I don’t do resolutions anymore. After years of failing to stick to the same ones (Exercise! Eat healthier! Save money! Travel!) I haven’t given up per se, but let’s just say I’ve moved on.

However, this post from Chris Guillebeau prompted me to start looking seriously at setting–and planning to achieve–some goals. The first step is looking back at what happened this year–2009 was weird for a lot of people. I started Style Sample magazine, my childhood pet died, I hit the dirty thirty and realized I ain’t gettin’ any younger–all of which has prompted me to get serious and focus.

Setting goals and developing detailed action plans is the fun part (well, it is for me because I’m kind of a nerd that way). The hard part is actually doing everything and sticking to the plan, which is difficult because I’m not exactly what you would call disciplined. I’m willing to work my butt off, but only if it’s something I enjoy–apparently this makes me kind of a flake. I prefer to think of myself as an ambitious slacker, if you will.

Still, I decided I have to do something. So:

Creating the plan

To start, I created a Google Docs document with three sections. One for 2009 review, one for 2010 goals, and one for infinity and beyond, which basically includes wish-list items I’d like to do someday and will be ready to do if the opportunity arises in the next year.

In the 2009 review, I listed all the major life events of the past year. Honestly, this took up less than three lines–my life is not that exciting and I prefer not to dwell on the past. From that list, I picked items I want to stick with–namely blogging, the magazine, and making a name for myself in the marketing & social media space.

Then, I created headers for each item, and started listing goals. SMART goals, with quantities and dates and such.

Under each header, I worked backwards (beginning with the end in mind) to determine the real live physical actions needed to achieve each goal.

Shoe sacrifice*

The part I was missing before was sacrifice–I wanted to do more and get more but not give anything up. You can’t get something for nothing though, so unless my sugar daddy/winning lottery ticket/miracle financial windfall comes through, it’s on me.

Sacrifice for me means working on page layouts instead of taking a nap, learning new software instead of cruising Net-a-Porter for stuff I can’t afford (though I still need to do research–you know, for the blog), substituting what I already have for things I think I “need”, and limiting myself to three cookies at a time instead of the usual eight. What? I have to start somewhere!

Do you have any goals for next year? How do you plan?

*No shoes were harmed during the writing of this post.

You'll also like:

Hope everyone had a great holiday! I had fun spending time with the fam and giving and receiving gifts, including this lovely new Nikon D3000 that I have no idea how to operate (but thanks for the surprise, Dad!), a new TV and a TV cabinet from IKEA (thanks Mom!), which FriendBoy and I put together in record time. I’m telling you, trying to make 378 pieces of compressed wood and a smattering of screws into something resembling furniture is the true test of a relationship.

Setting up the new stuff made me want to clean out the old, and in the process of clearing out (some of) the darn near ceiling-high stacks of magazines I’ve accumulated over the years, I came across my prize publication: The September 1993 issue of American Vogue. Can you believe I still have this? A testament to my pack-rat tendencies.

There are some…”interesting” early 9o’s throwbacks in the issue, including Drew Barrymore’s Guess ad, an article about the revival of punk (I guess some things never change), and page after page of “New Romantic” looks–think Linda, Kate, and Christy sporting layers of velvet and paisley and Seinfeld-esque puffy shirts! It’s just too good not to share, so once I get my scanner situation figured out, I’ll post some images.

How was your holiday? Did you do anything exciting?

You'll also like:

I hope everyone has/had a wonderful holiday (depending on which ones you celebrate)! I’m looking forward to throwing on my eatin’ dress and spending time with my crazy/hilarious/wonderful family.

Merry Christmas!

You'll also like:

Foster kitty Beau is still with me, and it’s getting serious. He’s such a fun little guy–if I lay down, he’ll curl up on my chest and fall asleep with his head on my shoulder like a baby. If I close the door to the bathroom or bedroom, a small furry paw inevitably appears under the door (this is extremely amusing for reasons I can’t explain). If anything even remotely resembling a string moves just the tiniest bit, he pounces like a miniature panther!

He put on a full pound in the first two weeks I took him in, and though he’s still a skinny boy, he’s clearly developing muscle tone. He coos like a pigeon and has the wisest, most knowing eyes for such a small kitty–not to anthropomorphize him, but sometimes he stares up at me and it feels like I’m looking at another person.

I’ve been taking him to the Complete Petmart on Paxton on the weekends so he can get used to being in the holding cage with lots of people around and he’s done very well both times. Last weekend, he even had his picture taken with Santa! There were two adorable kittens in the cage below his, so I took pictures of them as well. Shouldn’t it be illegal to be that cute? This is why we have laws, people!

All that to say: I’m in trouble. It’s obviously love. The longer he stays with me, the harder it will be when I have to let him go to his forever home. If anyone in the Cincinnati area knows someone with a warm lap and lots of love to give…

You'll also like:

I figured I’d better let everyone know what I want, just in case y’all have extra money lying around. Because, you know, so many people do these days.

1. Alexis Bittar arrow earrings I love the tough-glam vibe these give off.

2. Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk and Art Direction & Editorial Design by Abrams Studio Motivate and create, baby!

3. Subscription to Lynda.com There’s so much out there to learn, and I’ve found the video tutorials here to be really helpful for learning everything from CSS to Illustrator.

4. SK-II Facial Treatment Mask Perfect, moist, glowing skin in 20 minutes? Yes, please!

5. Moroccan Hair Oil Yes, it’s made with argan oil, which is pressed from argan nuts retrieved from the poop of Moroccan goats. Obviously I’ll do ridiculous things for nice hair. ‘Cause I’m vain.

6. Reinhard Plank Alpino hat For the days I run out of Moroccan Oil.

7. IKEA Mysa Ljung comforter I can’t pronounce it either, but it’s so soft and snuggly. I’d wrap it around me like a cape and turn down the heat in hopes of saving on my electric bill.

8. XPress Redi-Set-Go Grill I could make Fancy Gourmet Meals in just 15 minutes! It has dual heating elements to cut cooking time in half! And I saw it on TV, so you know it must be good.

9. Aphrodite Pro Font Family Might as well embrace my inner font, excuse me, typeface nerd and move from the free stuff into paid. I love all the swashes and flourishes in this family.

10. Chloe Thigh-high boots In my dreams, obviously, but the green suede version has been haunting my footwear fantasies for the better part of a year.

11. Voluspa Burmese Rosewood candle Warm and soft, but not too sweet. Perfect for cold winter nights.

12. Subscription to Russh magazine One of my favorites (though, apparently, there are no black people in Australia), but it’s a bit costly to pick up at the newsstand every month.

13. Rachel Rachel Roy draped sleeveless top The print fits in with my color scheme, and I love the tunic length and assymetrical hem.

So, that’s my wish list for Santa. What’s on yours?

You'll also like:

So, I finally caved. After months (okay, month) of missing my beloved kitty Cortez, I decided to be a foster mom to a kitty-in-need for the local Pet Alliance.

His name is Beauregard Aloysius, Beau for short (see also: Beau-bear, Beau-bunny, Baby B, Wheezy Beau, and a jillion other unnecessary cutesy-poo nicknames) and as his name suggests, he is a southern gentleman.

He was sick as a dog (ha!) due to an upper respiratory infection when I picked him up, but after a week of  cuddling, petting, syringe feeding (not fun), nose drops (even less fun), and playing catch the mouse, he’s no longer hiding under the bed and ducking for cover. He’s eating well, playing hard, and loves to curl up in a ball in my lap while purring like crazy. I think I’m in trouble.

Just FYI: I’ll be switching this blog and stylesamplemag.com over to self-hosted WordPress, which is turning out to be more trouble than I expected. I hope to have it all completed by the weekend after Thanksgiving, so if things look a bit wonky between now and then, please bear with me. And pray for my sanity.

You'll also like:

The weekend before last, I was lucky enough to celebrate my birthday two days in a row! I spent time with people I love, ate wonderful food, and dressed up for absolutely no reason. Oh, and I got to say I lived another year. I guess that’s pretty special.

Honestly, I spent most of the weekend working on the new issue of Style Sample magazine. Putting this one together was a doozy–missing photos, extra layouts, unanswered requests for information, a procastinating editor-in-chief (ahem)–but I was dedicated to meeting the deadline. Gotta git ‘r done!

The hours when I wasn’t chained to my laptop, I was treated to two lovely dinners. Saturday evening, FriendBoy took me to Honey, a well-reviewed little spot in Northside.

The food was excellent, but the ambiance could use some work. It was packed (see: excellent food), a bit noisy, and the decor was utterly nondescript. I wonder if they’d let me come in and decorate…

Sunday evening, my two favorite crazy people, also known as Mom ad Dad (hi mom!) took me to  Mt. Adams Fish House. They proceeded to act like children (I’ve always been the mature one) and showered me with gifts and love and unsolicited advice. Awww…

Perhaps due to my rapidly advancing age, I was really in chill mode for this birthday. No need for over-the-top celebrations or big parties, just…chill.

Am I the only one who’s not extra excited about this stuff any more? How did you celebrate your last birthday?

You’ll like these, too:
Chasing the Moon
OTR Gateway Celebration
Travel Equals Food

You'll also like: