My 2025 Word of the Year

Last year, I started doing a word of the year and have LOVED centering my whole world in a given year around one word. In 2024 (here), my word of the year was joy. And, truly I strived to bring SO MUCH JOY into 2024 with me and into 2025. 2024 taught me how to bring joy into all aspects of life, whether good or bad and to indeed find joy in everyday life. At the end of the 2024 year, like many of us, I found myself doing lots of reflection on how I wanted to shift my focus into 2025. Since I LOVED picking a word of the year for 2024, I decided to do the same thing again for 2025!

SO, with that all being said, my 2025 word of the year is … FORWARD!

One of the biggest themes I noticed in myself throughout 2024 was dwelling on things that happened in the past, whether great or not-so great. I found myself when tough things happened dwelling on them a lot longer than I should have. I found myself getting into my head wayyyyy too much than I should have. I found myself getting reminders of what happened in the past and thinking that what happened in the past will be a repeat trend in the future (which by the way isn’t true folks!). While it’s great to look to our past for fun memories, lessons learned, and even inspiration, we must move forward on a regular basis. In my reflections on 2024, I realized that I wanted to focus on moving forward in 2025 and decided to make it my word of the year and center my entire world around moving forward.

In practically all aspects of my daily life, I have been brainstorming ways in which I wanted to and am in the process of implementing when it comes to forward-thinking in 2025. While I won’t be sharing all of those ways here with y’all, I will note that it has been beneficial allll around for me to center the year 2025 around the word forward. For example, I am focusing on growing my newsletter over on Substack (let’s be friends @thepinkchickadee) that I created in December 2024. On all of my social media platforms aka Instagram (let’s be friends @_thepinkchickadee), Substack, Threads, and most recently YouTube (let’s be friends @thepinkchickadee) as well as my website that you are currently reading this post on, I am striving to create consistent content and build relationships with YOU aka my lovely community and friends while doing so. I am focusing on creating a structured environment for me to create and share content with y’all via this overall happy place of mine on the internet. At the same time, I am focusing on finding community locally by continuing to attend church more regularly and when able with my Mom and Papa and continuing to engage more locally with those that I already know and love, including with Daughters of the American Revolution. To tie it all up with a bow, I will also be striving to make more time to see those that I love both near and far. In 2024, I didn’t spend much time in real life with my dear college friends that have been there for me through the ups and downs of life who all reside in North Carolina and I want to make more of an effort to see them as well as other long distance friends and family members while achieving some of my both local and further away travel goals. This platform, community, and friendships are truly just a sample of the many ways that I am paving the way forward for myself into 2025 and beyond!

When 2024 ended, my mental state was not in the best of spirits and I left the year feeling severely burned out and run down. Via reflection in therapy (which I am a full supporter of EVERYONE doing at some point in their lifetime!), I realized that dwelling on the past and putting too much energy into the things that I cannot control whether they happened in the past and are wayyyyy behind me or I simply cannot control somebody else and how they act and react is simply not a productive way to move forward in 2025. I have been focusing on facing my personal fears and truly changing my mindset to not dwell on the negative but rather focus on the positive and make adjustments accordingly to focus on the positive, too. Recently, I have been applying Mel Robbins’s “let them” theory into my daily life and it has been groundbreaking for my own personal and mental wellbeing (I plan to share more about this in a future blog post, too!). All this to say, going forward into 2025, I feel so much more rejuvenated given the changes that I’ve already made!

At the end of the day, the only things that we can control are how we act and react to things and our pathway forward in this world. We cannot go backwards, but we are always going forward into 2025 (and beyond!). I wish you all the best in 2025 and moving forward from there!

XOXO – Katie <3

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My Highlights of 2023!

2023 has been such a GREAT year filled with self love, growth, gratitude, and happiness. At the same time, I have been able to grow (and establish new) friendships throughout the entire year and grow professionally.

Coming out of a rough 2022 especially given a health scare in December, Winter 2023 and 2023 as a whole started off and continued with A LOT of self growth and care. I made some MAJOR changes to my diet starting in early 2023. I noticed some signs of improvement both physically and mentally pretty quickly, too. At the same time, I made some big changes in my personal life that allowed me to only grow into a more comfortable, confident, and healthy person going into 2023.

January

  • I oddly enough, I did *quite a bit* of travel and activities in January – LOL! Every new year, I try to spend the holiday with my Dad and Step Mom, which usually is at their current home base of Bethany Beach, Delaware. It was really special to kick off the new year by walking on the beach and reflecting with excitement on what’s to come in 2023 via going over one of my favorite bridges, which connects Dewey Beach to Bethany Beach.
  • In January, I travelled to Raleigh/Chapel Hill in North Carolina (here) to visit my college best friends and visited my best friend Amanda in Pennsylvania and New Jersey (here) as well.
  • As for activities, I dined at Washington, DC Restaurant Week for the first time ever (here), saw Wicked at The Kennedy Center (here), brunched in Old Town Alexandria with my best friend Haley at Virtue Feed & Grain (here), and saw Hairspray at Capital One Hall (here).

February

  • To kick off the month of February, I did a fun fashion challenge of styling *none other than* PINK for the first 14 Days of the month via 14 Days of Pink (here)!
  • I hosted my first-ever Galentine’s Party and had Crumbl Cookies (here), visited the National Air and Space Museum (here), attended a paint and sip class at Muse Paint Bar (here), enjoyed a nice dinner in Ballston in Arlington at our favorite spot Ted’s Bulletin with my best friend Shivani, explored the Mount Vernon Trail with Papa and Rosie, and attended an Alumnae Dinner with my Alma mater Meredith College’s Washington, DC area chapter.
  • A trip to Raleigh, North Carolina was also in the mix, as I visited my best friend Alanna for her Birthday weekend AND got to see my best friends Sophie, Hannah, and Aspen, too.

March

  • I visited my first of two new-to-me states for 2023 with my Mom: Kentucky! Mom and I stayed in Louisville for a few days after her conference there and we had an AMAZING time exploring the foodie scene (here), interacting with the kind locals, strolling the gorgeous neighborhoods, and touring … Churchill Downs (here).
  • On the professional front, I started working on my current contract full-time which I LOVE being apart of and co-hosted a company-wide International Women’s Day panel event and happy hour.
  • Papa celebrated another trip around the sun via a very special family gathering at my Aunt Amy’s house. I enjoyed another day in Old Town Alexandria with a trip to *of course* Lilly Pulitzer.
  • Towards the end of the month, the National Cherry Blossom Festival kicked off which meant for all-things photos around my hometown (!!!!), and I got my hair done for the season. My influencer best friend Lindsay came to visit where we met for the first time and became instant besties (!!!!!), where I got to show her around my hometown during *none other than* cherry blossom season, including a trip to Artechouse (here).
  • To close out the month, Papa and I went on a day trip to visit his sisters in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and enjoyed a dinner with my friends Sarah and Laura at Mike’s American Grill.

April

  • The Barbie AI tool online took A LOT of my free time during the beginning of April, while I also continued to enjoy the cherry blossoms around town.
  • My Papa, Aunt Amy, and I dined at Cheesetique in Shirlington for their cherry blossom experience which was made complete with cotton candy cocktails!
  • I had a beautiful Easter with my family and started to admire more and more and more of the flowers starting to bloom around town. I took a day trip to the Capitol to enjoy the tulips and then dinner with my best friend Shivani at a favorite spot of ours: Open Road.
  • My friends Cassie and Caroline came to visit and we went to City Center in Washington, DC where they got dropped off via Uber at the wrong Tatte location (if you know, you know!!) before heading to Georgetown to admire the gorgeous Spring air and have dinner at Clyde’s and macarons at Olivia Macaron.
  • I enjoyed a happy hour via the Leadership Center for Excellence with my best friend Stephanie and another happy hour via Women in Technology where I wore *none other than* Lilly Pulitzer.
  • I dog sat for the first time for a night, before heading to Barrel Oak Winery (BOW) with Rosie and Stephanie and her dog Teddy and enjoying oysters.
  • I enjoyed another evening in Old Town Alexandria at Daniel O’Connell’s Irish Pub with my friend James and another evening going to Pentagon City to enjoy the cherry blossom themed experience at Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters.
  • I volunteered at the annual STEM For Her Elevate Her Gala (2nd time attending!) where I got to run STEM For Her’s social media channels on site, network with colleagues from work and in the women in STEM empowerment community, and meet former NFL player and Bachelorette contestant Jason Foster!
  • To wrap up the month of April, I started enjoying some of my many 24th Birthday festivities including: a trip to the US Botanic Garden to see the Orchids on display, dine at Old Ebbitt Grill with dessert on the house, see Aladdin at The National Theatre (here), and enjoy day 1 of Papa, Rosie, and I’s trip to Edenton, North Carolina.

May

  • Papa and Rosie and I enjoyed a FULLL sightseeing day in Edenton, North Carolina (!!!!) (here), including a historic trolley tour to kick off my 24th trip around the sun. My birthday festivities continued when I got home with dinners in Washington, DC (La Chaumiere with Dad and DD and Farmers Fishers Bakers with Shivani and Joelle and Urban Roast with Briana and Brittany) and Fairfax (Coastal Flats with Papa and Aunt Amy) and Lorton (Hometown Bar and Grill with James) and Clifton (Peterson’s Ice Cream Depot with Wyatt) and many happy memories at the dinner table, too!
  • I attended the Coronation and Kentucky Derby Party at the Scout Bags Flagship store with my friend Laura in Georgetown with brunch at Clyde’s afterwards. And, later that night, I went to my Mom’s friend’s Kentucky Derby party with my Mom!
  • In personal news, I started to feel super burned out in ALLLL aspects of life, so after attending a webinar on burnout through Women in Technology, I started to implement ways to curb burnout in my daily routine.
  • On a whim, I attended MedTech via The Academy for Radiological and Biomedical Imaging Research on Capitol Hill and left feeling nothing short of inspired for the future of healthcare given AI and other technological advances. Afterwards, I strolled around Capitol Hill and enjoyed a phenomenal dinner at Bistro Cacao.
  • I got to attend the Leadership Center for Excellence’s Leadership Summit in Arlington, Virginia with a coworker and got to network A TON as I was then-in the application process for the Ignite Young Professionals Class of 2024 cohort!
  • Haley and Laura and I enjoyed a beautiful afternoon in Georgetown, having brunch and browsing at allll the shops, including Glossier, and I enjoyed another afternoon strolling the aisles and aisles and aisles of flowers at Nall’s Produce with Papa.
  • For Memorial Day Weekend, Papa’s sister Great Aunt Darlene came to town for lunch and we went to Occoquan, Virginia and admired the stunning waterfront views before going for a gorgeous walk with Papa and Rosie on a marsh trail at Mason Neck State Park.
  • To close out the month of May, I attended a networking event at my office and then enjoyed dinner at Maman Joon with my friend Stephanie at Tyson’s Corner Center and admiring ALLLL the art installations around the mall.

June

  • I took a day trip to Barboursville Vineyards (here) where I dined at their onsite restaurant: Palladio! The same day I went to Barboursville Vineyards, I also celebrated my Mom’s Birthday and brought her back a bottle of wine to celebrate!!!
  • I enjoyed a gorgeous afternoon painting pottery with Brittany in Old Town Alexandria before a solo Mexican lunch and Pina Colada on King Street and *of course* some street strolls. I also enjoyed dining at Open Road again with Joelle. And, a few days later, Papa and Aunt Amy and I went back to Old Town Alexandria and enjoyed brunch at Ada’s on the River aka my favorite restaurant (!!!!!).
  • I hosted my first-ever summer party with my friends and it was *of course* Lilly Pulitzer-themed. The next day, Briana and I enjoyed the vibes (not as much the food sadly) at The Bazaar by Jose Andres at Washington, DC’s Waldorf Astoria. And, the next day Papa and I enjoyed an amazing dinner in Clifton, Virginia at Trattoria Villagio during Happy Hour.
  • I went on many walks and enjoyed many evenings on the back or front porch sipping on wine or reading a book, including a gorgeous day trip with LOTS of walking in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (here).
  • Father’s Day Weekend was spent in Delaware with Dad and DD and my best friend Amanda. We had a BLAST dining at some popular spots, parasailing, going to the beach, Ginger snuggles, and climbing a historic tower used during WW11.
  • I closed off the month of June with a weeklong trip to Isle of Palms, South Carolina (here) with my best friends Hannah, Alanna, and Bree. Isle of Palms is one of THE prettiest places I have ever been to. We did a day trip to Charleston (here and here) and a night in Charlotte beforehand to celebrate Bree’s college graduation.

July

  • I enjoyed some Fourth of July fun, seeing fireworks at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia with my Mom and Step Dad and Uncle James and Papa, going on a sail boat ride in Annapolis, Maryland with my cousins, and seeing 1776 at The Kennedy Center with myself!
  • Washington, DC area outings were plentiful with seeing The Lion King at The Kennedy Center with my friends Briana and Brittany and *of course* taking in those stunning terrace skyline views before the show. Haley and I went to DuPont Circle’s Art walk on a First Friday evening with a pre-stroll picnic. Papa and I dined at Carlyle in Shirlington to celebrate my admission to Ignite Young Professionals Class of 2024 cohort, and I also attended Volunteer Arlington’s Volunteer Awards event and met some of my future classmates. I *finally* checked out Becky’s Boutique in Fairfax Corner and became friends with the ladies there and dined at Barca on the pier in Old Town Alexandria with Papa and Aunt Amy as well as Vola’s Dockside Grill. My company also had their annual Washington Nationals game night at Nationals Park with pre-game drinks at a nearby outdoor bar.
  • I enjoyed an AMAZING family weekend with my Dad’s side in Bethany Beach, Delaware. We had an amazing beach day at Tower Beach and strolled on the Bethany Beach boardwalk, enjoyed dinner at Grotto Pizza (LOL!), Longboard Cafe, and The Restaurant at Lighthouse Sound, and had several Aperol Spritzes (!!!!).
  • Commemorating the Barbie movie the ONLY way to do so was the anthem of July 2023 (!!!!!). I saw the movie in theaters with my best friend Sarah and talked about it A LOT with my Aunts in Delaware before seeing it.
  • A Lidl grocery store *finally* opened up under 10 minutes from my house, so I went on opening day and my grocery store routine has become a lot easier and spending has happily decreased as a result (!!!!).

August

  • The Barbie hype is STILL in full swing with my trip to Indianapolis (here) and Chicago (here) with my best friend Lindsay. On that trip, I met flamingoes, dined at The Cake Bake Shop (here) and Ralph Lauren Restaurant, AND went to the Malibu Barbie Cafe (more on that VERYYY soon). It was a beautiful Barbie long weekend (!!!!). I also reached a milestone in my career then and was able to successfully manage everything on the busy work front while away.
  • I took a solo day to Old Town Alexandria and dined at The Majestic for brunch with a summer-themed sangria. I also had an amazing dinner and golden hour at The Wharf in Washington, DC with my best friend Shivani a few days later and got gifted some amazing Jo Malone perfume. Papa and I dined at Thompson Italian for their Monday pasta and wine special in Old Town Alexandria and a few days later I did another solo outing to Old Town Alexandria and dined at Virginia’s Darling.
  • Stephanie and I went with our dogs to Blue Valley Vineyard out in Delaplane and enjoyed some GORGEOUS skyline views of the Blue Ridge mountains. And, I took a trip to *none other than* the wine aisle at Wegman’s after lunch with Haley.
  • I put up my Washington, DC gallery wall (thanks to Papa’s help!) and enjoyed many occasions on the porch with wine and water and a good book and *of course* Rosie and Papa! I also got my hair done again!!!

September

  • I spent Labor Day weekend with my Dad and Step Mom and their Yorkie Ginger in Bethany Beach, Delaware. Dad and I took a day to Lewes, Delaware to do some genealogy research and stroll the stunningly charming historic district. I got many Ginger snuggles and also dined at some delicious restaurants, including a new-to-me one that was AMAZING: The Grove!
  • I dog sat Rosie for a weekend and LOVED it! She shopped the Lilly Pulitzer Sunshine Sale with me online, where I went a day before to Old Town Alexandria’s flagship store and shopped there as well. Haley and I went to Reston for an amazing dinner and I also tried Hank’s Oyster Bar for the first time in Old Town North. I also strolled through Occoquan, Virginia and enjoyed brunch at my favorite local spot: The Secret Garden Cafe.
  • I started to meal prep (here) and shopped at Trader Joe’s A TON. I put up a shower curtain in my bathroom which was an amazing refresh. Papa and I enjoyed a pizza and wine night at home and I decorated for Fall. Papa and I also enjoyed several home-cooked meals together, too.
  • *Finally* I took a day trip to see my friend Carlin in Winchester, Virginia (here) and fell in love with this charming Virginia town. Papa and I went to Nall’s Produce and the Fall fun began (!!!!!). I also enjoyed a fall latte at Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters in Pentagon City.
  • Amanda and I went to the Jonas Brothers concert with pre-concert drinks at Urban Roast. We met my now-best friend Liz at the concert, too! I had brunch with my friends Haley and Violet with a concert hangover and a Fall-themed Sangria (LOL!).
  • I started to begin my Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) application and attend in-person Chapter meetings and dig into my own family history which has been a blast. The DAR ladies are so sweet, too!

October

  • Fall fun continued with a trip to Burke Nursery with Papa and Rosie, an amazing dinner at Lazy Dog with Papa and Aunt Amy, a Target run (with another Stanley cup purchase), a ton of wine tastings at the Mount Vernon Wine Festival with Stephanie (here), dinner with Liz in Tyson’s, a day trip to the Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive with Papa and Rosie, a Fall walk with Rosie and another with Haley, two strolls to Old Town Alexandria’s Captain’s Row, a morning in Occoquan, Virginia, handing out Halloween candy with Rosie dressed as a pumpkin, and leaf peeping at EVERY turn.
  • I attended a gala at the Army-Navy Country Club via a professional connection and had my first-ever class for my Ignite Young Professionals program and enjoyed STUNNING Arlington, Virginia skyline views. I also networked at another Causes & Cocktails event with Stephanie. I spoke on a panel at the Women in Data Washington, DC: Making Sense of Data conference that had a Barbie booth.
  • Liz and I sobbed at the movie theatre while watching Taylor Swift’s Eras tour on the big screen. We talked the ENTIRE time and really enjoyed one another’s company (!!!!).
  • It was about damn time that I got a replacement for my laptop that I accidentally spilled water on: an iPad (!!!!), which I picked up in Georgetown and had an amazing espresso martini solo at Martin’s Tavern nearby where Jackie Kennedy got engaged (!!!!!!).
  • Dad and I celebrated my promotion at Thompson Italian in Old Town Alexandria and working on my DAR application at the gorgeous DAR library in Washington, DC. We had an incredible first visit there. Mom and I celebrated my promotion with Afghan Bistro and wine from Virginia’s Darling, where I celebrated solo beforehand with a bottle of rose I treated myself to and a dress from The Lucky Knot and pouch from the Lilly Pulitzer flagship store in Old Town Alexandria.

November

  • I *FINALLY* made it out to Boston (here) for a long weekend and stayed with my cousin Sabrina and her girlfriend Nicole. I also met up with my best friends Timmy, Griffin, and Mikayla of @blissandbows on Instagram (GO follow her!!!!) and *even* ran into my friend Joelle. Boston was AMAZING and I am ultra-excited to go back again.
  • Professionally, I spoke at a showcase, enjoyed a super-fun company party, and started courses for my first-ever certification with my amazing cohort.
  • I took an amazing solo day trip to Luckett’s Holiday House at The Old Luckett’s Store in Leesburg, Virginia (here) to get in the holiday cheer. My family and I enjoyed Veteran’s Day together with a tailgate at my Uncle’s house. I put up the Christmas decorations at home and enjoyed many cozy nights in. Papa and Rosie and I enjoyed a rainy night looking at the lights Bull Run Regional Park’s Festival of Lights and McDonald’s afterwards. I also helped Papa decorate his Christmas tree.
  • Shivani and Lindsay came to visit on separate occasions within the same week (here). I hosted Friendsgiving when Lindsay was in town and did ALLL the holiday things downtown, including visits to Old Town Alexandria, The Wharf, Downtown Holiday Market, Morais Vineyards, and an amazing dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill (with the Nutcrackers on display!!!!!).
  • Thanksgiving weekend with filled with LOTS of gratitude and thankfulness and Black Friday shopping. I had a nice stroll in Occoquan, Virginia and dinner with Haley to celebrate our professional achievements. My Mom and I hiked at Mason Neck State Park and saw swans. I also tried Sisters Thai in Old Town Alexandria and am itching to go back (!!!!).

December

  • Papa and I enjoyed an amazing dinner at Ozzie’s in Fairfax Corner and then another amazing dinner at Mike’s American Grill with Aunt Amy. I met Becky at Becky’s Boutique and enjoyed champagne at the store with the ladies there and Papa.
  • I met the ultra-sweet Emily of @loveemilydarling on Instagram (GOOO follow her!!!) for brunch in Princeton, New Jersey. Sadly, no pictures this time around, BUT Emily is such an angel and I cannot wait to see her again very soon!
  • Christmas festivities included: wreath window shopping at Nall’s Produce, seeing The Nutcracker at Capital One Hall with Stephanie, hosting my first-ever Christmas party (and enjoying a bottle of Veuve together), a happy hour with my Ignite Young Professionals cohort that I put together, the DAR Holiday Open House at the DAR library with a trip afterwards to the National Christmas Tree and Willard Intercontinental Hotel to hear Christmas caroling, a visit to City Center in Washington, DC and the Downtown Holiday Market, golden hour at the Gaylord National Hotel with Aunt Amy and her girlfriend Barbara and Papa, a Christmas church service at Pohick Church, dinner at Ferry + Main with Dad’s family in New Hope, Pennsylvania, a night with Liz at the Winter Walk of Lights at the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, and a girl’s night with Briana at Cafe Riggs.
  • I went to Raleigh, North Carolina to see my best friend Alanna graduate from NC State with her Masters (!!!!) and enjoyed many meals on the town (here). I also saw SOOOO many of my college best friends and left Raleigh with SOOOO much gratitude.

I felt *just as if* I was entering into … The Roaring 2020’s!!! 2023 was one of my BEST years, after COVID-19 in 2020 and adjusting to post-graduate life in 2021 and 2022. In this year, I was able to work on myself in ways that I haven’t in the past, travel to some new-to-me places, and exceed all of my professional goals. I am VERY proud of myself for where I went in 2023 and am excited for where I will go in 2024!

XOXO – Katie <3

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