Five on Friday: New Year's Resolutions

Back again! Let's see if I actually stick to blogging this time around, ha!

I love the new year. I realize we are a few weeks into 2017 but I still consider it the new year. I love a clean slate, a fresh start, a blank page. 

1. Exercise. I'm putting this on my list in an effort to keep up my momentum. After my sister had this wake-up call in the fall, I headed straight to my local gym to sign-up. I wasn't taking care of myself at all and needed to rectify the situation. I've made it a point to make it to the gym 3-4 times a week since late November and I'm proud to say I've actually stuck with it. I meet with a personal trainer once a week which definitely helps with the accountability factor. My goal is to simply keep up this pattern. Getting up at 5am sucks but I remind myself that this won't be forever. Once my child is in school I can work out at a more humane hour but until then 5 am it is. 

2. Drink more water. I think this is a goal of mine every year and it's a goal everyday. 

3. Be more mindful about purchases. I recently read The Joy of Less by Francine Jay. It was eye-opening. Last year, I set a goal of not shopping for the entire year. It did not go as planned. I certainly shopped less but was unable to abstain altogether. It was also a terrible idea considering I was newly postpartum and clothes simply did not fit the way they did before. This year, I am aiming to only shop the big sales for clothes I actually wear (Lilly Pulitzer's After Party Sale and the Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale). I am also instituting the one in, one out rule from The Joy of Less. If I purchase something, something else has to leave my closet. This idea has already helped; I've looked at items of clothing and thought, "is there anything in my closet I'm willing to sacrifice to buy this piece?" and usually the answer is no. It has definitely saved me from impulse purchases in 2017. 

4. Volunteer. My grandmother passed away in October of 2015. My mom had this wonderful idea to have everyone put a goal they want to accomplish in 2017 in her Christmas stocking to be revisited at Christmas in 2017. My goal is to volunteer at a Baltimore based organization. I have a young child so I will likely need to find a virtual volunteer position but I am confident I can find something. Putting the feelers out next week. 

5. Cook more. Since the arrival of our offspring, cooking has definitely taken a backseat. G and I both agree it's something we'd like to get back into so we've started making Saturday nights a cooking "date night" of sorts. Hoping to keep this up as it will save us money and calories, which is always on the list of New Year's Resolutions for us, ha! 

6. Blog regularly. Being a SAHM means needing a hobby/outlet. Planning to make it to the blog a few times a week. Definitely need a redesign as I don't think I can claim us as newly married (coming up on 6 years this year) or new homeowners (coming up on 5 years of living in this house).  Look for that in the coming months! 

Happy Friday, friends!