Twenty Fourteen: New Year. New Goals

Happy New Year!

It's that time of year where I think about all my goals from 2013 and then divulge to you dear readers if I managed to accomplish them or not. So I looked back to my old goal post (har-har) and I realized something kind of weird: I managed to accomplished almost all of them! There were only four, but they were biggies.

A place for everything

Ok so this one isn't quite done, but I managed to figure most of it out. I reorganized my kitchen (the pics in the post are before pics!) last year so that it made more sense to me, bought some bins for the kids' toys and the linen closet upstairs, but there is still a lot of work to do. More on that later.

Go Veg

I managed to do this for the most part. We decided a few months in to add fish to the mix mostly because Mark was training for an Iron Man and needed a bit more protein. There are elite athletes who are veg and vegan, but it takes a lot of work and I'm already in the kitchen 90% of my day so decided to add fish instead.

Also I did have some regular 'ol meat a few times during the year. I really wanted a burger on my birthday and over the holidays I made a free-range organic turkey breast roll and decided to try it and it was freaking delicious so I ate more... At one of our family gatherings my cousin made a toutiere in honour of my grandmother and I felt that I should have some of that too :). But I don't cook meat at home usually and really, we only have fish once every two weeks or so... not often.

Become a better cook

I realized as I wrote this that this is a subjective accomplishment. I still have so much further to go to become the cook I want to be, but I feel like over this past year that cooking vegetarian (and a lot of the times vegan) dishes forced me to figure out how to make things taste better. Now there were a lot of times that things tasted like crap, but my husband still ate it and didn't complain (he's sweet that way).

Eating this way has become a way of life now and we'll continue to do it in this year. I may add in some more of that turkey though we'll see...

Get Leo potty-trained

My goal was to get this done in the first half of the year, which didn't happen, but it wasn't too much after that that the little guy was donning Lightening McQueen undies and peeing like a big boy. Ok it's not quite like a big boy... he either pees sitting down or kneels backwards on the toilet seat but it's in the toilet and not in his pants so I don't really care. He still wears a diaper to bed but wakes up most days with it dry, so I'm sure the nighttime undies will come soon enough.

So that was then - what's coming for 2014? Here's the biggie:


I'm giving up coffee.

You read that right. 

I'm actually tried to do this several times, but failed. The reason I failed is because I freaking love coffee and yes, it will be hard.

So why do it?

It's for health reasons. I have what are called fibro cysts and the caffeine makes them grow. I've also had a weird tender spot in my abdomen since Leo was born and it tends to feel different after I have some caffeine as well. No one can quite figure out what's going on in my abdomen after xrays, scans and ultrasounds so I figure why not try to eliminate some things to see if it helps. Funny enough I got a zillion different kinds of herbal teas over the holidays so I'm prepared (somewhat - who am I kidding). I might resort back to decaf coffee but we'll see.

So that's the biggie.

I've also been really struggling with having too much 'stuff'. It's just freaking everywhere. This feeling is likely a result of having kids and the stuff that comes with them but I'm starting to wonder if it's all necessary. Why do we need all of this stuff?

This year I'm going to go room-by-room and get rid of anything that doesn't really have a meaning for me or that isn't useful. I'm going to be cut-throat.

I'm feeling the need to clean house, pare down, get rid of it. Simplify. (This seems to be a growing trend in the blogosphere!) (I should start with this post - it's getting a bit wordy!)

Those are the two big ones friends. That's what I'm focussing on. There will be other things like taking an online class or two, working on getting back into working (freelance... I'm working on a proper website!) and trying to be more conscious of my surroundings and how I live my life.

What are your goals this year?

project 2012

I've been a little MIA the past month and a bit -- I just haven't been too inspired to blog about much! Christmas was fun and it's not over (going to my Dad's and then Mom's for two more dinners!). I'm not going to lie to you - I'm full. I've never been one of these people to gain weight over the holidays, but this year I feel like I've been packing on the pounds. Too many sweets around these parts!

Since 2012 is around the corner, I thought I would share with you my project list for the New Year. I don't typically make resolutions, but I do like to get things down on 'paper' to get the ideas ingrained in my brain. So here it goes:

1. Finish our main floor bathroom.

(source)

Source: southernhospitalityblog.com via Ashley on Pinterest

I wrote earlier this year that it's a bit boring and I'd like to add some molding and stenciling to the walls. I think it will really cozy up the room.

2. Add the finishing touches to our bedroom (hmmm I just realized this was part of 2011's list of projects! DOH!)

We've got the curtains up and I've added a bit of colour, but haven't done much else! Still do do: reupholster Mark's grandmother's chair (the nice flowery chair in the corner there), finish the little photo vignette wall, get a new mirror (I don't have a pic of it but I haven't liked it ever since we put it up over our dresser! It's oval and doesn't look right), figure out what to do with the wall behind our bed, consider a new duvet cover and pillows - ok this seems like more than finishing touches! But really it's not that much. I don't think. :|

3. Get framing.

Source: architect-theif.tumblr.com via Gaile on Pinterest

I love the look of walls full of framed photos and I've been slowly collecting frames from Goodwill and prints of photos to use around the house. I would like to get a few more photos along the stairway and downstairs in the basement.

4. Relaunch my etsy shop.

This is something I've been thinking about, but wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it. I have some ideas for projects using Spoonflower fabric since I can find fun and different fabrics to work with. A few things have changed around Etsy and I'm excited to try some of the ideas they offer to promote shops.

One thing that isn't really a project, but more of a mental resolution is to get off my butt. I used to get a lot of shit done around here and I find I'm spending way too much time surfing the 'net. Once I find something fun on Pinterest or blogland that I want to try, I want to do it instead of just pin it.

That's it so far!

Have a great New Year's Eve everyone and see you back here in the big '12!

-Steph

swing of things

I'm getting into the swing of things... I think. I do know that I'm excited to get back to the gym. I'm feeling the urge to sweat. I'm one of those weird people that actually likes going to the gym. I signed up for baby and me yoga and will be heading to baby and me bootcamp soon too.

I'm also starting to think about sewing again. Not sure when I'll get the time to do it but I'm feeling the urge to do that too. I'm not sure what type of projects I'll start working on but I can tell you that I just LOVE this scarf from Anna Marie Horner.


It seems a lot of other people do too because the project package isn't available right now. I'll keep my eye out for it and get it as soon as it gets restocked. I'm also thinking of what kinds of things I want to stock in my etsy shop. I'll probably focus on some baby things now that I have one but we'll see what the New Year brings.

Happy New Year!

2010

Happy New Year y'all! How were your holidays? Mine were splendid. My husband and I did a lot of driving to see family and friends and even took a little jaunt down to NYC for New Years Eve. There were a lot of cops on corners, crazy tourists (yes I know I'm a tourist but I'm not a CRAZY tourist) and sirens. Did I mention crazy tourists?

We're not much for the crowds, but we thought it would be fun to go and my step-sister graciously allowed us to stay in her apartment, so we took the plunge. We saw the ball drop too (I think). There were a lot of martinis (manhattans in manhattan...) and running before midnight involved, so I'm not QUITE sure if we saw it, but I think we did. There were a lot of fireworks anyway.

Ok.

So, I don't really make resolutions per se, but I do like to make lists of things I want to accomplish in a given year. I thought I'd share my list here and then I'll check back throughout the year to see if I did any of them, and if I did, I'll check them off.

In no particular order:

-Wear more fun, colourful accessories. I wear a lot of black and grey and would like to add some colour to my wardrobe. I actually started this two days ago by purchasing a hot pink headband from JCrew.

-Organize my receipts in a nice Martha Stewart-like way. I have receipts from past freelance writing jobs and now I have them for my sewing purchases and I need to get them in order before my husband sets them on fire.

-Approach 1-2 online/bricks & Mortar stores to sell my stuff. I already have one interested person (more on that later!)

-Take more walks. I work at home and you'd think that would give me more time to go for a walk but sometimes I forget. In the summer I lay outside in the sun reading a book at lunch, and in the winter I eat soup, curl up on the couch and hide from the cold.

-Get the little things done that need to be done in the house. Like my sewing room for instance. Remember this room??? Well it actually doesn't look like that anymore. Really all I need is some bulletin boards and a few pictures and I'll be able to show you where I sew!

-Say Hi to more people. "Hi"

-Make more food from scratch -- like bread. This was on my list from last year and I really thought I would do it, but I just didn't make the time. I will do it this year.

Hmm what else?

Oh, I need to learn how to take better pictures. This is actually a biggie. I have a great camera that really, I don't know how to use properly.

-FOCUS. My brain zips and zops in a million different directions and I really need to just focus on ONE thing. Not sure if this one is even possible. I was thinking the other day that doing crosswords might help.

-Keep off the computer after 10pm. It's actually 10:14 as I'm writing this, so I should probably go. I think I'll keep updating this list later as more things come to my head (you know 'cause right now I can't really focus on it).

On that note, Happy New Year! May this year be a great one for you.