Photo credit: Sebastian Bergmann
So my last resolution. Not necessarily #1 as in most important or anything, just last to take a ride on my train of thought. It came to me yesterday while I was reading a pamphlet on things to do in the San Diego area. We live in one of the coolest cities in the world, and although we have done some exploring, in the past 2 years of living here we have often spent our free time “adjusting” or getting comfortable where we’re at. There’s definitely nothing wrong with that, especially because I work in a completely different area, and on weekends I’m often excited just to be in our little town, but I think I’m finally ready to do some serious exploring. I’m ready to take on the whole enchilada.
We need to ride the train more often, which goes along the entire coast, including straight downtown. We need to go to the SD art museum, to the theatre to see some amazing performances, and I’d love to see a comedy show sometime, or even just spend a day in Old Town San Diego (haven’t been since I was probably 10). Another thing we haven’t done since living here is go to a game. I think we’d prefer baseball, so we’ll have to wait till the season starts and go see The Padres. I even have a shirt for it. The list goes on and on, and I am excited about it.
I’m also excited about exploring the entire state. My husband and I have always shared the dream of living in California. I grew up here, and he was born here, but we both had ventured away with our families and always wanted to get back. Now that we are here there are so many trips just up the coast that we want to make. I hope that this year we can drive all the way up, and even keep going through Oregon (always thought I would love Portland), and through Seattle and maybe even up into Canada. Not only is California the best place to be, but we’re also closest to all those other great states.
I’m ready to take on the new year full of new adventures, and explore this amazing city and state in which we live in. This is the year.
Photo credit: Partie Traumatic
Do you ever watch those talent shows like American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance, and just stare in amazement and wonder how good it must feel to sing and/or dance like that? I’m usually not huge into the whole cheesy contest show thing, but when I see true talent, it makes me shiver with jealousy at how amazing it must feel to just let it all out.
I need one of those. An outlet. I need to come home from work and instead of putting on my sweat pants and sitting on the couch, I first need to release my day. I need to have a way of releasing my emotions (since I spend most of my time perfectly balanced and in control). Physically, mentally, whatever. I keep hearing everyone talking about Zumba and how much fun it is, so maybe I should try that. Or perhaps I’ll take a dance class. I always wanted to be a ballerina. Even if it’s making a purchase like the Wii, and doing a dancing/workout game on it. I understand the benefits from yoga but I can usually only do it in the morning (otherwise you’ll find me face down, asleep on my mat).
Resolution #4- I want to sweat and have fun and move like no one’s watching. I want to let it. All. Out.
Okay, so I failed (a little bit). I was supposed to write my third resolution last night and I’m just now getting to it. We ended up having one of those nights where you feel like you have to go out to eat and drive around because you have so much to talk about. New year, new opportunities, lots to discuss. All positive of course, it just means that by the time we got home my head was on the pillow and I pushed off my resolution.
So here we go. Two posts in one day…I can do this. My third resolution is all business. In the coming year, I want my etsy shop, outodry, to be successful. Not just a few more sales, I want to be out there. Eventually I want to be on the Edor and Polestar level (two shops that I adore and respect greatly, to name a couple). The tough thing with etsy is that there are probably a million shops out there (ex: when you search jewelry on etsy you get 1,874,819 results. And this changes every second.)
So perhaps this means that I need to get my jewelry into some local shops. This is something I have known for a while now, it’s just that one little minor detail that it all comes down to…time. I need more time to address these things. So my goal in the upcoming year is to get my work week down to maybe 3 or 4 days a week, or maybe less hours in a day. Whatever it is, there’s no way I can work a full time job and have a successful shop. Maybe some people out there can do it, but not me. When I get home I am tired, missed the sunlight opportunity for photos, and on Saturday and Sunday there are already a million other things to do. Know what I mean?
“Anything worth doing is worth doing well,” is something that has been on my mind. I believe in my jewelry and have heard people tell me to my face that they love what I create, so now I just have to find the time. My to-do list is exponential, including re-doing my photos (which starts with learning how to take better ones), getting a new banner up, and changing the whole look of things. Next, I’ve heard from so many successful shop owners that you need to be renewing and listing items daily in order for it to be seen. I could go on about this forever so I won’t bore you. But I have read the Seller Handbook, and I have all the tools to create and obtain a community on Facebook and Twitter, thanks to my husband and his genius blog, and I can do this. I just need a little time. Heard that one before, haven’t ya?
Photo credit: evey in orbit
I am a bit of a perfectionist. I will admit it. There are days that I will come home from a long day at work and not be able to relax until I Windex the coffee table, put the dishes away, and tidy up everything that is not in it’s “perfect place”. Okay, so I am a perfectionist.
I am realizing, after countless times of hearing my husband tell me things like, “A clean house is a wasted life,” to actually hurting his feelings when I unknowingly clean after he already has, that I need to chill out a little bit. No, I have never been completely OCD, and no, I didn’t ever really believe that things had to be “perfect”, but this is one area of my life that could definitely use some improvement.
These thoughts are an accumulation of things that entered my mind last week while on vacation. My mom’s house is full of eclectic things, and piles of magazines here and there, and she is not herself without her “things” left all over the place (in a good way). On the last night of our trip we stayed the night at a friend’s house, which has to be the most interesting house I’ve ever found myself in. It is filled with trinkets (literally buckets of vintage toys and buttons etc.) and giant paintings and sculptures fill in the empty spaces. The one thing these homes have in common is that the people in them are full of life. They are homes filled with love and laughter, and the people in them inspire me. They help me realize that cleaning and keeping tidy does not have to come in the way of life. I do not in any way plan on becoming a messy person, but I can certainly appreciate living and moving on without everything being spotless.
So this leaves me with the plain fact that my second resolution is to be less of a perfectionist. This holds true in a few areas of my life, but mainly, the home. Yes, my style will still very much remain modern and verging on minimalist, but I will fight the urge to not grab the paper towels and Windex the second I walk in the door. And I will know that every night I go to bed with dishes in the sink, I will still wake in the morning.
Miss resolution #1? Read it here
Not pictured, me…not present, my brother Dillon and family
I have decided to write a post each day this week explaining my top 5 New Year’s Resolutions, before the infamous day comes. Before I jump right into it, you should know that I am still slightly on the way down from the bustling high of last week, and adjusting to being one of two (+ cat) in our very little apartment in a very big state (aka, emotional).
On the way to the airport, I turned to my mom and asked her how our little family of four ended up all over the country. My parents currently reside in Colorado (soon to be Arizona) and my brother and his family live in Oklahoma. We of course chose California as our “home base”, and don’t think that will ever change.
I wondered if other countries look at us silly Americans, and wonder why we all take the chance of getting stuck in snowed-in airports, flying and driving across the country at this one time (and often only time) of the year to be together. Yes, the holidays are a wonderful thing, and spending them with family is a blessing, but why just during this time of year? Is there no other time of the year that holds this much importance? The holidays are celebrated amongst my husband and I mostly out of tradition and for the joy of giving and appreciating our loved ones anyways. That being said, there is no excuse for it being one of the only times we get together throughout the year. I want to be able to have dinner at my parent’s house more often, and go see my brother’s new house sooner than later.
“Life” always seems to get in the way, we say. Life? What is your life then? Work? Responsibilities, obligations? If I were to define my life, I would hope that friends and family would come before responsibility.
So there it is. #1- Make more of an effort to be around the ones I love. To stop making excuses when the plane ride is only 2.5 hours long, and to get up and go more often. In a way, to be more spontaneous. Not everything has to be planned out (surprising, I know). And after spending a week with most of them, I can say that I am happy to be home. It’s an adjustment, but we are all in agreance that we don’t want to live where anyone else does. I’m over Colorado, Arizona is too damn hot, and sorry Dillon, but I would get bored in Oklahoma. But I love you all just the same and I am vowing to make more of an effort to be in your company this coming year.
