2025 reflection

it's december, and I'm realizing that this is the first year I haven't kept a running "in 2025, I..." post.

2025 was undoubtedly an eventful year. I don't need to try to squeeze significance out of it. 

I read more than I did in 2024, yay! 18 books vs an abysmal 5 in 2024, and 10 on average prior to that.

I also wrote more in 2025. I haven't counted, but I'm pretty sure there are more blog posts, and more paper journal entries than one every 1-2 months.

at work, I stepped into a "pod lead" role (at least I think that happened in 2025?) it involves more organization work than anything: running standup and representing my pod at end-of-week meetings. at the same time, it affords opportunity for me to step up. I'm struggling still to level up technically — I want to be a tech lead, not just a pod lead. in any case, I was able to transition to the nyc office smoothly, thanks to the trust and synergy built over the first three years of my tenure. every so often, I miss team IU sorely. nyc office has proven to be friendly though. I'm especially grateful for atul and also lee for proactively chatting with me, making me feel like my presence in the nyc office is noticed. I've experienced this in the past a few times before, and it continues to happen: sometimes friendship occurs all at once, 0 to 1. towards the end of 2025, I started meshing more with the mail team, which I sit near. shoutout to eileen and terry.

and on family - I confess I didn't think too much about family for most of the year, until the very end. I suppose I thought along the lines of "I will have my year in new york before it's too late / it's too hard for me to leave the bay area" ... where one of the things keeping me in the bay is proximity to my aging parents. I even wanted to be a part of chris's life as he grows up, but I'm second guessing that after the holiday fiasco this year.

so let's talk about new york, the big thing this year.

📆

2025 is bisected...

... in the first half, I wrapped up my eighth(!) year in san francisco. I

  • got very sick, went to india/singapore, and then came back and got more sick. in india, I lost my voice. in singapore, I spent mornings lazing on lidan's couch and afternoons doing a little exploring with her. I dyed my hair (accidental money piece!) and sampled mall culture.
  • also while sick, celebrated brian's and my first anniversary at lazy bear. first two-star michelin restaurant.
  • was roomies with louise for three months at lansing
  • promoted just add oil whilst co-located with louise! we had a  two pop-up events, one at paper son and one at on waverly, and also tabled. as of the end of 2025, we have just about one box left! a natural end to this project? or will there be a 2.0? I'd be happy either way, it's been a fun run.
  • went on dates around the city, including to play pinball, visit small museums, and eat at the newest restaurants.
  • squeezed in weekend trips and one WFHawaii week with brian
  • stayed an extra month or two to accommodate for all the weddings: jane in LA, nick(?) in philly, lillian and raghav pt 2 in SF
  • invited my regular cast members to a farewell party (without music) at lansing
... in the second half, I moved to new york. many months were spent in two or more cities. I
  • sublet in west village and williamsburg, before finding my own studio in UWS
  • went to jenny's wedding in LA
  • lost my dear friend angela
  • went to outsidelands (in SF)
  • furnished my studio
  • explored nyc — a flurry of resturants, bars, shows, museums
  • launched consultants on the notion marketplace
  • went to the catskills
  • spent two nights with my dad in the hospital
  • went to japan, bangkok, and hanoi with brian

I rely heavily on photos to remember what happened these days, so it's a pity that my phone is too broken/full to open the camera half the time! I gotta fix that.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'm in NY!!!

I made it happen. packed my life into suitcases, hopped on a plane, and arrived in west village, manhattan. I love the smell of the city — the petrol, the dampness, the voices echoing in the streets. I keep telling myself that it's not going to be easy. I'm bracing for the loneliness. and I know that will hit. and yet, as I sat in the taxi from JFK to this apartment, I couldn't help but marvel again at how easy it was. I bought a plane ticket and now I live in new york. in another universe, I moved to nyc right after graduation. in this one, I'm as untethered as a 22-year-old new grad, but have a lot more money and life experience. new grad me would have tried to wrangle her suitcases onto the subway and taken public transit from the airport. almost 30-year-old me gave navigation directions to the taxi driver without a wink of self consciousness at the miscommunication, and then tipped 20% for a $100 car ride. and now I'm here!! I'm here to make sense of myself,...
Read more

nyc office life + apartment hunting

Image
quick, jot down some thoughts before bed! it's been two weeks in the nyc office, which is not long, and socially it hasn't been great. I feel like a wuss. but I also know this is just part of the process of being new and being a singleton without a team. it's going to take extra effort on my part to get integrated. I knew that coming in, but I'm just also really feeling the difficulty right now. the first two in-office days (mondays 6/16 and 6/23) I ate lunch with others, but the rest of the days I've been skipping lunch because no one came to invite me (as atul did on 6/16) and I also couldn't muster up the social willpower/courage/battery to invite myself to lunch (as I did on 6/23). and it's okay!! well, ok I actually believe in the power of streaks. so I would rather not continue the streak of skipping lunch. it's better for every in-office day to be successful, and if it's not going to be successful day, I might as well not go in. failure begets...
Read more