January was rung in at the Big House, in a blizzare, watching the Winter Classic with my (Maple Leafs fan) dad - a really incredible experience, even though I thought I'd never get warm again.
It also saw the beginning of my adventures in homebrewing. I'll never forget spending 5-6 frigid hours in my garage that first batch, trying to chill 5 gallons of wort in a snowbank. We've come a long way since then, from extract brewing with no worth chiller to building our very own full-on sparging system & brewing all grain from scratch recipes that have come out pretty damn good.
February was a little quieter, but I did make my annual half-naked dash through Detroit at Cupid's Undie Run with a buddy from my former life working at Tim's.
March was road trip month - drove 10 hours overnight from Detroit to Philadelphia with my best friend in the world, saw a whole bunch of really phenomenal historical sites and a Flyers game, ate a for real cheesesteak, and visited a couple quality breweries in the process.
In April I ran my first real 5k of the year - the Cocoa Classic in Detroit with another former Tims friend & a group of ladies who were down to make some awesomely inappropriate men & chocolate themed t-shirts. It was also the month in which I saw my first Taking Back Sunday show of the year - a seriously whirlwind evening with all of my Tims boys, a whole lot of rum and cokes, some dancing, and screaming Tell All Your Friends at the top of our lungs. The night ended kind of crazy and not on the highest note, but I can't say I regret anything.
Also in April I took a weekend trip out to Kzoo to reunite with some college friends I hadn't seen in ages & to see The National! Later in the month there was playoff hockey with my two favorite boys in the world & a whole lot of SpaceTeam in very public bars.
In May I mostly just brewed beer & cooked a lot of food.
June started out with a visit from one of my super old friends from the internet, Skye, as well as my second 5k of the year, Mickey's Run in Windsor. It also marked my first trip to Belle Isle since I was too tiny to remember, and finally (FINALLY!) getting to see the re-opened aquarium.
Later in June I hopped back on a plane & flew back out to Ottawa again!! Being in Canada for Canada Day for the first time in a number of years was incredible, as was all the good food, good barbecue, and good people Pav & Deiss introduced me to. One of the greatest vacations I've had in a long time because it involved so much just relaxing - lots of beer, lots of cribbage, and lots of lounging around enjoying good company.
In July my boys from Kzoo came back out again and we celebrated 4th of July with a bunch of sparklers, and then my birthday with a Tigers game and a fabulous dinner at Texas de Brazil where we basically ate our body weight in meat (what could be better?). I also had the chance to meet up with another long lost college friend Jen and go out for drinks and a whole lot of reminiscing about college, writing, and our respective trips to Prague.
August started out with a Color Run with my gym buddy Emily & some of my Tims friends, and marked the first 5k I've ran in a long time that I legitimately felt really awesome the whole way through. Of course stupid me didn't time myself, so I have no idea if I PR'd or not... It was also the month that I finally at long last got my Canadian citizenship certificate in the mail - can't even explain the sounds that came from me when I opened that letter. It sounds silly, but my Canadian heritage means so much to me :)
My best friend's birthday is in September, so I (and a handful of other friends) had the honor to take her to Grand Rapids to see Taking Back Sunday / The Used as well as Frank Iero's band. Could not have been a more perfect night & I was so happy to give her an amazing birthday. Also in September I got my hardwood floors installed!! The month closed out with another trip to Kzoo and a mini brewery tour that took us out to 3 Floyd's, Greenbush, Tapistry & Pleasant House.
In October I made a trip up to Upper Lower Michigan to see my family in Cheboygan and one of my hockey blog friends from back in the day, Cat. We got to experience super authentic Polish Food at Legs Inn and all you can eat literally everything at the Dam Site Inn, as well as troll around Mackinac and Petoskey & hit up Leo's for all the whiskey sours and bar popcorn in the world. Then I took my Kzoo boys out to Frankenmuth (they'd never been!) & a Lions game! Also hockey was back!
The biggest highlight of October though was Cask Days in Toronto - a weekend trip up with my dad, during which we met up with all my Ottawa friends, tasted some seriously incredible beers, ate a whole lot of cheap shawarma, went shopping at ZARA(!!!!), hit up Bellwoods, and then went out to Collingwood to see my Canadian grandma.
In November I finished putting together my studio - added mirrors & a mounted TV! Also hosted my annual Friendsgiving party - this year we even themed it so that we all had an excuse to dress up fancy & celebrate. The sheer amount of food and beer consumed still hurts me to think of. I got to spend some time with a college friend I hadn't seen in a few years, too, which really made the holiday special. Also my gym buddy Emily & her husband took me to the Wing season ticket holder open house, which was a pretty cool (free!) opportunity...
Finally, in December I went tree-shopping with my wifey, made it to practically every Red Wings home game for about 3 weeks straight, took my papa to see the Leafs game (which they won, AGAIN), cooked a thousand cheesecakes, sampled some more beers, made an entire Christmas dinner, had Christmas with my family and my wifey's family (and got seriously the best presents from my best friend <3), made out like crazy on Christmas day, and in one of the most fun nights of the whole year, got to meet up a couple times with my beer pen pal Nate (an aquaintance from college who I reunited with via Facebook thanks to my 2013 hop harvest.....no joke), drink a whole lot of awesome craft beer, eat sushi, and plan about five thousand trips we're about to go on in the future.
All in all.........I'm ready to make 2015 a seriously incredible year on all counts, but 2014, you were pretty damn all right.
