Best of the Year: Everything Else
Best of the rest - my favorites of 2024
Hi! Hello!
My goal for 2024 was to spend less money on stuff and more money on experiences. And looking back, I would say that I have done it! I made a lot of memories this year and I wanted to spend my second to last post of the year reflecting on the best of the rest and all my favorite things from 2024. This is a snapshot of my year, rounding up some of my favorite places, things and memories shared with my favorite people.
Let’s start with my top restaurant of the year and that has to be Pujol in Mexico City. I have been dreaming about eating here for years and never thought I’d be able to experience it so soon. Pujol focuses on seasonal produce and Mexican cooking traditions but the real reason I was so excited to eat here was for the old mole in new mole dish. Each day they make a fresh mole using seasonal produce. They then add a bit of the new mole to a pot of eternal mole which is fed everyday. On the day we visited the mole was 3,412 days old.
We sat for dinner at 9pm and didn’t leave until nearly 2 a.m. I had such high expectations for this meal and it exceeded all my expectations.
Sayak has said that the year isn’t over yet. My birthday is next week and he has booked a special birthday dinner so I cannot wait to see what he has planned and maybe, just maybe, it will overrule Pujol as my best meal of 2024.
This year I visited two very special bars - Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico City and the Connaught Bar in London. How lucky I am to say that my favorite bars this year were in two very different places - neither of which are the city where I live.
Handshake Speakeasy is an exceptional place - from the minute we entered, to the careful crafting of every drink. A speakeasy in Mexico City, it has won many, many awards - and is the top bar in 2024. The drinks are incredible, pushing boundaries but still making drinks I would want to order again and again. Sayak ordered one drink with mushrooms that really stands out in my mind. The menu changes frequently, with each drink on the menu explained by three words describing the tasting notes and how it will be served.
Mexico City’s cocktail bars are really having a moment and I cannot wait to get back there.
Connaught Bar in the middle of the posh neighborhood of Mayfair, is number 13 on the 50 Best Bars list. We didn’t have a reservation and the bar was standing room only. We started chatting with the bartender about popular bars in London and in New York. Several times they came over and offered us a table and each time we declined because we were enjoying the conversation with our bartender so much. The art deco interior blends classic design with modern cocktails and their martini cart is really something special. If you order a martini, you choose your gin and one of five essences, building your perfect martini which is stirred and strained with a flourish right in front of you. London has no shortage of great bars, but this is one to go out of your way for.
In February we visited the giant pandas in Atlanta which, at the time, were the only pandas left in the US and have since been sent back to China. Pandas are the cutest and dumbest animals and I learned that they are very particular about the bamboo they eat. I already have a trip planned in 2025 to see more pandas and I am so excited.
Last year was Jurgen Klopp’s last year coaching Liverpool and I told Sayak that we should go to a Liverpool game before the end of the season or he would regret it for the rest of his life. The tickets were not easy to come by - but the game was truly amazing. If you are a Premier league fan or are close to one, going to a game has to be be on your bucket list.
We were supposed to take a train back to London after our game in Liverpool but there was a rail strike and so no trains were running. We rented a car and were given the world’s biggest van. What could have felt like a travel nightmare ended up being an adventure. We visited the Cotswolds, Stonehenge and Jane Austen’s house on our way back to London. And seeing the place where Austen penned most of her novels felt like a spiritual experience.
One of my very favorite things in New York is when the cherry blossoms bloom at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. They have a cherry blossom watch on the website and you can track where the trees are at each day - first bloom, peak boom, post bloom. For weeks we wake up and refresh the page. The trees in full bloom are really spectacular.
I visited Newport, Rhode Island with my mom in April and we spent the weekend exploring the summer cottages of the Gilded Age. Growing up, visiting The Biltmore House was one of my favorite things and a town filled with many Biltmore like houses, giant mansions decorated to period, was an ideal weekend for me. And trust me, they use the word cottages very liberally. If you are a fan of period pieces, you need to visit. We visited in April which is technically the off season but still had a great time.
This year we went to a number of concerts - Billy Joel, The Rolling Stones, The Avett Brothers, and LANY. During the dark days of COVID I remember wondering if I would see live music and shows again and so I am grateful to for these concerts.
This year I celebrated my 10 years in NYC with a dinner at The River Cafe. When I was younger, I never imagined I could live in New York. When I moved here, I never imagined I’d stay for so long. Life here isn’t easy and I have spent my entire adult life here, but I can’t imagine anything else. I am grateful for everything the city has given me, including the people I love. And I am proud to finally call myself a New Yorker.
In our travel planning for the year we vowed to visit one National Park and go on one camping trip. Sitting around a campfire in Montana in September, the stars twinkling in the sky, it was very easy to live in the present moment. Without cell service for much of the week, time moved so slowly in the best way. And there’s such a sense of accomplishment after building a fire.
This year I finally went to a New York Liberty game and Ellie the Elephant stole the show. I am so excited for the future of women’s sports and can’t wait to get back for a game next season.
Every year around Halloween, Sayak orchestrates a taste test party and this year he decided to taste and rank sandwiches from around the world. Bahn mi stole the show, coming in first place - it certainly is my favorite sandwich. New York’s finest, a baconeggandcheese also claimed a top spot.
After years of trying, my friend and I finally completed our dive bar mafia crawl. What’s dive bar mafia you may ask? Because so many dive bars in Brooklyn serve a frozen coffee drink, I had a theory that all the dive bars were connected. Turns out I was correct and we made it our mission to visit all of the locations. Now for our next challenge - visiting all the bars in one single day.
Lastly, I would like to say, a real triumph for me this year was how I have grown my spice tolerance. And in 2024 I was able to eat spicier food than my father-in-law without breaking a sweat. A true accomplishment indeed.
Of the things that I purchased this year, here are some of my favorites:
Owala water bottle - I didn’t buy into the hype of the Stanley Cup especially because it is cumbersome and not good for my commute. But after waking with brain fog after office days and attributing it to dehydration, I bought myself an Owala. It keeps my water cold, is easy to travel with and I love the carrying handle which lets me also hold a million other things.
Hokas were another hyped item this year. But a year or so ago I went to a running store to buy a new pair of sneakers and they did a scan of my foot. Turns out I have wide feet and high arches. So they gave me a pair of Hokas with inserts and it felt like putting on a really supportive bra for the first time. This has been a re-buy for me ever since.
I truly believe in the power of facials from Glowbar, a monthly maintenance facial place with so many locations. My skin can really feel the difference and having a professional get all the gunk out is amazing.
While I don’t Nuuly every month, I have leaned on it heavily this year. I went to two weddings and was able to rent dresses for all of those events. And I ordered a Nuuly before going on trips which saved me from wanting to buy a complete new wardrobe before the trip. Nuuly months really save me of the feeling of “I have nothing to wear.”
If you would like to try Nuuly for yourself, you can use my link to get $30 off your first month!
While I didn’t purchase an Away suitcase this year, mine did break. The inner compression bars broke (I probably have been packing my suitcase too full) and I reached out to customer service to see if there was a repair kit I could order. Turns out, the suitcase has a lifetime warranty so they are sending me a brand new one in my choice of color. I can’t say enough good things!
Two food things I loved this year are Chobani creamers and sour candies. I have loved every Chobani creamer that I have tried. I like that just a little bit adds flavor without making the coffee too sweet. Real dairy? I too am in shock. I also fully leaned in to my love of sour candies this year, visited some trendy candy stores in NYC and made candy salad a few times!
In 2025, I want to stay curious, live for the adventure and say yes to new opportunities. I am challenging myself to learning to make patisserie and to lean in to my creative hobbies.
I would love to hear one of your favorite memories from 2024 and what you are most looking forward to in 2025.
Happy holidays to you and yours,
Savannah
📚 Currently Reading: Snowed In by Catherine Walsh
🎧 Currently Listening: The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris
You can shop my 2024 reads so far here.
If you would like to learn more about my Reading Around the World Challenge, you can read more about it in my previous post.
You can see my reading list for my Reading Around the World challenge here.
You can submit reading suggestions for my challenge here - I am always looking for more ideas!
Continuing to share some resources for Helene relief - and especially thinking about all those impacted as the weather gets colder.
Consider donating to Beloved Asheville or World Central Kitchen if you are able. They’ve both been posting and it’s amazing to see the money I have been able to give has been used to directly support the community.
As always, take care of yourself and take care of your neighbors. Thankful for my community and friends during this time.
This post contains affiliate links which means that in some cases I will earn a small commission from the things (books) that you buy at no cost to you! Thank you for trusting my recommendations.
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Owala, nuuly, and Chobani creamer were also some of my favorites this year!!!
Good job. Wasn’t Billy Joel the 148th garden show take was on somebody’s (the person who taught you to build a campfire) bucket list?