2008 was the year that nearly everything changed for the better. After all of those years of ‘learning’ and ‘growing,’ all the fun stuff finally happened! The years prior were filled with school, working way too much and living with too many roommates. And now, my life is completely different.
The first few months of 2008 were spent finishing up my graphic design degree, interning at Nemo, working on my days off, wrapping up an art series and squeezing in freelance design clients. I basically went without regular days off for nearly two years! The only thing that kept me going was knowing that I was working towards a bigger goal.
I went to SXSW in Austin for the first time in March, though I spent most of the time helping Lee run his booth at Flatstock. I enjoyed my Texas-shaped waffle, shopping for vintage clothing and hanging out by the pool, but I find it odd that people constantly compare Austin to Portland. Maybe they mean that it’s the closest thing to Portland in the South?!!
In April, Star came out to visit! We went to the Stumptown Comics Convention, but in true Stubby fashion, we were late because we were at the mall buying heart sunglasses!
In June, I graduated (school’s out forever!) and on portfolio day, a group of Nemo-ites surprised me at school. In true Nemo fashion, one of the boys asked me where the beer was!
A week after I graduated, Nemo hired me full-time as a graphic designer & marketing / PR developer. Nothing comes close to designing and blogging all day!
In early July, I had a solo show for Black & White Graphic Insight at Gallery Paradiso and got on a plane to New York the next day. I normally never fly to New York in July (oh, the humidity!), but Gala was in town and after talking online forever, we decided that it was finally time to meet.
Within the first day, we’d hugged jumbo ice cream cones, eaten enough food to resemble the last supper, picked out taxidermy for our imaginary home and visited more boutiques than I can remember!
Bianca and I had our own set of adventures. She took me to Sway for the first time and we also shared totally insane cab rides, made videos of drunken interpretive dance routines at 4 a.m, watched fireworks from her rooftop and she snapped photos of me in the middle of the street.
I spent the rest of the summer simultaneously working at Nemo during the day and pulling together my art retrospective at night. Oh, and sending lots of emails back and forth with Gala, hammering out our Virgo birthday details.
I flew into New York on the morning of September 13th and met up with lady bloggers Star and Marie who helped me pick up mounds of balloons and cupcakes. Our Central Park party was awesome! Bianca took portraits of the guests and they were all so cute and polite. Many brought gifts, including lucite wedding rings!
After the festivities, Gala and I had a tiny afterparty in our room at the Hotel on Rivington. Cue bed jumping, throwing cakes off the balcony, cheering to the party below (while wearing Marie’s corn suit), ordering loads of Chinese food and finally passing out. Best birthday yet!
After spending a week holed up at The Virgo Boarding House with our gracious & awesome host, Gala and I flew out to Vegas for Blogworld 2008! Cue sunshine, major blogging overload, lizard people, meeting Steve Pavlina, white stretch limos, white tiger masks, all-you-can-eat buffets and setting off alarms at our hotel.
In October, I had a solo show at Nemo and I sold more work there than any other to date! Friends that I hadn’t seen for ages surfaced and it was one of my favorite nights of the year.
Sadly, my Grandma died and I miss her very much. I was also Minnie Mouse for Halloween.
In December, there was a massive snow storm in Portland that spanned two weeks, but it was balanced out with a sunny vacation in Phoenix. It was the perfect way to reflect back on the year.
What were your defining moments in 2008?
