Holidays

In light of having recently frozen my eggs, I decided I'd give myself a break and skip the soul searching on my birthday this year. The highlight was a fun lunch with some of the associates close to my class year. Otherwise, it was just an ordinary day.

Here's what I did in terms of holiday traditions this year:

• Evergreen wreath with cheerful red ribbon for the front door (thanks Costco!).
• Christmas tree with ornaments collected during childhood.
• Batch of sugar cookies.

There's so much more I'd like to do--so much that reminds me of "home"--but it just feels silly doing too much when you're a household of one.

Deal flow was slow over the holidays. For the first time since I started practicing, my smartphone wasn't chirping on Christmas. No complaints.

My family celebrated the holiday in Texas at my brother's house. It was nice to have everyone under the same roof. I helped with some of the cooking, including from-scratch biscuits on Christmas morning. The highlight was my brother and sister-in-law's announcement that they are expecting the arrival of their first child--a baby boy--in 2017.

NYE fancy dinner (thank you, Costco, for the awesome filets)

To celebrate the new year, I made a fancy dinner at home--filets, asparagus, mashed yukon potatoes and a chocolate raspberry torte. We drank champagne and Moscow mules, and danced after midnight. It was just what I wanted.

Immediately thereafter, I was on a plane back to California for the funeral of a childhood friend (and the younger sister of one of my best friends) that passed unexpectedly between Christmas and the end of the year. It was, of course, incredibly sad, but on the flight back to Texas I felt renewed as a result of reflection, time spent with life-long friends and a healthy dose of perspective.

There are some big changes ahead in 2017, most of which I'm still sorting out. Here's hoping for a good year!