Happy New Year!

I’m ready to make some changes. And not just “I’m going to go to the gym three times a week” changes — although that is something I need to do and will be considering for the sake of my heart health — but real, lasting changes that will help me live the life I truly want. So this year, I’m going beyond the new year by establishing some “new life” resolutions!

I was given a new lease on life when I survived a spontaneous coronary artery dissection – a type of heart attack that comes out of nowhere for some healthy women and men – last year, which really etched into my being the fact that this is the only life we get. We should take advantage of all the good things and make this life one that is truly worth living, defined by how we choose to define it. For me that means being healthy to honor my body not giving out on me, doing more for the environment, creating a living space/environment that always makes me feel comfortable, and doing what I have to do to be the best Nikki that I can be so that I can truly lead by example.

A few things I want to do:

Now that I have my general life resolutions all set for 2016, it’s time to think about my style & blog resolutions. I recently read an interesting article by Kristy Ellington for ModCloth, featured on PopSugar Fashion titled I Let a Fashion Editor Dress Me For a Week, and Here’s What Happened. I figured it would be the typical I-was-pushed-outside-of-my-comfort-zone story, and it was, but what really struck me was the author’s realization that her fear of stepping outside of her fashion comfort zone was creeping into how she viewed her everyday life. The entire article is worth reading, but here’s where it really gets good:

“And it was there, in this unlikely outfit on a random Thursday, I realized something very important: “I could never pull that off” was creeping into how I thought about other things in my life and totally holding me back. […] Not being able to “pull that off” was becoming my excuse, my crutch, my limitation to avoid failure. But it was also keeping me from growing and learning new things. So I made a promise to myself to stop trying not to “pull things off” and just do it.”

Whoa, you guys, that’s deep. Especially when I’ve heard tale of so many ladies feeling like fashion is frivolous and unimportant and that they can’t “pull it off.” But I can definitely relate because not only have I said I can’t pull off some cool fashion trend, but I’ve also said I can’t pull off some aspect of my life. Like, I could never pull off that job because so I won’t even apply or I don’t know how to network so I could never pull off that event. Taking a cue from this astute view of “just do it,” I’ve decided to make some style resolutions for 2016. As for the blog, I resolve to post 3-4 times per week. I’d like to incorporate more life and writing posts along with my outfits, and I’m going to work on my photography skills.

Style Resolutions

1. Determine my style. I’ve tried a few trends over the last few years and some of them worked and some didn’t, and that’s okay. But somewhere along the way I lost track of what makes me feel like me, so I’m going to figure it out this year. I think this will require a full closet clean-out but I’m up for the challenge.

Getting my jewelry organized has already been a huge help in achieving my style goals for this year!

2. Invest in pieces I love. Once I’ve determined my style, I’m going to only purchase pieces I really love and can see myself wearing over and over. I’m ashamed to admit that on more than one occasion I’ve bought pieces simply because I didn’t have anything in that color or because I thought I needed it but it didn’t fit quite right or something else was off about it so I only wore it once and left it sitting in the back of my closet. Well, I will do that no more!

Now it’s time to organize my closet, starting with these sweaters.

3. Only wear high-quality shoes. Look, we all know that shoes are awesome and it’s exciting when they’re super cheap because you can buy so many pairs. But then they fall apart or cause your knees to ache because they don’t offer enough joint support (that’s a thing, right? or did I make it up?). So, to determine my style and invest in pieces I love will include buying high quality shoes with lots of support.

It’s not that my current shoes are bad, but they could be better. I’m not going to complain about a closet full of shoes 😉

4. Get better at dressing for my age. I stopped shopping in the Junior’s department years ago but I want to get better at dressing for my age. I’m 31 years old with an awesome career at a sweet nonprofit. I’ve resolved to start acting like it, and now my wardrobe needs to reflect it, as well. The good news is we don’t have a dress code, but keeping my age and lifestyle in mind will ultimately help me really determine my style.

5. Wear more lipstick. If I see a lipstick I like, I’m going for it. Until recently, I rarely ever wore lipstick because, you guessed it, I didn’t think I could pull it off. I always notice how polished it looks on other women and wished I could wear it, too. This year, I’m just going to do it.

Stick with me and find out how I do. Happy New Year!

Welcome 2016!

photo source

I have a good feeling about this year. The last few have been somewhat of a transition, as I was in graduate school and everything was basically suspended until I finished school and found a real career. Nick and I both started new jobs recently and we’re settling in quite nicely so I think now is a good time to focus on really making a life we want to live. I’m notorious for making New Year’s Resolutions that only last for a few months tops but this year I’ve had a serious talk with myself and determined that I need to get it together and really be an adult. So, Nick and I are setting four big goals for ourselves to reach in 2016 that are both realistic and much-needed.

1. Get it together. This one simply means it’s time for me to be a real adult: get out of bed in the morning with enough time to work out, shower, put on makeup, AND make a healthy lunch; actually fold the laundry instead of telling myself they need another round in the dryer (this will also solve the issue of shrunken clothes!); tidy up clutter before it has a chance to take over the dining room table…. you know, adult things like that.
2. Follow through. How many times have you ran into a friend at the grocery store and, after a lovely chat, made plans to get together for dinner, meet for coffee, etc. and then weeks later you forgot you even saw them that one time at Target? This year, we’re going to start following through with those plans. Whether it’s pulling out my phone and scheduling dinner right then and there, or sending them a reminder email to look at their schedules when they get home, or whatever we have to do, we’re going to make sure we get that dinner/coffee/whatever on the calendar. Think of how much our friendships will strengthen from being placed at the top of the list!
3. Say yes to new things. I’m taking a cue from Amy Poehler and Shonda Rhimes this year by saying yes to all of the new opportunities that get presented to me. I’ve caught myself on several occasions missing out on great things in life because I’ve been too afraid to say yes for whatever reason. So this will be my year of yes, and I look forward to making it my best year yet.
4. Finances. For the past few years we’ve tracked our expenses pretty well, but haven’t been able to stick to a budget that will help us hit our goals of knocking out debt while saving up for fun things.  We’re not getting any younger and we’d like to travel more and really build our savings for whatever lies ahead.  We have the means to do so and now’s the time to be responsible and get it done.  

There you have it, the lifestyle changes we’re going to make to live our best lives. I also think I’ll include some blog-specific goals later. I read a really great article recently that highlights how feeling like you’re unable to “pull something off” in style & fashion might actually have a larger impact on the way you view your actual talents and abilities, so I’m going to give it some thought and set some style goals for myself. So I look forward to all that 2016 has to offer!

What are your New Year’s Resolutions?

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