Britt’s 2024 Wrapped, pt 2

Preamble

Thank you for reading part one and patiently waiting for the second drop of this series. ICYMI go read part one then come back here. I also decided not to share therapeutic advice for this one as it is already long.

July

I kicked off July in Ypsilanti, Michigan opting to spend the July 4th holiday with friends who moved there from Oakland and bought a house. Their home and studio were beautiful and felt full of love. We spent two days and nights on a lovely campground that was walkable to a beach where we enjoyed a summer thunderstorm, fireworks, and lovely sunsets that endlessly spanned the horizon. We made camp food and we drove into town for breakfast and dinner. I was so giddy upon seeing fireflies while laying in the grass of my friend’s backyard. It made me nostalgic for home and the countless summer nights I spent outdoors admiring these amazing insects. I got to enjoy Detroit-style pizza, Coney dogs, and try a classic regional ginger ale, Vernor’s. If you know me, then you know about my insane love for hot dogs so we went on a mission to get those coney dogs and they did not disappoint. The grandmother of a guy I dated bought me hot dog socks, which I still have and happily wear, because of my unique love for them. I once said it was a hot take that hot dogs are a summer staple food, but I don’t even really think it’s a hot take. I think it’s just my American upbringing, but I digress. My trip was cut short because everyone (except me) got COVID and I didn’t want to risk staying and getting it myself. My trip was also unfortunately a bit tainted by the sleep issues that I was STILL having on top of jet lag and having ongoing issues with a guy I was dating at the time.

Later in the month, I went to California’s state fair in Sacramento. This was the first year I had heard of it and I was filled with more nostalgia thinking about the summers I went to New Jersey’s state fair with my family. As a child, I had looked forward to being an adult and continuing the tradition of going but with my friends or a partner, kind of like the way we see illustrated in movies where there’s lots of funnel cake, someone wins a big teddy bear, and the night ends on a ferris wheel with laughter or a kiss, but I digress again. The fair was really fun and because I was still in my cowgirl era I took the opportunity to show some skin and cheeks by wearing a white crop top, booty shorts, and my cowgirl boots. I got so many compliments per usual on my hair, but then so many men and women broke their necks as I walked by and others made it a point to tell me how much they admired my look. It was flattering and a confidence boost, to say the least. My friends and I bet on a few horse races and won small amounts, checked out a bunch of vendors sampling everything from hot sauces to tea, ate typical fair food, petted some pigs and other cute farm animals, then sat for a free live country music performance. Other than it being over 100 degrees that day it was perfect, and I hope to make more memories at the next one.

The rest of the month was filled with social outings and me feeling more confident and sexy in my body and skin. I took advantage of that and kept dressing up this month using any outing as an excuse to be cute.

For my friend Autumn’s birthday weekend we did birthday games at a brewery. I was nervous to go because she was the only person I knew, but with her being a great host and having warm friends I walked away from the event with new connections. The next day we continued to celebrate her by going to a free Stern Grove Concert to see Masego. Autumn and I committed to getting good seats so we drove into SF early and sat with other concert-goers at the gates. We ended up doing some watercolor painting and making friends with our neighbors after I asked one of the guys for his extra blanket because I was violently cold. When the blanket guy’s friend showed up he took the hoodie off his back and gave it to me. He even let me keep it and didn’t bother to exchange numbers to get it back, he just relied on remembering what each other looked like and a vague sense of where we both planned to sit for the show. Somehow we found each other far apart in the crowd and waved. I walked back to give this kind stranger his sweater he told me that his other friend (blanket guy) thought I changed outfits. His friend asked, “Why is the girl you gave your sweater to wearing a green and white outfit now?” to which he said he just burst into laughter after realizing what happened to his friend was the same thing that took the internet by storm in 2015, the dress.

Later in the month, I got to shake my booty with another group of friends for another free concert this time featuring DRAMA and Franc Moody. It was the first time seeing and hanging with some of those friends in a while so it was nice to soak up the sun, breathe in the scent of eucalyptus, touch grass, and shake our ass together. :)

August

I continued the fun in August starting with driving up to Reggae on the River in Humboldt County along the South Fork Eel River. My friend Reneé who’s been going for years and even promoted some years was kind enough to get me a free weekend pass, but I sadly didn’t take advantage of it and only went up for part of Saturday. We somehow found each other though there was zero cell reception and got to dance, drink, and frolic in the river. It was a smaller festival which I liked because it meant less walking in the heat. It was also slightly more diverse than festivals I’d been to but still overwhelmingly white.

I flew to LA to go to Disneyland for the first time. Those closest to me know there was some drama surrounding that trip which I won’t elaborate on here, but let’s just say the trip sucked and unrelatedly I have no interest in going back to Disneyland. After Disney I spent one more day in LA which was filled with bike rides around Venice Beach, then a full body scrub at a Korean spa, and dinner at Fixin’s a delicious Black-owned restaurant that I have gone back to in Sacramento since having it in LA.

Other highlights from this month were making yet another breakthrough in therapy, a thoughtfully curated Black Girls Brunch day in Tiburon that my good friend Kiera planned for us all, going to my good friend Matthis’ going away before she and her beau departed to start a new chapter in France, and checking out a run club in Oakland with some friends and running (pun intended) into old ones and making new ones.

September

I started this month dating a new guy after releasing the joke of a man I dated for a few months of my life. For our second date, we went on a hike to Diablo Foothills Regional Park and after getting a last-minute invite to a bonfire at Ocean Beach he tagged along with me to catch a beautiful sunset and meet some of my friends. We ended the night with me introducing him to my favorite pupusería in SF, Panchita's Pupusería & Restaurant. I also got to attend my friend Katie’s opening night of a solo exhibition she had in her studio which lined up perfectly with Oakland’s First Fridays. Her talent as a painter is out of this world and I was in awe seeing such raw talent up close and the individuals she painted in the flesh, check out this quick recap of her work.

My friend Taylor, who invited me to the bonfire earlier in the month also invited me to a firefighter chili cook-off fundraising event which was such a unique and fun community event. I got to taste SO much delicious chili, rode a bull in a dress (and was later told by a mother that I inspired her son to do it 🤩), and even shot my shot and got a cute EMT’s number (though that went nowhere lol). Later that same day I went to brunch in Tiburon on the water with my friend Renée and her lovely group of friends.

Another highlight of this month was doing Diplo’s inaugural, Run Club 5k and dj set with my friends. We ran 3.1 miles through SF with part of the running even going through the Giants stadium and then partied on nothing but endorphins (at least for me lol) to DJ sets by Diplo and friends. The next day I went to a queer dance party with some friends and got delicious Ethiopian food after.

As the end of the month neared I spent time meeting up with my book club and volunteering with V-O-Cal to rebuild overgrown sections of the Mt. Ellen Summit trail in San Mateo County Parks’ 100-year-old Memorial Park! We removed about 3-5 years’ worth of overgrown vegetation, re-established a 30-36 inch wide tread, and built drainage passages to encourage the flow of water off-trail to avoid erosion and trenches.

I ended the month flying back home to New Jersey for a weekend to attend my eldest sister’s wedding. It was one of my happiest moments in life seeing her and her husband solidify their love and partnership and seeing my family who I missed so much. Photography was done by my talented friend @byreynoir and his second shooter @svanh. I even got into my photography bag and captured some of the wedding too.

October

I kicked off October being treated to dinner and the André 3000 concert in Oakland at the Fox Theatre. I then spent a weekend in Sonoma with my good friend Kiera at a bougie boutique hotel she booked as a guest of a lovely and intimate wedding. We had a nice dinner together the night before the wedding. The day of the wedding we went on a fun local hike and got brunch at one of our fave spots, Sunflower Caffé. Since I wasn’t a guest of the wedding I went out on a date while the wedding went on. The date started out very chaotically with both of us having car trouble – my battery died and someone hit him and totaled his car (he was mentally and physically fine). He was still up for dinner so I picked him up after the hotel jumped my SUV and we went to Compline Restaurant. I highly recommend their duck fat fries and their cheeseburger! I ended the night by dropping my date off near his home and we texted throughout the evening. The next day I offered to give my date a ride home knowing he had to go back to the Bay Area and was carless. Being the super self-sufficient man he was he tried to refuse but when I persisted we compromised on me taking him to the BART in Oakland since Oakland was my destination. He, Kiera, and I got to chat a bit during the car ride back which was nice having one of my closest friends vet him.

For our second date, we started the day at Cool Patch Pumpkins in Dixon which is home to the planet's biggest corn maze according to Guinness World Records. Then we went back to my place and changed into our Halloween costumes, Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, for my good friends’ second annual Halloween party. He won scariest and I won sluttiest which I bribed people for votes with mini bottles of alcohol in my basket. 😂 I ended the month by hosting my first ever Halloween party the day of at my apartment. I went all out with food and decorations and even hosted my own contest of which I awarded the winners with wine, art, and a candle. Check out the recap of my party here.

November

I started this month celebrating my good friend, May’s birthday which was a fun hang at the lake filled with laughs, games, and amazing food. I voted for Kamala Harris for president. On election night my good friend Ninu and I got diner food and went to see Anora in theaters to try to keep ourselves distracted from the results. I was too anxious so I was checking the results throughout anyway feeling the pit in my stomach grow heavier and heavier and the knot in my throat get harder and harder to swallow. The movie itself turned out to be unexpectedly emotionally heavy and the ending left the entire audience in silence except for a few audible sobs heard throughout. I went home feeling completely deflated and texted the guy I was dating who drove up from South Bay to spend the night with me and comfort me as I cried completely scared about what the world was going to be like under a second Trump presidency. I had so much hope that I could see a woman who looked like me and my friend Ninu take the highest seat in American government and someone who represented so much more than her racial makeup and gender.

The next day after my date had left for work he sent me money on Apple cash to treat myself to a latte as a way to cheer me up and it was truly the sweetest thing. I spent the rest of that day emotionally distraught trying my best to get through the work day. I was invited to a data science networking event which I had planned to cancel but thanks to the gentle persistence and support of my friend who invited me I went after all. He shared with me how he too tends towards isolation when feeling low but reminded me that then, more than ever community was important to be surrounded by. The event turned out to be delightful and full of delicious Chinese food most of which was new to me. I was of course the only Black woman in the room and was even more glad that I decided to go and let people see that women who look like me do work in data science and do deserve a seat at the table.

My month was made even brighter by the arrival of my best friend Vonn, his trip was much awaited as I asked him to come during this month since it’s typically around the time my seasonal depression starts and I wanted to be uplifted by his friendship and presence and hopefully ride that high as long as I could after he left. This trip was different because he stayed longer than he did the first time he came last year and his wife joined him this time! The three of us got sushi together at my favorite spot, Judoku Sushi, and I made the classic move of “going to the bathroom” to pay the bill which worked because my friends were pleasantly surprised when they asked for the check and the waiter said someone had already paid. 😇

During Vonn’s trip, he got to meet the guy I was dating and the three of us went to get ramen in San Jose at a viral place we found on Instagram which was terrible and then went to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. We had a ton of fun exploring the grounds, taking pictures, and even stumbled upon a very interesting and nerdy talk about the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras and the Pythagorean theorem.

Later in the month, my job flew me out to Long Beach to give a talk at a conference and my date joined me. We made a fun 36 hours out of it. This is a list of all the places I dined, drank, & danced my way through: CSU Long Beach, @gondolagetaway, @tarantellaon4th, @loadedcafe, @csulbjapanesegarden, @rancho_los_alamitos, @elsauzrestaurant (for the best suadero tacos I’ve had in CA so far), and the beach of course for a quick sunset! Visiting Gondola Gateway was special for me because it was my second time! I had gone solo all the way back in 2017, yes 7 whole years ago, and it was exactly as charming and worth it this time as it was then.

Right before Thanksgiving, I got to drive down to Hollister to celebrate my old roomie and good friend, Deyon’s birthday with our friend group. We got to make cocktails at her in-home bar, meet her wonderful family, make our own pizzas in their state-of-the-art pizza oven, and play games together.

I closed out the month in Long Beach again celebrating Thanksgiving at my friend Taylor’s place. She was kind enough to welcome me and another friend into her home to have a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with her beautiful Black family. We ended the night we too many glasses of wine, laughs, and card games. On Black Friday we got together in LA for drinks and dancing at Issa Rae’s newish spot,

December

The end of the year was filled with so much love and fun! I had an impromptu museum day with my friend Kiera. We went to the SF MOMA to see the Amy Sherald: American Sublime exhibit and checked out a few others. We then went over to the newish food hall, Saluhall, connected to the IKEA and tried food from 3 vendors and had two delicious cocktails. We ended up bonding with a couple of the owners who personally came over to ask us about the food and offered us complimentary food as well. The food was exquisite and the concept is great, it was shocking to see how empty it was on a Saturday.

I continued my foray into the arts by going to see Hamilton (my first time) with my Black girl friend group. We all got dressed up and started the night at a fancy Italian restaurant then walked over to the show which for a lack of better words is simply a must-see! While in the bathroom during intermission I overheard a woman saying she worked at a piano bar nearby and having never been to one asked her the name. After the show we wanted to get drinks so I recommended the piano bar. I very bravely decided to sing Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas”. I very quickly realized that singing with only a piano to carry you is NOTHING like karaoke and my whole body began to shake so violently from the nervousness of having to carry my own tune that I thought I was going to convulse. 😅 Instead of waiting for that to happen I awkwardly said “I’m gonna stop here” and ended the song after about 2 minutes. The audience was great clapping and singing along throughout and applauded me when I finished. Looking back at the video I definitely couldn’t see my nerves as bad as I felt them and I also sounded decent. Here’s to me conquering my fear and trying something new!

I got the pleasure of attending Ninu’s Indian food pop-up in a real restaurant and supporting her trying something new too. The food she chef’d up was impeccable in taste, variety, and presentation. I was so proud of her and very grateful I got to experience it and even document some of it.

I also got to go to Oakland’s Glowfari for my second year and it was even better than the first year I went. I went with my date and we had a blast exploring all of the installations and looking at turtles while a little buzzed.

Later in the month he and I went to see the Nutcracker (my first time) and made a fancy date out of it. I got my hair done the day before and my date and I got all dressed up. After the show, we had tapas and drinks at a local Mexican spot we both enjoyed.

My date and I spent Christmas together. We showered each other in thoughtful gifts and mouthwatering food with me making family recipes for baked macaroni and collard greens and him making incredible lobster.

We ended the month seeing my all-time favorite movie of 2024, Flow. If you haven’t seen it yet, you must! It is a silent film about a cat in an obscure part of the world that floods and you follow it on this adventure as it finds different ways to survive and bonds with the most unlikely creatures. The visuals were stunning, the music score is beautiful, and the plot was so interesting and moving. I cried at the beginning and there were a couple of the tear-jerker moments throughout.

As always, thank you for reading. I am excited about the memories we’ll create in 2025. ♥️