a 2023 lookback
Ian and I procrastinated our holiday card shoot again this year(oops), so it’s very possible that you have received this card after Christmas. I swear Halloween was only, like, two weekends ago, and then suddenly we are overdue to send out holiday cards. Hope you can forgive me!
It’s a little bit crazy just how quickly it feels 2023 has gone by. We kicked off 2023 in Chicago, spending New Year’s at Ian’s house with his family and friends. And here we are again, closing out the year in the same place, with the same folks. Full circle!
I’ve been feeling very sentimental and introspective as of late (as I’m sure many do this time of year). While building out this site, I was flipping through the years’ photos and ending up with way too much content. So here’s a lengthier, written update about what I’ve been up to.
day-to-day
The biggest change this year: I got LASIK! Back in May I decided that my eyes were so bad that I should just laser them. The procedure is kinda like being abducted by aliens. The whole surgery takes less than 15 minutes; they take you to a very white room and poke around your eyeballs a little bit, and you’re done. Then you sit in a dark room for a bit before being sent home. A 6 hour nap later and you can see. It’s not perfect yet (my prescription was pretty bad to start, which makes it harder to correct), and my eyes are still stabilizing, but these days I don’t wear glasses at all anymore. Wild!
We’ve lived in our apartment in Greenpoint for a year and a half, and it really feels like home now. We were grilling in the park this summer when the weather was good, which kinda feels like something you’d only do if you’re settled in a place. We have our go-to grocery spots, favorite takeout places, best places for a night out. I even have a friendly mail-passing, package-collecting relationship with the restaurant downstairs! (Great restaurant, by the way. It’s called Pierozek and the pierogi are amazing.)
As far as how else I’m filling my free time, I picked up a bass guitar toward the beginning of this year and I’ve been jamming with a few friends. Making music with other people has definitely been a learning experience, but very rewarding and very fun.
I’m still bouldering regularly, too, although I really haven’t gotten any better. But every year I notice my winter coats get a little tighter in the shoulders because climbing has made me so strong! Sometimes I also play some tennis, when we can get a court.
Aaaand I wanted to mention some of my favorite events I’ve gone to this year in no particular order: Vulfpeck concert, League of Legends LCS championships (haha, I know), Cornell Ultimate’s 50 year anniversary, the US Open, and the Cornell hockey game at MSG.
work
I’ve been working at Flex (as a product designer) for about as long as I’ve lived in Greenpoint. My one year mark was this past June. I am pleasantly surprised at how much I’ve gotten to do and how much I’ve grown as a designer.
Flex as a company has been a bit of a whirlwind — a classic, fast-moving startup. It’s a little chaotic, but it keeps me on my toes. We had a company offsite in New Orleans in May, and I met a lot of my remote coworkers in person for the first time. I love working from home, but there is definitely something about getting together in person that I miss!
My one regret is that I probably should have taken more time off this year — I checked in November and I had only taken 9 days!! What!! Next year I’m making a conscious effort to take more of my unlimited PTO. (And I’m taking a decent chunk of this December off, too.)
Job-related side note: Ian is looking for a software engineering role. Let me know if your company is hiring!!
travel & friends
When I did actually take time off, I went on a handful of smaller trips (mostly with Ian) around the Northeast to visit family, cherry blossoms in DC, to Chicago and Phoenix.
But the travel highlight of the year was going on an Alaskan cruise with some of my besties from Cornell. Alaska was beautiful. The glaciers were incredible; they’re unfathomably grand and the patterns in the ice are mesmerizing. Very glad we brought binoculars on a whim — we would have missed some stunning details of the glaciers and wouldn’t have been able to see the whales or other wildlife. Plus I got to spend some quality time with some of my favorite people.
I celebrated my birthday (a joint party with my friend Jerry) with a barnyard-themed party this year. For a while after college, it felt like almost all of my friends were from Cornell. When I was looking around at all of my friends at that party, it was obvious that that isn’t the case anymore. From Phoenix, family friends, college, work, post-college life. Very thankful to be surrounded by so many different people from so many different places!
One of the perks of living in NYC has been that it seems like everyone eventually swings through. Sometimes just a weekend visit, sometimes more permanently. There’ve been a rotating cast of couch-surfing friends this year, a handful of friends who recently moved here, and even more who have just come to NY to travel & made time for me.
But not everyone who lives here stays forever. A few of my friends moved out of the city to go to business school this year. Selfishly, I am a little bummed that I have a few less friends to hang out with. (But I am also very proud of them. 🥹)
Also, Ian and I went to two weddings, both for friends from home (congrats Brendan & Lily and Bryana & Andrew!!!). I’m a huge baby and I cried at both. In my defense, Ian gave a heartwarming best man speech at Brendan’s wedding; not a dry eye in the room. I don’t really have a good excuse for Bry’s wedding. I’m guessing we’re going to be going to a lot more of these, so I will invest in some waterproof mascara for the next one.
family
It feels like I am physically closer to my extended family than ever before. My cousins Tongxin, Alyssa, and Ellen all live in the NYC area now. We all live a bit far from each other, but it seems like everyone is willing to meet in the middle in the name of good food.
My mom, Luya & her family, and a big chunk of my dad’s family are in Massachusetts or upstate NY. It’s pretty convenient to take a train to go up for a few days whenever I’m craving my mom’s cooking. Yum!
My grandpa (姥爷) and my dad are still in Phoenix, so they’re missing out on some of the fun. Every time I go home we take 姥爷 to go eat AYCE Kbbq or a buffet and I’m impressed at how much he can eat. I’m convinced he’ll live forever because his metabolism is amazing even at 87.
One of the highlights of my April visit home was going to a Suns game with my dad. He used to play basketball with his friends at the park and watch Steve Nash. So it was really nice to be able to take him to a playoffs game. We got some free t-shirts! I told him everything I knew about Devin Booker and KD and CP3, which is admittedly not much. Suns won! (But lost the series. Boo.)
out with 2023
That’s all to say that I had a pretty nice year. Very thankful for all my friends, lots of love to all my family. Hope you had a lovely holiday season and have a happy new year.
And here’s to 2024!
x Cindy
P.S. I had a ton of fun going through all my photos from 2023, and plenty did not make the cut. Here's a random collection of pics to round it out.
