Ten Reasons 2021 Did Not Suck
Arches National Park, one of the five National Parks I was able to visit in 2021.
I can still remember how desperate the world was to flip the calendar on 2020, to put “the worst year ever” behind us. As if the changing of the clock would magically restore the world to the before times.
We tend to build up the New Year every year it seems, putting so much pressure on it to deliver us health and prosperity.
There was so much hope for 2021, for the vaccine, for the end of the pandemic. Back in January, I knew better than to be consumed by such excitement. I knew January would look a lot like December, and February 2021 still. But as I looked ahead and planned trips and events for the summer and fall, months away, I had a glimmer of hope that times would be different, that the normalcy would at least return by then. Unfortunately, for the most part, I was wrong.
The year 2021 proved just as unpredictable as 2020 but the difference was that we got used to riding the roller coaster. We became more comfortable living in a pandemic, and unless you chose to be a total hermit (and I still know many people that are, mostly the elderly and immunocompromised) you figured out how to navigate the world in the way that felt safest to you. We grew accustomed to last-minute changes and knew better than to plan too far ahead. Airlines changed their cancellation policies and fingers were crossed every time something in-person was put on the calendar.
As I look back on 2021 I had an amazingly full year despite the ongoing COVID restrictions, considerations, and concerns. I spent about three months traveling and got to visit with all of my family and closest friends. I grew Shored Up Digital, scaled back Coast to Coast Cuts, and started to get comfortable loosening the reigns my work had over me. As a result, my anxiety decreased and my earnings increased. 2021 was good to me.
I spent tens of hours over the last couple of weeks browsing through photos from the year. I logged the trips I took, the people I saw, and the adventures I had, all despite an ongoing pandemic. So while 2021 wasn’t this magic return to normal that I knew better than to believe it was quite possibly one of my best years yet and I’m grateful for all it allowed me.
Here’s a look at some pretty awesome things that happened in 2021.
I got my money’s worth out of my RV. One of my goals for 2021 was to travel more, in the safest way possible. Thanks to our RV, affectionately name Dorothy, (there’s no place like home-on the road!) we logged over 9,000 miles of driving across 26 states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, New Hampshire, Maine, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, and Pennsylvania). Goal for 2022: Get to those northern contiguous states I have yet to visit: Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
I discovered so so many new places. One of the biggest learnings for me in COVID has been trying to be more present, and not over-planning for the future. Whenever I was planning trips in the “normal times” I pretty much knew what we were going to be doing every minute of every day. This year I started embracing the notion of being more fluid and in keeping our itineraries loose, we discovered so many new things. In addition to loving a lot of the new places we had plotted like Moab, Utah; Golden, Colorado; and Memphis, Tennessee (just to name a few!) we stumbled upon some amazing roadside attractions. One of the most unusual was the M.T. Liggett Art Environment in Mullinville, Kansas a unique collection of politically charged junk metal folk art, windmills, and signs that literally stopped us in our tracks when we were driving through town (after having enjoyed a hearty lunch at Miss Kitty’s Cafe, a Gunsmoke themed restaurant with an RV park in the back–so random).
One of the most awe-inspiring places that Gavin added to the itinerary last minute was Monument Rocks and the Chalk Pyramids, a group of rock outcroppings, nestled within cow country in western Kansas. Never would you imagine coming upon 70’ tall rock formations in a place like that. Then there was the charming town of Hardy in the Arkansas Ozarks home to picture-postcard shops full of collectibles, antiques, and crafts from local artisans. We scored one of the best magnets of the trip there.
When you’re on the road life certainly is like a box of chocolates… and leaning into life’s randomness showed its rewards this year.I visited five National Parks and at least ten new State Parks. Back in April, I was debating whether to wrap up our spring road trip and head back to Martha’s Vineyard as my work was piling up. I was totally stressed out but had wanted to try to fit in a trip to Acadia National Park in Maine on our way home and I’m so glad we did. Acadia was absolutely breathtaking. The season hadn’t quite yet started in Bar Harbor (hence why we slept at a Boondocker’s Welcome site in a storage facility) but it was so peaceful and beautiful and worth every second. When we were planning our fall road trip out west I was hoping to find a way to spend some quality time with Kristina and her family and a family adventure in Moab, Utah made the most sense. There we got to explore the grand majesty of Canyonlands and Arches National Park, plus a trip to Dead Horse Point State Park, a place that rivals the type of views you’d find at the Grand Canyon. Back on our way up the East Coast we made a point to visit the Great Smoky Mountains where we were greeted with grazing elk as soon as we entered the park, and The Shenandoah National Park, where we spent our eight-year anniversary hiking the park and taking in the many scenic overlooks. Additionally, we visited many State Parks which proved to be our favorite places to camp given their affordability, wooded sites, and access to trails. Favorites included Edisto Beach State Park in South Carolina, Pocahontas State Park in Virginia, and Table Rock State Park in the Ozarks.
I became a dog mom again! Getting Manny last February was one of the greatest things I did this year, and every day since has been better because of him. Our little furball provides us with endless joy and gives me even more reasons to walk the beach. I literally don’t know how we existed without a dog for the last several years. He has given me a whole new purpose and I couldn’t love him more.
I got to spend way more time with family. We were able to make two trips to Georgia this year to soak up all the joy that Jack, Fiona, and our Atlanta-based crew provide, and our trip out west allowed us to maximize our time with the Modlins as well as the entire Spagnuolo family. My grandmother, Aunt Donna, and mom visited Martha’s Vineyard for Mother’s Day where we shared a whole bunch of laughs, a rousing game of Cards Against Humanity, and a delicious brunch at Sweet Life Cafe. Despite Carol’s mobility concerns I’m so glad she made the trip.
I spent some amazing moments with my mom this year, including a spa weekend at Mirabeau that I arranged for her 60th birthday and surprising her with her friends at dinner in YarmouthPort. I was able to be with my father for his 60th birthday too as well as finally getting the opportunity to go camping with him and Paula this summer so we could all enjoy our shared RV together. One of the real family highlights was gathering with the Spagnuolo clan just a few weeks ago to celebrate Grammy’s 85th. What a milestone for her and for each of us that have been a recipient of her love and devotion to her family over the years.
After we were all quarantined for the holidays last year I was especially looking forward to the return of our annual Christmas chaos… but I guess I’ll have to wait for next year. We returned from our fall road trip right in time for Thanksgiving so I was able to enjoy a delicious meal with my dad’s family, reuniting with the group for the first time since the holidays of 2019. It was a joyous occasion that I was incredibly grateful for. This year was on track to see the return of large holiday gatherings for Christmas and New Year’s too but omicron threw a bit of a wrench in things. As omicron cases continued to climb the week of Christmas, Gavin and I decided to scale back our plans. Instead of hosting his parents at my dad’s and escorting them to my large family gatherings (a tradition we had really started to embrace pre-COVID) we made the decision to make it a small party of four and meet on neutral ground in Great Barrington. Ironically my in-laws contracted COVID at some point in all of this despite staying away from the bigger events (we remained negative) and spent the week after Christmas in quarantine. Luckily their symptoms were mild but it’s perplexing to think about how they might have become infected while we did not. It seemed that every other person we knew that week had tested positive.I made a comeback as a wedding guest. It was really something special to return to weddings this year. I love weddings. I love witnessing the love between two people, a new union being formed, and two families coming together in support. But the notion of attending weddings in COVID was stressful leading up to them, I was constantly wondering about protocols and just hoping the other attendees were being as mindful as me. I attended a wedding in the beautiful White Mountains at the Mountain View Grand Hotel in Whitefield, New Hampshire with my mother and sister for a family friend. We all tested as soon as we arrived at the resort as a precaution.
It was the first hotel I stayed at in COVID and it was weird to be staying in a place with so many people around. Kristina had traveled all the way from California to be there and was extra cautious. She avoided eating dinner inside the venue so I brought her food up to the room for her, aside from that the wedding was pretty normal. I danced with my mom at the reception, careful to keep our masks on (we were the only ones) and stay on the outskirts of the dance floor. I love to dance and on one hand, it felt weird being on the dance floor at all and on the other hand, it felt weird being there and being so restricted, given my past experience on dance floors in the normal times.
My second wedding was my cousin Conor’s wedding, an exquisite affair in Vail Colorado that I was able to enjoy with my mom’s whole family, sadly with the exception of my Grammy given how much travel would’ve been involved for her to get there. The best part of the weekend was spending three whole days with the Spagnuolo family, especially the times all of us cousins spent outside by the fire and the pool. Conor and Nicole’s outdoor ceremony was beautiful, a rustic, wooded scene that was so appropriate for them. Kristina and her family stayed outside to eat dinner, and I could see them through the windows, another reminder of how very abnormal these times still were. After dinner we all headed back to the hotel, missing the boisterous family shenanigans on the dance floor I normally would’ve loved to have been a part of. We made the most of it based on what we were comfortable with and I’m grateful we got that.So many special moments with great friends. I kicked the year off with a visit to Dave and Nora’s in the Hudson Valley. Quality time with my besties was something I had been craving so bad. It’s what fuels my soul and was one of the hardest things to live without in 2020. This year we were able to spend some amazing quality time with our friends Brendan and Natalie in North Carolina, a relationship reformed by the pandemic when we sought refuge in their driveway, staying several days in our RV to recover from our vaccines in the spring. Then there was the time we “camped” in Brendan and Caroline’s driveway (the boys were so fascinated with the RV) where we were able to have good, safe fun with them as well as the Blacks and Travis family. I was able to spend multiple weekends on Cape Cod frolicking with Kati, Lyndsay, Nora, Francesca and Jess, embracing going out, eating in, and returning to the bars (albeit short-lived). I made an impromptu trip to Boston to visit Ryan and Lucia and we spent all night bar-hopping with strangers we had totally clicked with. The normal times felt like they were back, until they were taken back again…
Then we hosted Brendan, Natalie, and their daughter Ada here on Martha’s Vineyard for their first time back in September. We were gifted some of the best weather of the season and spent the weekend showing them our favorite places–from Lambert’s Cove Beach to the Aquinnah Cliffs, to the Chilmark Pottery Trail, Mad Martha’s, seafood picnics by the shore, late-night donuts at Back Door donuts and more–everything they saw they loved. We even spent an afternoon aboard the Island Girl charter boat having the most leisurely summer day. They left calling Martha’s Vineyard the “land of leisure” completely smitten by the fact that we live here. It’s always such a treat to introduce new people to this place and it fills my heart with gratitude to get to show off my beautiful home.
I love that when we’re on the road we can pop on on friends too, and on our fall road trip we were able to visit with Lindsey in beautiful Golden, Colorado. We caught up with Ed upon our return to Atlanta and even though there never seems to be enough time when we’re back to visit with all of our favorites, it’s so comforting knowing they’re there.I stood by as a proud wife watching Gavin win the Derby. I watched Gavin accept his first-place award at the fishing derby, and almost had a heart attack watching him try to win a boat. Gavin spent September and October totally consumed by the MV Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby… again. A couple of days into the tournament he caught a bonito that remained at the top of the leaderboard until the very end. He won in that category and was absolutely ecstatic about it, and so so proud of himself. It was a treat to see him so happy, and I was proud of him too. I joined him at the award ceremony where he was one of six people to attempt to open a lock that would’ve earned him a brand new boat had it clicked. Watching the lock portion of the event was a nail-biter! I can only imagine how much more suspenseful it was in the normal times with hundreds of other attendees looking on. It was an amazing event and definitely one of the best days of Gavin’s life, I was grateful to be able to share it with him.
We grew Shored Up Digital and we’re crushing it. I’m so very proud of the work Marnely and I accomplished this year, most notably launching the Martha’s Vineyard Dining Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is the Island’s first-ever complimentary all-inclusive restaurant guide that brought the print and digital worlds together by utilizing Flowcode technology to help visitors and residents alike explore and stay up to date on their favorite restaurants. It was a true labor of love and miraculously I did most of the work for the book from the RV. Another professional accomplishment from 2021 is learning how to work efficiently on the road. Knowing I can be productive, coupled with being my own boss means I can honestly work from anywhere, and I am so so grateful for that.
Additionally, we officially added three new team members which has allowed us to serve more clients and has afforded us the space to take on more clients and be more strategic with our offerings. I was hesitant to grow the team, as I was reluctant to become a manager but the flexibility it has allowed us has been so rewarding. My anxiety has reduced, I feel more balanced and more in control of my time. I found the time to kayak in the middle of the workday this summer! I feel like I’m actually starting to work smarter not harder and getting what I’m owed–it has been a true blessing.I finally obtained my barbers license. This year started with me hitting the books (and the flashcards!) hard, studying for my Massachusetts Barber Exam, a test I have been trying to take since I moved back here in 2014. Due to ridiculous bureaucratic red tape, I was finally able to take the test back in February, and it was seriously so stressful. Really it’s just cutting hair and it’s hard to believe how complicated and challenging these state board tests are, but the struggle was real. Not to mention taking the test in the throes of COVID meant for even more drama but alas I passed.
Now I am fully licensed as a barber and cosmetologist in Mass. and test-taking is behind me (unless I move out of state again). While it doesn’t change much of my day-to-day life as a hairstylist it’s knowing that the years I spent going to school are fully validated and it's a skill set I can rely on whenever I need to and it can’t be taken away.
What I’ve been reading: I recently finished Firefly Lane, Holidays on Ice, and the Open Book the Jessica Simpson memoir as an audiobook. I started a new book A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon and are still trying to decide if I like it or not… Another goal for 2022 is to read more and I really picked up the pace around the holidays and am hoping to keep the momentum going. I also started cross stitch!
What I’ve been watching: Gavin and I started watching Mindhunter and we’ve been watching Big Sky.
What I’m looking forward to: Traveling again! Hard to believe that we have another road trip planned at the end of the month. We’re planning to drive out to California, visit clients of Gavin’s in Sonoma for a week and then Kristina, Robert, and Mason in Santa Barbara for a couple of weeks before heading back across the South. I also just booked a girls trip to the Dominican Republic with Lindsey and Bridget for April, which will be the first international trip I’ve taken since 2018 and the first flight I’ve taken since January 2020. Fingers crossed!
In Recent News:
Welcome deltacron variant! Cyprus reportedly discovers a Covid variant that combines omicron and delta. Great.
U.S. Covid-19 Seven-Day Case Average Tops 700,000. That's more cases in seven days than in April, May, June, and July 2021 combined. At the latest pace, eight Americans are testing positive every second.
A Look Back at 2021, a Roller Coaster Ride That Wouldn’t Quit A look back at local news from Martha’s Vineyard.
Betty White died at 99, Just Weeks Short of Her 100th Birthday. Maybe 2021 did suck.