Check in.
How is the new year going for you?
How are the resolutions?
Is it just me or was that the longest first week of the year ever!!?
I am of the belief that if you’re not changing, then you’re accepting. That’s not necessarily either a good or bad thing. You make it what it is as it pertains to you. Acceptance and change are both great things and it is what drives me to love a good resolution.
Sure, 80 percent of resolutions dissolve by February and only a whopping 8 percent of people attain their resolutions by years end… but what I have accepted about myself, is that I love to attempt change. I win some and I lose some.
2021 New Year Resolutions
* Routinely take care of my skin.
This resolution includes finding a regimen I love that will make me enjoy the commitment of applying a minimum of a 4 night a week routine. The hope is for every day use… but let’s be real. I need this skin routine to be doable during travel and not take 67 minutes to complete.
Let’s remember…USE SUNBLOCK EVERY DAY!!
I love me some water and in the past, the convenience of grabbing a plastic bottle encouraged my healthy H2O habits. I was always drinking water. I noticed however, all around our house laid unfinished plastic water bottles, mostly from the kids, but admittedly from me sometimes. Our family vowed to rid of the plastic bottle habit completely. We did it, but my water intake has suffered and I can see it all over my body’s rattle snake skin. More water for the skin this year!
* Hormonal Overhaul. Let’s just say, the one day PMS vibe has turned to a pretty much everyday punk mood. I’m sure it’s partly due to world events but I still find a need to do something about it…
Social media has never been an issue of anxiety for me until recently. All the crazy news and everyone’s divisive posts kinda get me down now. I don’t care about Facebook one bit. Instagram is my jam tho. I love seeing travel and food pictures and enjoy seeing what my friends are up to. I like seeing JLo post about her new skin care line. Sebastian Maniscalco clips always make me laugh! Call me crazy, but I like to see others doing well and happy. Instagram has morphed into a more negative platform lately, specially from celebrities. Even positive posts have a ton of comments that can bring the happy clown down.
Seriously, you can’t even post that you paid it forward at the Starbucks line anymore. All of a sudden by doing that, you’re enabling “Bougie Betty” and you’re just WRONG… WRONG… because you should have done something BETTER for a more important charity. I get the sentiment, but dang… people are just doing the best they can during a pandemic.
I plan to unfollow every person, which thankfully does not generally consist of my friends, that posts something hateful in my point of view. This is not to be confused with unfollowing people I don’t agree with. I love the diversity and have dear friends on both sides and all sides of the spectrum. However, the posts lacking tact and filled with tearing another person down and telling them they are not enough or just plain wrong, is not for me. I will follow the person who is paying it forward to who might actually be “Bipolar Betty”…
…like and love. You do you, right!?
Also, I want to revamp my supplement intake. Right now it includes everything from CBD gummies to ashwagandha. I just want to organize my supplement intake into less pills, make sure I’m getting everything I need and nothing I don’t. This below is not conducive to travel.
* Foodie Future
When I worked in Raleigh, I enjoyed going to my favorite pizza shop after work at least once a week. Then the pandemic hit, and maybe from watching too many Barstool Sports Pizza Reviews, I started getting take out pizza from different shops and comparing them. This year I would love to try more pizza shops in the Raleigh Cary area and then make a “best of” list. I would love to do this with friends!
My North Carolina Donut list needs to be freshened up as well. There are a few shops in the Charlotte area for me to try. I’d like to retry a few shops I haven’t been to in years as well!
I love cooking and baking and the pandemic has lead the entire family into some amazing cooking competitions and discovering new recipes. This is something I want to continue doing!
* Travel Goals
Let’s tread lightly on this one. This year, I would like to see mountains and see beaches. I want to add a visit to a new spa and hit up a vineyard if possible. These trips can be anywhere in the world… but I understand the restrictions… I may just be discovering my backyard a little deeper!
My crazy hope is to get to Boston this year. I am taking a class from Harvard so it would be nice to use their library, get my student card, and maybe explore Boston a little. I foresee us staying in our beautiful state of NC quite a bit so a mountains and beach trip is definitely doable and it could lead us to scratching off some foodie goals and NC bucket list items like the Land of Oz, Jockey Ridge, and Mount Airy (little Mayberry). All with safety first.
We managed an amazing US road trip last year, so I think we can make another safe one happen again. I’d like to add states the kids have never been to. None the less, we will stay cautiously optimistic!
* Wear less black. My closet is color coded for my sanity. There is a hefty chunk of black clothes to the left and then a trickle of the rainbow down to the right. This comes from my music performance days and now pandemic days. All my yoga pants are black…but I am hoping colors brighten my mood a bit.
*Include Spanish in my everyday life. I just want to keep up with my Spanish a little better. I want to listen to more Spanish music, subscribe to Ted Talks en Español, and my phone still has Spanish settings on.
So there’s my list! Fun and so easy to give up on all of them by February! I think I’m off to a good start!
Travel Ninja 