2013 Highlights

Last year, I wrapped up 2012 with this post recounting some of the most exciting moments of the year after seeing many publications I follow complete wrap-ups and predictions. Here are some personal highlights of 2013 called out and upcoming occasions to look forward to.

What happened in 2013? 

• Travel, travel, travel.

Having my Instagram photo map to keep track, I realized I've visited four countries and 23 states in the past year, visiting cities and states like: NYC, Princeton, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Seattle, Kansas City & St. Louis, Iowa City, Champaign, Milwaukee, Dallas, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, San Diego & San Francisco, Denver, Lincoln and Omaha, Nashville, Louisville, Detroit, Springfield, Mass., Enfield, Conn., Atlanta and briefly Charlotte. Four countries: Argentina, Chile, Mexico and the USA. If only this could continue! 

I'm happy I had the time to blog about them and take some awesome road trips through the Midwest and to Colorado. It was also a blast to return to South America, explore Santiago, Valparaiso and Viñe del Mar in Chile and go to Mendoza, Argentina's wine country, a second time. 

• Writing and defending a thesis.

Eighteen hours of interviews, two literature reviews, a methods proposal and 90 pages later, my master's thesis was complete on 7-11-13. Want to read it? 

• Moving to and exploring downtown Chicago. 

Not only did I move out of Mizzou and back home, but signed a lease for an apartment north of the city in Lakeview and have lived here starting in October. If you would have told me that I'd live less than a mile from the lake and so close to North Avenue beach years ago, I wouldn't believe you. It's been fun to learn the CTA (especially the red and brown/purple lines), learn the various neighborhoods and realize how Streeterville is different from Gold Coast which is way different from Roscoe Village or Bucktown. I'm also happy that over the summer I had some time to explore Milwaukee and see what as a smaller city, it has to offer. 

• Starting a full-time, salaried job and visiting three of four Starcom offices. 

I returned to the Integrated Insights team that I interred on at Starcom, which is part of the company's Human Intelligence branch. As a senior research analyst on various accounts, I've learned a lot about LEGOs, consumer electronics and the auto parts industry, as well as quantitative surveys and focus groups. I even got to visit the New York and Detroit offices! 

• Running a Career Fair for 42 companies. 

Working with a fabulous team of three girls during my assistantship last year, we had a record-setting 42 advertising agencies and companies at Mizzou's Strategic Communication Career Fair. It was a good experience in public relations, cold calling, professional networking and learning how recruiters and talent acquisition departments operate and hire. 

• Attended conferences and professional networking events. 

My practice at work places a strong emphasis on continuing education and training, so I'm lucky to have attended a summit at Google's Chicago offices, a conference at Videology in New York and an Advertising Research Foundation conference. It's a cool atmosphere to meet other industry professionals, get to know your own coworkers better and learn together. 

• The year of surprises. (mere, kathryn, sherman, kara) 

As much as I love planning surprise parties, my inherent curiosity (or nosiness) has held me back from being surprised myself. That all changed this year when I had plenty of surprise visits from some of my best friends that made for some fun times. Meredith surprise-visited me at Mizzou, Kathryn flew in for my graduation party and Maria planned for my friends Sherman & Kara to eat dinner with us on a 20-hour trip to New York. What pleasant surprises! 

• The car hit 100,000 miles in July. 

On the drive down to Mizzou to defend my thesis, I was excited to see the CRV go from 99,999 miles to 100,000. And now it's already at 108,000…so the Artemas family doesn't drive at all. 

• Being open to trying new food. 

I was never a picky eater, but have definitely been more experimental in trying new food. Half by interest, and half by forced social situations. Cheese, hummus, onions, Coke, guacamole, seafood, beer and coffee are all new items in my diet that I never would have eaten in college. 

• Getting a tablet and adjusting to social media and pop culture trends. 

Just in the past year, I got accustomed to using my iPad reading list to follow news and books on a tablet, made my cousins watched goat videos after crying at how funny they are and became obsessed with Instagram. Experimenting with other apps like Flipboard, Circa News and transit trackers has been fun and made me feel more Millennial! 

By the (social media) numbers:

• 7,226 photos on iPhoto from this year
• 141 photos on Instagram
• 2,612 tweets total (nearly 600 in one year…yikes)
• 592 LinkedIn connections
• 3400 tagged photos, 11 new Facebook photo albums. 2,347 friends online 

What's in store for 2014?
Honestly, it's difficult to make this list since last year, I got my master's degree, job and apartment in the same week in July. Continuing to learn and explore, here are a few 2014 goals: 

• Enrolling in a MOOC (massive open online course), while they're still free
• Visiting Orlando and Houston as part of the 2014 travel agenda
• Spending more time with family and my goddaughter
• Going back to Mizzou and recruiting for the company I work for at the Career Fair I once ran
• Saving money
• Being Helen's maid of honor and starting to plan showers and the bachelorette party
• Continuing to explore Chicago and try things like Chicago Restaurant Week, and places in Wicker Park and the Gold Coast
• Cooking