2011 Reflection

2011 was by far THE BEST year of my life and for so many reasons I lost count of all my blessings xD So I feel like I owe it up to my future self to write this post, who I'm undoubtedly sure will find looking back at this. I took a "survey-challenge" post off tumblr and turned it into more of a blog entry as opposed to a bulleted format, hehe :] Here it goes!


Dear future Krislam, 2011 was an amazing year for you because ---


1: A few things you will never forget in 2011

(I kept this one in a bullet format because I feel like I'd end up repeating myself throughout the entry so I guess I'll bullet them here and elaborate later) 

• Gaining my independence 
• FIDM
• Starting my career
• Maggie
• Tony
• San Francisco 
• Meeting Tony's parents

2: Relationship(s)

Marcs Wedding -- We looked super "SWAGGGED" out LOL

Tony and I have come along very well this year, I'd like to assume that this was one of our best years. It did start off pretty rocky (LOL) but in the end when all was settled and I was introduced to his parents and things started to become more and more open it got so much better. We both learned a lot about each other and it just made for a better relationship this year. Even though towards the end of the year (like now) we hardly see each other, we try to stick it out and look towards our future. I love Tony so much and I'm excited to spend 100000000 more years with him, I couldn't see myself with anyone else except for my Tonyface <3

3: The best day

Portfolio day with my lovelies showing off our most proud art board 

June 15, 2011. Portfolio day. Words couldn't explain the amount of work, emotional stress, lack of sleep & just down right chaos this caused me LOL but at the end of it all I walked away from it so proud. All the hardships that came with this class was so worth it when I walked out of my presentation and knew that I kicked some serious ass. I'll never forget portfolio quarter, never. And I know for a fact I'll never forget that amazing moment that I felt when I said "This concludes my presentation, thank you all." and looked up at the panel and just glared at their smiles, I felt like a badass designer. The BEST day ever, period.

4: The worst day

Right after Packaging final saying farewell to Willis. God, we all look like trash LMFAO.

June 16, 2011. Last day of school. It was my packaging final that no one really took seriously because we were done with portfolio and graduation was the next day, LOL. As much as it was unfortunate for the teacher that all of us pretty much half-assed it, he totally understood. It didn't quite hit me as hard that it was the last day of school, I blame the fact that it all came so fast, but at the end of the day I totally felt it. I didn't necessarily cry but I got very nostalgic about school, my friends, the commute just everything about school I knew I was about to let go. It was kind of hard, but I looked at it more of an accomplishment rather than something I was going to "leave" in a sense which was kind of the silver lining ;] but that was the worst day ever LOL.




5: The most memorable moment.

Seconds I got off the phone...

July 12, 2011. When I got hired at Hypothesis. It was a gloomy day in San Francisco, in the car with my family and Tony on the way home from such an amazing trip when I finally received the most anticipated phone call from Hypothesis offering me the Full Time position as a Graphic Designer. It was funny because I literally had the phone glued to my hand the day before and all day that day and I actually missed Jhomars phone call. I called back immediately and was told that I got the job. It was THE BIGGEST blessing of my life. Being straight out of art school with 0 experience and getting this job was such a blessing. I couldn't think straight after the phone call, I was just so happy. SO SO HAPPY. LOL. Even now 6 months later I'm still very thankful for Hypothesis for allowing me the opportunity to work with them.




6: Your best friend(s).

Doing our usual Photobooth spammage

MY BOSHY. Duh. She is the BEST baby sister ever. I love her so much, it's ridiculous. She keeps me sane with her weird self.. Words can never explain how much this little one means to me. We do so many random adventures only to find ourselves wondering why we're at Target, Michaels or at the mall, LOL. She's the cheese to my macaroni and the jelly to my peanut butter, nothing I can say can ever describe how legendary she is <3

Us being -- Well, us. 

My girls. My Cuc & Kataplum. Even though we hardly see each other anymore after graduation I still think of them to be the best girl friends I've ever had. We stuck out FIDM like no other and were always there for one another whether it was school related or boy related. I can't ever think of a moment when we were together and didn't laugh our asses off even when we had an hour of sleep. They're amazing people and I couldn't have asked for better sowl mates. Although I can be a serious bitch to them and vice versa I still love them and miss them every day :]




7: Your birthday.

Finally 20!

20. No longer a teen! Tony made my birthday the most amazing birthday ever. He bought me my Michael Kors Ceramic Watch that I had been eyeing since July. He gave me that present a week early in advance because he was leaving for Vegas the weekend of my birthday, so that pretty much made my birthday! BUT it didn't stop there. On the day of my birthday, when I got home and got to my car at the train station I found a rose on my steering wheel. I turned on my car and stepped out to take off my jacket when all of a sudden I hear Tony and Maggie BLARING out of my speakers singing happy birthday, soon after the song I was rick rolled by Tony -.- I then ejected the CD and saw "You just got rick rolled!" written on it, well played sir. When I got home there were balloons, cake and a dinner set up by my family. It was super laid back but I LOVED it.




8: The funnest getaway.

I was freezing!

San Francisco! It was our little family trip after graduation to kind of take a step back from portfolio/work to just relax. The best part of it all was being able to bring Tony along with me, so it made it 100x better. It was such a short trip though :/ we were only there for about 3 days? We went home on the 3rd day and was so exhausted. I wish it had lasted a lot longer, I felt like we were in and out of there in an instant. We were just constantly traveling from one part of the city to the next which may have caused it to seem so short LOL. After all the chaos and FREEZING weather I had a such a blast and was soo happy that I was able to spend it with my family AND Tony :]

9: The end of last school year/the beginning of this one.

Graduation at the Staples Center! -- OH WE FANCY!

FIDM (FIDM Graduation) I still find it so funny that I'm an actual alumni, it felt like it was just yesterday that I started my first quarter. What can I say about FIDM other than it was such an amazing journey for me as a person and as a designer. Within 2 years I became this whole new person with a new perspective in life and in school. I couldn't think of any other moment in my life that I've worked so hard and sacrificed so much to be able to walk away from it all extremely proud. I executed a successful portfolio that made every hardship at school worth it.

Graduation! I've been to a couple of graduations, but nothing can ever top FIDMs ceremony. NOTHING. It was the most amazing graduation ceremony ever. Walking up and getting my (empty envelope, LOL) was one of my proudest moments and on top of that being able to see myself on the Staples scoreboard, it was just amazing and I'm still very speechless till this day LOL. I couldn't have asked for a better ceremony. 

Unfortunately I won't be starting a new year in school, JUST YET. I'm still situating work and moving out but I'll always have school as an option until it no longer can be.

10: New Year resolutions.

• As always, losing weight! But I've come to terms with my body and realized that if I get any skinnier I'll look kind of scary LOL. But controlling my weight is definitely on my to do list. 
• Becoming a better designer, always and forever. If Saul Bass were still alive I'm 100% sure he'd still be trying out new things and bettering himself as an epic designer so I will too!
• Continue to work my butt off at work. I honestly love my job and will always give my very best to the company.
• Moving out, sometime mid year I'd like to be out of Ontario and somewhere near Los Angeles.
• Giving more back to the parents, this year I was able to give some back but next year I'd love to give back so much more.
• Continue to strengthen me and Tony's relationship because he's super awesome and I love him!
• More Disneyland trips!!
• Continue to bond with my Boshy, we got really close this year <3
• And to just always be a better person in everything and always look at the glass half full.

Honestly though, 2011 has been such an amazing year. If I had to sit here and talk about all the things that I loved about 2011, this would be a much longer post LOL. But definitely gaining my independence, finally taking care of my self financially, discovering LA, getting much closer to my family, being loved and loving Tony more each and every day, having amazing supervisors...just everything about 2011 was amazing and it wouldn't have happened it weren't for my family, Tony, my friends, co-workers and just everyone who contributed to an amazing year. I can only hope 2012 will be so much better :]

Here's to 2012!