36 Reasons Why 36 Wasn’t the End of the World

Unless you’re new around these waters, you know that it’s a timeless tradition on East Coast Mermaid to celebrate another spin around the sun with a post dedicated to magical things that happened throughout the year.

Each year I really look forward to writing this post. But I’m not going to lie, after 2020, I wasn’t exactly sure I would even have 36 things to look fondly back on in the historical year we just lived. But just like I do every year, once I started scrolling through photos beginning one year ago this week, a million memories and feelings washed over me.

I quickly discovered, getting to 36 memorable moments was easy. In fact, narrowing it down to 36 amazing things that happened this past year—despite a global pandemic—proved harder than I’d imagined.

2020 and my 36th year on the planet may not have gone accordingly to plan. We cancelled our winter vacation, postponed our summer wedding, and spent most of the year locked safely in our new home. (Remember my 2020 word of the year was BASK? Yeah, there’s a reason there was no word of the year this year. I wasn’t about to test fate for a second time.)

36 wasn’t what I thought it would be, but it also didn’t end up being the end of the world. Which at a few moments in time, it kind of felt like that might be the case. But we got through it, we made the most of it, we made new memories and I have so much to celebrate.

Here are 36 reasons why 36 wasn’t the end of the world!

1. At the end of January, we officially booked our wedding at the Algonquin Resort! Sure we had to change the date from 2020 to 2021, but we upped the glam for our 2021 date and I’m over the moon 💕

2. I attended my first (and only) bridal expo with my mom and two besties & bridesmaids. I’m so glad we were able to do this together because I don’t think bridal expos will be a thing again until after I’m a Mrs.

3. Attended an amazing influencer event at MacArthur’s Market. This is one of the last events I remember attending as an influencer where hugs and selfies were still considered “normal.”

4. We brought home our fish Tom! It was my Valentine’s Day gift to Dan and he’s totally a tiny (but big) part of our family now!

5. I went ax throwing at Timber Lounge in Moncton. Turns out, I’m not so bad at throwing an axe—which will be handy if the zombies come.

6. Attended Work of Heart and was filled with inspiration after being surrounded by incredible speakers and people all day.

7. Went to my first-ever all-you-can-eat oyster soiree put on by the Dieppe Rotary club. This photo is one of my faves of Dan and me from 2020, so it doesn’t even matter that there isn’t an oyster in sight and this is before we left for the event.

8. I LEARNED HOW TO SKI AND IT WAS AWESOME! Even if at first I cried at the top of a mountain and maybe peed my pants a little. It was the BEST day and I can’t wait to go again this year.

9. Walked on the ocean floor at the Hopewell Rocks in the winter. This is a must on my list again this year.

10. Went sea glassing in Saint John on March 14th, one day after Friday the 13th when things got REALLY weird. Found this perfect blue heart. Held on to it AND hope for the rest of the year.

11. Took my first mask selfie. Who knew, back in April, who knew.

12. We had oysters delivered to our porch. More than once. 100% a new perk of living through a pandemic.

13. Went to the beach A LOT before summer had even arrived, because, stress relief.

14. Bought my first PADDLEBOARD! And I’m obsessed. I had so many fun paddle adventures, especially when I brought it to Grand Manan twice!

15. Launched a Fried Clam collection with Sandy Toes. It was a very proud moment for obvious reasons. It was also a great excuse to eat a lot of fried clams for photo ops.

16. East Coast Mermaid turned FOUR! I celebrated with caviar, naturally. That I tucked in my denim shorts pocket like a real mermaid would.

17. Spent Father’s Day in St. Martins and on the Fundy Trail. We had such a great day!

18. Turned into a mermaid for a night at sunset thanks to Tia Fennelly.

19. Visited the Eco Homorus Centre on the Wharf in Pointe-du-Chene. Held a lobster bébé and made new pinchy friends.

20. Spent some time on Deer Island, mostly eating delicious seafood but also making new friends.

21. Returned to Campobello Island for my first weekend trip with Mama Mermaid after the lockdowns. As always, it was magical and there was a lot of seaglass.

22. It was the summer of lobster rolls because I ate A LOT of them. I even got to be an influencer for a lobster roll event in Shediac. Lifetime achievement, folks.

23. We returned to Grand Manan for a whole week with my favorite human and besties. I can’t wait to get back again soon.

24. It was the summer of seaglass and I even found THREE seaglass stoppers over the summer. The rarity of this is bananas.

25. Just took a sunset stroll on a beach with LLAMAS! NO BIG DEAL!

26. Returned to Grand Manan before the summer ended with my parents for the perfect little family trip together! We had so much fun, made a bunch of new memories, and I got to squeeze in more paddle boarding!

27. We island hopped to Campobello Island again for the covid-edition of the 2nd Annual Seaglass Festival.

28. While on the island, we went whale watching, hungout with Chevron the Humpback, and made another $1000 donation to the Campobello Whale Rescue Team.

29. With an upcoming St. Andrews by the Sea wedding to plan for in 2021, Dan and I made more than one visit to St. Andrews in 2020, including a wedding planning trip in September that was so fun and exciting. Especially when we checked into our room and found this gorgeous bouquet of flowers from our hotel wedding coordinator and wedding florist 💕

30. Trying to make the most of summer, we made one last visit to the Fundy Trail and St. Martins.

31. We hosted our first Thanksgiving in our home. It wasn’t the usual Thanksgiving due to restrictions but it meant a lot to us to be able to host our parents for Thanksgiving.

32. It was our first Halloween in our house too. Something I had dreamed of since I was a little girl. I dressed up and loved every minute of it. Even if we only had 11 Trick-or-Treaters.

33. Bella turned 13! We even had a birthday party for her (on Halloween) and surprised her with her own kitty birthday cake!

34. We celebrated our 5 year anniversary in St Andrews and sprung for the Executive Suite at the Algonquin. It was an amazing weekend made even more magical by our anniversary dinner at the famous Rossmount Inn. The meal was UNREAL!

35. We celebrated our second Christmas in our home and managed to snag this perfect family photo 😉

36. Lastly, after preordering him a YEAR AGO, my life-size Baby Yoda finally arrived. Needless to say, there will be plenty of Baby Yoda content to come this year!

36 might have been the most memorable year of my life for reasons beyond my control, but looking back on it today – there were so many memories I’ll hold on to forever.

And 37? Let’s just say I can’t wait to finally go from Miss to Mrs 💕