End of year list by Lotte

Two thousand and ten has officially ended. This was such an amazing year for me. I met great people, made a new best friend, got to travel to Canada again - twice! and became so much happier. I made a list of events, things, music from 2010. I used this list, from Gala Darling as my inspiration. 

Where I went
This year I went to Canada twice. Once to Toronto in March to visit a friend who was working there on a temporary visa. I stayed in a luxurious hotel for a few days in Toronto and the last days in a hostel. 
I went to Vancouver in summer with my boyfriend at the time. We couchsurfed with an amazing host who lived in Coquitlam, just outside of the city. 
In August I also went to Los Angeles for ten days, which was far too long. I met up with my very first couchsurfing host Sherry, who I stayed with in Chicago in 2009. We did stay in an amazing hostel though. It was cheap and clean and right in the middle of Hollywood.  

What I did
I found a job that I still like after almost a year at a big housing company in Rotterdam. I work at client services, that might sound boring, but it gave me the opportunity to get to know my fellow Rotterdamers (Rotterdamians?) better, help some people, get over my shyness a bit and meet some amazing new friends. My colleagues are great. I also met Esmée through work.  

Most loved songs
Malcolm Middleton – Week Off
Katatonia – Unfurl (I loved this song the most, but have been playing all the songs from The Great Cold Distance on repeat for months)
The National – Available
The Weakerthans – This is a Firedoor Never Leave Open
Neon Trees – Animal
TV on the Radio – Wolf Like Me
Florence and the Machine - Cosmic Love
Giant Sand – Out There
Cloud Cult – Fire and Hurricane Survival Guide
Detektivbyrån – Life/Universe
The entire album To Die Among Strangers by Rome (I really can’t choose one)
Vancouver Olympics Opening Ceremony - Rhythms Of The Fall

Most loved television shows or movies

I still watch Due South obsessively and even joined in a DS rewatch this year. So much fun. 
I also really loved all the new Top Model shows. Especially New Zealand’s Next Top Model with Elsa and Nellie. Also Project Runway with Mondo and Gretchen & I have a crush on Tim Gunn. True Blood and another awesome season of Dexter. I watched Twin peaks too and developed a love for black coffee and Audrey/Dale. 
And oldie, but still, To Kill a Mocking Bird. Atticus Finch is such an amazing character.  

Top five purchases
Lee Stafford’s Poker Straight Dry Shampoo. It’s the best. Makes my hair fluffy and smells great. 
The Analogue Canon I bought from a homeless guy in Vancouver
Dust and Dessert zine
My Canada boots. I bought a pair of very sturdy and cute hiking boots for Canada. They have proven to be super comfy in winter and I can even run through snow with them :). 
Gala Darling’s Love and Sequins series


Best things I did for myself
My set goal this year was to become more optimistic and to love people more. After a completely exhausting period of my life in which I was an animal rights activist and becoming increasingly misanthropic I decided to call this quits. I set out to read more amazing stories about the good in people, heroic deeds, good news, smile at people on the streets and be my absolute best self to others. I found out that the outside world is indeed a reflection of your own inner world. 
And I met Esmée, who is such an amazing, kind and inspiring girl. We’ve had so much fun already and she became one of my very best friends in less than a year.  

This may sound harsh, especially because I still really love him more than anyone in the whole world, but in a different way: breaking up with my boyfriend of almost seven years. We had some great adventures, couch potato sessions, we have the best inside jokes and no one knows me as well as he does, but in the end it became so clear that we just weren’t meant for each other. Now we have the opportunity to start something entirely new and more suiting.  

Top five events
Canada in Summer. Swimming in lakes with no one around, trying out the finest tequila with Clayton, eating at the best Indian restaurant in Vancouver and Clayton telling incredibly inappropriate jokes.
Meeting Esmée’s friends for the first time. Because everyone is so sweetly snarky to each other :)
Staying up late to see Canada win the Olympic Gold for hockey. 
Traveling to Toronto alone. I just love the rush I get from being at the airport and in the plane by myself. It makes me feel so free and brave. 
Staying late after work when Esmée and Ewout work the late shift on Friday. Ordering pizza, listening to music and talking about everything and nothing. 


Best meal
The Indian food in Vancouver

Inspiration
Esmée, Gala Darling, Pronoia is the Antidote to Paranoia by Rob Breszny 


Quote
You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.
Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.
–David Whyte

My goals for 2011 are finishing school, making a real magazine, travel for at least two weeks and be more productive; have more self-discipline. I also want to be a blonde this year and include more people in my pictures.