One of my new life resolutions this year was to read more books. I set a realistic goal of 12 books this year, which equals out to one per month, and so far, this is the only new life resolution that is actually going well! If I can make it to 25 – the goal I set on Goodreads – then that would be even better, but I’m trying to stay realistic. Here are the books I’ve read so far in 2019.
I’ve seen several bloggers create a 19 in 2019: A list of 19 things to do in the year. I know I’m a few months late since we’re now in March, but I thought this ideas sounded like a fun way to help me tick off some of the items on my New Life Resolutions list, so I decided to do the same.
So, in no particular order, here are my 19 things to do in 2019:
- DIY a big boy bed. Nick thinks we can put together a toddler bed for Sebastian pretty easily. We’ve found some detailed plans on Pinterest so we’re going to give it a try. Wish us luck!
- Attend a wine tasting. I’ve done this before but I want to do it again! Taste all the wines!
- Complete one big house project. I swear this one was on our list before the flooding mishap, so I’m leaving it on this list and will count our new floors toward this one.
- Go camping. My family went camping a lot when I was kid and I have very fond memories of toasting marshmallows on campfires. I also love being outdoors, especially at night when you can hear the tree frogs and crickets playing their beautiful songs. I’d like to pass this love on to my own family.
- Volunteer. I’d like to do more volunteer work in my community and include Sebastian, especially as he gets older.
- Read a classic. There are a lot of classic novels out there that I’ve missed out on so I want to read at least one now that I’m an adult.
- Complete a landscaping project. Namely, our back yard. We need to clean it up and put in better drainage. The back yard is one of the features that sold us on our house but a lot has happened over the years to destroy it so we need to take care of it. This is the year we do it.
- Participate in a yoga challenge. I don’t know what kind of yoga challenge yet, but I figure this might help me get back into practicing yoga more regularly.
- Host a small, fancy dinner party. I just think dinner parties are fun. And I want to host one where we can all dress up, because I feel like I never get to dress up anymore!
- Paint/renovate the laundry room. We’ve wanted to do this since we moved in so it’s about time we do it.
- Konmari my closet. If it sparks joy, I keep it. If it doesn’t, I thank it for its service and move on.
- Bake a fancy cake. Maybe it’s all the cooking & baking shows we’ve been watching lately but I want to try my hand at baking a fancy cake with pretty icing, fondant, and decorations.
- Do at least 3 new things. It’s time to get out of my comfort zone!
- Create a new family tradition. Because we’re a family of three now and it just feels right.
- Take a photography/Photoshop class. I’ve had a nice camera for a while but I need some guidance on taking (and editing) truly awesome photos.
- Catch up on my scrapbooking. I love scrapbooking and have several of them, but after Sebastian came along, I didn’t have much time to devote to them. I have a ton of photos and things to put in my scrapbooks, so I’m going to intentionally carve out some time to spend with my glue sticks and books.
- Plan a weekend away/staycation. How fun it is to be a tourist in your own town? Or even to visit the next town over that you hear good things about but you’ve never actually been. For example, I’ve heard lovely things about Hillsborough, NC but I’ve never been there. It’s only 20 minutes away, so a weekend get-away there is a perfect way to have a vacation on the cheap.
- Send a hand-written letter/card to one person each month. There’s nothing better than receiving a hand-written letter or card in the mail, and I find writing and sending them to be just as fun.
- Write a short story. I want to be a writer. I have lots of ideas. But I have a lot of confidence issues that keep me from writing. So this year, I want to write a short story. I don’t care if it’s good or bad, I just want to write one.
I’m looking forward to doing all of these things and make this the best year ever.
For some reason, March feels like a great month for me to participate in a photo-a-day challenge. I’m sure it’s because it’s the official month of Spring, and the weather is starting to warm up and everything just feels so nice.
I participated in a challenge last year and documented it in my personal Instagram account but I’m very new to this sort of thing so I didn’t share it to my blog or my blog’s Instagram account, and I probably didn’t even do it right to begin with, but anyway.
I like having the prompts to help nudge my creativity. Sometimes, the prompt is very literal so it’s easy to snap a picture and post it, but other times the prompts are more abstract so it takes a lot of thought, cleverness, and imagination to get the right shot. You can end up with some really great photos that way! So, I’m going to participate in a photo challenge this month and post photos both here and on the blog’s Insta, and I’ll try my best to also post last year’s photos here for reference!
Here’s the challenge prompt I’ll be following this year:
Be sure to follow along here, on Instagram, and my Facebook page!
When most people think of October, they picture cool days, fall leaves, hayrides and apple cider, scarves and boots, and, of course, pumpkins! In the South, however, it stays 90 degrees and humid throughout most of the month. But that doesn’t stop us from sweating in our scarves as we roam the pumpkin patch, looking for the perfect gourd.
That’s exactly what we did this weekend! It was hot and humid, and we spent a good amount of time fighting the mosquitoes, but I was determined for Sebastian to paint a pumpkin at one of our local produce stands, Perkins Orchard. [Side note: we bought our Christmas tree here last year and it stayed green and fresh for so much longer than our friends’ trees that ended up getting dry and brittle really early] Despite the heat, we had a good time and got some cute pictures. And I purchased a bag full of produce (apples, avocados, strawberries, peppers, beets, and plums) and a small mum for $20! That’s a sweet deal.
By now I’m sure you’re all familiar with the home delivery style boxes like Stitch Fix. I’ve been doing Stitch Fix off and on for several years now, and I like it but not enough to do every month; I usually scheduled a Fix whenever I’m feeling like I’m in a rut (and have some disposable income), so maybe every 6 months-ish? I also did Le Tote for a while but their options were so limited because they had very few petite pieces so nothing ever really fit. Anyway, I feel like I haven’t had much luck with my past few Stitch Fix boxes so I decided to finally try Trunk Club. It’s the same concept: they curate some items for you, mail them to your house for you to try on, and you keep what you like and send the rest back. A few differences are that they send you 6-10 pieces (instead of 5 like Stitch Fix) and they let you view what they’re sending you ahead of time so you can swap things out if you don’t like the piece (much like Le Tote). It was like the best of both worlds so it sounded great to me!
I actually found out about Trunk Club through Nick because it started out as a men’s styling service and then added women’s when they were bought by Nordstrom. Nick had pretty good luck with them so I figured I might have some good luck, too. I really liked that I could speak directly to a stylist who asked me lots of questions about my lifestyle, how I currently dress, and what I was looking for in a box. I was really excited about the process and got my first box last night.
About Me
Hi, I’m Nikki. This is where I blog about my life and personal style. I’m a wife and mom, public health professional, sushi lover, wine enthusiast, and coffee snob. Welcome to my little corner of the world where I try to lead by example!