2020 in Review

A NOTE:

2020 was so rough in a lot of ways for a lot of people. I feel very lucky to have had a few bright spots and know that not everyone can say the same. 😢

What. A. Year. Despite everything, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the good stuff.

Memorable PNW Adventures:

🌲 Coal Creek Trail Hike in Cougar Mountain

🐚 Camano Island Beach Stroll

❄️ Winter Walk at Cherry Creek Falls

🧺 Picnic in The Cascades

🛥️ Boat Tour at Deception Pass

⛰️ Summer Gondola Ride and Hike at Crystal Mountain

☀️ Daytrip to Captain Whidbey Inn

🏕️ Camping at Colonial Creek in the North Cascades

🌊 Tubing Down the Wenatchee River

🥾 Discovery Park Trail Walks Down to the Lighthouse on the Beach

🏡 Cabin and Waterfall Tour in the Columbia River Gorge

🔥 Fires and Outdoor Dining at our friends’ cabin in Kingston

Best Things I Ate:

🍅 This Roasted Tomato Soup (using canned tomatoes!) was pure comfort this year

☕ We got an espresso machine and signed up for a coffee subscription so I think it’s safe to say our latte game is going STRONG

🍕 Our friends Kris and Laura introduced us to some mind blowing sourdough pizza at a dinner night in their magical yard featuring an adorable baby deer

🍪 Tim’s cookies including these, these, these, and THESE

🥧 A spiced plum and red wine sauce pear tart with a gruyere cheese infused crust that my brother and I created a year ago, forgot everything about, and then pieced back together via old texts, saved snapchat photos and going back a year in our browser histories for Thanksgiving this year lmao #worthit

🔥 The s’mores kit at The Society Hotel with handmade everything including ginger spiced graham crackers and big fluffy marshmallows, all enjoyed beside a cozy fire because all I wanted for my birthday was hygge

Favorite Listens/Reads/Watches:

📻 Music:

  • Most Listened To: #tbt Takeoffs & Landings by Rilo Kiley was the comforting nostalgia I needed that somehow felt like it was written for 2020 times. And since anyone who knows me knows Jenny is my queen 👑 I have to also mention the Postal Service live album Everything Will Change that just came out featuring her on Nothing Better which is a lifelong dream realized 💖😭

  • New Favorite: The Cormorant I & II by San Fermin

  • Playlist I Kept On Repeat: Dream Lit Nights by Jennifer Batchelor

  • Song I’m Not Over: everything i wanted by Billie Eilish

📚 Books:

  • The Witches are Coming - Lindy West

  • How to Do Nothing - Jenny Odell

  • White Fragility - Robin Diangelo

  • Trick Mirror - Jia Tolentino

  • The Power of Ritual - Casper ter Kuile

  • Know My Name - Chanel Miller

  • Uncanny Valley - Alice Wiener

📰 Articles:

🎙️ Podcasts:

  • Oh, I Like That
    for fun recs and seasonal topics, this is pure cozy

  • Hysteria
    for smart women talking mostly about politics but also romcoms and recipes and everything else

  • Today, Explained
    for a short but informative daily news update on a single topic with expert interviews

  • Going Through It
    for women’s stories and realness

  • Science Vs
    for real info about covid + other interesting science stuff made interesting and digestible for non-science people

  • Another Round
    for quizzes, games, jokes, lists, and realness about race and feminism - I’m super late to the game on this one but it still feels relevant and makes me lol every time

📺 Movies & TV:

  • The Great

  • Queer Eye

  • Schitt’s Creek

  • Next in Fashion

A Few Creative Projects:

🖥️ Finally launched the Tilikum Place Café website

📖 Built a 60+ page brand book & style guide for an undisclosed corporate food brand Amazon Kitchen

🗝️ Created a brand for Key to Teas in collaboration with my dear friend and creative business muse Danielle

✨ Got to work with the inspiring ladies at Wildforth Creative on a branding project for a local studio

👽 Started at Cosmic in the summer and am thriving in full-time life! I’ve been working on a brand and web experience for a climate justice project, super excited to share when it launches in January 🤞

 
Nelle Clark