{December 26 Insight or aha! moment. What was your epiphany of the year?}

That sometimes you’re gonna get people down. It’s unavoidable.

{December 27 Social web moment. Did you meet someone you used to only know from her blog? Did you discover Twitter?}

I had a ton of these this year. However, one in particular, recently, was when I was in New York for the Kirtsy party. We were throwing the party in a beautiful loft space in Soho owned by the founders of the Wooster Collective. I’ve been a fan of the site for year, and was shocked when a man walked up to me at the party, put his iPhone in my face and said,”Is this you?” As I stared at a tweet I had made earlier that week about being psyched about having the party at a space owned by Sara and Marc Schiller. Never did I think they’d actually be at the party. He introduced himself as Marc, and I was a bit star struck. We chatted about art and social media, and he was delightful, as was the awesome Sara, who runs the place. It made me realize how many amazing opportunities I’ve been given because of social media in 2009. It’s changed my life.

{December 28 Stationery. When you touch the paper, your heart melts. The ink flows from the pen. What was your stationery find of the year?}

I discoverd A Punkin Card Company from Sew Crafty, and haven’t looked back since!. A go to for thank you notes, stationery, and paper products. Beautiful designs, and they are local!

{December 29 Laugh. What was your biggest belly laugh of the year?}

Can my laugh of the year be a person? I’ve never laughed as much this year as I did with my Maggie. You know, those laughs when you can’t even close your mouth you’re drooling? Yeah, plenty of those. And much more in 2010.

{December 30 Ad. What advertisement made you think this year?}

T-Mobile throws a surprise dance party in Liverpool Street Station, with hundreds of ordinary-looking Londoners suddenly breaking into a choreographed routine.

{December 31 Resolution you wish you’d stuck with. (You know, there’s always next year…)}

Health. Not so successful in 2009. But I’m already getting a head start for 2010. So, watchoutnow! 2010 is the year of the body!

{December 25 Gift. What’s a gift you gave yourself this year that has kept on giving?}

My iMac!

All 27 glorious inches of it.

It’s a nice compliment to the new 15″ Mac Book Pro that my dad just surprised me with for Christmas. Dang, I’m a lucky girl.

{December 24 Learning experience. What was a lesson you learned this year that changed you?}

When I was about 15 years old, and Dad was teaching me to drive, one thing he said has always stuck with me:

“Sometimes, in order to avoid a wreck, you need to hit the gas instead of the breaks.”

I’m not sure why this piece of information stood out so clear to me, but I’ve used it while driving many times.

This year I learned, this antidote not only applies to driving, but to getting through some tough times. This year, I learned in order to not to be crippled by indecision, fear, or heartbreak, that the best remedy was to hit the gas. And that’s just what I did.

Now, If I could just get myself to stop applying makeup while driving.

{December 23 Web tool. It came into your work flow this year and now you couldn’t live without it. It has simplified or improved your online experience.}

Snoop said it best. When the pimp’s in the crib ma, drop it like it’s hot.

When you have shared documents on multiple computers, drop it like it’s hot. (I think that was the remix.)

Dropbox has changed the way I work.

I’ve used it to manage my documents on multiple computers, share files with clients, and collaborate with coworkers.

The seamless integration with my existing OS file structure, makes it a breeze to use. There’s also a handy iPhone app.

Thanks, James Mayes for turning me on to Dropbox.

Sign-up for your own free account here. And Drop it Like it’s Hot.

{December 22 Startup. What’s a business that you found this year that you love? Who thought it up? What makes it special?}

Earlier this year, I got an email from my friend, Aaron, telling me about a new business his buddy Craig was starting up in Houston. He suggested me and some friends stop in and check it out.

So the night before I was to depart on what would become one of the worst travel days of my life, I headed to Pinot and Picasso with Mark, Amber and Andrew in tow.

We arrived at Pinot and Picasso not exactly sure what to expect. We had been warned to come armed with wine, and that we did. Three bottles of Layer Cake later, we each left with our very own Picasso creation.

We had a blast (until the next morning when I was puking my guts out on a 747 for 2 hours), and all agreed that we would return for more painting fun.

Check out their schedule of classes here or contact them to book a private event.  And awesome concept, run by some amazing people, and I wish them all the success in 2010!

{December 21 Project. What did you start this year that you’re proud of?}

My consultantcy: co.lab!

It’s been my dream for 5 years to start my own business, and this year I made it happen. Not without the encouragement and support of many, many amazing peeps.

The idea behind co.lab began as a collaboration between me and business partner (and partner in crime) Chris Valdez. Chris and I have been working on freelance projects together for three years, and we were both ready to jump ship on our 9-5′s. So we did this year!

Chris has since started his own agency, Primer Grey, with mutual friends Cliff, and Chris, and we work together on many client projects. PG handles the design and web, and I take care of the PR, events and social media.

I’ve been so amazed at the opportunities I’ve had this year. From working with Houston Mayor Bill White, to the 1st Annual Mom 2.0 Summit, to Kirtsy workshops and book parties. I can’t wait to see what 2010 holds! Bring. It!

{December 20 New person. She came into your life and turned it upside down. He went out of his way to provide incredible customer service. Who is your unsung hero of 2009?}

I’ve met some truly amazing and special people this year. You’ve seen many of them mentioned in these recaps, and it seems like each year, my awesome people radar gets better and better. And this year was no different.

However, one of these persons truly stood out to me as someone who has impacted my year, my career, and has been a constant source of support and encouragement.

I met Andrea White though Laura Mayes at the 2009 Mom 2.0 Summit in February. We had originally scheduled Mayor White to come to the conference and welcome the attendees to Houston. At the last minute, the Mayor was called to D.C. to meet with newly inaugurated President Obama, and his wife, Andrea, offered to stand in for him.

Andrea gracefully welcomed the attendees to our city, and shared her own stories of how she, as an author, creates worlds in her writing. A foreshadowing of what we’d be doing over the next few days at the conference.

After the conference, I began working with Andrea and Bill. At the time, I had yet to quit my full-time job, and was comtemplating starting my own company. Andrea was always there to encourage me. Recommending me to everyone she knew. I’ll never forget that. And her endorsements meant the world to me.

These days, I so look forward to our weekly meetings, when we catch up on each other’s lives, projects, and events. I’ve so enjoyed getting to know her children, all three a testament to Andrea’s kind and intelligent way. Andrea has served as a writing coach to me, listening to all my 13 wedding stories, and encouraging me to “write, write, write it down.” She’s always eager to learn about technology and social media, and is one of the smartest women I know.

I am lucky to call her my friend, as she has taught me what true passionate support looks like. I look forward to helping Bill and Andrea along on their journey next year as Bill seeks to serve our state at the next Governor of Texas.

Thank you, Andrea.

{December 19 Car ride. What did you see? How did it smell? Did you eat anything as you drove there? Who were you with?}

Technically, this wasn’t a car ride. It was a bus ride.

It took place somewhere on the outskirts of Tucson, AZ.

There were deep fried hot dogs roadside.

I was surrounded by all the people that mean the most to me.

We were heading towards a casino.

The entire bus sang an complete rendition of Pure Prairie League’s “Aime”.

This was not a dream.

It happened. And it was amazing.

{December 18 Shop. Online or offline, where did you spend most of your mad money this year?}

Bank accounts don’t lie. And it was no surprise to me that when looking back through my shopping purchases for the year that there was on clear winner: MARSHALL’S.

I’ve never been a big shopper. I despise malls. I try and get most of my shopping done for the season all in one day. Discount stores such as Marshall’s and TJ MAXX have made shopping much more delightful to me. And to my bank account.

Best finds this year: baby blue Jack George Laptop bag, Jou Jou Leather cropped jacket, and too many pairs of shoes that I can count.

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