NYE Style + 2018 Goals

Happy New Year!

We’re ringing in the New Year here in a snow covered New Hampshire,  a couple hours before midnight, while wearing sweatpants and fleeces with a fire blazing and soft music playing.

If it were something less low key I’d be excited about slipping on these metallic heels again and tucking in this flutter sleeve blouse (on sale), but as fun as glamorous New Years Eve party sounds, these family affairs we have around the fire together are more my jam.

Late in the evening we gather in the great room and hand out slips of paper to list a bad habit. We then each take turns tossing our slip into the fire, burning the habit and committing to living without it in the New Year.

I haven’t quite decided on my 2018 Goals and what I’ll be giving up this year. “Getting frustrated with my children” is high on my list but relatively unrealistic. “Complaining” is a close contender and another one I’ve considered is “getting hangry” (which mostly means making sure I eat often enough that I’m never super hungry – because being hangry when hungry is inevitable).

Whatever 2018 goals I choose, I am looking forward to the clean start of the new year. I know you don’t need the first day of the year or a brand new month to make a change, but there is something so motivating and promising about a fresh year, with no mistakes in it yet.

MY 2018 GOALS

In 2018 I want to be more patient – this those around me and myself.

I want to be more kind. I’d love to be witty and smart and fun…. but this next year I’ll focus on being kinder than I feel in hopes that it becomes more natural.

I want to be more disciplined. I want my behavior to more frequently align with what I want most, not what I want now. It would look like being better at waking up before my kids in the morning, being more productive during nap time, and cleaning the kitchen when I’d rather scroll through instagram on the couch.

I want to be more energized. How often this year have I thought about doing something out and about in New England and been tired at just the thought of it. In 2018 I want to do it anyway. I want to be excited about things even if they sound exhausting. It doesn’t mean we won’t be okay with a slow Saturday in our pajamas in our apartment, but it might look like more weekend adventures with the kids, making memories and sleeping a little bit less.

And speaking of sleep, I want to do a lot more of it. Productivity has been on my mind a lot the last few months and how I can get more done in the hours of I have. So while the year might mean sleeping less on the weekend getaway with the kids, it also means cutting myself off from tech sometime around 9pm so my night winds down slowly and ends with a good night sleep.

That sounds great, doesn’t it? And none of these 2018 goals will go perfectly right away, but hopefully when I sit down to reflect and set goals at the end of December, I’ll be further along than I am now. It’s about progress, not perfection.

Happy New Year, friend! Thank you so much for being here, for reading and showing up and liking and sharing. Your support supports our family right now, and it also makes what I do so much more fun. I started this blog as a little way to document our married life in college 7 years ago, and because you made this such a fun place to be, it’s turned into so much more than I ever expected. Here’s to a wonderful 2018!

flutter sleeve blouse: I discovered this brand a few months ago and have loved the few tops and two dresses I have from them

earrings: such a cute budget brand for jewelry

my very favorite pair of jeans, ever (with free two day shipping –lots more great everyday denim options here )

metallic pumps (lower heel version here): I’ve had these same pumps in three or four different colors over the last five years and they’re my favorite wearable heels to date (more metallic pump options here)

black bag: perfect for when I don’t need a diaper bag but I still want to carry my DSLR  (more Rebecca Minkoff bags here)