2008 discoveries that I will continue to obsess with through 2009

America elected its first black president, Michael Phelps won eight gold medals in the Olympics and the world was nearly destroyed ;) by the Large Hadron Collider's re-creation of the big boom. Oh, and Madonna and Guy Ritchie got a divorce. My, my, the year 2008 has been an exciting one.

On a much smaller scale, my year 2008 has also been a lot of fun. And I have happened upon some really cool stuff. Here I list a few of the things I have become addicted to in 2008:

1. Sia

I am far from a music expert. I don't have the words to describe Sia's tunes - or any music, really. So this isn't a review, just a load of praise for one of my favorite female artists. I found Sia while searching for something else on the Internet and now I often skip over my other music to listen to hers.

2. Lost

Would you think I was lying if I told you that I have never seen an entire episode of Lost preceding season 5; That I don't know how all of these beautiful people survived a plane crash and ended up on a magical island with strange, but also beautiful people already inhabiting it?

So how did I finally get into the show that everyone had already been obsessed with for four previous seasons? Ryan was at school so I was at home alone one night early this year. I was sitting in front of the television and I arrived at Lost while channel surfing. I watched the entire episode, which went right over my head. The same thing happened the next week. Subconsciously, my finger slid to the down button on my remote and I ended up viewing another entire episode of Lost. The third week, I sat down purposefully - with a bowl of ice cream and everything - to watch Lost. I was hooked and I still didn't really know why people were having strange hallucinations and trying to kill other people. But I was now devoted. And I can't wait for Season 6.

3. J.Crew... again.

I remember a time - as a seventh grader - when we would get the J.Crew catalog in the mail and I would spend the next half hour studying the clothing inside it, wishing I could wear it all.

And then J.Crew started selling khakis with little miniature turtles and dragonflies and such all over them. And endless button down shirts. And mule clogs. I mean, if Land's End and Gap had a baby, it would be J.Crew during the late 90s/ early 2000s. It felt boring and basic and middle-aged. By that time I lived away from my parents' house and I never felt the need to send for a catalog.

So I was surprised when, early this year, I found a shiny J.Crew catalog rolled up in my mailbox. I had not sent for it. But thanks to my old ritual years ago, I walked through my apartment door, dropped everything (except my kid, of course), sat at the kitchen table, opened the glossy pages and examined every item.

And I felt like that seventh-grader again. I was mesmerized by the wide array of colors and fabrics, but I fell most in love with the details - the patent-leather bow on the pumps, the collar with a chiffon ruffle and the Czech crystal buttons on the sweater. With those subtle embellishments, J.Crew revived itself from a heap of blah basics to a collection of enhanced necessities.

J.Crew is back and that makes me very happy.

4. Wyman's frozen wild blueberries

These make the milk in your cereal ice cold. I can't have breakfast without them. You can find them at Costco.





5. Bare Escentuals

I know, it's As Seen on TV, a box full of powdery substances, brushes and a how-to DVD. Old lady makeup, right? It may be, but this 24-year-old loves the stuff. You can dust as much or as little as you want on and it always looks natural, almost like you don't have any on at all. And I didn't even have to watch the DVD to figure that out.

6. El Pollo Rico

It may be called "The Rich Chicken," but this Peruvian eatery (dive) has been dubbed "Dirty Chicken" by locals. The latter moniker is an obvious reference to the section of blackened chicken that servers there toss onto a styrofoam to-go box loaded with steak fries and coleslaw. But the Clarendon restaurant's real name describes the meal of moist and tasty chicken perfectly. It is delicious and rich, or rico. And the yellow and green dipping sauces that you get with each meal give it kick and flavor.


So that's my list. What's yours?