BEDKNOBS & BAUBLES

2018 New Year’s Goals

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New Year's Goals 2018

FEWER, BETTER THINGS

I know this is the Cuyana tagline, but it makes so much sense for where we are in our lives. We have a lot of possessions — which became evident when we moved — and the last thing we really need is more stuff. I’m trying to get out of the habit of impulse purchasing or feeling like I need something new to scratch an itch, or in terms of our home, feeling like we need a transitional piece that acts like a placeholder while we hunt for “the one.” I have a few lofty items that I’d love to own this year, namely the Gucci bag I’ve been saving for, wallpaper for our stairway, light fixtures for the entire house, and a dining room table and chairs. Having clearly defined purchases makes it easier to pass up the impulse items. I’ve also thought about limiting myself to just one or two sartorial pieces each month. It’d be an interesting challenge to whittle down a wish list to just a couple of purchases, but I could see it sucking a lot of joy out of fashion. Maybe worth trying for a few months, though!

TRAVEL SOMEPLACE NEW

This perennial resolution is my favorite. I think it’s important to expand my horizons and see a different part of the country or world. Plus, it’s so much fun to experience a new location! Last year we only took one vacation, and fortunately it was to a new-to-us location: New Orleans. It was difficult to justify additional travel when we just purchased a house and were feeling financially stressed as we adjusted to a new budget. Hopefully we’ll have more travel flexibility this year. We already have London on the books for April (with the flight and hotel already paid for, so that’s taken care of!), and have toyed the idea of going to Iceland for a week in the summer. I’m not sure if Iceland is realistic, so we have a couple of domestic ideas in mind. (After last night’s subzero temperatures, I wouldn’t mind ringing in 2019 somewhere with a beach!) And, while this is more than a year away, I promised Dave that we could go to Japan in 2019 or 2020. (Maybe if I write it down here, I’ll feel accountable for making it happen?)

MOVE MORE

Challenging myself to lose a certain amount of weight or commit to an ambitious workout schedule isn’t going to happen. However, I am looking to make healthier changes to my lifestyle in 2018. (Gone are the days that I could reliably lose weight just by reducing my calorie intake!) I’m starting an exercise regime that I can accomplish at home (twice a week sounds realistic to start) and once the weather gets nicer, I’m committing to at least one bike ride a weekend to get out an enjoy our neighborhood, Madison’s parks, and the surrounding lakes.

AROUND THE HOUSE

When we purchased this house, we knew there’d be a lot of work to do to make it our own. It was largely abandoned and hadn’t been taken care of or updated over the years. We’ve made impressive strides in the first six months of ownership, but there’s still a long list of things to do! We keep a shared list on the “Notes” app that allows us to jot down every project that comes to mind so that we can prioritize them. I won’t get into all of the projects, but some that I’d like to do tackle this year include:

  • Finish painting the trim and doors.
  • Finish painting the hallway and ceiling. (We’ll need a professional painter for part of the wall and ceiling that we can’t reach over the stairs.)
  • Repaint the guest room since we hate the grey we originally picked.
  • Replace the storm door at the front of the house. It’s in such poor shape and incredibly ugly.
  • Replace the remaining light fixtures … for seven rooms.
  • Buy a dining room table and chairs.
  • Purchase a living room rug, preferably vintage.
  • Add a screen door to our back deck.
  • Have a contractor come in to give us quotes on renovating the bathroom, closing off the opening between the master bedroom and guest room, and renovating our front porch/sun room. (It was originally a porch, but had been closed in at some point. We’d like to add more windows and give it an interior face lift so it’s a space that we’ll use.)
  • Get quotes on wallpaper installation for the stairway. (I’d love to make wallpapering a priority for 2018, but it all comes down to money.)
  • Get quotes on skim coating the kitchen to get rid of the awful textured walls.
  • Have an electrician install exterior outlets.
  • Resurface the driveway and add a parking pad to the side of the one-car garage.
  • Add exterior lights to our side entrance and the garage.
  • Paint or stain our deck and front porch.
  • Figure out window coverings. We’re likely going with roller shades because they fit the period of the house and they’re affordable.

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2017 New Year’s Goals

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lace front wigs

Happy 2017! A new year brings with it a renewed sense of optimism and excitement for the months ahead. Sure, we have a certain president to contend with later this month, but let’s move beyond that for now and focus our attention on happier pursuits: the things we’d love to accomplish in the new year. Setting out with a list of resolutions for the year sounds daunting (and oftentimes unrealistic), so instead I’m framing them as goals. These are the items I’d like to work toward in the coming months and, honestly, I might not accomplish any of them. That’s okay. Setting goals rather than resolutions means that even the small steps forward are successes worth celebrating.

MORE OUTFIT POSTS

I’m sure Dave is super excited about helping me accomplish this 2017 goal, but they’re the most popular posts and, honestly, my favorite ones to do. Plus, photographing my sartorial hits (and misses) helps me hone in my style and encourages me to be more creative, which leads me to my next goal:

STOP OVERTHINKING CLOTHES

Fashion should be fun and personal style should be a creative journey unmarred by overthinking things like cost per wear and “Can I wear this with three items I already own?” Year after year, my favorite purchases typically fall into one of three categories: impulse purchases that struck an I-have-to-own-this-now chord, uniquely designed items that I love to wear simply because they’re fun, or expensive items I actually had to save up for. (The latter is certainly the anomaly, but it applies to designer duds my bank account can’t handle on a whim like my Hermès bracelet.) Of course, I don’t want to just throw money at anything that catches my eye. I’m working on finding the balance between identifying the items I’ll wear a lot and making sure they’re not just boring basics. And, really, if an item is just that good, I’ll figure out ways to wear it. I also want to get out of the habit of only purchasing individual items because they’re versatile. Why not buy an entire outfit because it looks great together?

TRAVEL TO NEW DESTINATIONS

I can’t let a New Year’s post go by without my perennial goal to travel to new destinations. Last year, we ticked Copenhagen off of our travel list and also visited Nashville. We’re planning to visit Arizona this spring. (I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon and I hear it’s kind of a big deal.) We’d also love to head back to Europe this summer. London is high on our travel wish list as is Iceland, but we’re open to any destination with a deal on airfare. I also really want to spend a long weekend beached at, well, the beach.

BUY A HOUSE

Last year was an emotional roller coaster with our house hunt. (I never expected to feel so devastated after losing out on the only house we liked enough to put an offer on.) The real estate market in Madison is tough with low inventory, but things are starting to come on the market again and I’m optimistic that this is the year we’ll finally become homeowners. This also means we’ll finally get rid of some of our ugly hand-me-down transitional furniture. It just doesn’t make sense to buy things like new couches until we know what kind of space we have to work with.

EAT OUT LESS OFTEN

With the aforementioned plans, we’ll have to find ways to cut expenses throughout the year. Dining (and drinking) out is a huge line item that can be trimmed. Not only is dining out multiple times a week expensive, it’s also doing a number on our waistlines with the calorie-laden meals. Besides, I enjoy cooking. It’s a fun, creative way to unwind after a busy day at the office. So, here’s to getting mileage out of my Bon Appetit subscription with more meals at home in 2017!

Happy New Year!