Hello hello hello
Or should I say goodbye? It's the final letter of 2023. Can't belive we reached week 52.
And you know what's funny about this one? I wrote the second letter this year while I was on my way back home after the first time I traveled in 2023. And this one, the last one, I'm writing on my way back home as well. I decided to travel last minute because my city and the region in general get too crowded in the end of the year so there's no place to go out that won't be full of people. Of course as I'm going back, there's too much car traffic so a bus ride that was supposed to last 4 hours is taking actually 7 (this part isn't funny).
I visited a Van Gogh exhibit, it was so much fun. Last letter I told you about small Gigi that used to think she was an impressionism artist. So now you know why: my favorite painter is Van Gogh ever since I was a little. Something about the colors and the textures that make me love his arts a lot. It sounds cliche but I really love Starry Night. The way the moon is painted there, it's so so pretty. I tried once doing a similar one, it turned out okay but I don't know what happened with that art lmao But yeah, I had my oil painting phase.
I went to a botanical garden as well. Too bad it's summer so there's a lot of plant that are not bloomed but it's so pretty anyway. I love how every time I went to that park the sky was very clean and blue and the plants very green. I also love the architecture of the greenhouse they have there, it's basically made of glasses and metallic stuff, in an art nouveau style.
I'm actually an art nerd, even before I studied design at university. I was always the art kid of my class. None of my classmates at school liked those subjects, while I was always so interested.
The hotel I stayed in had a moon theme (I swear I didn't know until I got there). Each room had a phase of the moon next to the room number. You know how Van Gogh have the saying, "The sunflower is mine, in a way"? I feel like if I had to write something in this way, I would say, "The moon is mine, in a way". As since always, the moon inspires me and it's always with me somehow. So, like the sunflowers inspired Van Gogh a lot, the moon inspires me.
Even if I live close to a big city, there's a lot of stores that I like that we don't have around here. So every time I go to another state I go to those stores lol My tourist side: buying some silly stuff.
Since it's the last letter, I can't help but to think a lot about what happened this year. 2023, what a year. There were very sad moments and when I think about this year in general it feels like it's been 3 years instead of 1, but for most of the days I was feeling well.
In 2023 I saw some friends that I didn't see for 12 years in person. I got closer to people that mean a lot to me. I traveled four times. I saw my favorite band from when I was 16. I studied a lot. I worked a lot as well. I understood what makes me feel happy and what doesn't. Learnt a lot. Cried a lot too lol Happy tears, sad tears. I guess it's the usual. I'm feeling more responsible and more like I'm really an adult. It feels weird to say this because I've been legal by age since I'm 18 and honestly I had to grow up too quickly. But just this year I started to actually feel like I'm not a teenager anymore. I still stand by the saying, "I'll be a teenager girl until I'm 30", but I know I'm living my adulthood well.
When I think about 2022, I understand that I was not nice to myself. But in 2023 I was. If I think about it, I started to actually feel like a designer, like an artist. I know my limits now. I'm happy I got to make drawings of you a lot. I'm happy I got to express myself. And I'm happy those 2023 weekly letters were a safe space for me. Thank you for reading my letters and thank you for cheering about my drawings. It means the world to me, truly.
I'm really proud of you! You achieved so much this year. I hope you know how much you conquered. I hope you know that you made so many people happy. I hope you were happy as well.
So for the next year I'll still write my weekly letters. It's going through a ✨️rebranding✨️ so expect a different title/headline 👀 it's going to look prettier. So goodbye "🎫 ticket #(insert the number of the week) to 🌙", it was a fun thing to do every week. Will I be more punctual next year? Probably not lmao My life is always chaotic, so are my letters.
Btw the pictures you posted of you and Morty omg!!!!!!!!! He's so pretty, he's growing up so well 🥹💛
So have the happiest last day of the year. I hope that in 2024 you can be happier, healthier, more successful! And that you can achieve your dreams and goals. Keep being you and keep shining the brightest like you always do.
Thank you again for this year. Te amo amo amo to the moon and back. And beyond. Forever and a day.
- Gigi 🌙