2024, from A to Z
a reflection on this year, so far
Sure, we have a whole month left of 2024, but if Spotify can bring Spotify Wrapped to us in late November/early December, than I too can reflect on my year in late November/early December too. Here is my look-back at this past year, from A to Z.
With love,
Jennie, the Pasta Girl
A: Becoming A Published Writer. This year, I had my first-ever personal essay published in Issue 06: Homecoming of Slant’d Magazine, which has been a huge fucking deal. My piece is called “To Fill a Dumpling.”
B: Big Birthday Celebrations, Bleachers, & Brat Green. Well, I turned 30 this year! And it was cool and weird and exciting and beautiful. Just a few days before BRAT dropped, I saw Bleachers in concert for the second time, hosted a big birthday party, and unintentionally wore a brat green-colored dress to my party.
C: CDMX. I took my first international trip as an adult to Mexico City with a close friend. We walked so much I wore holes into my white sneakers, fell in love with street food, and shot film that ended up getting exposed and therefore, never got developed.
D: DIY Fun. My besties and I had a sleepover and tried our hands at beaded embroidery over 4th of July weekend. I now have the coolest shirt with a beaded carrot and tomato on the front.
E: the Este Garden. I tried my best to carry on my volunteering streak from 2023 (and hope to carry it into 2025). I volunteered at the Este Garden as many times as I could manage with work (RIP to my corporate job), met great people through it, and finally tried out the bar on the same grounds, Bar Toti.
F: Film photography. 2024 is the year I began my film photography hobby. I’ve been lucky enough to get to play around with both an SLR and a point and shoot, and know that my love for film is only just beginning. My wonderful friends also let me take engagement photos for them which… was such a gift to get to play.
G: Glass Animals. Call 2024 my Glass Animals renaissance. Not only was I reminded of my love for their album, Dreamland, but this year I got to see them live for the very first time. I’ll hold this year near and dear to my heart, not just because it’s the year I got to see Glass Animals live, but also because of the memories I’ll forever associate with the album they released this year, I Love You So F***ing Much.
H: Home. I went home in June to visit my family and one of my best friend who just recently relocated to the city I grew up in. We had way too much fun calling every single familiar thing, facetiously, of course, my alma mater, and went to the Maggie Rogers show at the concert venue I saw my very first concert at (it was Paramore, btw). The Walnut Creek Amphitheater is literally my alma mater.
I: Ideas, Ideas, Ideas. From my substack’s rebrand, to writing recipes and crafting menus,(we’ll get to some of this later), to whatever the hell I’m doing with my life, it’s been one hell of a year for Jennie B and ideation.
J: Jazz Standards. Jazz standards continue to be the backbone of my mental health. Nothing self-soothes me more than a hot bath and a little Ella Fitzgerald.
K: Kissing in Swimming Pools by Holly Humberstone
L: Lady and the Tramping Food. Let’s bring back lady and the tramp-ing food. Noodles. Churros. Midnight hot dogs (not my food of choice—but a friend’s).
M: Mutual Aid Markets & Making Playlists. This year, I got to participate in a mutual aid market, raising funds for Gaza and Sudan, as a baker. I played my hits, so to speak: gluten-free citrus olive oil cake, salty brown butter chocolate chip cookies, and focaccia. It was an absolute honor to get to be a part of something like this.
As for Making Playlists? There’s this quote from Zoe Kravitz’s High Fidelity, and I wholeheartedly agree:
“Making a playlist is a delicate art. It’s like writing a love letter but better in a way. You get to say what you want to say without actually saying it. You get to use someone else’s poetry to express how you feel.” — Zoe Kravitz, High Fidelity
I guess you could say I miss making playlists for spin class, so I’ve crafted my playlists this year for a few close friends (and myself) for road trips, for hard times, and just because. More playlists as self-expression for 2025.
N: Nostalgia. My summer was steeped in childhood nostalgia: sleepovers, old playlists, those icy popsicles that come in the plastic tube, and buying an ice cream maker for the 15 year old me that read David Lebovitz’s blog back in the day.
O: Open Mic Nights. I attended quite a few open mic nights at the Buzzmill earlier this year with a musically-inclined friend. While we also grew apart this year, this friend brought a lot of music back into my life.
P: Pancakes & Pool Days. This summer was filled with pool days, SPF, and more pancakes than I’ve eaten in years. Frankly, I’m more of a waffles gal myself… but this year was the year of the pancake, specifically pancakes with strawberries and mascarpone involved (ummm hello Snooze AM Eatery’s strawberry pancake stack).
Q: Quesadillas. Listen, I already love a quesadilla. But the street quesadillas in Mexico City were in a league of their own. Holy. Shit. The quesadilla below is a papas y chorizo quesadilla with cheese and it was so good that I almost cried. I mean, how could you NOT fall in love with this quesadilla?! If you’re ever in Mexico City, get thee to Jenni’s Quesadillas (also called Quesadillas de “La Jenny”) in Roma Norte ASAP.
R: Rejection. Sometimes we forget to tell this part of the story. While I’ve written two pieces (one personal essay, one recipe) that have been/are going to be published, I also applied to a writers’ mentorship program and pitched three separate pieces that did NOT get picked for publication. Rejection is a part of putting yourself out there and I’m learning how to take it in stride.
S: Seasonality—Cherry SZN and Summer Solstice Dinner party. I really went in on cherry season this year, going as far as writing my own chocolate cherry flavored ice cream. Could I have cooked more with them? Sure. But really, I ate a lot of Rainier cherries and tart red cherries as snacks this summer. I also had the pleasure of getting to throw an accidental Summer Solstice dinner party while visiting home for family and friends.
T: Toms, Major Toms. My sweet, sweet friends. Perhaps the origin story of our group text name will see the light of day—but today is not that day. The Major Toms: me, Gabby, and Michelle. We’ve had the best adventures this year: sleepover DIYs, viet-crawfish boils, making both of their birthday cakes this year, and so many meatballs. I love you both to the moon and back. :’-) (it’s a happy crying emoji can you tell?!)
U: Ube Churros with Chinese Five Spice Sugar. Okay, so I never wrote this recipe. But it’s something that lives in my head. 2023 was the year I found my culinary voice and 2024 is the year I began to trust it.
V: Vinyl Collector. I’ve been a vinyl collector since I was 21, which means my vinyl collection has grown immensely over the years. While some years the collection became stagnant, this year has been a very fruitful time for my vinyl collection—aka I’ve been buying a lot of vinyl lately, old and new.
W: Wacky Photoshop Jobs & Wicked. I started my year with turning my cats into stickers and copy/pasting them into all kinds of funny scenes. Then I moved onto other people’s animals, and my funny little wacky photoshop bit grew into entire inside jokes. It’s fun to not take myself too seriously.
In other news, I saw Wicked last night and happy cried the entire time. I know. All 160 minutes. Okay, fine. I probably cried for 120 of them but goddamn. To Jon M. Chu, the director of Wicked, thank you for giving our inner child theater kids our big moment in the mainstream. Beautiful.
X: (using this one as a wild card/free space) Always Be Scheming. Xcheming??? Okay, I tried. LOL! I’m going to be quite mysterious about this one, but all I’ll say is that the friends who want to scheme with you are the best. The idea generation never stops in this lil brain of mine, so thank you to all who have let me ideate (over menus, recipes, plans) in their DMs.
Y: Yawn. Because I’m forever and ever a sleepy girl, amen.
Z: Zanzibar (aka senior skip days). While still in corporate America, I loved and appreciated my senior skip days—a day we took PTO to play—one of which happened at Zanzibar (the bar not the country, we’re not like… you know… wealthy or anything). Basically, I needed a Z and have cherished the people in my life who’ve allowed me to play more this year.
With a month more to go, I just hope it’s filled with rest, reflection, good company, great food, and also boundaries. Because you know… the holiday season and all that. Take care of yourselves, friends. And if you choose to think on your year from A to Z, I 100% recommend using ‘X’ as a wild card/free space.
I love u my girl soooooooo much ❤️jus’ keep on truckin’