The best of times & the worst of times – 2012 summed up in pictures

Merry Christmas!

It’s been an amazing year, filled with all the things I love – travel, food, drinks, music, photography … and kittens … doin’ weird stuff. Most importantly, it’s been filled with all the people I love – drinking, eating, traveling and posting kittens doin’ weird stuff on the lovely interweb.

In honor of all the awesome that 2012 brought along with it, here’s a fun rundown of my most and least favorite moments, cocktails, concoctions, trips, triumphs and a few things I should have avoided all together probably. Yes, I’m talking about you, Sparkle Donkey Tequila.

Best International Travel Moment: Hiking Huayna Picchu in Peru. This one also wins for Scariest Moment of the Year. That book is what you have to sign before trekking, agreeing that your family cannot sue if you take a face-first header off the mountain. It would be super easy to fall off this mountain, FYI.

Best Domestic Trip: Perdido Key, Florida. There were a lot of great trips around the USA for me this year, but the one that stands out is a random weekend I spent at our beach condo with my parents. We kept life simple for a few days – watched sunsets, took long walks and ate steamed shrimp out of a basket, not even worrying with cocktail sauce. Those few days were totally stripped down and outstanding.

Best Burger: At Gruner, in Portland Oregon. Holy Mother of God stop reading this blog and go here. Order a burger. Stuff it in your mouth. I’m not a good enough writer to do it justice.

Best Brunch: at August, West Village in NYC. You might think picking a best brunch spot of the year would be tough, but it’s only be tough if you’d never been to August. It’s best to go on a dreary day. One where you have exactly nothing else to do. Claim a spot on the back patio, after warming yourself by the wood-burning oven adjacent to the bar, and drink Bloody Mary’s. Order the Andalusian Wood Oven Baked Eggs en Cocotte, with chorizo and blistered peppers.

Best Travel Moment in My Own Town: The Howl Festival in Tompkins Square Park, NYC. Every June, artists paint sheets hanging over the fence to the park, creating giant, temporary murals to honor Allen Ginsberg’s birthday. It’s a shining example of why I live where I live. Our community is a place that doesn’t accept the eclectic, it spawns it. It raises it, nurtures it and then throws an absurd amount of festivals to celebrate it. Viva E.Vil. Rock on.

Best Thing I Drank: a Sazerac at The Wayland, NYC. Sure, this tiny, live-music-loving spot in Alphabet City makes a mean Sazerac. But a lot of places do that. A lot of places DO NOT, however, care for their community like these guys do. The owners took action after Hurricane Sandy. Despite taking on 10-feet of water and tons of damage to their own bar, they ran caravans of food and supplies out to those who were hit harder still in Rockaways and Coney. A month after the storm, after we had all cleaned up, helped out and gotten back on our feet somewhat, I stopped in and had – upon the bartender’s suggestion – a simple Sazerac. No drink has ever tasted that heartfelt, that hard-earned. (Sadly, I didn’t shoot that drink, but was my buddy’s rye whiskey cocktail, over an ice ball – and that thing was damn delicious too).

The Worst Thing I Drank: It can’t all be good, right? This year brought some pain with it, and no liquid symbolizes that pain quite like Sparkle Donkey Tequila. Perhaps it’s because I’ve never wanted a tequila to taste delicious quite so badly. I was ready to fill my purse with minis of delicious Sparkle D in 2013! Maybe become a brand ambassador for them … and host some parties filled with glitter and pinatas!? Yeah, I had a lot of ideas/hopes for this brand. (Insert sad sniffle here) Then they sent me the samples. It’s like someone infused a jug of bad reposado with cheap icing off a Walmart vanilla cupcake. It’s like Michelle Bachmann and Bill O’Reilly had a kid … in your mouth. It’s bad, people. The only thing worse might be Dr. McGillicuddy’s Ice Mint. However! They do make fantastic birthday gifts for people you hate – provided you hate them a whole, whole lot.

Since it’s always best to end anything on a good note, my final photo for this post contains the Best Advice I Got All Year. I got it for free. From a trashcan. Some neighbor of mine took something generally ugly and made it beautiful, with a message for our street. In that trashcan lies the reminder that every day is an opportunity to take the mundane and make it special – to make others smile for a moment or a day. I’m keeping this mission at the forefront of 2013, and I hope you do the same. Happy Holidays everyone.