We're all gonna be just fine

My blog is a twice annually blog, apparently.

But I've done a year-end wrap-up two years in a row now (consistency!), so I had to keep up the streak.

Despite the fact that 2016 was, worldwide, something like a really bad horror movie that no one paid to see, personally, it wasn't that bad.

Like every other year, I made some questionable hair decisions, talked a lot, watched too much TV, drank too much Dr. Pepper and worked most of the time. Things were pretty consistent -- and sometimes consistency is a good thing.

I took a lot of pictures of the sky. I took too many selfies and didn't apologize for any of them. I hung out in a lot of bars with my dad, where we played a lot of pool (I am still bad) and saw glam cover bands and out-two-stepped everyone else, always.

I got to go on an expenses-paid business trip to Washington DC, which made me feel Adult and Important. I added to my small record and huge book collections.

I was lucky enough to find time to travel to Austin more than once this year to see some of the people I love most. I saw some of my favorite acts right now (Carly Rae Jepsen is the cutest; Brendon Urie is babeliest).

One of my trips back was for the Texas Book Festival, which is as magnificent as it sounds. Austin shuts down one and a half streets of downtown all in the name of books, authors travel from all over the world to hang out and speak on panels and a bulk of the events happen in and around Texas' beautiful Capitol building.

While I was there, I had the amazing opportunity to see one of my favorite writers of all time, Rob Sheffield, speak on a panel about David Bowie. Sitting there with two of my friends, surrounded by people who were so intensely impacted by the Starman, was a special moment.

Almost as special as a few minutes later, when I actually got to meet Rob and gush about his books and have an almost-completely-sane-sounding conversation with him about Mötley Crüe.

I look like a Giant Nerd in that picture and it's because I am and I don't care at all.

Finally, I got to do something else I never really thought I'd get to do -- go to another Harry Potter-related midnight release. While I didn't care for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (at all), I'm still super grateful I got another chance to experience a release because there's nothing quite like standing in a room surrounded by 100 or so people who also really care about something that matters to you so much more than you can explain. I definitely cried right there in the bookstore as the crowd counted down to midnight.

It was obviously a year of public nerdiness for me.

I also made my sister dress up with me and we went as the loves of Remus Lupin's life (Nymphadora Tonks and Sirius Black) and we looked rad as hell:

So, altogether, America and the world and most of our hearts had a bad year, but I guess it wasn't really that bad. I got through it with the help of hi-rise jeggings, Netflix (namely Friday Night Lights, The X Files and Breaking Bad), supportive friends and my carefully curated makeup collection.

Without the staples, we are nothing.


P.S. Of course I also made an entertainment round-up because honestly, it's me.

Here are the 15 best movies I saw for the first time this year:
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl; Deadpool; Spotlight (watch this if you want to feel a lot of righteous indignation); Miss You Already (watch this if you need to cry for hours); Everybody Wants Some!!; Zootopia; A League of Their Own (how did I make it so long without this movie??); Star Trek Beyond; Room (watch this if you want to put things into perspective); On Golden Pond; A Long Way Down; Singles; To Die For (watch this if you want to laugh -- but only if you like black comedies); Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them; Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (watch this for a reminder that we are all just trying).

Wishing you all a great 2017!