Twenty Thirteen

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is having a fabulous start to 2013. This festive season was a little underwhelming for us ~ I think we put so much time, effort and money into making our wedding and honeymoon perfect, that we sort of forgot that life went on beyond 1st December, so we were not prepared for Christmas in the slightest! We weren't able to do our annual rituals, such as spending every weekend watching a Christmas movie, or decorating our Christmas tree to the sound of Mariah Carey and Slade. In fact, we didn't have a 'proper' Christmas tree! Christmas Day was lovely and peaceful though, and we wore our Christmas sweaters... {although you can't see mine properly, it had a big Rudolph on it}.

We rang in the New Year in the same way as we always do ~ with a cosy night in! We ate pizza {him}, Chinese nibbles {me}, Ben & Jerry's 'Vermonster' ice cream {also me...} whilst watching Zoolander, before retiring to bed at 11:30. At the stroke of midnight I was just in that lovely dozy stage of falling asleep ~ that is, until some fireworks on the beach disturbed my slumber. Sigh... Rock 'n' Roll!

I'm usually one to relish the opportunity to start afresh on New Year's Day, but this year I'm a little bit sad to wave goodbye to 2012 ~ it was the most amazing year for me from start to finish!

We started the year with £25,000 in the bank {!}, spent a romantic few days in a remote and serene log cabin with a private hot tub in Devon for my birthday, spent my actual birthday evening watching myself on television {weird!}, took a day trip to my beloved London to buy my Jimmy Choo wedding shoes, felt inspired by the Olympics and the breathtaking achievements of the British athletes, flew for the first time ever {which was petrifying and exciting at the same time}, spent an AMAZING week in New York City, a city that stole my heart... and became a wife with the most wonderfully perfect wedding day. Yes, 2012 was a dream year for us. Did it really happen?!

{Wedding photographs © O&C Photography}

After that epic year, I'm really excited for what 2013 holds and I'm facing it with optimism and drive, which is quite rare for me and my glass~half~empty attitude.

Almost everyone makes a resolution or two on January 1st, and I'm guessing that almost everyone has broken them by January 15th. Well, I do at least, so this year I'm trying something different, and making some main goals to achieve by the end of the year, and also some smaller goals to work through each month.

 

Goals for 2013

Spend wisely ~ My wardrobe is bare. Every girl I know says she's got nothing to wear, with the reality of a bulging wardrobe. I have a very sparse clothing collection, because I am too frivolous with my purchases. There's a reason that top was £5... Instead, this year, I'll be focusing on quality over quantity, and will be stocking my wardrobe with key pieces made to last. I'm going to try and take the same attitude towards my make up collection ~ focus on the things that matter {i.e. skincare} before the things that don't {i.e. another pink lipstick}.

Make what you love what you do ~ I don't want to say too much at the moment but in the near future I am hoping to set up my own business. I know it's not going to be an overnight success, but I want a challenge and am prepared to graft for it. The old saying is, "Find a job you love and you'll never work another day of your life". The ultimate goal is to forge a career and be able to leave my current job.

Be more healthy ~ Yes, a typical resolution, but this involves many areas for me, not just losing weight. I have PCOS {polycystic ovary syndrome} and losing weight/eating a healthy diet is one of the natural ways to manage it and keep it under control. I don't want to label myself as a vegetarian ~ I have been eating meat and seafood over the Christmas period ~ but I definitely want to eat a predominantly vegetable based diet. I feel less sluggish, sleep better and my skin looks great. Intuitive eating is the way forward, so I want to get back into listening to what my body needs.

Goals for January

Have one pamper night a week ~ I am anticipating a long January. Funds are limited, the weather is atrocious and we are still sad that we have no wedding or honeymoon to plan. Pampering really perks me up, so I'm going to set aside one evening a week for 'me~time' ~ a steaming hot bubble bath, possibly a face mask or at home facial, definitely candles in abundance... Bliss.

Read two books ~ I haven't had the time to read lately, so this month I am aiming to read two books ~ 'From Notting Hill to New York... Actually' and something a bit less... chick lit, so if you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them!

Finally finish and post our Thank You cards for the wedding ~ I'm hoping our guests will understand the delay since I am making them myself and have had the festive season to contend with.

Phew, this post is a bit longer than I had planned. Thank you to every one of you who has stuck around ~ I'm planning more blogposts as I type so I'll be back into a regular routine before we know it. I hope you all have a happy, healthy and wealthy 2013. I'd love to hear your exciting plans!

♥