Top Ten Moments from 2016

I feel like people have never been so ready to see a year end as they were with 2016. It was a truly INSANE year, to say the least. A nice little summary of main events...

My review of 2016.

Someone Died.
Someone Died.
Someone Died.
Someone Died.
Stupid Vote.
Someone Died.
Stupid Vote.
Someone Died.
Christmas.

— Jon Pigeon (@PigeonJon) December 21, 2016

While there were way too many terrible, awful, no good, very bad moments in 2016, there were some really great ones sprinkled in there as well. Instead of having a guest author do the Top Ten List for this month, I wanted to recap some of my fave 2016 moments. So without further ado...

1. I GOT MARRIED.  It was the best day of 2016 (slash life) surrounded by all the people we love the most. 

Annie + Chris from 4500films on Vimeo.

2. Related to #1: The months leading up to the wedding were full of wonderful showers and parties with dear friends (inc. the best Bachelorette Party ever in LA). 

3. We saw Adele and she was fantastic. Definitely the best concert I saw in 2016. The show ended with confetti that had notes and lyrics in Adele's handwriting and it was magical.

4. The first new business pitch I worked on turned into a win which turned into me being the team lead on the account and learning a ton professionally. (Bonus: More work travel than ever before got me to *GOLD* status on American).

5. I brought Chris to Norman for an OU game. Helloooooo nostalgia / Boomer Sooner!

6. I worked at the Oscars again! I love going back to LA for this and seeing the people and event so near and dear to my heart. 

7. My best college friends and I had our 6th annual reunion weekend in Chicago. 👯👯👯👯

8. I took a selfie with my #1 favorite musician Andrew McMahon. 😍

9. We celebrated 6 months of marriage with a weekend getaway to Nashville and it was fun and delicious.

10. We had lots of great family time during the holidays. (inc. teaching my grandma the Terracina family secret handshake). :) 

Here's to a happy, healthy, and fun 2017 full of many more wonderful moments amidst the insane ones. 

xoxo, 

Annie

8:11 November Highlights

December is equal parts crazy and fantastic. On the one hand - it's the most wonderful time of the year and on the other hand YOWZA HOW IS IT ALREADY DECEMBER 18th AND I HAVEN'T FINISHED MY CHRISTMAS SHOPPING AND HAVEN'T POSTED MY NOVEMBER 8:11 HIGHLIGHTS POST YET?

Taking care of the latter now. Here are my favorite things I did at 8:11 PM last month. 

8:11- book club! this month's book- Commonwealth by Ann Patchett.

8:11- ADELE !!! @ American Airlines Center

8:11-cheers to another awesome #GrillHero twitter chat with the @longhornsteaks executive chefs! Go team gooooo. 👊🏻

8:11-happy wedding to this beautiful bride!! ❤️ you @linleedanielle#katchingklein

8:11- hellooooo new york! (for 20 hours).

8:11-starting our Nashville weekend off with one of the best meals everrrr. Two thumbs way up. 😋😋😋

8:11-reunited with @cosmopolitim (for the first time in yeeeeears) at a Beyonce vs Rihanna covers show. #yesssss

8:11-flight 5 of 5 (in 7 days). Feeling like an exhausted zombie, but happy for a great weekend. ILL BE HOME SOON, MOXIE!! 😸

8:11- #Thanksgiving night movie! #Moana was 👍🏻👍🏻(and now i really want to go on a tropical vacation asapppp.)

8:11-love my fam. 💛

8:11-watch party for the final #GilmoreGirlsRevival episode, complete with a full spread of G.G. inspired junk food. 🍫🍔🍕

 xoxo, 

Annie.

Top Ten Things I Learned From Gilmore Girls (by Kaylee)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING / GILMORE GIRLS WEEK, GUYS! As you probably know, the Gilmore Girls revival episodes premiere tomorrow on Netflix. I challenged myself to watch all 7 original seasons for the first time ever before these new episodes air. It was an intense challenge - 45 minutes episodes; 22 episodes per season... I almost gave up many times. But I persevered and I'm halfway done with season 7 now! I won't be done by tomorrow to watch all the new ones immediately as they become available, but I WILL be done in time for the revival episodes finale watch party I'm going to on Tuesday. (Whoooo!) My lovely sister-in-law Kaylee is an avid G.G. fan, so she's been my go-to for discussing the show throughout my little self-imposed challenge. So, it only seemed natural for her to do November's Top Ten List...

I've been an avid Gilly for more than 10 years now, and like any bookish straight-A student in the 2000s, I desperately wanted to be Rory Gilmore (a few errors in judgment not withstanding) throughout high school and college. In a lot of ways, I grew up alongside Rory. In anticipation of a new chapter of Gilmore Girls finally returning to my life on FRIDAY, here are the top 10 things I learned from watching the original seven seasons.

This goes without saying, but there are a few mild spoilers of Seasons 1-7 below. Consider yourself warned. 

Obvious, but you can never have too much coffee.

 
I am pretty sure you can measure a fan's dedication to Gilmore Girls by the amount of coffee they have consumed that day. 

Always, always plan your outfits the night before. 

 

You don't want to be the Daisy Duke of Headmaster Charleston's office. See also: don't use unreliable alarm clocks. 

Just because someone tells you to get more involved does not mean you need to join a secret society.

Maybe Rory did come across as kind of a loner when she read at lunch with headphones in. (Wait, that is me every day at work. Maybe I need to reevaluate some things.) But she still should have known to run away from the Mean Girl wannabes of Chilton before they broke into the headmaster's office.  

But if you do join a secret society, join one that has super elaborate parties and/or stunts. 

Those might be worth it.

When in doubt, throw in a pop culture reference.

And that's just from ONE SEASON. Seriously, how do they remember all of this stuff? 

Don't go back for seconds with your ex-boyfriend if he is married. 

  

DON'T. DO. IT. 

Don't let someone else's snarky opinion derail your future.

Mr. Huntzberger was a jerk. But Rory stealing a boat in response to him telling her she won't make it as a journalist is probably a sign of self esteem issues. Plus, it's hard to outrun the gossip fallout. 
 

Don't model adult behavior after Lorelei Gilmore.  

I know she raised Rory on her own, and I respect that. I also know that she worked her way up from a maid to be an owner of the Dragonfly Inn. Both of these seem to indicate a certain level of maturity. But where is this when it comes to human relationships and a basic respect for others? Love you, Lorelei, but you got some work to do. 

Don't mess with Emily Gilmore.

 
I know some people aren't as Team Emily as I am, but you have to respect her ability to stand up when her family is being wronged/threatened/slighted. I definitely wouldn't want to cross her. 

Families are complicated.  

Whether it is Mrs. Kim and Lane, Luke and Liz, or any of the Gilmore clan, this show shows us a fraction of how complicated relationships can be. The people you hate upon first glance might end up being your best friends, and the person that seems amazing at first might actually suck (*cough* Dean *cough*). Each action has a consequence (except eating junk food, apparently), and every conflict has multiple perspectives. And through all the relationships runs a cord of love that is frayed, but not broken. These are the things that make Gilmore Girls so interesting to watch, and they are the reason that the show is still relatable after 15 years. I can't wait to see how they capture that magic in "Gilmore Girls A Year in the Life". 

See you in Stars Hollow. 

8:11 October Highlights

Man... I don't know about you, but after the first couple insane/shocking/awful weeks of November, I personally wish we could rewind back to October and get a do over on this month. 😕

Even though we sadly can’t rewind back to October (😩😩😩), here are my 11 favorite things I did at 8:11 PM last month… 

8:11- "No day but today..." to see RENT live for the first time!! 😄😄😄

8:11- finallyyy seeing@localnatives live. #swoon 😍

8:11- #SecondCity show!#DateMe is hilarioussss.

8:11-@sissyssouthernkitchen immediately following the fair is aggressive and my stomach feels weird, but 👍🏻for a delicious day.

8:11- no trip to OK is complete without a trip to Teds. 😋😋😋

8:11- double date at the fair! 🍗🎡🌭🍻

8:11- date night after a long/productive Sunday. Sidenote- every weekend should a 3-day weekend... 2 days just are nottt enough.

8:11- ✨belated birthday din for @kittiannleroux!✨

8:11- it's @batsonomics's golden bday and @rrmoseley three the most amazing Hamilton-themed party and there's a legit photo booth and I'm so happy. ✨HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAD!!✨

8:11- A+ date night:@uchidallas for din, @emporiumpies for dessert, and @theheadandtheheart for tunes. 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

8:11- food items are my favorite costumes. Happy #Halloween! 🎃

xoxo, 

Annie.