2011….ahh. A year where the St. Louis Cardinals watched as the our Giants went through the pomp and circumstance during opening day/night, celebrating their championship, then turned around and WON the whole damn thing when nobody saw them coming. A year where I really kindled my friendship with my KitchenAid mixer. A year marred by sadness from when I got laid off. Conversely, a year highlighted by my move back to San Francisco. A year where I started this blog as a way of channeling some of my creative energies into something positive when I needed a coping mechanism.
I guess it’s that time of the year where we reflect on the last year and yadda yadda yadda…and make some resolutions and all that jazz. The cynic in me says, “resolutions? when do you ever keep THOSE up?” but it’s at least worth a try, right? All I know is that I am ready for 2011 to be over and for 2012 and all of the bright and shiny and NEW to take over.
-Be an attorney again. Damn it to all hell, that one has gotta come true. I mean, what can I say? I’d take the backups as a food critic or travel writer =P but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that becoming an attorney again is probably the most likely…
-Become more active, preferably outdoors. To me this means more hiking/exploring and walking around. I’m not making any outrageous promises or setting goals that are too lofty, like I wanna be able lose x pounds, or I wanna be able to run a marathon. That just sets me up for failure. If I succeed at this and then some, then all the better!
-Eat less meat/learn to cook more vegetarian entrees. Don’t get me wrong. I love my meat. In fact, I post this question to you all: If you had to give up chicken, pork or beef, which would you give up? I have a hard time answering that question since I have favorites within each of those that I might not be willing to give up (fried chicken/wings, bbq pork and bacon, steak), but I am curious what others think about this. Anyway, back to the point – not giving it up, just trying to be more creative in cooking completely vegetarian meals.
-Eat out less: WHAT?? I know. This one is huge because I love going out and trying new restaurants and foods and sharing those experiences with others. My goal is to refrain going out during weekdays as much, and to bring lunch more to work. My goal when I started this current job was to bring lunch about 3x a week at least. Not a bad goal. 4 would be better, but I relish taking a walk outside of the office and grabbing a bite to eat with coworkers. But then again, this goes hand in hand with saving more moolah. This way I’ll have the freakin’ weekend to look forward to, right??
-Remember there’s a bigger difference between “want” and “need”, and thereby save more $$. Those law school loans aren’t gonna pay themselves. If I “want” something, I always find a way to convince myself that I need it. It’s the worst! I also discovered that I have a hard time grasping long term financial goals, and though I may still be young, it’s never too early for figuring that stuff out.
-Continue to be thankful. I try to be thankful daily for all that I have (health, happiness, family, friends, etc) but there are some days that are definitely more trying than others.
-Learn to cook something very complex (in time and technique). This one is super vague, but for good reason. I have no clue what I should cook, so I’d be glad to take any suggestions!
-Start volunteering again somewhere on a more consistent basis. Just a few times a year ain’t enough. I volunteered with Glide recently and a legal clinic. It sparked that love for community service that is so embedded in me (thanks APhiO!).
-Use all my positive juju to will the Giants into winning another World Series.
Alright, I think that’s long enough…see you all on the flip side. Happy 2012!
wholelottafreetime 