2007 Year in Review

I know I’m late – but last year I did a review of 2006 and some of the highlights, tools and favorite links from that year, so I wanted to continue the trend.

Reading and Watching

• Books (new) read in 2007: 65 (of which 55 were ebooks). I am almost completely digital now. I just find it so convenient – you can read my previous posts about ebooks. When I borrow paper books it’s almost harder for me to finish them. Though the number of new books read in 2007 is lower than 2006’s 98 books, I had a ton of re-reads now my electronic library is so large. That’s another e-advantage! If I finished a book while on the tram, I just opened the next file!
• Biggest reading month: August – 12 books. Gotta love the beach. This is also the biggest month for bookstores in Italy.
• eBook readers used: old Palm Zire, HP PocketPC and I just received an old Treo from a friend that I am going to test out. Still waiting to buy a dedicated ereader, I’ve briefly played with the Bookeen and I’ll hopefully have a chance to test the Iliad soon!

I enjoyed Publishers Weekly’s 15 Trends to watch in 2008 and how much they talked about digital – I can’t wait for e-formats to keep growing and gaining popularity!

Movies: I saw very few movies in the theater, though I was glued to my in-flight entertainment on all of my long flights! I enjoyed this sneak-peek into some of 2008’s new movies. – a few from the list that tickle my fancy: Australia, Be Kind Rewind, The International, The Love Guru, The Other Boleyn Girl – and with a nod to my series/sequels I definitely can’t miss: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and Sex and the City: The Movie.

Blogging, Photography and Computing

• Blog posts this year: 126 – Most active month: May
• Favorite blog posts: How to Order an Italian Coffee in Italy, How to Avoid a Pickpocket and the Italy Gift Guide
• RSS feeds following: 210 in 13 categories (down 5 feeds from last year) – I just switched from Bloglines to Google Reader.
• Pictures taken / on Flickr: 3070 / 1014 – This year was the year of the camera for me. My old camera died, I bought a Canon Rebel XTi (the price has come way down since!) and then I bought a small on-the-go Canon PowerShot SD750 7.1MP in November that I keep in my purse for quick shots and video!
• External drives: 2 – I broke my shiny 250GB Seagate drive a week after being back in Italy (argh!) but now I’m using a flat (non-tower) Western Digital 160GB (which I won’t tell you how many euros I paid since I’m embarassed, but on Amazon it’s CHEAP!). I need space for all the pictures!
• Bloggers met (in person) in 2007: 2007 was a huge year for me in meeting Italian bloggers. From the Girl Geek Dinner to FemCamp to Pandemia’s dinners to the Cena Lunga dinner to founding Web Women Italy, I can’t list them all! I did meet a few non-Italian bloggers that I had been following for a while: David, Robyn, Finny, Arlene, Jessica – I hope to meet many more since I’m hoping to attend BlogHer’s conference in SF in July. Anyone else??

Website logo and design: I found these Logo trends interesting. My own website went through a redesign in early December.

Moving away from Microsoft Office: I think I created less than 10 Office files this entire year for personal use. I’m using Google Docs heavily but I’ve been checking out Zoho and Open Office as well. I think the most important thing about documents, spreadsheets and presentations now is mobility! I can reach them from anywhere.

Food, Cooking & Eating

• Stops documented on the Tour del Gelato: 22!
• Food Trends in 2007: Pomegranate, panna cotta, matcha tea, pumpkin, marshmallows, gelato, cupcakes (Serious Eats Ed Levine has his 2008 trends and predictions)
• Trends in 2008 I see coming up: Flax seed, champagne, fennel/anise, semifreddo, the rebirth of the egg
• My dominating tastes of 2007: Pistachio, Hazelnut chocolate, Onion foccaccia
• Leaving behind this year: Treacle toffee – Sadly, I OD’d on this in September after Scotland and it will never be the same for me.
• Does My Blog Look Good in This (DMBLGIT) recognitions: 3 – This definitely motivates me! This year, I’ll be hosting DMBLGIT in April, so I’m really looking forward to it!

How did I do on my “I Dare” cooking challenges for 2007? I think pretty good.

1. Eggplant Parmigiana – I made Eggplant Parmigiana stacks but I haven’t done the way S’ mother does. That’s next.
2. Troccoli (pasta)– I made pasta quite a bit this year, and every time I like adding my special touch like hot pepper or lemon.
3. Gelato – David Lebovitz’ Perfect Scoop gave me some inspiration for this goal and I made both Watermelon Sorbetto-Granita and Fig Sorbet!
4. Roast – I did not make a roast this year but I saw that Pioneer Woman just put up a post about a roast so I’m sure I’ll be tackling that one soon!
5. Bread – I made bread a few times, most notably around Easter with the Sage, Honey & Pecorino Heart Bread and some multiseed rolls for Thanksgiving.

So what’s in store for “I Dare” cooking goals of 2008?

1. Macarons – Everyone’s been abuzz about macarons for some time and since I went to Paris and sampled them from Laduree and Pierre Herme directly, I’ll be able to judge my own attempt more accurately, since I have something to base it on.
2. Roast – It will be taken off this year!
3. Orrecchiette and Ravioli– I want to continue my foray into handmade pasta. It’s incredibly satisfying.
4. Bread – Continuing the bread theme, I’d like to tackle two of my favorites – naan and challah.
5. Indian – I took an Indian cooking class, I went to India and I brought back spices! Nothing should stop me now.

Well Fed recognized Food Blogs in their annual Food Blog Awards – find a new blog to follow!

Travel and Moving Around

Cities lived in: 1 – Milan, Italy (finally I stayed put. Living in the center is great).
Countries visited: 6 – U.S., Germany, Scotland, France, India, Switzerland
Years without a car: 4.5 and counting. We may buy one in 2008 but I’ll still continue to use public transportation or my bicycle for everyday travel.

Buying More Handmade

In addition to going more digital, I am going to try and buy more handmade things this year. I am looking to Etsy.com for inspiration, but I have a lot of crafty lady friends that I hope will step up to the plate and put some of their things on sale for me!

To help keep abreast of designers and crafters, I follow several blogs:
Design Sponge, Oh, Joy!, SwissMiss, ThisNext and even NotCot have some good discoveries.

New Year’s Resolutions

I’m not really big on NY Resolutions, but this year I am making…one.

Here it is: Improve my (outgoing) relationship with the Post Office. I want to get better at organizing, scheduling and mailing things here in Italy. I will have a lot of opportunities to test this in the new year with all the contests and events I have coming your way!

How was 2007 for you? Did you make a New Year’s Resolution? Do you hate them?