In Review | Summer Goals

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My aim for this summer was to get out and enjoy new things. I kept it simple with four general goals. Here is a quick recap of my adventures over the summer. 

1. Try new restaurants. I have tried several new restaurants since our move including Parker & Otis, The Pit, Brigs, Pipers & Lilly's Pizza. My favorite by far was Parker & Otis and I make any excuse to grab lunch there during the week.

2. Complete new craft projects. I completed the easiest craft project to date with these beautiful coasters. The other "crafts" I completed were working on my calligraphy and enjoying this adult coloring book.

3. Workout 5x week. Not even close. I have been enjoying lots of long walks in the early mornings or late evenings. Since September, I am finally back at it with Pure Barre 4-5x week. 

4. Streamline my wardrobe. I have donated or sold at least 1/3 of my wardrobe this summer. Believe me I still have tons of clothes hanging in my closet. The problem is not dealing with my growing belly! 

Stay tuned as I will be sharing my goals for September later this week.

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Summer Goals

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My aim for this year was to make monthly goals over new years resolutions. Procrastination is my biggest enemy and having a time frame helps. May resolutions were completely overlooked due to craziness with work and weekend commitments. I had a blast completing my goals for April and look forward to accomplishing much more this summer!

Try new restaurants. We will be moving (more to come on that...) mid July and really want to make our new area feel like home. My goal is for us to try at least five new restaurants this summer.

Complete 3 craft projects. Crafting is not my thing at all. To save money I know I should DIY a few home projects. I am thinking easy crafts like a new wreath, decorative frames and coasters.

Workout 5x week. Even though I am off work this summer, these next two months are packed with travel and moving. I really want to feel my best this summer and know that regular exercise is key.

Streamline my wardrobe. I only wear 1/2 of the clothes I own. I have been holding onto a lot of items in hopes that I may fit into them again or due to sentimental value. I refuse to move clothes *again* that I may never wear. Love the idea of a minimalist wardrobe. My goal for this summer is to clean out and add a few staple items.

What are your goals for this summer?

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April Goals

Happy April loves! Did anyone get fooled by April fools jokes yesterday? I always forget it's April first so I had a few get past me. No joking here, promise. Today I am sharing my April goals and a quick recap of my March goals. 

I am pretty pleased with my progress on my goals for March. I just finished the Calligraphy class through Scarlet & Gold. Still need tons of practice to become fluent. I truly find spending a bit of time each evening practicing relaxing. This is something I hope to keep up through April. My second goal was to complete the 21 Day Fix. This did not happen. I did start watching what I eat and loosely followed the meal plan. I did not get in as many workouts as I had wanted. I am going to continue this goal into April. My other goals were to bake a new treat and share my meal plan for the week. I tried a few new recipes including white chocolate macadamia cookies which were amazing. I hope to share them with y'all soon. My last goal was to get a massage. I ended up getting a facial instead which was amazing! 

April Goals 

1. Improve my 5k time. My pace has hovered around a 10 minute mile since I stared running 5+ years ago. Over the past year I have been focused more on distance than pace. Once you increase distance (think marathon) your pace time dramatically increases. I really want to consistently be able to run a sub 30 minute 5k (9:40 pace). 

2. Run 3 x week. This goes right along with my first goal. I have been slack on my cardio lately. Since bikini season right around the corner I have got to get my booty in shape! I will be sharing my workout progress with y'all weekly. 

3. Pack breakfast and lunch for work. Pretty self explanatory. I often pack a salad and end up starving and raiding the vending machine. 

4. Only necessary purchases. I find myself grabbing new arrivals and unnecessary items more often than not. Especially when there is a sale. My challenge this month is to say no to sales and shop my closet. I will make one exception for Lilly at Target which I have a set budget to go by. 

5. Be active every day. My goal is to get 10,000 steps in every day. This could be a long walk, Pure Barre, a workout DVD or a run. I just got the Garmin VivoFit to track my steps so I will be using it to  motivate myself to get moving. 

What are your goals for April? I'd love to hear your favorite 5k training plan.

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March Goals

I hope everyone has had a great start to the month. I am happy to see February gone and am looking forward to milder March. Haha. I am sure that will not be the case, but a girl can dream! Today I am sharing my goals for March as well as recapping my goals from February. 

February's goals I acomplished were a group outing with friends, the trip to disney checked that off the list. Learning to make my own latte at home was another goal I met. My homemade skinny vanilla latte still needs some tweaking before I share it with y'all. I also was able to try three new recipes this month including tortilla soup and chicken tikka masala. The chicken tikka masala was amazing and a huge hit with the husband. I have put it on our weekly menu each week since then. Overall, I will call my progress on February's  goals a win. I still need to organize my jewelry but that can wait a little longer. 

Here are my goals for March: 

1. Try Calligraphy.  This week I joined a free online calligraphy class through Scarlet & Gold. I ordered my materials last night and am excited to try my hand at calligraphy. Over the past few years, there has been a beautiful trend of hand lettering cards and decorations. I am hoping that I am good enough to give it a go myself.

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 2. Complete the 21 Day Fix. When looking back at my weekly workouts from February I noticed that cardio was quite absent. I am still actively trying to drop some pounds. So, I know that I should be doing cardio 4-5 times a week on top of strength training. I'm looking forward to switching things up with the meal plan and the workouts. Best thing about it. They are only 30 minutes long so I can squeeze it in before work!

3. Bake a new treat. I haven't baked anything since before Christmas. This breaks my heart because I love baking and find being in the kitchen very therapeutic. I am looking forward to getting back in the kitchen this month and making some treats to share with coworkers that have been so amazing these past few busy weeks.

4. Treat myself to a massage. So, I have never gotten a massage before. Even after running countless half-marathons and marathons I never indulged in a massage to loosen up my muscles. Once I complete the 21 day fix, I am taking myself to get pampered. Any recommendations in the Cary/Raleigh area would be appreciated.

5. Share meal plans weekly. I truly enjoy making meal plans and grocery lists each week. I became a bit slack after the first of the year and finally got back at it this week. Looking forward to doing a bit more planning continue to share my meal plans with you again each weekend.

Have you ever gotten a massage? Any recommendations would be much appreciated. 

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February Goals

Good morning friends! I hope the weather was just as beautiful this weekend where you are as it was in eastern NC.  Yesterday afternoon, we decided to take advantage of the weather  and headed to the Tobacco Trail with Charlie. Apparently, most of Cary had the same idea because it was packed. Charlie seeks out attention from anyone nearby when we go on a walk so it was quite an experience trying to keep him calm.  Even though he is almost two years old he has not mellowed compared to when he was a puppy.  At least the walk wore him out a bit and he rested all night. I am hoping February brings warmer weather and we can go on more walks without freezing!

If you read my recap of my January goal progress you can see I was a bit lofty with my goals as well as a bit lazy with the implementation J. So for February, you will see a lot of the same goals.

1. Plan a group outing with Friends. – This one is already on the books and am looking forward to a girl’s night out in Raleigh!

2. Take Charlie on a long walk 3 days a week. – Lord knows that we both need to exercise… so barring rain, sleet or snow we will be taking a chance with the cold and get outside! 

3. Organize, clean and sort my jewelry. -  I have a ton of fashion pieces that I don’t wear anymore that just needs to be tossed. Also, my silver jewelry desperately needs cleaning. I am hoping to take them to the jeweler and get them professionally cleaned. 

4. Learn how to make my own latte at home. – My morning vice is quickly becoming a skinny vanilla latte. I desperately need to get my own ingredients to help me save $3 every other morning. 

5. Try one new recipe a week. – I am slowly learning that eating healthy does not mean chicken and veggies each night. I am excited to try new recipes and maybe find a new favorite! 

Any recipe recommendations to try?

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Weekend Recap & January Goals

This morning had quite a dreary start as it was cold and rainy on my way to work this morning. My coffee run this morning is the only reason I currently have a little pep in my step! My coffee addiction is currently out of hand and need to start trying to make my lattes at home ASAP. Anyway... This morning I wanted to share a quick recap of my weekend and how I did on my January goals. Spoiler alert: I may have been a bit too lofty on my goals for this month.  

Friday night, Joe and I treated my parents to dinner while they were in town. I hate that we moved away from my hometown but thanks to doctor appointments at Duke we see my parents pretty regularly. A few weeks ago my Dad turned 60, so we made our dinner a belated birthday celebration complete with mile high strawberry shortcake! We enjoyed dinner at Nantucket Grill which is quickly becoming one of my favorite local restaurants. They have the most amazing selection of cakes and sweet treats which you always need for a good celebration. For dinner, I branched out a bit and tried the grilled steak salad. I always thought the combination was strange but it ended up being surprisingly delicious!

I told you that cake was huge!! I enjoyed the chocolate peanut butter cake and I could not even finish it. Which is saying something because I am always enjoy sweets to the last bite. 

Saturday morning I woke up itching for a workout. I headed to Pure Barre and then completed a short 2 mile run afterwards. As a treat to celebrate the end of the month I snagged this cute barre tank that I had my eye on. The cotton is so soft and light. It was perfect for barre class as well as my run afterwards. 

Saturday afternoon Joe and I headed to visit our friends from college and their newborn baby. They are the first in our group of friends from college to have a baby which is a huge milestone for our group. I loved getting the chance to visit and catch up with them and their adorable little girl.

Saturday night we took advantage of Triangle restaurant week and went to dinner at Capri Restaurant in Raleigh. Unfortunately, we were both unimpressed with the restaurant and the service. Since visitig Capri this past summer I had high hopes of enjoying delicious food while reminiscing on our trip.   It is rare that we completely strike out on a restaurant choice.  We made the best of it and decided to continue our Italian celebration when we got home with a bit of limoncello. I had forgotten how amazing this liquer tastes. I kept it simple with 1:1 ratio of limoncello to sprite. 

Sunday night we watched the Superbowl party at home while enjoying home made buffalo chicken bites. I adapted the recipe that I shared Friday so that it was the perfect serving size for two. Looking forward to sharing this later in the week. 

January Goals 

Alright now onto my January goal recap. I tried to set 5 attainable goals for January. I'll be sharing my February goals later this week. 

1. Reduce the amount of sweets I eat in a week. – Did not meet. This month I noticed that I tend to use sweets as a comfort food when I am stressed. All the sweets are currently out of out apartment and this is something I still am working on. 

2. Plan a group outing with friends. – Almost met. I enjoyed an outing with friends this month to see Wicked. However, since I planned it myself it doesn't really count. I already have a date on the calendar for a girl's night in February! 

3. Read one good book. -  Almost met. I picked up Big Little Lies from the library and am currently reading it when I get a chance. 

4. Take Charlie on a long walk 3 days a week. – Did not meet. This goal was a bit lofty considering the freezing weather we had mid January. I was able to take Charlie on a long walk about one time a week. 

5. Limit extra purchases. – Met! This one was the hardest for me as I was constantly picking things up but then just putting them back before I got to the register. I celebrated with purchasing a Pure Barre tank I had my eye on. :) I hope to continue to keep limiting extra purchases as much as I can these next few months. 

Well, that is all folks! That was one long post. Hope everyone has a great day!

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January Goals

Hope everyone has a great start to their week. The skies have been filled with clouds and rain these past two days which has started to make me feel a bit stir crazy. Today I am sharing my goals for the month of January. I know I am a little late on my game this month but wanted to share in case anyone else had similar intentions. 

The start of a new year is a perfect time to start fresh and plan for the year ahead. This year instead of focusing on making overarching yearly goals I plan to set time limited focused goals.  Monthly goals help set a defined time limit to prevent procrastination. I also like the idea of monthly goals because as things change throughout the year my goals can transform. This encourages growth and development.  I’m a little late on setting goals for January since it is almost the middle of the month.  I have had a lot of these ideas floating around in my head since January 1st.

1. Reduce the amount of sweets I eat in a week. – The holiday indulgence did a number on my willpower(or lack thereof) and I crave sweets constantly. My goal for January is to listen to my hunger cues. Only indulging in sweets on special occasions.
2. Plan a group outing with friends. – I am an introvert at heart. I love cuddling up on the couch with my pup and a good book. The cold winter weather just adds to my lack of motivation. Once I am out and about hanging out with friends I have a blast. It is just getting up the motivation.
3. Read one good book. -  Beyond what I read for work, I rarely read during the week. This year I want to grow my personal development beyond psychology. So, this weekend I’m headed to the library to see what I can find.
4. Take Charlie on a long walk 3 days a week. – When it is warm, Charlie and I go on long walks almost daily. Now that it is cold walks are just not happening. We play fetch a lot more indoors to burn off some energy. But nothing beats a long walk and fresh air. Just going to bundle up and watch the weather.
5. Limit extra purchases. – No impulse buys at Target, no scooping up sales at Loft, no Lilly Pulitzer Annual sale... I am mainly focused on needless clothing, accessory and makeup purchases (especially Target!). I knew going into January that I wanted it to do a freeze on shopping. After the Holidays it is nice to take a pause from indulging and just enjoy what you have. Believe me my closet and makeup drawer is full. This little freeze is forcing me to shop my closet more.

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