2018 Goals and Resolutions

Hello, 2018! Yes, I am aware that as I type that out, it's already the 23rd day of January. The magical feeling of the new year is fading, and I've been back to reality since the 3rd. But I digress. I told myself that January was for strategic rest and relaxation. I absolutely am a new year's gal. I love fresh starts and the feeling of new beginnings once the clock strikes 12. So here's some of my 2018 goals, resolutions, dreams, plans... whatever you want to call it. I've got lists upon lists in notebooks but here's a *little* piece of what's on the agenda. This is what I'm committing to and I'm writing it down mostly for my own benefit and accountability. So self, here you go. It's gonna be a great year because I will give the world to you.

Family

• Journal nights twice a week
• Cook more
• Go to the movies together more - we try to have a yearly tradition of going to the movies on boxing day (a tradition that stems from my childhood back in the Philippines. Except we didn't have boxing day back there, but the day after Christmas is usually when all the good films start screening) and every year I remember how bloody fun it is to go to the cinema together and I vow to do it more. One of my favourite days of 2017 was back in April where we went to go see Beauty and the Beast and went out for dinner after! It makes sense to go to the movies. I come from a family of creatives. My dad a filmmaker, my mum the production assistant. That's actually how my parents met. So I'm calling it now. 2018 will see the 5 of us watch movies in cinemas frequently. Hello, hoyts card!

Financial

• Let this year be the year I have a good rainy day fund. SAVE.
• Save save save
• Save.
• Save, girl. For real.
• Pay off loans - I started paying off my student loan literally the first day after finishing my degree. And a few years later and I am so close to paying it off! YAY!

Home

• Declutter constantly - I swear my things are the only ones having sex in my room. They keep multiplying! In the past year, I've done 2 massive declutters. Mountains of stuff - clothes, books, knick knacks - donated or given to friends. And both times I thought, that should do it. Finally! No more stuff! But riddle me this, how the hell do I still have an overflowing closet, a bookshelf bursting at the seams, and boxes unpacked in the garage? So I'm going to Kondo method the shit out of my flat, and make sure that I do it regularly. Mum and I have started doing this thing where if we rotate our decor. So if I get sick of something, I'll pass it on to her until I want to spruce up my space again. By then the item will feel 'new' again and I'm essentially getting it for free!
• Give my bedroom a makeover - my bed base is secondhand. Or maybe even third hand. I've had this mattress for ages, and my pillows need changing, and my linens too! I'm quite looking forward to a fluffy new duvet this year like the one Mitchell has (his bed is like a cloud and it's one of the comfiest beds I've ever slept in honestly).

Health + Wellness 

• Have fruit and veggies accompany every meal
• Eat breakfast - this one I've been doing most of January! Even did it in the weekend and I'm feeling pretty proud. It helps that I've finally met my dream breakfast - takes 5 mins to make, full of good healthy stuff, and is actually delicious! Recipe coming, friends. Watch this space.
• Move my body
• Learn a dance routine - I've been wanting to learn this dance from Little Mix since 2013 so I feel like this is the year to finally do it even if I have to do it alone.
• Join a gym, get a trainer
• Find a yoga place - Used to love Monday night yoga in Hamilton but haven't found a studio for me yet here
• Prepare my body/immune system for winter - I don't have any sick leave left so gonna be building up that immunity now.

Projects 
This is the first time in about three years that all my projects are just MY projects. Terrified because I have to really hold myself accountable and set deadlines if I want these to see the light of day, but excited because I'm finally doing what I want to do! It's always tempting to push things back when you're the only stakeholder. Case in point: I've been wanting to refresh this blog for years but I never really made time to make it a priority. But then again I might not have found this layout at the right time if I did so I guess it all worked out in the end.

• Refresh blog - check, although I'm doing so in phases. I pushed back going live with this for a while because I wanted everything to be perfect, but then I realised I also wanted my blog to be a 'living document', constantly evolving as I inevitably do too. There's so many kinks to iron out with this new blog facelift so please bear with me. We are getting there! 
• Finish writing my novel - this has been in my head since 2008. When I first moved to NZ, this was all I did for months - write fulltime. I'm happiest when writing, so why the hell do I NOT write and make space for it in my life more?! 2018 (approximately 10 years later. 10 YEARS.) will see the firt draft completed. 
• Pilot for web series - like my novel, this is one of the things that I absolutely would love to bring to life. I've had the idea for ages. The name, for years, the pilot sequence, a year. And have I done anything with it? No. Because somehow when it's your own project sometimes you feel vulnerable and naked and overwhelmed that you almost don't wanna touch it. Not this year though. By the end of the year, the pilot will be out there. I'm excited. 

Personal

• Go to live shows more
• Read and write everyday
• Smell good always - use all your goddamn perfumes! On that note too, make more of an effort with day to day appearance
• Actually put lipstick on... for someone with quite a collection, I wear only lip balm most days! 
• Make sleep a priority - work on better quality snoozes
• REST REST REST - make sure I get at least one day of rest in the weekend
• Try a new restaurant every pay week
• Smile bigger - ever catch a strangers eye and give them a half smile? I do this all the time. The half smile/lookaway. Well I wanna be the person that smiles big!
• See my friends more -my friend Simon lives a minute away from my office and last year I didn't see him for like a month or so. Ridiculous. Totally ridiculous. 
• Dance in the morning. Blast that music girl and turn up the speakers!
• More public speaking engagements - I miss talking to crowds by the hundreds! 
• Amplify the good more - be vocal about good service and shop assistants, tell my idols that I love their work more, speak the good. Louder. Prouder
• Have more candlelit showers
• Make time for things I love
• Get massages regularly 
• Moisturise my body everyday
• Learn how to cook duck
• Host more dinners
• Read Jacob a story every night - been trying to get myself and my little brother into an evening routine and normal sleeping time! 
• Own your quirks - like the fact that you watch this several times a day and feel emotional every single time
• Watch more commencement addresses
• Be a contributing writer to more sites
• Light candles every night
• Practice your acting and accents regularly

And so the adventure continues! May 2018 be an epic chapter in our stories x

Hello, 2018! Yes, I am aware that as I type that out, it's already the 23rd day of January. The magical feeling of the new year is fading, and I've been back to reality since the 3rd. But I digress. I told myself that January was for strategic rest and relaxation. I absolutely am a new year's gal. I love fresh starts and the feeling of new beginnings once the clock strikes 12. So here's some of my 2018 goals, resolutions, dreams, plans... whatever you want to call it. I've got lists upon lists in notebooks but here's a *little* piece of what's on the agenda. This is what I'm committing to and I'm writing it down mostly for my own benefit and accountability. So self, here you go. It's gonna be a great year because I will give the world to you.

Family

• Journal nights twice a week
• Cook more
• Go to the movies together more - we try to have a yearly tradition of going to the movies on boxing day (a tradition that stems from my childhood back in the Philippines. Except we didn't have boxing day back there, but the day after Christmas is usually when all the good films start screening) and every year I remember how bloody fun it is to go to the cinema together and I vow to do it more. One of my favourite days of 2017 was back in April where we went to go see Beauty and the Beast and went out for dinner after! It makes sense to go to the movies. I come from a family of creatives. My dad a filmmaker, my mum the production assistant. That's actually how my parents met. So I'm calling it now. 2018 will see the 5 of us watch movies in cinemas frequently. Hello, hoyts card!

Financial

• Let this year be the year I have a good rainy day fund. SAVE.
• Save save save
• Save.
• Save, girl. For real.
• Pay off loans - I started paying off my student loan literally the first day after finishing my degree. And a few years later and I am so close to paying it off! YAY!

Home

• Declutter constantly - I swear my things are the only ones having sex in my room. They keep multiplying! In the past year, I've done 2 massive declutters. Mountains of stuff - clothes, books, knick knacks - donated or given to friends. And both times I thought, that should do it. Finally! No more stuff! But riddle me this, how the hell do I still have an overflowing closet, a bookshelf bursting at the seams, and boxes unpacked in the garage? So I'm going to Kondo method the shit out of my flat, and make sure that I do it regularly. Mum and I have started doing this thing where if we rotate our decor. So if I get sick of something, I'll pass it on to her until I want to spruce up my space again. By then the item will feel 'new' again and I'm essentially getting it for free!
• Give my bedroom a makeover - my bed base is secondhand. Or maybe even third hand. I've had this mattress for ages, and my pillows need changing, and my linens too! I'm quite looking forward to a fluffy new duvet this year like the one Mitchell has (his bed is like a cloud and it's one of the comfiest beds I've ever slept in honestly).

Health + Wellness 

• Have fruit and veggies accompany every meal
• Eat breakfast - this one I've been doing most of January! Even did it in the weekend and I'm feeling pretty proud. It helps that I've finally met my dream breakfast - takes 5 mins to make, full of good healthy stuff, and is actually delicious! Recipe coming, friends. Watch this space.
• Move my body
• Learn a dance routine - I've been wanting to learn this dance from Little Mix since 2013 so I feel like this is the year to finally do it even if I have to do it alone.
• Join a gym, get a trainer
• Find a yoga place - Used to love Monday night yoga in Hamilton but haven't found a studio for me yet here
• Prepare my body/immune system for winter - I don't have any sick leave left so gonna be building up that immunity now.

Projects 
This is the first time in about three years that all my projects are just MY projects. Terrified because I have to really hold myself accountable and set deadlines if I want these to see the light of day, but excited because I'm finally doing what I want to do! It's always tempting to push things back when you're the only stakeholder. Case in point: I've been wanting to refresh this blog for years but I never really made time to make it a priority. But then again I might not have found this layout at the right time if I did so I guess it all worked out in the end.

• Refresh blog - check, although I'm doing so in phases. I pushed back going live with this for a while because I wanted everything to be perfect, but then I realised I also wanted my blog to be a 'living document', constantly evolving as I inevitably do too. There's so many kinks to iron out with this new blog facelift so please bear with me. We are getting there! 
• Finish writing my novel - this has been in my head since 2008. When I first moved to NZ, this was all I did for months - write fulltime. I'm happiest when writing, so why the hell do I NOT write and make space for it in my life more?! 2018 (approximately 10 years later. 10 YEARS.) will see the firt draft completed. 
• Pilot for web series - like my novel, this is one of the things that I absolutely would love to bring to life. I've had the idea for ages. The name, for years, the pilot sequence, a year. And have I done anything with it? No. Because somehow when it's your own project sometimes you feel vulnerable and naked and overwhelmed that you almost don't wanna touch it. Not this year though. By the end of the year, the pilot will be out there. I'm excited. 

Personal

• Go to live shows more
• Read and write everyday
• Smell good always - use all your goddamn perfumes! On that note too, make more of an effort with day to day appearance
• Actually put lipstick on... for someone with quite a collection, I wear only lip balm most days! 
• Make sleep a priority - work on better quality snoozes
• REST REST REST - make sure I get at least one day of rest in the weekend
• Try a new restaurant every pay week
• Smile bigger - ever catch a strangers eye and give them a half smile? I do this all the time. The half smile/lookaway. Well I wanna be the person that smiles big!
• See my friends more -my friend Simon lives a minute away from my office and last year I didn't see him for like a month or so. Ridiculous. Totally ridiculous. 
• Dance in the morning. Blast that music girl and turn up the speakers!
• More public speaking engagements - I miss talking to crowds by the hundreds! 
• Amplify the good more - be vocal about good service and shop assistants, tell my idols that I love their work more, speak the good. Louder. Prouder
• Have more candlelit showers
• Make time for things I love
• Get massages regularly 
• Moisturise my body everyday
• Learn how to cook duck
• Host more dinners
• Read Jacob a story every night - been trying to get myself and my little brother into an evening routine and normal sleeping time! 
• Own your quirks - like the fact that you watch this several times a day and feel emotional every single time
• Watch more commencement addresses
• Be a contributing writer to more sites
• Light candles every night
• Practice your acting and accents regularly

And so the adventure continues! May 2018 be an epic chapter in our stories x