just been so fun. I love seeing the game sweep through groups of women across the country. (Here are my tips for getting started.)
2. BARREL JEANS
While this is a specific article of clothing, it really stands for so much more. My body has been through the wringer. I’ve been through the wringer. I’m not the same woman today that I was five years ago and although I can see how that might lead to a bit of a crisis in terms of body confidence, I swear I’ve never been more confident. I’m even pushing myself with my wardrobe. I do have a bit of a boring, predictable sense of style so for me to not only try on a trendy pair of jeans, but love them?! It’s symbolic of where I am right now. I love that I’m 36 and still trying new things when it comes to my fashion and daily dressing. Not everything is going to be a hit, but like… it’s clothes. Who cares?! It’s worth playing around because you never know when a style is going to feel so unexpectedly right.
3. PROZAC
Maybe one day I’ll go into the specifics of what led me to trying a new SSRI, but the bottom line is that in the springtime, I found myself in a state of mental crisis. This is not exactly unfamiliar to me… I’ve been there many times in the past. But with two small children, I knew they would need me to get out of bed every morning and put my best foot forward. I really couldn’t do that with extra help. I was struggling bad and spiraling heading into the summer with horrible, horrible anxiety. Some of the worst I’ve ever had. So I brought it up at my annual physical with my PCP (coincidentally had it on the calendar already) and she recommended more therapy and Prozac. I was skeptical of both… but I was desperate so I started Prozac. It helped me so much more than any other SSRI and within a month, I felt totally stable. And as the year progressed, I realized just how much it was helping me beyond just my specific anxiety that led me to start. My heart wasn’t racing every time I thought about something uncomfortable. My work felt so much more manageable. My stress was lower. I felt happy and…. relieved. I wish I had started sooner. I feel like myself.
4. CROWN AFFAIR
Kind of similar to the barrel jeans, Crown Affair is symbolic of a big source of personal growth (literally and figuratively): my hair. My hair and I have always been in a battle and at the beginning of 2025, I set off to tackle my hair and my makeup. It’s been FUN. Almost like a creative outlet. I’m loving trying new things and testing to see what works and doesn’t work. Not everything is a winner, but I have found some amazing products. One of which is Crown Affair. I have loved everything from Crown Affair– so I recommend them all– but my absolute favorite? The overnight repair serum. I can’t stop talking about it and recommend it to everyone who will listen. My hair has never looked healthier or felt softer.
5. ALLERGY DIAGNOSIS
A HUGE shock to me in 2025 was my allergy diagnosis. I had suspected that I had an oyster allergy (going back to my early 20s), but it wasn’t until the end of 2024/beginning of 2025 that I realized it was a much bigger issue than “just” oysters. I have been extremely ill on and off for years. I honestly was thinking that I had the worst luck and kept getting food poisoning. Even though no one else was getting food poisoning…. Then I had two extremely horrific episodes (on Christmas and New Year’s Eve) after eating shrimp and it dawned on me: this is the culprit. I went through all the testing and the doctor confirmed what I suspected: I have FPIES for shellfish (+ oysters and caviar… womp womp)…. and then we were both shocked when my bloodwork came back as positive for protein allergies for all shellfish, too. So I got an epipen and wrote off all shellfish. It was a big mental shift for me and brought up some food/eating anxiety. Overall though, it’s been so worth it. I don’t even miss shrimp or lobster rolls (even though I thought I would) because not getting sick is INCREDIBLE. I even found that my chronic inflammation issue– at one point I was getting tested for arthritis!– went away after I stopped eating. Hallelujah for figuring that out!!!!
(Also I have to say, I have been so embarrassed bringing this up at every restaurant and literally have not had a single issue. Everyone is SO nice about it– even Michelin star restaurants.)
6. TAP CLASS
Kind of crazy to think that I only restarted tap class at the beginning of 2025. It’s been an absolute joy for me to return to something that I loved as a kid. I always regretted quitting… and I feel like I’m fulfilling a promise to my younger self. It’s been FUN and a great work out and (surprisingly) good for my brain. I am friends with everyone in our class and I look forward to our 8pm Monday night classes, which is saying a lot considering how hard it is to get out of the house when it’s dark after putting kids to bed.
7. LIGHTSHIP BASKET BAG
After searching for the “perfect” lightship basket bag for years, I walked into Sylvia Antiques on Nantucket with my best friend just to poke around and immediately– and I mean immediately– fell in love with this bag. The second I saw it, I knew it was “the one.” It stood out to me and caught my eye in a sea of many other lightship baskets. Usually I’m someone who hems and haws over big, expensive purchases… but not this time. I went for it and haven’t looked back. This is something I hope to have for a lifetime. (You can read more about it here.)
8. FOUR LEAF CLOVERS
We lost my beloved grandma Charlotte in September. She led such an inspiring long life– independent right to the very end. She got sick and it got quite bad very fast. My parents were keeping me updated about her prognosis and they were trying a new medication. We share a birthday (I think this is why I feel so connected to her!) and so on our birthday, we talked for 15 minutes. It was such a wonderful, normal conversation. We talked about mahjong– I asked her all sorts of questions– and she remarked on the boys and we talked about Jack learning to ride his bike. It was really such a normal conversation and I was thinking, “Wow! The medicine is working!” I actually hung up feeling so happy and hopeful. Then my mom told me it was her only really lucid conversation of the day and no one could believe it that she was talking so normally. I had no idea! Which in retrospect, I love. I love that my last conversation with her felt so us. Just chatting. Saying we loved each other. On our birthday of all days! And then a few days later she was gone. I was outside with the boys and was hunting for four leaf clovers. I had been obsessed all summer trying to find one…. and then…. truly 15 minutes after my dad called me… I found a five leaf clover (!!!) and right after that a four leaf clover. It felt like a little sign from her.
9. CHICAGO TRIP
This fall, Mike and I went to Chicago with our friends. It was SUCH a fun trip. We did all the touristy things, ate all the good food, drank the drinks. I kept remarking how we really should travel more with friends– it was a trip that was just for fun, not for a wedding or a baby shower or some other random event where you “travel” but don’t feel like you really travel. It started when my friend scored a reservation to Alinea and we built the trip around that. I hope we do more of that.
10. BIKE RIDING EVERY NIGHT
I can’t do a 2025 favorites without talking about how lucky I feel to live on our street. When we moved here in 2019, we thought we were buying a “starter home” and we weren’t even married and we didn’t have kids. In fact, there weren’t a lot of young children on the street. Some middle schoolers and a lot of high schoolers. Then the pandemic hit and there was a huge turnover on our street and an even bigger baby boom. Now we have neighbors that are friends and our kids are all growing up together. It feels like a slice of heaven. We don’t take it for granted. This summer in particular was magical. Every night, all the kids (and parents) gathered on the street to ride bikes and scooters. It was something straight out of a movie. Most nights we’d have dinner and all meet back outside. Other nights, we’d order pizza and have picnics on our porches together. Other nights, we’d all spill into someone’s house for takeout and good ole fashioned impromptu hangs. The best best best.
PS This is my SEVENTEENTH year doing a recap of my favorites every year. Here are my favorites from 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024!
