Earlier this year, I created a list of 19 things I wanted to do in 2019. As of mid-June, I’ve scrapped one and completed about three of them, so I guess I should probably get on that. Here’s a recap of what I’ve done so far.

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:

1. 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!
2. Attend a wine tasting. I’ve done this before but I want to do it again! Taste all the wines!
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Volunteer. I’d like to do more volunteer work in my community and include Sebastian, especially as he gets older.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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!
10. Paint/renovate the laundry room. We’ve wanted to do this since we moved in so it’s about time we do it.
11. Konmari my closet. If it sparks joy, I keep it. If it doesn’t, I thank it for its service and move on.
12. 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.
13. Do at least 3 new things. It’s time to get out of my comfort zone!
14. Create a new family tradition. Because we’re a family of three now and it just feels right.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.

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:

Happy February, everyone! I can’t believe we’re already in the second month of 2017. At the beginning of the year, I set some pretty good goals both for my life and for the blog that I’m really excited about achieving. In order to hold myself accountable, I’m going to check in each month with how/what I did to accomplish them, as well as a plan of smaller goals for the following month to continue using/accomplishing them.

Life Goals

1. Focus more on experiences and less on material things. For this goal, I simply want to get out and do more things so as to make this a habit for the little one on the way. I want him to experience the city in ways that will instill in him a love of community and adventure. He won’t be here until March/April but I figure if we start focusing on experiences now, it will come naturally when he gets here.

January Progress:
–Unfortunately, we didn’t do much in January that focused on experiences. We attended several baby showers (two of which were our own and one was for our dear friends who are due around the same time as me), and I had some job interviews so we’ve been pretty busy.

February Goals:
–I’ve signed up to recieve emails about events happening in and around my town from Get Offline, a company that curates experiences in your city for you to “keep your free time exciting.” I’m hoping that constantly seeing all of the fun things going on around me will remind and motivate me to get out and do more fun things!
–Visit the farmers’ market at least twice during the month, but ideally more if possible
–Have a fun Galentine’s and/or Valentine’s outing
–Try our hand at a DIY maternity photo shoot (I’m really excited about this one!)

2. Focus on my health and learning as much as I can about the rest of my pregnancy, labor & deliver, and being a good mother. Being and staying healthy, as well as being prepared for what is coming in the next few months and beyond, is really important to me.

January Progress:
–We attended a childbirth class and took a tour of the labor & delivery unit of our hospital. I made sure to ask as many questions as I could to understand the processes.
–To focus on my health, I’ve started taking Mia on longer walks.  Normally, she gets two to three 15-minute walks per day to do her business but since walking is good for both of us, I’ve tried to incorporate longer walks any time the weather is nice (e.g. sunny, not too cold, not raining, etc.)

February Goals:
–Prenatal yoga at least 3 times a week, with a focus on meditation and relaxation (to help me prepare for labor & delivery)
–Practice some breathing and relaxation techniques at least 3 times a week (also to help me prepare for L&D)
–More long walks with Mia as the weather permits

3. Read more books. For now, I’m sticking to my initial goal of one book per month, at least until the baby gets here when I might lower the number to 6 new books within the year.

January Progress:
–I finished Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick. It’s been one of the best celebrity autobiographies I’ve read so far. I was interested in it because I always thought she seems really cool and fun in real life and from what I’ve read, it does sound like she’s really cool and fun in real life, but she’s not without her hangups, which makes her feel all the more real to me. I would definitely recommend it.
Note: I’m continuing to choose and read books related to pregnancy, childbirth, parenting, etc. but I’m not including them in this goal.

February Goals:
–The next book on the list is Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. I only intermittently read her blog but I did read her first book and I loved it. I can’t wait to read this one.

4. Write more letters/send more cards to my friends and family. 

January Progress:
–Not so good with the progress on this one. With all that’s been going on, I haven’t had much time to think about letters and cards. I didn’t even send a birthday card this month because the one family birthday we had, we were able to have lunch with them so I gave them their card in person. I supposed that still counts, right?
–I did write and mail out some thank you cards from my first baby shower at the end of the month, so that counts, too!

February Goals:
–Continue to consult my calendar to send birthday cards
–Thank you notes for my second baby shower by the end of the month
–Choose at least two people to write a handwritten letter to by the end of the month

Blog Goals

5. Write more content. I used to write a lot. Somewhere along the line I stopped writing for fun and I want to get that back. So, along with journaling more and writing more stories for myself, I will focus on creating some original and fun content for the blog.

January Progress:
–I’ve included a few new features that aren’t just outfit related (e.g., NCsquared Conversations, my mini house tour post) so I think I’ve gotten a good start. I would still like to incorporate some of my personal views on things, but I have to figure out how to do that in a peaceful and non-divisive way.

February Goals:
–At least 3 Fashion Flashback posts where I compare my style over the past few years. It’s style related but at least I can incorporate some thoughts.
–Writing more stories about my childhood and incorporating more humor into the blog

6. Post more often. Writing more content should lead to posting more often. I’m still aiming for 3-4 posts per week.

January Progress:
–I’ve gotten off to a good start with posting at least three time a week

February Goals:
–Post at least three time per week
–Spend more time on the weekends planning and writing,
–Maybe even try to take photos in the morning when I first get dressed instead of waiting until the evening (when it’s much less likely to happen) or the weekend

7. Take better pictures. This year, I resolve to comprehend more about lighting, ISO, aperture, exposure, focus, how to take advantage of the features on my camera, as well as better editing so that my photos look better are more appealing.

January Progress:
–I read a few tutorials on how to improve my Instagram photos. That’s a start.

February Goals:
–Read as much as I can about lighting and aperture speed to figure out the f stop feature so I can take my camera off of its automatic mode!

8. Grow my readership.  I would like to create content that is fun and engaging for a lot of people and, therefore, gain more readers.

January Progress:
–I’ll admit I haven’t done much this month to grow my readership. I did start a Facebook Page for the blog and have done a decent job of keeping it updated.

February Goals:
–Read at least 2-3 blog posts from other bloggers that give advice on growing your readership and brainstorming how I can incorporate their advice into my blog
–Make a plan to incorporate at least 3 new ideas from these advice posts by the end of the month
–Participate in more link ups

The year is off to a great start. Here’s to hoping I can keep up the momentum, especially after the baby gets here in March!

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!