My 2022 Year in Review

Every year I write a post about all my highlights from the previous year. But, this year felt a little different for me. I experienced incredible things, but I also dealt with major heartache. It just didn’t feel right to only share my “highlights” without giving more context about how intense this year really was. So, I came up with the idea to create a full 2022 year in review. This post will be a full at look at all the shows and music I loved, goals I accomplished, and trips I took — along with an explanation as to why this year was also incredibly difficult.

2022 Favorites

Movies I enjoyed

New TV shows I binged

*Some released at the end of 2021, but I didn’t watch them until 2022.

TV shows I love that released new seasons

*Some released at the end of 2021, but I didn’t watch them until 2022.

Songs on repeat

2022 Highlights & Milestones

My 28th Birthday!

My birthday is always a big, planned out event. I kicked it off beforehand with a photo shoot in Detroit, shot by my good friend Quran. We were joined by my other best friend, Kymo, and we had a really great time. They both made sure I got incredible photos and it was so nice to hang out with both of them all day (we’ve all been friends since 7th grade).

For my actual birthday weekend, I planned my first ski trip with my girls in Vermont (more on that below). The trip was ICONIC.

My family moved out of our Michigan home and relocated to South Carolina

My family moved from Taylor, MI to Ypsilanti, MI when I was 18. So they spent 10 years in this house and I lived in it for four of those years while I was in college. My little sisters grew up there and I went through a lot of major life changes there. Needless to say, it was difficult to leave. However, my step-dad got a new job and they all got a beautiful new home in Spartanburg, South Carolina. So although I miss our old home, I am extremely happy for them!

My 10 Year High School Reunion

This year was my 10 year high school reunion! It’s so hard to believe I graduated all the way back in 2012. Since my best friend, Kailena, was the class president and I was the class secretary we planned the whole thing — and it was stressful! As you can imagine, a lot of people had different opinions on what we should do. But Kailena did a great job and we had a fun evening of food, drinks, dancing, and catching up!

Moved into my first solo apartment in NYC

Another MAJOR life change this year was moving into my own apartment in NYC! I’ve lived with Kailena as my roommate for about five years and we truly get along so well. I couldn’t have made it without her, tbh. But, as we have both grown in our careers and gotten older, we decided it was time to try living solo. We did both stay in the same neighborhood though! I have lived alone for a few months now and I love my apartment so much! It’s basically my dream apartment and I’ve really enjoyed decorating it in a way that feels 100% me.

Started making amazing group content with my friends

The amount of creativity and growth when it comes to my content this year was way beyond anything I’ve done in the past. And that has a lot to do with my friends who are fellow creators. We did a cowgirl editorial shoot, hosted a Barbie picnic, and went all out on group costumes for multiple events! I’m so excited to see what we create in 2023, because this was only the beginning!

Four weddings

Now that I’m in my late 20’s, I’m attending A LOT more weddings — which I love! And they have all been so different, in the best way. My childhood best friend/family friend Dom got married in these gorgeous woods in Michigan. My grad school friend had a rustic chic style wedding in her home state of Alabama. A good friend from high school, Tarah, had a super fun and eventful Vegas wedding. And Kailena’s aunt (who I consider family too) also had a Vegas wedding and was married by an Elvis impersonator! So many fun memories.

And here’s all my wedding looks!

My Third Year at BuzzFeed

I completed another year at BuzzFeed as a senior editor and grew A LOT as a manager. It was a huge change taking on more edits, owning more projects, and working on improving my management style. But, I am so lucky to be able to say I continue to love my job! I’ve also adapted to working from home full-time and I can barley remember what it’s like to go to an office every day!

Guest Speaker for a Syracuse University class

Every year it is a goal of mine to speak to a class and try to help students in some way. In the past, I was a teaching assistant for two semesters; I have been an in-person guest speaker for a journalism class at Eastern Michigan University; I gave a Syracuse University graduate class a tour of BuzzFeed; and I’ve done many calls and email exchanges with students over the years. The tradition continued this year when I had the honor of speaking to an SU social media class. It was done virtually from my tiny NYC bedroom, but I really enjoyed it! And I hope the students did too.

Continued to improve my content and make money as an influencer

Every year, I obviously try my best to grow as a content creator. It’s not only my side hustle, but my passion. I do it for fun way more than I do it for money. But, when I do get paid for the work I put in, it feels incredibly fulfilling and validating. This year, I worked with Snag Tights to create UGC on a consistent basis, I monetized my Reels on Instagram, and I made some money through affiliate commissions. I also finally reached over 1,000 followers on TikTok, I got my most likes ever on an Instagram post, and I started using Pinterest and YouTube Shorts more frequently and intentionally.

2022 Travel Recap

This year, I explored 5 countries, 10 states, and more than 15 cities! I’m pretty sure it was my most traveled year EVER.

Killington, Vermont

As I mentioned above, I planned my first ski trip ever for my 28th birthday. I tried snowboarding, which was a huge fail! I was terrified and I could not balance long enough to do it at all lol. The only upside of snowboarding was the cute outfit and pictures haha. We also went snowmobiling, which was so fun (minus the fact that one of my friends got hurt, but don’t worry she’s okay). Getting around the town was a bit difficult, but we enjoyed the hotel and it has a heated pool. Check out my tips for how to spend a weekend in Killington.

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit always will feel like home when I go back to visit. In 2022, I spent New Years at the Foundation Hotel. I also checked out some other trendy restaurants and bars during my visits. I think I went about three times over the year. I had fun exploring some of the newer spots in the city with my friends. But I also had to deal with a lot of memories and pain during my visits. This was the first time I visited without my mom, step-dad, and little sisters living there. That wasn’t so bad, because I was able to stay with my dad and spend more time with him. But I had to deal with the loss of Kymo during one of my visits and speaking at his funeral was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

Las Vegas, Nevada

I went to Vegas twice this year and both times were for weddings! It’s so wild to me that my first time visiting there was just in 2021. Now I’m a pro haha. The weddings were so much fun and I got to see some of the major tourist attractions while I was there. I even won a twerk contest at a Chippendales show!

Spartanburg, South Carolina

My family moved to SC in the spring and I was able to visit them twice in 2022. During the first visit, we went on our first ever family hike to see a really pretty waterfall. The second visit was for Christmas and it was my first time staying in their brand new home.

Birmingham, Alabama

While I was visiting my family in South Carolina, I took a weekend to drive five hours to Alabama for my friend Beth’s wedding that I mentioned above. My other friend Bri and I stayed at a super cute Airbnb together and we checked out the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, which was very powerful.

Houston, Texas

This trip was pretty chill because I went for one reason: to spend time with my Grandma Bev. This was the last time I saw her. I will always cherish the fact that we were able to sit on the porch together and have long talks in the sunshine. She was an amazing woman and the best grandma.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

This trip was random, but part of my commitment to visiting all 50 states in my lifetime. I original planned it with Q and Kymo attending. Unfortunately, Kymo passed away right before the trip. I almost canceled it, but my bestie Julia decided to go with me after his funeral. It was hard to try to have fun after losing my brother, but I’m glad we went. It helped me start to try to feel “normal” again after a couple weeks of shock. Milwaukee was a charming city with some cool sites. Check out my post about things to do in Milwaukee.

Bentonville, Arkansas (overnight layover)

Okay so this one barley counts and I will be going back to Arkansas one day to actually explore. But basically we got stuck here overnight on our way to Miami. Leah and I made the best of it, but we didn’t see anything other than the airport and our hotel. Fun Fact: Bentonville is known as the birthplace of Walmart.

Miami, Florida

I went on a girls trip to Miami and although there were some travel hurdles, we ended up having a lot of fun. We enjoyed the night life, hit up a pool party, went on a boat ride, and ate at some great spots. Check out my Miami recommendations and outfit ideas.

Barcelona, Spain

I finally got to live out my Cheetah Girls fantasy! We strutted around Barcelona and enjoyed all of the iconic sites — such as La Sagrada Familia and Park Güell. We also had a rooftop pool at our hotel and spent a day on the beach.

Paris, France

It was my second time in Paris and I enjoyed it even more this time around. We ate great food, spent a day at the Louvre, saw some other exhibits, and hung out around the Eiffel Tower.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam was surprisingly my favorite stop on the Europe trip! The canals and colorful buildings were just so pretty. It felt so calm and lovely there. We saw the famous “gingerbread houses,” went to a huge floating flower shop, explored museums, and walked around the Red Light District.

London, England

This was my second time in London and it was the last stop on our Europe trip. We hit all the major sites, did some shopping, and I even got to tour the estate rooms of Buckingham Palace.

NYC Adventures

This past year marked my 6th year living in New York State and my 5th year living in NYC. And with every year I spend here, I try to experience as much of this amazing city as I can. This year I went to my first day spa, I saw a bunch of plays on Broadway, checked out some cool exhibits, and attended some fun events.

Broadway Shows

I love going to Broadway shows! This year I saw six of them and they were all my first time seeing them. I enjoyed them all, but my favorite was probably Six. Fun Fact: Not only did I see Moulin Rouge on Broadway this year, but I also went to the REAL Moulin Rouge burlesque club in Paris this year!

Here are the shows I saw in 2022:

• The Lion King
• Dear Evan Hansen
• Six
• Moulin Rouge
• Hadestown
• Topdog / Underdog

’70s Party at the TWA Hotel

For Leah’s birthday, she hosted a ’70s themed party at the TWA Hotel. The hotel has a ’60s-’70s airport theme already, so it was the perfect backdrop for all of our content. They have a rooftop pool, a plane with a bar inside of it, and an outdoor area with tons of games, roller skating, and bumper cars!

Afropunk

Afropunk was something I wanted to attend for a while, so I was really excited to have a group of friends to go with this year! Check out my post about our group outfits.

Anime NYC

I’m a nerd at heart and I’ve always been interested in cosplay. Anime NYC was my first cosplay convention ever, so I had to dress up as my favorite anime character — Sailor Moon! We had fun checking out all of the costumes, booths, and merchandise.

Museums

When I was in grad school I actually studied arts journalism, so museums are very high on the list of things I love to do. The good thing is, New York City has hundreds of them! This year I saw so many exhibits, I can barley even remember them all. I went to the The Met, FIT Museum, MoMa PS1, and I saw the special Louis Vuitton trunk exhibit.

Parks & Landmarks

Obviously, NYC has a ton of tourist attractions. And even after years of living here, I’m still a sucker for them! I especially love checking out a good park or an iconic landmark on a summer day. This year, I checked out Little Island, Washington Square Park, The Highline, Chelsea Market, Gantry Plaza State Park, Hudson Yards, I went to a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, and more.

Rockaway Beach

I love a beach day with my friends! This year, we went to Rockaway Beach a couple of times to enjoy some water, sand, and sunshine.

Stranger Things Experience

My friend Rachel and I checked out an interactive Stranger Things experience that was kind of like an escape room. It was pretty unique compared to other pop-ups I’ve been to! And at the end, there were cool photo spots, snacks, and shops.

New York Fashion Week

I’ve attended NYFW almost every season since my first one in 2017. In 2022, I went in both February and September. You can check out my recaps here and here.

“The Union” Book Launch Party

My friend Leah released her second book, The Union! It’s a dystopian science-fiction novel — make sure you buy a copy. I hosted a small launch party for her at my place and we had a great time.

“The Power of Plus” Book Launch Events

Another friend of mine, Gianluca, released his debut book The Power of Plus. It’s all about the plus size fashion industry and how it has evolved over the years. Pick up a copy and enjoy! For his book release, I attended a launch party at the Tanya Taylor showroom and a fancy dinner and book reading event at a beautiful mansion in Tarrytown, NY. They even had a fashion sketch artist there! So cool.

Spa Days

Before this year, I had never been to a day spa before. Now, I’ve been to two! And they were both very relaxing and fully equipped with pools, saunas, steam rooms, masseuses, and more. I went to the viral QC NY Spa on Governors Island with my friend Rachel for her birthday. And I went to SoJo Spa in New Jersey for my friend Anuli’s birthday.

The Viral Steve Harvey Party

For Anuli’s birthday, she had the incredibly unique idea to have us all dress up as STEVE HARVEY and go to Dave and Busters in Times Square on a Friday night. LOL. We put on suits, wig caps, and mustaches and took the subway to the busiest area in the city. We obnoxiously asked people Family Feud questions and made tons of ridiculous videos. It was So. Much. Fun. We even went viral for it haha. Our videos were shared by tons of platforms and social media pages and they got millions of views overall. Anuli’s tweet about the party has over 80k likes alone. Not only did we have a blast, but SO many strangers were playing along and cracking up with us. Oh and Steve Harvey himself did see the video and share it on his Instagram story!

I had a Steve Harvey party for my birthday 😂🎉 i love my friends♥️ pic.twitter.com/232HuwPxIK

— 2x Certified🏆 ✨MENACE✨🌝 (@ThouArtAnuli) December 3, 2022

My aunt & cousin visited

I was thrilled to have my Aunt Zan and cousin September stay with me for a weekend in December. This was my first time having family visit and stay with me since I’ve lived in NYC, so it meant a lot to me. And we did SO many Christmas activities.

Press & Influencer Events

I’m always attending different kinds of events in the city. Sometimes it’s for work and sometimes my friends invite me. I went to a PR event for Away when they released a new collection and I got the cutest nostalgic airbrush T-shirt. I also went to a screening for Black Panther 2 during its premiere weekend. Around the holidays, me, Leah, and Anuli went to an after hours influencer event for the Color Factory’s Winter Colorland. We all wore Christmas outfits, took tons of pictures, acted a fool, and got to be big kids in a huge ball pit. Check out more photos here (it’s #9 on the list). And then there were some more smaller events and dinners for other brands.

And a lot more cute restaurants, shops, clubs, and hidden gems!

The food and shopping scenes in NYC are top tier! It would be impossible for me to list every good restaurant and cool store I went to in a year. But, here are some great spots that stood out to me in 2022:

• The Harry Potter Store
• Extra Butter (sneaker store)
• Funny Face Bakery
• Nobu (it was my first time!)
• SERRA by Birreria (inside Eataly)
• Ralph’s Coffee Shop
• The Tyger
• Dive Bar LIC
• Stick With Me (chocolate shop)
• Prince Street Pizza
• Magic Hour Rooftop Bar
• NoMo Kitchen
• Doha Bar & Lounge
• Taj II Lounge
• OS NYC
• Public Hotel
• Watertower Bar at The Williamsburg Hotel
• Spritz New York

Rest in Peace ♡

The worst, most difficult, heartbreaking thing about 2022 is that I lost both my best friend/brother, Kymontae Payne, and my grandma, Beverly Boyd. It didn’t feel right to talk about all of the good that happened, without acknowledging how horrific it was to loose these two people just a couple months apart. There were weeks and months of the year that I struggled to feel like myself. I felt guilty just smiling or laughing at first because the pain of not having them in my life was so consuming. When I’m ready, I plan to share more about my grieving process and the impact both Kymo and Grandma Bev have had on my life. But, until then, I just want to use this space to share how much I love and miss them. My life won’t be the same without them. And for anyone else who experienced great loss in 2022, my heart feels for you and I send you love.

Kymontae Payne

1994 – 2022

Beverly Boyd

1953 – 2022

Thank You ♡

I want to end this post with a huge THANK YOU to every family member, friend, and person in my life who showed me grace, kindness, made me smile, and made me laugh in 2022. You can’t make it through the bad without appreciating the good. And you all continue to be my good — in both big ways and small.

---

Have you ever created a detailed Year in Review like this?
Let me know what moments of my 2022 Year in Review stood out to you!