2013 Year In Review!
I cannot believe that 2013 has drawn to a languorous (for me) close. For the history books, 2013 will always and forever be a Big Year in my life because I got engaged AND married!
I do this year in review because it not only jogs my memory but also because it's an excellent exercise for gratitude. Please post your own YIR and share the link in comments.
Herewith, the highlights of my 2013.
January
Moved (officially) to NYC to live with my man. Packed up all my stuff (AGAIN) and put it into not one but two storage units.
Before moving, though, I began the year with a gorgeous kick-starting retreat with my business besties: Racheal Cook of the Yogipreneur and Kacy Paide of the Inspired Office.
We retreated to Keswick (our fave!!!!) and spent some days masterminding, eating and wandering around the shops in Charlottesville.
February 2013
Gorgeous retreat with Elena Brower and Christy McKensie in Tulum Mexico with my man and our new friends. Highly recommend the loving yoga classes of both teachers. Elena is in NYC and often LA. Christy is in Miami.
In early Feb I attended a Deepak Chopra event at ABC Carpet. I wore flare leg light denim and received a compliment from a lovely lady nearby. (Thank you MiH jeans for kickstarting convo.) That serendipitous meeting brought me two new friends/clients: Chella Farrow and Naomi Pabst.
Also interviewed the inimitable Derek Halpern for Social Media Week. He's fun! And smart. You should watch our video.
February was evidently a big month because I also released the Thomas Jefferson poster and immediately ran out! (This happened while I was off the grid in Tulum.) No one can take Katie Couric's tweet away from me. The poster also marks the beginning of a love of product as business model for me. 
March
Hit up SXSW with my fab friend/former client Justine Bloome from Australia! Even though we had never met in person before we shared a bed for a week :) This would bode well for later in the year.
Oh yeah, and SXSW is mad fun, informative, and gets your brain juices going. Apparently I have almost zero instagrams from that week in Austin (HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE)?
Highlights? Yoga at Black Swan with my friends Justine, Shawn, and Q, followed by organic dinner.
April
Hosted the Reverence + Revenue Virtual Retreat! This funtimes event challenged me technically but the content was JUST SO FREAKING AWESOME from all the speakers that it didn't matter.
One of my fave talks was:
Vanessa Scotto (my friend/client) who spoke about how to defeat the inner critic.
April is also my bday month (yah) and ended with an amazing trip to England to visit Justin's family (and meet his parents for the first time).
We celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, met his nieces and nephews and I was treated to some of the best weather of the entire spring/summer while in London, thankyouverymuch.
May
May may may. May was momentus. Justin took me completely by surprise and asked me to marry him! On the 53rd annivesary of the day his parents met and the day before their 50th wedding anniversary.
The ring was perfect (and secretly designed by the uber talented Tracy Matthews) and the proposal a SURPRISE! (Did I mention that?) Stay tuned for my storyteller's version of our meeting/first date and then wedding!
I also launched by perfume officially, thanks to the fab ladies at Sniffapalooza. It was a crazy time chez Woddis/Fritsch for about a week before the launch, but it was so nice to receive positive feedback on the scent and the packaging!
New exciting Let Them Wear Green love perfume balm 2.0 debuts in just a few short weeks at the uber posh Elements Showcase trade show for indie, niche and designer fragrances.
I was also off on a business tangent from March through August called House of Bond. I love the branding for the project, love the concept, but ultimately took those months (and the money I invested in it) as a learning experience but NOT as a business I wanted to devote my full self to. In the end, I hope HOB comes back in another incarnation, but in 2013 I realized that it wasn't my calling. Right now.
June
Weddings, reunions, and more!
In June I had a whirlwind trip down South for a wedding and my 10th college reunion. It was a wonderful time to catch up with old friends and visit the amazing place where I was lucky enough to attend school (UVA in Charlottesville. The view above is from my old room during my last year of college).
I also attended my dear friend/former roomie's wedding and was really excited to be near Winston-Salem for that. Daner and I met on craigslist and were a success story from day one!
July
In July J and I were in Fire Island and otherwise beating the heat. I must say that I also massively enjoyed the annual Bloomberg picnic. What a shindig!?
Event planners: take note. It is an unbelievable scale.
August
I can't remember now whether it was July or August (or both) that had record heat waves in NYC. Regardless, we were kicking it city-style and trying to stay cool with dinner parties and such. I also made the pact with myself to increase shade on my roof deck so that I can enjoy it more in the coming summer.
We LOVE NYC In the summer time. I know a bunch of people like to get the hell out, but it is just so lovely to stroll the streets on quiet weekends.
In August I exchanged the heat of NYC for the heat of Vegas and spoke at SXSW Vision 2 Venture- their new startup-focused conference. It was a blast, I loved teaching there, and the people were amazing!
I took this pic bc my dress matched the branding for the event!
September
Ah fall, my fave time of year! Fall 2013 was pretty hectic with new consulting projects starting up at the exact same time I was heading to Europe with my mom and her BFF since second grade. (I know amazing isn't it?)
We all went there and just had a blast. I got to recconnect (and stay!) with my dear friend Carina whom I used to live with and work for back in 2005 in Florence.
I had the opportunity to thoroughly enjoy the country as a complete tourist with my mom and Pam (including being shepherded through the Vatican). Past
a, a bit of wine, GELATO, shopping, and of course art and monuments.
We really loved traveling together too, which is always nice to discover about your mom.
This pic is of mom and her bff since something like 2nd grade. I took it from San Miniato al Monte- a lovely and OLD church outside the city walls of Florence.
October
It was superfun to start off October by hosting Ms. Alexandra Franzen here at my place in NYC. We had 18 ladies in da house for her superfuntimes workshop and other than the toilet not being excited about getting that much action, I have to say it went really well!
I just love being a hostess and Alex made it even sweeter with her prezzies.
November
November was another monumental month. I did go out and visit the Downtown Project as a guest of Tech Cocktail (mad fun, highly recommend it) and speaking to that group was also really fun.
But what was even more fun (ha and a lot of work) was planning Justin's "50th Bday Party" which, in actuality, was our wedding! We surprised the guests at the beginning by morphing Justin's welcome and toast into a walk down the aisle. My mom was out of this world helpful in pulling the event together in as low key a way possible.
The result was a nice party with fabulous food and wine (courtesy of A Tale of Two Forks out on Long Island), some fun photo ops and ultimately the BEST. CEREMONY. EVER.
We are so happy to be married.
December
December can be a whirlwind month, and indeed ours was a bit hectic. We had a small holiday open house, recovered from the logistical intensity that was staging a wedding in NYC, and prepped for our honey moon.
On December 18 we flew to Buenos Aires and stayed there til just last week. A full three weeks to spend quality time with my man, get to know him better. (After all, I didn't even know him two years ago at this time.)
We played polo, ate lots of meat, drank lots of wine and otherwise lounged around the gorgeous city and its environs. We traveled to Mendoza for a bit of the wine country and managed to miss the extreme BA heat.
In all, we loved being gone but are all the more excited to return to NYC for 2014. Here goes!!!