years

2020

December 31, 2020 by sallyb.zhao 1 Comment
January
  • Closed on my first home / investment property in SF! This has been a plan years in the making, so it was amazing to accomplish 😊
celebrating with my mom!
February
  • Spent 3 weeks reviewing applications and doing open houses to rent out the lower unit – success!
  • Met Scott Jurek and he signed my book!!
March
  • The last trip before Covid hit. We got snowed in in Tahoe over the weekend and didn’t leave till Monday the 16th. On our way back into the city, we found out SF would be locked down the next day and stopped by Costco / Trader Joe’s to stock up on supplies.
April / May
June / July / August
  • Made kombucha for the first time
  • Participated in a fundraising event for BLM – raised over $10k!
  • More baking, knitting, and walking around the city
September
  • TSP DIY race with the N° crew! This was the first race I did since Covid started and a crazy team bonding experience where we ran as many miles as possible in 31 hours 15 min. We dealt with heat, smoky conditions, sleep deprivation, injuries… and crushed it!!
  • Upstairs tenants moved out with notice, but unexpectedly, so I scrambled to do renovations before my trip.
This iconic day was also the first day of my renovations. Things were looking bleak. I spent 8+ hours a day at the property with my parents, juggling work, contractors, and painting cabinets. Lived off of HK milk tea and simple carbs.
  • I had planned a nomadic trip with friends and was set to fly out Sunday the 13th. Because I was going for an undetermined amount of time, I wanted the renovations to be squared away before I jetted off. After postponing my flight once already, I was prepared to delay my trip further, but my parents encouraged me to fly out and they would finish things off. Very grateful for that 🙏🏼 First stop – Provo, Utah!
October 
  • Road trip continues through Utah and Arizona. For most of the trip, I was working remotely and didn’t take time off.
  • I decided to start selling my knit socks to friends, not to make a profit, but just to cover the cost of yarns. I mostly needed a reason to continue knitting 😝
  • At the end of the month, I decided to part ways with my nomad pals to celebrate my birthday in Boston.
November
  • Celebrated my 24th birthday in Boston with friends 🥳
  • My property had been vacant since September, while I was on the road, and I was reviewing applications and doing showings remotely with my parents helping me in the city. I had a good lead mid-Nov and decided to fly back home to get that closed out. Success right before Thanksgiving 🙏🏼
December
  • Back to basics – knitting & baking
Recap

This year had two pivotal moments for me: buying my first house and living my dream of being a digital nomad. It was the constant reminder that our time here is short, that inspired me to take a leap of faith (or two) to live the life I imagined. While most of the year was under lockdown from coronavirus, it was still crazy busy for me, in a good way. In fact, Covid allowed me to do more than I would’ve been able to otherwise and I’m grateful for that. To an even better 2021! 🥂 😌