Tag Archives: new year resolutions

Plans for 2020

February 3, 2020

Well, it is a new year, and I still haven’t gotten my shit together with consistently updating this blog. Things have drastically changed over the years. For starters blog just aren’t as popular as they once were. Everyone is flocking over to instagram, which is nice, but I despise the new “blog” format that is now taking place on it. Like, it was originally made for scrolling, and having several paragraphs on an image is exhausting to read, and type on a phone (I know I could type it on a computer and copy and paste but you get my point) Plus, I am sure many of the people who read my blog know, I am not aiming for only polished celeb blogs. I read all kinds. Everyone has something to bring to the table, and if I just want to read polished fluff, I think instagram does that just fine.

But the computer situation and napping situation is constantly changing, and finding time to sit on the computer and write is getting increasingly more difficult. But I would like to keep this blog going, as it does give me a creative outlet. But I do have some goals for this blog this year.

Post more

This seems obvious, but I have a bunch of ideas I want to write about. There are a million posts started waiting to be finished, so you know, I would like to finish them. I think I just need to get a little more casual about what I write and keep things to the point. I am not writing a mini novel.

Post more on Instagram

I love Instagram, and I remember when I first started blogging, instagram was kind-of just a way to plug content on the blog. I mean it still can be, but I am trying to get a little more open about just posting on a whim. It might be a little more kid/parenting centered, which may or may not be everyone’s cup of tea. And that is okay, but I do want to make more of an outlet for in the middle vegan parents. So much is super health and hippy dippy and I can’t relate to that. I know there has to be other people like this.

Update the layout

How many years do I say this? I would like to make upgrades to the layout because I will always love to make money from this blog because you know, we live in a capitalistic society. Upgrading the layout would help with search engine optimization and the like. But I won’t go totally crazy of trying to make my blog a marketable zombie though.

Visit more vegan restaurants

Part of what took so long for my “new year resolutions” post (site resolutions?) was that I was spending all my napping minutes looking up on Happy Cow at all the vegan restaurants in New Jersey. I want to try and buy less little snacks and spend my money at locally owned vegan restaurants. it seems more ethical to spend $15 buck on a meal at a small business than $15 on lots of little snacks at various major super markets.

And that is it, my major goals this year for the blog. Anyone have some fun goals for 2020? My personal goal is drink a lot during election day. God I am so stressed. I hope I don’t cry as much as election day 2016 *crosses fingers* But for now, here are some rando links that I’ve dug lately.

Gastropod: Eat the Invaders Episode – I love gastropod. They don’t release a ton of episodes but each one is well research, well structured, and well edited. This episode had me wanting to do some foraging with Wolfie in the spring.

Eat the Invaders – this is the site that is referred to in the podcast. It is worth checking out if you just want to skip to foraging, though it is just for North America.

Lott House and Old Cake Recipe – This article I found via The Full Helping and I found it really interesting. And naturally being a history nerd, I will be trying out this cake recipe (veganized naturally)

Oh No! Ross and Carrie Cafe Gratitude Episode – I love food history, especially vegan/vegetarian food history. Oh No Ross and Carrie do a double whammy episode talking about The Source Family, and their vegetarian restaurant (one of the firsts) and they talk about the shady background of the current Cafe Gratitude.

Posted by Jennifer in The Girls Tags: new year, new year resolutions, new years, new years resolution

8 comments

New Year- New Goals 2019

January 14, 2019

I am surprised that reflecting on previous and future years has been something consistent on this blog. I am not blogging as much as the past, but I want to try my best to stick with it because I know that I WILL have more time in the future. You know? If you are interested here are my old posts: 2015 | 2016 | 2018

But for now let’s reflect on my goals from last year-

Workout and Run More Often – This was a massive fail, as Wolfie hasn’t been into stroller that much anymore. I would get a few runs here and there but nothing long or consistent.

Photograph More Another massive fail.

Have a Cup of Tea Every Night I think I did pretty good with this. I didn’t have a cup of tea every night, but I think I have been drinking more tea, and I am also kind-of just admitting I just really like having only a few different types of teas. So I have been trying to get rid of the 10+ teas I do have and have it be a select few to choose from.

Get a New Job I got a new job and left it. I found that I probably won’t get one until certain things have changed in our living situation, things that are mostly out of my control for the time being.

Try and Lose Weight Another fail. I did not loose my pregnancy weight.

Read 20 Books Not bad, I was short one book (my goal was 32, 12 cookbooks, and 20 regular) but sadly most of the books were comics, sooo… not the best.

Bake at Lest ONE Successful Cake a Month Didn’t accomplish this, but I was happy with my posting from Vegan Mofo for 2018 though.

More Cookbook, Restaurant, and Recipe Reviews I did pretty well with this. I did a bunch of recipe roundups and cookbook reviews. Not so successful with restaurant reviews, it’s hard taking photos with a toddler guys.

Be More Patient with Wolfie as with anything, some days are better than others. I have been doing better with just going with his flow, letting him do his own thing and following along.

Update this layout! fail

This year most of my goals are centered around self image. I just want to feel better, eat more healthfully, and take better care of myself. It is really easy as a mother to give up certain things in your life, and as Wolfie becomes more independent I want to carve some time for myself.

Workout 3-4 Times a Week

Towards the end of 2018 I started to get the hang of working out again. I found that just doing a barre workout with Wolfie in the room way managable. Yes, sometimes he tries to stop me, or cries, but he is learning that it is a time that he has to play by himself. I want to try and get into the habit of doing it three or four times a week since it helps me feel better.

Reach 600 Read Books For Wolfie

If you have a kid and love the library you might of heard of the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten challenge. It is pretty easy, just read 1,000 books before going to school. It makes sense why it should be easy, if you read 1 book before bed each night, you should be able to hit the target no problem. We read at least 3 books each night, and some during the day, so I decided to make my life harder and read 1,000 DIFFERENT books before kindergarten. We reached 200 before 2019, so I want to reach 600 before 2020. It is a stretch, but seeing how the year has been going so far, it isn’t impossible.

Loose the Last Baby Fat

When I made my goal last year to loose weight I think I was honestly at my original weight. But a lot of my motivation is that I would like to fit in my old clothes rather than buy new ones, and I liked how I felt when I ate more healthfully and worked out. So I might WEIGH the same, but I am not the same size nor feel the same. So I am begrudgingly actually dieting in the new year. I would like to loose MORE fat, and GAIN more muscle. We will see how it goes, because truthfully, restricting my food intake can make a grouchy Mom. Putting my happiness or my families happiness on the line for a smaller waistline isn’t an option.

Eat More Meals with Wolfie

I hate when people assume that vegan kids aren’t picky eaters. I mean sure my kid will eat some thing other kids will snub their nose at, but uh, I can’t get him to eat what I serve him ALL THE TIME. So I think it will help if I just sit down and eat almost the same meal with him.

Read 20 Books

I always try and set a goal for books and in general I want to read more books. 2017 I read 4,637 pages, only one was a cookbook and three were comics. 2018 I read 6,000 pages but eight were cookbooks and twelve were comics. So sure I read more, but I didn’t read as much that was culturally enriching.

Goodreads: 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009

Update This Layout

NO EXCUSES! I gotta get this done. I really need to nag Jon to help me with this.

Dress Up More

It is so easy to put on some leggings and a junky shirt with Wolfie, but it can be a little depressing. I am sure anyone who works from home will agree, you just feel better when you look nice. Although I might not look great 24/7, I would like to put on some cute clothes when heading out for the day, even if it is just grocery shopping.

Dye My Hair a Fun Color

I recently JUST cut my hair since I don’t know when. Okay, well the last time I remember cutting my hair was before getting married, which has been many years ago. I am thinking about going to Talking Headz and bleaching my hair, then dying at home. I already have some dye picked out, but Talking Headz specializes in coloring hair and they use vegan products.

Any goals or challenges for 2019?

Posted by Jennifer in The Girls Tags: goals, new year resolutions, new years

5 comments

New Year Resolutions for 2016

January 3, 2016

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Happy New Year everyone! I love January since it gives a nice resting period after the crazy holiday season. Once all the hustle and bustle of December is done, it gives you a chance to reflect and set new goals. I know a lot of people dislike the idea of a New Year Resolution, and I usually agree with those ideas. I mean if you need a change in life, why wait until January? Some of the things I want to work on I’ve already started in December, but I now have the time to focus on them.

But I always like seeing blogger reflect over the year, and making solid lists of goals. I especially like it when they make a list and write about what they did and didn’t get done. With that in mind, I will copy and paste my goals from 2015 and write if I was successfull or not.

Drink Less Booze – Hmm… I think I failed this one. I am pretty sure I drank more booze than I did last year, BUT I did change one important thing- I am drinking less beer because I’m bored. I think the year before I was drinking it too often before dinner when my husband was working late. I didn’t like that. It felt like I was hiding beer bottles because I felt bad that I was drinking more than him. Now it doesn’t quite feel that way, but I am still drinking on a fairly daily basis. It won’t last… but I won’t go into that just yet.

Run and Workout More Often – So this was also a kind-of fail. I was doing pretty good for awhile, but then when I moved I messed up my foot, putting the whole exercise thing on the back burner for awhile. Pretty much this is a repeat goal for this year.

Kick the Coffee Habit – Yey! Something I accomplished! I still probably drink more coffee than what I pictured when I first set the goal, but I don’t feel the NEED to drink it like I did last year. I drink often, but I don’t noticed when I don’t drink it, which was what I was hoping for. I think a lot of the reason is that I stopped drinking the beans from Starbucks. I swear they add caffeine to their coffee.

Read 16 Books (with less comics) – I set a challenge on Goodreads for 28 books (16 books + 12 cookbooks) and I failed. I read a total of 17 books, 6 comic books, 3 cookbooks, 2 food-humor, 3 non-fiction, and 3 novels. You can see the summary on Goodreads.

Have a Cup of Tea Each Night – I know why I set this goal, less binge eating at night, and I think I am worse than ever. Time to reset that goal.

Pay More Attention to Vegan Clothes and Beauty Products – I have to say I am doing really well with this. I have gotten a lot of new lip balms that have beeswax from Christmas gifts, but some I gave away. I have been much better at checking companies and ingredients before heading out. I even like getting some of the beauty boxes, and will have a review for Petit Vour soon.

Start taking a photo a day – I didn’t REALLY get a photo a day, but I didn’t do too bad. I missed some days, and I fell of the wagon towards the end of December. But I will add the photos from last month soon, but you can see the other photos with the 365 2015 tag. Truthfully I was thinking about doing it again this year but my new place is very boring. Yeah I get lots of light, but I don’t walk around as much as I use to, and the area isn’t as dense with cool things. It feels a little devoid of life and the roads are packed with fast cars. Maybe next year.

Get Out of My Apartment – Accomplished! It is a little sad that we didn’t get a single family home and got a rowhouse in a development, but you gotta start somewhere right? I am a little sad but I am a little relieved to not have to worry about lawn maintenance… yet. We are working slowly to make our house look and feel like a home, and it is slowly growing on me.

Goals for 2016

Work out More Often

As mentioned before, I wasn’t doing so hot with my working out in 2014, and I was doing pretty well in 2015. I was a little stressed with trying to balance my new schedule and finding a new house. Then I kind-of started to hurt my foot, and it was all down hill for the move. I just started to get back into the swing of things in December. My general goal is to work out 4-5 days a week, two days strength training, two days running, with a floater day to pick and choose a workout.

Start Practicing Yoga and Meditating

I hear so many people saying how much meditating helps keep them grounded. I am feeling pretty overwhelmed by new home, and oddly the “calming” enviroment makes me stressed! I feel like people have new obnoxious driving methods, it takes forever to drive places, and the walk and run anymore is unpleasant. I think meditating and doing yoga will help me out. I am trying to do Yoga Camp on YouTube, and I really like the instructor. I am only on day two, and I technically started to do the challenge that was done last year, before hand. I am already starting to really enjoy it, and her methods. After yoga camp I might just do meditation, but I haven’t decided.

Stop Late Night Binge Eating

After moving I really got worse with my late night binge eating. I am not even hungry and some nights I went to bed felling like my stomach would ooze out if I felt asleep on my tummy. I don’t like feeling this way, and I am not burning calories to need all this food. I am trying hard to listen to how much I want to eat, and to not feel like I always need to snack. I am trying to drink more tea, and keep better entertained. Really focus on what we are watching, or do something else other than watch TV, play a game, color in a book, read a magazine, etc. Otherwise I am great at listening to my body during the daytime.

Read 28 Books

I set the goal last year, and I want to stick to it. I think last year was a flop in part because I tried to read a book that was almost 500 pages! Ack. I am a slow reader, so that took most of year to read. I also stopped reading and reviewing cookbooks the way I use to, so that kind-of took away from my overall numbers. So I want to get back to that.

Start trying to get pregnant

Cats out of the bag! I want to have a baby. It seems weird for me to say it since so many blogs I follow are run by people who don’t want to have kids. Sure there are some with children, and I get both ends of the spectrum. In fact I am kind-of in the middle. My husband and I decided we would start the journey of trying conceive, and I am not sure if this will be a fast or slow process, nor do I know how much I am willing to try and get pregnant. But the important thing is that we are starting the journey.

Buy a second couch

Oh such a materialistic goal. But I think it is a good one. We currently have once couch and it was donated to us from my boss, who was getting rid of some of the crap her ex-husband left. At the time our current couch had a broken foot, and I was tired of Jon trying to periodically fix it. Now that we have the space, we would like two couches because 1) we might get a third human 2) sometimes we both want to read a books in the living room 3) we both want to stretch our legs at night.

Hike More

I want to hike around more, and I don’t have any specific goals like “hike x amount of miles” or “do a trail once a month.” I know that it needs to be somewhat organic, for example I wanted to hike on New Years Day, but it has been so rainy the past few days that I thought it would be a muddy mess. We now live a little closer to Wharton State Park so we might try longer hiking trails, and maybe travel up north more often for different trails.

Visit a new vegan restaurant with Alexa once a month

Alexa doesn’t know this one yet, but I want us to hang out more. I also want to try more restaurants. I don’t eat out often, and sometimes I feel bad for not supporting local businesses. So I want to make more road trips into New Jersey, and post them in the blog. Maybe check out a few new places in Philadelphia too. Overall I am hoping to eat out with Alexa 12 times this year… so cross our fingers.

Watch a Movie Once a Week

I’ve probably mentioned a few times on the blog that I went to college for film and digital video. My husband went to school for screenwriting. You would think that would mean we watch movies all the fucking time, but we don’t. Jon really likes watching TV Shows, which is the medium for screenwriters. I miss watching movies, and I want to take the time to watch them much more. Perhaps I will post a small review each week with Sunday Reading post, to keep me on track.

Start working towards the goal of being a Dietitian or Wellness Coach

So my Mom and Aunt mentioned I should look into becoming a dietitian, and it actually has been something that I’ve been wanting to do for awhile. I’ve waffled back and forth with it just because I was a little scared of what the clientele would look like. But I am slowly finding out that I know a lot about food and nutrition to the degree that it is starting to bother me I can apply it something. I am in the early stages of trying to figure out what type of certification I want, and it might be a process that will take 2 or 3 years, but you have to start somewhere right?

Alright guys, I hope I didn’t bore you too much. What are the goals you are aiming for this year?

Posted by Jennifer in Health, The Girls Tags: 2016, new year, new year resolutions, new years, new years resolution

5 comments

Cats and Resolutions for 2015

January 1, 2015

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Sweater: Forever 21 | Skirt: Monteau via Modcloth | Tights: Unknown | Shoes: Thrifted

Who likes my new sweatshirt? It was a gift from my sister in law, which was a pleasant surprise since it is one of those things I like but wouldn’t of bought on my own. I had my husband take a photo to wish everyone a happy New Years! I am sure everyone has their own New Year’s Resolution, including me. My resolutions tend to be similar every year, but always slightly different.

Drink Less Booze

I’ve been drinking a lot lately, and honestly I am not really happy about the results. I’ve gain some weight, which isn’t the end of the world. But I know it has a lot to do with drinking often, which are empty calories. I know there are actual health benefits to certain drinks, but let’s face it, they are usually just excuses. My goal is to drink no more than two alcohol based drinks each week, excluding celebrations.

Run and Workout More Often

I got out of the habit of consistent exercise. I have lots of excuses, and I want to try and ignore them to do more. Maybe I will try and train for a race to give me the motivation.

Kick the Coffee Habit

Here’s my problem with coffee, I don’t drink it to wake up in the morning. I purely drink it for pleasure, which has slowly have grown from a weekly treat, to a daily drink. Some days I feel exhausted and I can’t help but wonder if it is the coffee. To make things worse, I don’t even drink good coffee anymore. I am not going to make coffee forbidden from my diet, but put it on the same level of a cupcake- very infrequent.

Read 16 Books (with less comics)

Anyone make a reading challenge on Goodreads? Last year I made the challenge for 15 books, and I finished it. BUT three of the books were cookbooks (which I REALLY did read) and six were graphic novels. Not saying there is anything wrong with graphic novels, but I would like to make the ratio a little less drastic next year.

Have a Cup of Tea Each Night

I use to have tea as a dessert every night. I miss this practice, and I have a large collection of tea sitting in my cabinet. This will hopefully also decrease the amount of “snack” foods I eat when I am not actually hungry. Not the worse thing I can do, but I always wake up not hungry which in turn postpones my workout.

Pay More Attention to Vegan Clothes and Beauty Products

I’ve been heading more and more down a consistent path to veganism as a lifestyle. But I am pretty sloppy when it comes to checking beauty products and clothing. I also want to get a handle on honey, as I tend to skim over that ingredient with foods.

Start taking a photo a day

One of my favorite blog features is The Dainty Squid’s Project 365. She recently posted Project 365 + why you should do it too! I just recently got a very expensive camera. Although I’ve see a major difference between the photos from my old camera and my new one, I sometimes wonder if I will ever get total “use” of it. This project will force me to get out of the apartment and take some pictures!

Get Out of My Apartment

Part of the reasons why I made resolutions for drinking less booze, drinking more tea, and exercising more is that I feel awful. Almost everyday. My husband does too. We are pretty sure it is our apartment. It is really old, dusty, cramped, and we now have a neighbor who smokes right by our window. I don’t want to write “buy a house” but that is our ultimate goal. Hell, I’ll take moving in with parents than renewing the lease.

Posted by Jennifer in Clothing, Health, The Girls Tags: cats, fashion, new year resolutions, new years, ootd

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