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2020: My Year in Review

December 31, 2020January 1, 2021 Nina Penalosa2 Comments

2020… how can I even recap it? I almost don’t even want to make my annual Year in Review post, but I’m not one to break tradition.

To say it’s been a weird, sad, maddening hot dumpster fire of a year would be the ultimate understatement. I’ve found myself angrier and even more disheartened by the state of the world and many of the people in it — particularly in the United States in which I live. From those who choose to not understand the Black Lives Matter movement, racial injustices seen in BIPOC/POC communities, to COVID-19 non-believers, it’s hard to look at how other countries are taking better precautions in social distancing and taking care of small businesses and its citizens financially. Must be nice to live somewhere where everyone considers the community as a whole rather than themselves as individuals. Le sigh.

Sometimes I get upset with myself for not accomplishing a whole lot this year. I didn’t even reach my GoodReads goal despite changing it 3 times. Like… that’s something I thought I could accomplish, but alas! I’m trying not to get down on myself because as my friend Sara told me, we’re all dealing with a pandemic. We’re not required to do X, Y, and Z when we’re just trying to survive, so everyone should give themselves grace.

And I’m still alive and [somewhat] well, so that’s something! I feel like some friendships have grown stronger throughout this year, so I’m thankful for the Zoom calls, Google hangouts, and barrage of text messages. They definitely helped me cope and get through 2020.

BTS was an unexpected godsend, too. I started listening to them last November and my love for them has flourished since then. While I’m sad 2020 robbed me of seeing them live in April, a lot of stuff they came out with wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the pandemic — and that includes some bonds growing stronger with friends who fell down the BTS rabbit hole after ‘Dynamite’ came out in August. And of course, I love how they brought my sister and I a lot closer 💜

A few cool things did happen this year such as…

being invited to be a guest on The Star Wars Show Book Club to discuss Leia: Princess of Alderaan
promoted to Content Editor of Sartorial Geek with some articles in 3 of their printed issues this year
successfully co-hosted 4 Sartorial Geek Fashion Fix challenges
successfully co-hosted 2 Animal Crossing events with Sartorial Geek
did a couple collabs with friends for fun content such as EK Johnston’s Queen’s Peril contest (I won a bookplate!) and Julie and the Phantoms costumes for Halloween
helped organize and execute a virtual Star Wars Celebration with a few of the girls from Galactic Coven in just 2 weeks, including panels, small business features, and a Galactic Gala
asked by Loungefly’s Stitch Shoppe to model a few pieces from their collections
learned how to trim my own bangs
got to watch 3 BTS online concert events
got to watch Riz Ahmed’s online performance (was also supposed to see him in April)
started taking Korean, Spanish, and French lessons on Duolingo

Okay, so that last one isn’t that exciting but I’m like… HEY, I am learning something. Haha! And most of my accomplishments were via Sartorial Geek, which is pretty effing cool.

I’m not really sure what else to say. I’ve mainly been cooped up at home lying on the couch scrolling endlessly on Instagram or TikTok, immersing myself in BTS content, watching a k-drama or random show on a streaming platform… yup, that’s pretty much it. 😅

I don’t know if anyone reads my blog anymore, but if someone happens to be reading these words I hope you’re well and doing the best you can, and that you and yours are safe. And please wear a face mask and practice social distancing.

Here’s hoping 2021 will have a light at the end of this pandemic tunnel. On that note, I’ll leave you with ‘Life Goes On’ by BTS. It definitely gives me some hope in this strange and scary timeline we’re all living in. I wish it can do the same for you. 💜

Cheers,
Nina

2019: My Year in Review

December 31, 2019 Nina Penalosa2 Comments

Not only is today the last day of the year, but the decade! Oh, Time. Where have you gone? This decade has brought me love, heartbreak, disappointment, clarity, happiness, and friendships to last a lifetime. Though I often feel like I’m stuck in the same place and nothing’s changed, I have to give myself credit where credit is due. I’ve evolved. I can feel it. The hardships that have been thrown my way over the last 10 years have only made me stronger and changed me for the better.

And I became a dog mom, which is probably the highlight of this decade!

2019 wasn’t a hot-garbage-fire year like previous ones. In fact, I feel it might be my best one yet! It’s only fitting for me to welcome the new year and new decade going out on a high note 🙂

A goal of mine for 2019 was to travel often and experience new things. This year alone I’ve…

watched Sarah Kaye + Phil Kay in San Francisco
watched Waitress the musical in Sacramento
saw Ken Jeong live in Stockton
met Karen Ashley, the second yellow Power Ranger at StocktonCon
went to a Kook’s concert in Oakland (my bff’s fave band)
went to Disneyland for a Bodhi Brigade reunion
flew to Las Vegas for Janet Jackson’s residency
went to Disneyland again for Marvel Night
I went to New York in April and watched Hadestown and White Noise
I went to Philadelphia for a day and went to the Franklin Institute to see the Marvel exhibit and the Museum of the American Revolution and learned about “diaper butt”
went to G. Willow Wilson’s book signing in Oakland and got to tell her how much I love Ms. Marvel
got to model for one of my fave small geek shops, Jordandene!
went back to Disney for a third time to visit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
went to my 13th San Diego Comic-Con International (or 12th? I can’t remember if I missed 2 or 3 between 2004-2019)
planned a “Basic Autumn Bitch” trip for the third week of October to visit Boston + New York — I fell in love with Boston and went to Salem for a day, and I watched Betrayal (with Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Cox, and Zawe Ashton) on Broadway, and Little Shop of Horrors off Broadway with Jonathan Groff (where I got a terrible selfie)
finally saw the original Winnie the Pooh toys at the New York Public Library which has been on my bucket list for ages!
watched Hamilton for the second time in San Francisco
unexpectedly booked another trip to New York for the first week of October after being invited to be on a geek fashion panel at New York Comic-Con thanks to the Sartorial Geek
was a panelist for the first time ever at a convention!
became a staff writer for the Sartorial Geek
co-hosted 3 geek fashion challenges this year
saw Jo Koy live in Stockton
saw my one of my best friends get married to the love of her life
gained 2 furry nephews and a furry niece thanks to my other best friend
went to Feel the Force night at the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco

I did all that in a year! HOW CRAZY.

The biggest setback I’ve faced this year was getting laid off from my first “big girl” job. I worked for a fashion app for a good 3 years in San Francisco. I started as an unpaid intern and worked my way up to contract worker, to full-time as their Customer Success Manager. On top of that, I was also a stylist (and still am) on their app and earned many rave reviews. Of course I was sad and angry when it happened. It was a blow in all kinds of ways, but also a blessing because now I can figure out what it is I truly want to do. What that is, I haven’t figured out yet. Haha! But in the meantime I’ve been able to go back to a part-time job I never thought I’d go back to. And you know what? I’m feeling okay about it. It’s changed and so have I.

Here’s to more adventures and new experiences to come in the next year/decade.

Cheers,
Nina

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So Long, 2015. It’s Been a Real Slice

December 31, 2015 Nina Penalosa6 Comments

just some cool people I got to meet in 2015

Welp, it’s 2016 in other parts of the world, but from where I stand (or rather, sit) it’s still 2015 so it’s not too late for me to do a “year-in-review” sort of post!

A few months ago I lamented to my co-worker, Sara, about how I felt like I amounted to absolutely nothing this year. She just looked at me in an exasperated manner and began listing the things that I accomplished: I did a Whole30, I’m now a paid writer that gets their work published often at Wear Your Voice, legit companies have approached me to sponsor my blog, and, um… I know she listed other things that I can’t remember, but the point is she made me realize that I actually did stuff this year.

It’s really easy to focus on the negative rather than the positive. I’m still stuck in the mindset that I’ve had the same job for the past 4 years (which Sara pointed out is good because it shows other employers that I can keep a job), that I’m still living at home in Stockton (which I’m thankful for, but at the same time I feel like I’ve overstayed my welcome), that I haven’t written anything completely worth while lately, I fell off the healthy bandwagon (again), I didn’t read as much as I wanted to, blah, blah blah.

If I look past all the negative things, 2015 was actually quite a great year! Like I mentioned, I completed a Whole30 back in February which I thought was the most challenging thing I did this year until I did the Captain America 10k last month. I didn’t even properly train for that, so I have no idea how I was able to complete it, let alone in an hour and 35 minutes! I also got to see Jenny Lewis in concert again and went to a Neil Gaiman event. I watched the Amelie musical in Berkeley. I celebrated my first Galentine’s Day, I landed a pretty big sponsorship for my blog (which I will reveal in due time). My cousin Amanda got married in Hawaii and I got to fly in first class and stay at the friggin’ Disney resort Aulani!! My Etsy store did pretty well (finally reached over 200 sales), and I did my first successful show at Whimsic Alley earlier this month! I endured the madness that was Force Friday and watched Star Wars: The Force Awakens at an ungodly hour on the day of its release.

I think the biggest thing was I got to meet SO many of my bloggy/Instagram friends this year! Oh, and how could I forget I got to take a picture with Clark Gregg, Chloe Bennet, James D’arcy, and Haley MOTHER EFFIN AGENT CARTER Atwell. Like, WHAT IS AIR, YOU GUYS??? I was so nervous going to SDCC this year because of the social events I told myself I should go to for networking purposes. My social anxiety was through the roof, but all my blog homies were sooo welcoming and I truly believe I’ve made some lifelong friendships and have so many fun memories from that weekend. As a matter of fact, I am currently getting distracted by the Twitter notifications from these guys about a Disneyland trip before next year’s SDCC. Haha!

I know there’s a lot of stuff that I’m forgetting to include, but to all my friends — old and new — and my family, thanks for making 2015 fabulous!

Here’s to 2016!!!

PS: I was way too lazy to make photo collages to go along with this post, so sorry! But mostly to myself because I’m so anal about these kinds of things.

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See ya, 2013. It’s been a real slice.

December 31, 2013 Nina Penalosa4 Comments

The end is nigh for 2013 and pretty soon a lot of us are going to find it difficult to start dating documents with 2014 — and just when many were getting the hang of 2013!

I didn’t accomplish all of the things I had hoped to this year. The really big thing I wanted to achieve was to move out of Stockton, yet I’m still here. I did apply to a job all the way in Portland, OR in January and actually got a couple of interviews, but I lived too far and it was just for a small position anyway. At the time, Tim and I were trying to think of possible places to move together. Since neither of us had much luck finding jobs in the Pacific North-West, we decided to save our money throughout the year and looked into moving to Southern California to possibly pursue jobs that pertained to our creative interests . He ended up moving to a town just a wee bit further in April, but we kept our plans… until we broke up a couple weeks ago. The parting of ways felt like it came out of nowhere, and even though it was a mutual decision, it was definitely not one that was easy for me to come to terms with as we had all these plans. We were to supposed to have a future together. Tim and I met five years ago and started off as friends. Soon I found myself being able to confide in him with many things and just felt so at ease being myself around him more than any of my other friends or family members. He was such a big part of my life and his presence is all over this blog of mine, as many of you know. A good portion of the outfit pictures taken were done by him in his mom’s backyard. I wrote about many of the little adventures we went on over the past two years too. Distance and busy schedules just weren’t very kind on us. I won’t go into details of our split as I’d like to respect Tim’s privacy.

I also lost my Papang (grandpa) as he passed away the day after we threw his 96th birthday party during the summer. Two very important men in my life just gone in an instant.

2013 has been a chaotic carousel ride with its many epic highs and rock-bottom lows.

I need to remind myself that I did get to do and experience some really amazing things this year. Like I said, this year had some epic highs! I met Neil Gaiman which was incredibly wonderful and inspirational, I FINALLY met Daisy Duck at Disneyland which has basically been my dream since the age of 5 (or maybe even 3 or 4, I don’t know), I stood in the same vicinity as Matt Smith at a Doctor Who fan meet-up at Comic-Con AND he looked in my general direction since I was standing next to someone in an insanely fabulous TARDIS costume. What else? Le Fancy Geek has gotten a little bit more recognition and I was able to collaborate with LeSportsac, a brand I’ve been a fan of for ages, by doing a few reviews and giveaways, and also Firmoo. I was invited to partake in Blogger Night at Old Navy and got to help style a couple of folks. I also revamped my Etsy store by changing its name to Le Fancy Geek Boutique so it goes with the blog and started working with bezel pendants. I even did a few shows this year! You may have read about a couple of them recently (Rio Linda Craft Faire and Stockton-Con’s Mini Holiday Con, and Sac-Con earlier this year), and I wasn’t completely successful in terms of moving product, but the point is that I tried. I also managed to pick up a second job at a bookstore which is something I’ve always wanted to do. Now that I’m doing it, it’s really not as glamourous as I thought it would be, but still. A gig is a gig is a gig is a gig.

I’m feeling a bit lost as I’m unsure about what direction to move in with this upcoming year, but I’m going to focus on me since I’m no longer attached to a we.

I want to read more. I want to write more. I want to create more.

Perhaps 2014 will be the year I actually do things rather than say “I want to –insert random goal here-“

My little ponies, I truly hope you all find happiness in 2014 and fulfill any goals you wish to achieve. 2014 also happens to be the year of the horse! Get it… little ponies… year of the horse…? Okay, I’m going to shut up now.

Cheers,
Nina