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I'm taking a page out of my friend Em's book (or blog, rather) and lifting her list of year-end salutations as a jumping off point. I'm a sucker for lists, and 2008 was a good one, so here we go.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't quite remember what they were last year, though I'm sure they had something to do with staying healthy, eating well, working out etc. I'll give myself half credit. This year, it's eating fresh and local, cutting down on processed foods, and getting to the gym at least five times a week.

3. Did any one close to you give birth?
No, thankfully. It sounds coarse, but it would have been a Juno situation if someone had.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Gramps, my paternal grandfather (he was quite old, though, 92).

5. What countries did you visit?
France, to see two great friends living in Paris.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A boyfriend. Ha. It'd be nice, I won't lie. Otherwise, I'm fairly complete.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Martin Luther King Jr. weekend: Three nights of excessive going out. When I am older and think back to being in my '20s in New York, I'll remember that weekend.
September 10: A day during Fashion Week spent at the shows at Bryant Park.
November 5: Election night. In Gowanus and Park Slope with friends. A proud day for us all.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
To wax careerist, I'd say the three particularly precarious projects I managed to complete successfully. I've never worked so hard.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I read about a job at nymag.com, but didn't apply.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Despite being a sick mess for a week in October, I didn't take a sick day.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A navy blue Rag & Bone cardigan and a white Band of Outsiders shirt with black buttons.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Frank Rich. He's able to articulate the impossible in a way that makes me totally envious.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Those who made Prop 8 a reality.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent. Obvs.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Paris. The Catskills. West Village stay-cations. So any excusion, it would seem.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
M83's Kim and Jessie.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier.
b) thinner or fatter? I think about the same, though potentially a tad heavier (eeep!)
c) richer or poorer? Richer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Running. Reading.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Cigarettes and vodka. Ha.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
With family in Connecticut.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Nope. Though my relationship with Brooklyn is going really well.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
30 Rock

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't like that word. Nor did I know anything about Sarah Palin or Rick Warren.

24. What was the best book you read?
Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Girl Talk.

26. What did you want and get?
A new computer (sweet).

27. What did you want and not get?
An iPhone (technically a 2009 get).

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Paranoid Park.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 25. The night of my birthday my cousin threw a small dinner party at her W. Village apartment for me and a few close friends. The following Saturday there was a hyper-low key party at a bar in Carroll Gardens (Abilene if you must know).

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A larger clothing budget.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Increasingly mod. Solid colors, clean lines, more attention paid to accessories such as scarves and eyewear.

32. What kept you sane?
My friends.

33. What celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Carrie Fisher because of her indispensible memoir Wishful Drinking and special brand of crazy.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Gay rights. Obvs.

35. Who did you miss?
My brothers.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Joe and Kendra. It was New Year's Eve last year, but the whole really began in 2008.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
I'll probably realize it later on.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I don't do song lyrics. We'll go with Carrie Fisher and something that stuck with me, which I think is true, "Life under tremendous stress is necessarily funny."