A Few Small Goals For December

Happy December! I'm so excited to be welcoming a new month. I love this time of year -- people are generally in good spirits, everything looks festive, and the cold weather still feels exciting. Chris and I had a wonderful, low-key Thanksgiving: we jumped the gun and bought our Christmas tree (early, but I want to enjoy it), had dinner with a friend, and then went out for beers and a movie (Catching Fire -- it was good!).

Even though I didn't technically accomplish all of my goals for November, I'm really happy with the way things went down: I went to yoga every weekend, but after a couple of classes I realized that I like the Sunday instructor and class time much better, so I've been enjoying starting my week off with Sunday evening yoga. While I'm not sure if I technically broke out of the style rut I felt I was in, I did have a couple of really good thrift dates with Chris, which helped solidify the direction I'd like to steer my closet and style in. I did not run the Turkey Trot. And I do not feel bad about it. Anyway, it was 20 degrees the morning of the race, ha! We took a leisurely Thanksgiving walk instead. And I got to work early -- at times abysmally early -- nearly every day this month. As much as I hate going in early, I love getting a jump start on my day.

It didn't take me long to figure out my goals for December, they're things that have been on my mind lately as it is:

// Volunteer at least once

My real goal here is to find two volunteer opportunities before Christmas. I really want to make volunteering a year-long thing, and I think finding something this time of year is a good place to start.

// Eat as clean as possible ... while still enjoying the holidays

I haven't been feeling too well lately, and I know this is in direct correlation to the amount of cheese I've been consuming. And wine. And treats. And cheese. It's time to get back on the horse, sort of. I'm still going to enjoy the social opportunities that spring up this time of year, but maybe just cut down on the stress eating at work.

// Make Christmas gifts & send out cards

i.e. dont procrastinate. I started making gifts and ornaments this weekend, and it felt so good to make something with my hands. I didn't realize how long it had been since I did a project expressly on my own accord, rather than for work. I absolutely have to make this a habit again.

// Try a new exercise routine

Lately my exercise routine has felt stale, save for the addition of yoga, it's been sort of the same for a long time. My goal this month? To try a spin class. I used to bike a lot so I'm thinking I'll like it? I hope I'll like it, because running kills me and the ARC machine is getting boring, and I need some sort of cardio to balance out the weights.

// Clean out my inbox
My email is a nightmare, a nightmare filled with sale messaging and newsletters that I don't delete. I've got to tackle this beast.

How about you? Any big plans this month?

November Goals

October really was something. I'm sure it could be chalked up to general busyness, but as usual the past month flew by. We've experienced lots of changes in our household this past month, and I have to admit, I didn't accomplish too many of October's goals because of it. I'm happy to put the month behind me. In fact, all I managed to do on last month's list was get a haircut (we did attempt to go apple picking, but it was a disaster). Granted, this usually happens, I start out the month with lofty plans, only to accomplish one or two after all is said and done.

Setting goals for each month, whether concrete (go for a hike!) or more abstract (be present.), has been a way for me to feel in control. To not allow the month to slip past me in a blur of work and home priorities, of stress and deadlines, to actually make some time for the things that I love to do. But, lately it's not working and I've felt so disconnected from myself when I'm not at work. I've been frustrated by this; I love my job, and I love blogging, but it's not my life. I need to make time for the things that make me happy that don't take place behind a screen, and for the things that will enrich my life.

So this is how I'm starting November: fresh. My overarching goal for this month is to be mindful. Mindful of my time, my body, and my brain.

//Start each weekend with yoga
Groggily checking my gym's class schedule this past Saturday morning, I was happy to discover there's a late-morning class. Win! This was the perfect bridge between work-week and weekend, and allowed me to check my stress at the door. Once a week on a Saturday is much more realistic for me right now than twice a week after work, so that's what's happening.

//Break out of my style rut
I've been in a vicious cycle of jeans, sweater, boots lately, due largely in part to rushing out of the house each morning to get to work early. This uniform is fine, really, but frankly I'm bored and it's time to shake things up.

//Run the Turkey Trot
It's November, which means: Thanksgiving! I ran the Turkey Trot last year for the first time, and it was the perfect addition to our low-key Thanksgiving. Now, I just need to convince Chris to run it with me this year!

//Get to work early
Self-explanatory.

A Few Small Goals for October

Happy October! It still hasn't quite sunk in yet that it's a new month, but I'm excited just the same. My mom is currently visiting us from Maine, I leave in a couple of days for St. Louis, and the weather is gorgeous. No complaints. Here's what I'm hoping to accomplish for October:

// Go apple picking
We somehow didn't do this last year, and I miss this autumn tradition! Not just the orchard visit itself, but the days spent figuring out what to do with all those apples afterwards. Apple pie? Apple sauce? Apple cake?

// Plan a challenging hike
We recently went on an easier day-hike and it has me craving something more challenging. We went on a great hike up Mt. Davis last year, so I'd love to explore another Western Pennsylvania mountain when the foliage is at it's peak.

// Get a haircut
It's time, I'm craving a shorter cut for fall weather. Nothing too drastic, but I could use a little change, and shorter locks mean fewer knots caused by wool sweaters, which is always good in my book.

// Turn off
This is a big one for me, and I most likely won't be able to start working towards it until next week, but I've decided to attempt a "no computer past 6:45pm rule" for October. This will require a complete restructuring of my schedule, and it's a little daunting. Right now my blog posts typically get written in the evening, and it's a mad dash after work of getting home, working out, eating dinner, blogging in front of the TV, and then crashing into bed. With little time to relax, connect with Chris, or work on an in-person project. This needs to change, and I'm looking forward to having a real challenge to work towards this month.

// Turn off the 'back-burner'
I'm really sick of having so much on hold, so much set aside. I have a lot of projects and general 'life responsibilities' that I need to just do and get out of the way. I'm hoping the computer shut down will help make this happen.

What are your goals for this month?

A Few Small Goals for September

August, as expected, flew right by. The past few days have felt decidedly autumnal, still warm, but with that telling bite to the air. Mornings in our apartment are wonderfully chilly, and a cool breeze comes through in the evenings. I'm not quite ready to let go of summer, but I do love this time of year. It feels fresh, full of possibility, perhaps it's the residual effects of the academic calendar. Here's what's on my docket this month:

Stick to a blogging schedule
I've been pretty terrible about keeping myself accountable lately, due in part to some internet issues at our place, but if we're being truly honest, I just want to be outside. I know that sticking to a schedule will make life a whole lot easier, I just need to implement it. This month I am determined to write the posts that have been on the back burner for ages.

Get out of the house
Don't get me wrong, we definitely do get out and about, but I always feel this time of year is especially perfect for exploring new places, short weekend roadtrips, and hiking. I'm headed off to Cleveland this weekend to visit Erin, and I can't wait.

Plan a weekend for my mom!
Exciting stuff: my mom is visiting Pittsburgh for the first time at the end of the month! I'm really looking forward to planning a fun weekend/week with her to show her around the city. There are certain Pittsburgh-y things we've held off on doing, knowing they'd be perfect for when family came to town, like visiting Fallingwater.

Finish unpacking
Now that it's cooler outside, we can finally unpack the rest of our stuff. I started this past weekend with our office and ended up with three gigantic bags of donations, let's keep this going! It's helpful to have the deadline of my mom's visit at the end of the month, so no slacking! 

Do you set monthly goals? Feel free to share in the comments!

A Few Small Goals for August

Wow. August. I know, but man this summer flew by, right? I believe August has become my favorite month, at least so far in 2013. To be honest, until a second ago I had no idea what today's date is, which is a good sign that I had a great weekend in Austin. Now, on to San Francisco! Besides a ton of travel, here's what I'm focusing on this month:

A return to self-care and healthfulness
I always, always enter into summer in the mindset of "Hey! It's summer! Of course I'm going to eat salad all the time and just seamlessly incorporate exercise into my schedule! No problem!" When in fact- and I blame this partially on moving and suddenly having a social life again- I'm eating french fries all the time and maybe treading water in the pool for like, five minutes before beaching myself on a towel to people-watch behind my sunglasses. This has to end, because admittedly I feel physically awful, not the kind of awful where I feel bad about my body, because I like how I look, but I just feel physically awful. I can feel my arthritis flaring up again and my skin is starting to freak a little. Time to be an adult again and maybe cut back on the sugar (and french fries, and 2am waffles, and...)

Celebrate our anniversary. Like, actually celebrate it.
You know what's sad? If someone asked, I wouldn't be able to tell them how Chris and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. And not because it was super spicy. But because I'm fairly certain we didn't celebrate outside of going out to dinner. Which is really, really pathetic. So we gotta celebrate right this year! I want to go to the beach and lay on the sand and forget about technology for a whole weekend.

Stay inspired
One of the reasons I love attending conferences like the Texas Style Council Conference (which I went to this past weekend), is that I always, always leave feeling super inspired and motivated. These conferences always seem to pop up in a time when I'm feeling a little tired or discouraged or spread too thin, but after spending a weekend with some of the raddest ladies and listening to their stories consistently reinvigorates me. I want to keep that momentum going!

What are you focusing on this month?

A Few Small Goals for July

Happy July! I skipped setting goals for June, knowing full well that the entire month would be dominated by moving. And I was right. I barely remember June. But July is here and we're all moved out and all moved in (if you count piles of random crap 'moved in'), and I can't wait to enjoy the rest of summer. My general goal for July is just to make the most of summer in Pittsburgh, which is lovely, also, I really need to hop back on the "acting like a grown-up" bandwagon and do things that are responsible (i.e. pretty boring), as in:

Have a clothing sale
This has been on the back burner for some time now. I've been meaning to host a clothing sale on Instagram or Ebay or some other platform for awhile and just haven't had the extra time. But I'd like to do this, it'd be nice to make a little extra room in my closet and lighten the load a little, mentally and materially. As a bit of a clothes hoarder, I'm pretty proud of how much stuff I've been able to part with.

Get a haircut
Confession: I'm incredibly lazy- and impatient- when it comes to my hair. Which is why I keep it long. But, even long hair needs to be maintained and my hair has once again reached the point of weed-like wildness that I just can't deal with. It is time. Also, I wanna look good for Texas!

Sleep
These goals are super exciting, right?

Go hiking!

We haven't been hiking since last fall, and I'm craving it. Now that our weekends are freed up, I'd love to take an Ohiopyle trip.

 

Read more

I've been taking full advantage of the city pools this year, and I'm looking for some pool-side reading! Any recommendations?

 

Build my desk and create an inspiring space

My old desk consisted of an Ikea table-top stacked on top of two filing cabinets. Functional, but not fun. We have all the plans to build a simple desk for me and a workspace for Chris, but at the moment that particular room of our place is packed to the brim with the extraneous stuff in our lives. I can't wait to have a nice, spacious office/studio!

 

Well, that's it. Nothing groundbreaking, but it helps to list them out. What do you hope to accomplish in July?

A Few Small Goals for May

 

After moving to Pittsburgh, May has officially become my favorite month. As much as I love New England, the weather this time of year can be so dicey near the coast, but in Pittsburgh it really feels like spring, and it's wonderful! This city is so overwhelmingly green in the spring and summer, and in early May the scent of lilacs and wisteria fill the air of our neighborhood, wafting through the open windows. I have to admit, that's something I'm really going to miss when we move to our new place.

Flowers aside, we are so stoked to be moving next month, and May is going to be all about packing. I am determined to not relive our past moving mistakes, we were so incredibly unprepared when we moved here, with just three weeks notice, we concentrated solely on spending time with our family and friends, and not at all on packing. I'm still uncovering random boxes of junk (ex. an entire box of pens and receipts, oof). So with those past mistakes in mind, my May goals are as follows:

Pack up a little each week
This past weekend we cleaned out the garage in preparation for storing packed up boxes. I figure, if we box up a little each week, we're making our lives that much easier.

Get rid of stuff
This is essentially my life-time goal. I am so ready to be rid of the extraneous things in our lives. The papers, knick-knacks, and other random brick-a-brack just has to go. The solution?

Plan a yard sale!
We're planning to have a yard sale with our neighbors and a few coworkers towards the end of the month. I'm excited! Mostly just excited to get rid of stuff.

and... that's it! I'm keeping things short and sweet this month, because I know it will likely be insane. What are you looking forward to for May?

A Few Small Goals for April

Happy April. Or April Fools, depending on what you chose to celebrate. As you may have guessed from last Thursday's post, I'm pretty happy to be bidding March 'adieu', it was a tough month and I barely accomplished anything on my March goals list. On the flip-side however, I did get a lot of other stuff done: I gave this blog a much needed face lift (which I'm slowly still working on), we found an apartment in an amazing location, I started running outside again, and I've been cooking more frequently and trying new recipes (I made Tom Kha Gai and Coconut-Lime Curry last week). So, perspective.

I have a sneaking suspicion that April is going to be very similar to March. I'm still setting goals, but I have a feeling that what I actually accomplish will be quite different:

Get packing
Truth: there are fully packed boxes from Massachusetts sitting in our basement. Truth: I have no idea what's in them. We have two full months to prep for our move, and I'm determined not to relive our past moving mistakes (waiting until the last minute, using paper grocery bags to hold things, frantically hurling our belongings into the back of a truck). Since we have a little notice, I'm looking forward to taking our time, getting rid of what we don't want or need, and relocating ourselves with intention.

Get back to yoga
I've been slacking on yoga and I've been feeling it. I have two chances during the week, and lately my schedule has prevented me from taking advantage of either one. This month I need to make more of an effort to get there.

Take a hike
If the weather ever decides to warm up, I'd love to get out to explore a new trail or two. Chris and I went hiking a lot last year, and it's something I want to continue to do together. I love the feeling of leaving the world behind you when you enter the woods.

Cook even more
There have been a few cookbooks languishing in my Amazon cart for a number of weeks now, and I need to just take the plunge. Chris is so much more intuitive than I am when it comes to cooking anything other than breakfast (I make a mean breakfast), while he can just throw things together and have it come out perfect, I like direction and steps to follow. I've really enjoyed the recipes I've made so far, and am looking forward to trying more.

Get more sleep.
Pretty self-explanatory. 

Do you have any goals this month?

A Few Small Goals for March

I thought I would combine this month's goal post with some shots I took around town yesterday. We went out to breakfast early (Square Cafe), stopped in to Construction Junction, and then headed over to an antique mall in Verona (Miller's, we bought a metal cabinet), before heading back home to relax (i.e. clean the house). Nothing too crazy or mind blowing, but nice nonetheless. A good way to start off a new month, after a really hectic February.

Looking back at February's goals, I accomplished about half of them. I went on a couple of day trips to Ohio, I started our taxes, I did organize our office- but it's no more inspiring, just somewhat cleaner- I saw a few friends, we had a nice Valentine's Day, but I did not get to the book part. Partially because I've been reading a book and it's taking me forever. So, for March, I'm focusing on the things that I've been nagging myself to do in the past couple of weeks, but for one reason or another, I haven't gotten around to doing them (say it with me: PRO-CRAST-IN-ATION):

Do those taxes!
Enough said. I gotta do them. This week.

Tackle my "to alter/handwash" pile
I've been making an effort to purchase less lately, partially due to the fact that it's that weird, in-between time of year, and partially due to this looming pile of stuff. There are about a dozen skirts, dresses, tops, and pants I could be wearing right now if I just gathered the gumption to alter them and/or handwash them.

Stay in better contact with friends and family
Twitter and Facebook are great and all, but those outlets definitely contribute to a false sense of keeping in touch with people, for me. I'm pretty bad at calling people regularly, so this will be something to really work on this month.

Sell/ Donate/ Toss
There are bags of to-donate/sell/toss clothing lurking in the shadows of our apartment. The count right now is five: two in the basement, two in the car, and one in the office. I know that if we were to go through our closets, there would be more. It's weighing on me, time to get rid of it.

Get our adult lives in order (i.e. GET ORGANIZED!)
If you can't tell already, organization is a trouble spot for me. I know I talk about it constantly, but my reasoning is that if I talk the talk, I better be able to back it up. It works...sometimes. This is actually the intention I've set for myself for the year- get organized, pay the bills on time, visit the doctor when I need to, keep in contact with my friends and family, get rid of the excess. I guess this goal really is the combination of all the goals above. So yeah.

Go on another short road trip
I'm kind of phoning this one in, because I might already have one planned (I haven't decided yet). But yeah, I'm really into exploring lately. Blame it on being sick of the cold and being super restless.

Do you have any goals for the month? I'd love to know what you're working on!

A Few Small Goals for February

Oh February, how did you sneak up so fast? I'll admit, I'm OK with bidding January goodbye. It was a tough month with ridiculous weather and not enough room to breathe. I'm happy to report that I did manage to accomplish most of my January goals: I'm feeling like I'm standing on solid ground with my blog content, Chris and I joined a new gym and we're loving it, I got my hair cut- more on that one later- but not colored, and I unplugged just a little bit more- though not as much as I would have liked. The only one that definitely didn't get accomplished was going for a walk everyday, and I don't even have an excuse, I just didn't do it. So, it's a new month with new goals, here they are:

Plan a day trip or two
It looks like Chris will finally have some weekend days off this month, and I would love to go someplace new with him. Mostly, I just really want to go snowboarding. We didn't go at all last year, and it's something that I miss. With Seven Springs and Snowshoe so close by, this goal shouldn't be difficult to accomplish.

Do our taxes
This goal is so not exciting, but last year I waited until the last minute and just prolonged the stress. We have to do them and this is the month to do it.

Create an inspiring space
Our office is the messiest room in our apartment, and the last place anyone wants to spend any time. I want to clean it out and start over, putting some of my ideas to work. We're lucky to have the extra space, so it should be well utilized.

Spend more time with friends
I have a tendency to be a bit of a hermit, especially in the winter. If I have a free day, I'm perfectly happy to spend it doing things on my own. This is a habit I would like to break and actually work on building the friendships I've made here.

Enjoy Valentines Day
I don't dislike Valentines Day because of Hallmark, or the blatant display of affections, it's just too much pressure. Valentines Day just stresses me out. But it's also an excuse to make cards and send notes to people, and that's what I would like to do. And maybe go on a nice date, because why not?

Make a list of the books I'd like to read, and then read them
I'm a window shopper when it comes to books, picking up what looks interesting when I'm at the library instead of sticking to the ever-growing list in my head. I gotta write this stuff down, because I have a feeling that I'd be much more interested in the book on my nightstand if it were something I actually planned and had a desire to read. 

So, there they are. A few small goals. Do you have anything you're hoping to accomplish this month? Feel free to share your goals in the comments!