My 2024 Year in Review

For a few years now, I’ve been creating this fun “year in review” as a digital scrapbook of my highlights and favorite things. This post takes a while to put together, so it tends to go up later than planned, but I really love going through my camera roll and pulling out all my favorite memories to share with you all. 2024 definitely had ups and downs. There were times when I was so busy, I couldn’t even remember what day it was. And there were moments when I felt like I hadn’t made nearly enough progress on my goals. But, like every year, I try to remind myself that this year was a huge blessing. I have had so many great experiences. And although I didn’t accomplish every goal on my list, I honestly came pretty close! And that’s definitely a win. Here are some of my most favorite and most memorable moments of 2024.

2024 Favorites

Movies

TV Shows

Songs

Books

1. The Union by Leah Vernon
2. Have We Met? By Camille Baker
3. The Woman In Me By Britney Spears (audio)
4. The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
5. The Mistletoe Bet by Maren Moore

2024 Highlights & Milestones

My 30th Birthday in NYC

Although I just moved out of NYC, I couldn’t resist flying back to celebrate my 30th birthday with my best friends. I rented a Peerspace for a few hours and decorated it in a “RIP to my 20s” theme. Everyone wore black, we played games, ate pizza, and had a great time. I also stayed in a beautiful hotel room at The Arlo NoMad.

I got a car!

After moving back to Michigan, I was VERY excited to have a car again. I didn’t have one for my 7 years living in New York. This was my first time getting a brand new car and I decided to lease a 2024 Hyundai Kona. It’s a bright green color and I’m obsessed! Literally, the perfect car for me. I’m even tempted to buy out the lease, but we will see.

Turning my aunt’s basement into a cozy apartment

While I figure out where I want to live next and pay down some debt, my aunt has graciously let me live in her finished basement in Rochester, MI. This year, I was really able to set it up and make it feel like “my” space. I created an office, huge “walk-in” closet, and more.

My 5th year at BuzzFeed

Another year down as a senior editor on the BuzzFeed Shopping team! As always, I learned a lot, edited a lot, and shopped a lot lol.

10 years blogging & 10k on Instagram!

This year, I FINALLY hit 10k followers on Instagram! I had been working on this goal for yearsss. It also happened to be the year my blog turned a whole decade old! Yup, I started Kayla’s Chaos in April 2014… wild! And although adjusting to life in Michigan did have me in a creative rut for a bit this year, I do feel like I’m starting to get my spark back!

2024 Travel Recap

New York, New York

Including my birthday trip, I went back to visit NYC about five times this year. I def knew I’d visit often, especially with so many of my close friends still there, but I’m glad I actually made it happen. Here’s a few of the places I went during my NYC travels:

• The Public Hotel
• The Met to see “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion”
• PHD Terrace at Dream Midtown (rooftop bar in Manhattan)
• The Grand (restaurant in Astoria)
• The Arlo Nomad Hotel
• Sushidelic (resturaunt in Manhattan)
• Saw Harry Potter and The Cursed Child at the Lyric Theatre

Houston, Texas

My family spent the weekend of MLK Day together in Houston at my aunt’s house. While I was there, I went horseback riding for the first time! We also went to The Black Cowboy Museum and my aunt hosted a party with a mechanical bull in her backyard. It was a lot of fun.

Niagara Falls, Ontario

During one of my road trips, I had a solo stay in Niagara Falls. I stayed at the Fallsview Hilton hotel, had a nice dinner there, and did some touristy activities. I took a boat ride into the falls, went to the top of the Skylon Tower, and walked around the Floral Showhouse.

Rochester, New York

My friend Rachel and I drove to Rochester, NY so we could see our grad school friend Alan get married. It was a really lovely wedding and I also got to have dinner with my other grad school friend, Chase. We later met up with one of our old professors for a drink — so basically, it was a big old Syracuse reunion.

Cleveland, Ohio

I took a weekend road trip to Cleveland and met up with my good friend Maria. She is one of my NYC friends, but she’s from Ohio. We had a great time doing touristy things together. I saw the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, some of the city’s landmarks, and some cute food and drink spots (like MGK’s 27 Club coffee shop).

Icon of The Seas Cruise

This was my first cruise EVER. And, of course, my family chose the biggest, nicest cruise ship out there lol. We went on Royal Caribbean’s Icon of Seas week-long cruise. It was full of different shows, pools, water slides, bars, restaurants, and more. It was a lot of fun.

Miami, Florida

This was where we left from for the cruise, so I got spend a night in Miami. I stayed at the Arlo Wynwood and it was great, I would totally stay there again. They had a rooftop pool. And I also went out with my uncle and cousin to Grails, a bar nearby that serves drinks and shots in ceramic sneaker glasses.

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

This was the first stop on the cruise and it was beautiful. I took a bus tour with my dad and his girlfriend and we got see the famous “airplane beach” and sample different flavors of rum.

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

This was our second stop on the cruise — we went to a little shopping area and got some souvenirs. It was really cute with all different shops and cobblestone streets. Then, we hit one of the beaches for the last couple of hours. The beach was gorgeous with super clear water.

CocoCay, Bahamas

For our last stop on the cruise, we went to a private island in The Bahamas. Visiting CocoCay was my first time in The Bahamas and although it was another short visit, I can definitely see why it’s such a popular vacation destination. It was so gorgeous. A few of my family members and I got a day pass for the adults only beach and honestly, it was one of my favorite parts of the trip! It had it’s only little section of private beach so it wasn’t crowded, there was a swim-up bar, and a DJ. I really enjoyed myself! (And the bar tender gave me a couple of free drinks, LOL.)

Toronto, Ontario

One of my besties, Leah V, and I drove to Toronto, which is about four hours from Detroit. I had been there once during grad school for TIFF, so it’s been a while. We had so much fun just exploring, getting food and drinks, and I got to meet one of Leah’s friends that live there. Toronto is probably one of my fave cities!

Charleston, West Virginia

As part of my 50 state journey, I stopped in West Virginia while I was driving to visit the fam in South Carolina. Charleston is a really cute city and the mountains were beautiful. I walked around and had breakfast at a coffee shop/bookstore. Then, I stopped at their capitol building for some pics.

Charlotte, North Carolina

I also stopped in Charlotte on my road trip and my bestie Kailena met me there. We spent the weekend exploring, which included a French café, the art museum, a food hall, a market, a very random hookah bar, and my first time riding a Lime scooter lol.

Spartanburg & Greenville, South Carolina

Since my mom, step-dad, and sisters moved to South Carolina, I visit them every year in the summer and at Christmas. I usually spend my time lounging around the house with the fam, hanging out in their pool, and sometimes we go to Greenville, which has a cute little downtown area.

Lexington, Kentucky

After leaving South Carolina, I stopped in Lexington, KY. I got some food, walked around the park, did a little thrifting, and then went to this very cool distillery that was built inside of an old castle.

Grand Rapids, Michigan

I visited my cousin in Grand Rapids, just a few hours away from Detroit, and I was able to be a legal witness to their marriage! It was so special. We also did some exploring around the city, which included me dragging them to a fashion exhibit. And we went on a boat ride with some family friends. It was such a nice weekend.

Cornwall, Connecticut

In December, a few of my girls got together for our friend Anuli’s birthday. We went to a cute cabin in Connecticut, which was only about two hours outside of NYC (where most of them live). I’m not very outdoorsy, but we’ve done a cabin together before and I knew I could last a couple of nights lol. We watched movies, made silly videos, wore matching PJs, sang karaoke, and even had an indoor picnic. It was a great last trip for the year.

Exploring Metro Detroit

Being back in Michigan, I’m excited to experience the Detroit area through a new lens. I grew up here, but I’m an adult and a totally different person than I was when I left at 22. And the city is totally different as well! Here are a few of the places I enjoyed going to this year:

• The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
• Mad Nice (Italian restaurant)
• Blake’s Orchard & Cider Mill (went apple picking!)
• Nicki Minaj concert at Little Caesars Arena
• Usher concert at Little Caesars Arena
• ZuZu Detroit (Asian fusion restaurant)
• Harry Potter pop-up bar at The Iron Gate (Wyandotte)
• We Them Ones Comedy Show at the Fox Theater
• MI-Combat: Immersive Tactical Laser Tag
• Paradise Café (Indian food in Dearborn)
• Shatila Bakery (Dearborn)
• Time Will Tell bar
• Rose Café (Dearborn)
• La Gelati (Dearborn)

Plus, my girl Leah V moved back to Detroit and for her birthday, our other besties Anuli and Maryam came to visit! It was their first time here, so we had a great time showing them around.

Thank You ♡

As always, this year wouldn’t be even a tiny fraction as wonderful if it wasn’t for my incredible friends and family.

RIP ♡

This year, my grandpa on my mom’s side passed away. Although our relationship was a bit strained, I’m glad I was able to visit with him during his last week. Rest in peace, Papaw.

My ex-boyfriend, Marlon, also passed away. Tbh, we had a very toxic relationship, but we were very young at the time and we started out as great friends. I am so sad that he passed so young. I take peace in the fact that we had been cordial and had already forgiven each other for the rocky times we had. I hope he rests in peace.

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