Goodbye, 2020

Man, what a year. It is so weird to look back at January of 2020, knowing that we had absolutely no clue what was about to hit us. When I was re-visiting my usual year in review posts, I had to laugh because I had described each year as crazy or the worst year yet or a difficult year for the world. I can’t even remember what those bad things were, but I feel like this is a year that we won’t forget for a very long time. This is one for the history books for sure. I must say though, I do hate living through history every single day.

I do try and put the highlights of my year in these posts. I think it’s nice to look back and see accomplishments or fun times, even if it wasn’t the best year. For this year though, I do want to preface this with the idea that this was a HARD year for everyone, and for some more than others. If you lost someone this year, lost your job, lost your home or felt any other losses this year, I feel for you and I don’t want my slight optimism to downplay your difficulties. I know that you are strong and can make it through.

Best wishes that 2021 is better for everyone <3

January

January 2020 started off on a high note. My dad and I went to the Flames game on New Year’s Eve and had a great time, before heading home and ringing in the New Year at home. January marked the first annual Try Dry fundraiser for the Boring Little Girls club and we managed to raise $6000 for our friends at the DOAP team. The fundraiser is happening again this year if you are interested.

The weather was SO cold on January 18th when we walked in the YYC Women’s March. Not too many of us showed up but we made it work, kept warm and had a good time.

Also in January, I got to help out my friends at Sarjesa tea by being a model for their tea photo shoot. It was super fun and I got to meet some great new ladies. We also managed to get out to the mountains and do some cross-country skiing on a warmer day. What I most remember from this month is that it was SO DARN COLD.

February

We started February in Canmore, AB. I had a hockey game on January 31st and my family and I decided to stay over in the mountains so that we could enjoy the snow and fresh-air. I have to say, there is just something different about waking up in the mountains. I think that we intended to go skiing but it rained the entire time that we were there, so we had some good food and tea and then packed up and headed home.

A highlight of February is always #yychotchocolatefest. This year, we made a huge list of all of the places that we wanted to try before the end of the month and actually managed to get through a good number of places.

It was another cold month for sure, but we again braved the cold to check out glow fest (one of the last things we did in public before the pandemic). There were tons of musicians and ice-sculpters and it was nice to be in downtown.

In the middle of the month, BLGC hosted a 70s style disco so I had to go all out with the 70s style for that one. Then, my dad and I went to a socality event to explore the new Central Library and take photos without any library goers in the building.

Clearly February was a busy month. Cass, Emmy and I hit up Snapphotoclub during the reading break and took some amazing photos with the cute staged setups that they had. We also attended a networking event at a popular PR agency in the city and crushed it.

During this month, I also played my first ever ringette game, filling in for my friend Leah’s team. That was a crazy adventure and it was cool to try a new sport. Don’t worry, hockey is still my favourite.

March

Alright, it’s doom’s day month. Before the craziness hit, I kicked off the month by going to see the play Actually with my aunt. The play was super interesting and I feel like I never really thought about it in depth because of how crazy the month became. The play dealt with the ideas of sexual assault and the complexities that the accuser and accused face. Then on March 9, we clearly ignored all warnings of a pandemic and gave a presentation at the airport (I remember sanitizing my hands like 50 times that day). Dannica and I attended our first NHL game together, got some cute pics, and of course, cheered on the boys. Finally, just before school went online for the semester, we completed the most nerve-wracking assessment of our degree so far, the scrums. Inside the broadcast studio at school, we were each put on camera and interviewed by journalists as representatives of different companies (I was the Sheldon Chumir Centre). That was the official last day on campus for the semester, although we didn’t know it at the time.

Then the world shut down and we retreated into our homes. My dad was in St. Louis during this time and flew back pretty close to when they closed the border. He had to quarantine for 2 weeks, which was so strange but thankfully he wasn’t exposed while he was there. To keep myself busy, I started trying out makeup looks that used NHL team colours and made it through quite a few different teams. Also, an accomplishment during this time was that I went off of social media for a few days for a class project. Having no social media on my phone for a few days used to be a huge fear of mine but I actually did it and it was such a good experience.

April

Alright, April! My birthday month. I was the first person in my family to have a Covid birthday. We made it through though, and I got to play some Cards Against Humanity online with my friends. We also celebrated Passover and Easter alone, something that we normally spend around family. Towards the end of the month, my friends and I held our first PowerPoint night, which definitely has to be one of the best things to do online with friends. Then, at the end of the month, our beloved doggo Beau passed away. We had to put him down and it was definitely one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to do. Miss you, Beau Beau.

May

Clearly, I was still under the idea that we weren’t going to be dealing with Covid until 2021, since I kept thinking about the things that I wanted to do post-pandemic. Spring classes started up online, and I was happy for that to have something to do. I also got laid off from my job before this, leaving me with nothing to do, which stresses me out a lot. On Mother’s Day, we ordered in a brunch box from Lulu Bar, which was delicious and was Hawaii themed. On May 14th, they announced that school would be online for the fall semester, which was very disappointing to hear (little did we know that it would be more than just one semester online). According to my Instagram stories, it rained for most of the month, so we stayed inside for the majority of the time.

As another task to keep me busy, and try out some new creativity, I tried the Social Made Local photo challenge, which was super cool and pushed me out of my comfort zone.

June

In June, restrictions let up a bit and I got to see some people in person. I went for coffee with Cassidy to do some school work and got lunch outside with my friend Bree. We definitely took advantage of the nice weather and spent lots of time outside, both in nature and on restaurant patios. I also got hired to work for my current job, which was a rough transition, but a good decision all around.

Also during June, the BLM protests were happening. I think that I learned a lot about the concepts of white privilege and the concept of performative activism (i’m looking at you black square).

July

We celebrated Canada Day and my Mum’s birthday from home, except to go for dinner at Starbelly. It was weird knowing that there weren’t going to be any large events or fireworks happening. Stampede was also cancelled, but we went to a park to watch the remote fireworks show. We also went out to Rosebud, which is East of Calgary and near Drumheller, for a work event, hike, and outdoor concert. It was nice to be outside and listening to music. The BLGC also hosted our first-ever online course, which was super cool and went quite well. At the end of the month, we got out of the city and went on a little road trip to Waterton, Alberta. It was just so nice to be near the lake for three days. I definitely did not want to leave.

August

In August, hockey was back in the bubble, which meant that I definitely spent a lot of time watching hockey this month. I house-sat for my friend Sophie in Inglewood, which was amazing and I’d love to live over there someday. This month, my Dad and I decided that it would be fun to try out as many coffee shops in the city as we could, as though we were away on holiday. This was a good way to get out of the house and try some cute coffee shops. For work, we were getting ready for the opening of a new dealership, so we got to visit and get some good behind-the-scenes content. Of course, PSL season came earlier than ever, marking the beginning of fall, which was a very welcome change from the crazy heat this summer. At the end of the month, my bosses took me out for lunch to celebrate our summer together and wish me well for going back to school.

September

In September, my Dad and I headed out to Banff for the day, wanting to get out of the city. As always, it was so nice to be out of the city. As the new semester started, I decided to run as the representative for my year for our PR society. Not only did I lose, but I also lost by a lot. It was very hard on the ego. I got a really terrible haircut and my wisdom teeth out in the same week. The other memorable thing from September was the first presidential debate… yikes.

October

Things were still very open at this time, and we were still going out shopping and seeing friends. In October, I took a break from Instagram and the MayaCatherineCreative brand. I took my first ever solo vacation and headed out to Fernie, BC. Staying in my own little tiny home, I realized so many things about myself, my anxiety and what I want for my future. It was so nice to be out in the cool mountain air. The rest of the month was mostly filled with school, but hockey also started up again, which was so nice. I was playing with my old team and lots of friends from minor hockey. Then of course, a pandemic Halloween. It was one of the warmest Halloween nights in a while, so we camped out on our driveway by the fire and watched all of the kids come by for trick-or-treating.

November

Things started to get bad pandemic-wise again in November here. I visited Emmy in High River for a couple of hours (things seemed pretty normal there). Joe Biden won the presidential election, which was a breath of relief. Things started to shut down again and the first thing to close down was team sports. Restaurants, bars and stores were still open but we all started worrying about the numbers again. We started prepping to go back into lockdown, I got my hair done and my brows (the two things I regretted not doing before the pandemic). All over the country, provinces were shutting down again, closing up restaurants early and not letting people travel. The end of the semester was so difficult, but we pushed through and managed to get to December.

December

In December, I challenged myself to do Vlogmas, where I vlogged and uploaded every day until Christmas. It wasn’t easy but I really enjoyed it and managed to put up 25 vlogs in the month of December. We tried going to the Heritage Park Christmas Market, but after standing in line for over an hour, it was definitely not worth it. This was really the last thing that we did before the new lockdown came into place. I went for some walks with friends before that was shut down too. For vlogmas, I filmed a collab with Jamie to talk about Hannukah and growing up in a mixed religious family. Taylor Swift released a new album which was much needed. We had our own Hannukah dinner, something that would normally happen with the family. We got a ton of press for our fundraiser for the BLGC and I went on TV to speak about it. Lockdown meant that we couldn’t spend Christmas with anyone outside of the house, so we made a lot of deliveries of goodies and gifts before the holidays came. We had a quiet Christmas which was great and a very quiet time between Christmas and New Year.

We finished the year with an at-home New Year’s celebration to ring in 2021.

Hope you can find a good couple of things this year to celebrate. Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2021.