A Clean Slate: New Year Resolutions

A Clean Slate: New Year Resolutions

I think the New Year can be a real mixed bag. On the one hand, as you near the end of the year you are celebrating and pushing every excess you might dare, knowing that January 1 offers you a clean slate. You feel invincible, and that anything you've done to yourself and others can be erased with a swish of a calendar page. On the other hand, you're coming down from extraordinary high times...time off work, time with loved ones, time alone, party time! Creating a balance, and a way to ease into the New Year is a challenge. I used to spend lots of time setting my "Goals" for each new January. Then I realized that I NEVER GO BACK AND REVIEW THEM. And they sit quietly, patiently waiting for me, in the lovely red journal I bought for myself more than five years ago. What's different this year? I'm limiting myself to this post, and 10 minutes to jot down a few manageables. We don't have time to belabor this, do we? I want to make shit happen.

Make Your Magic

I've broken it down to a few categories that provide plenty of room for multiple resolutions. Three's a crowd? Just pick one or two. Rules? Keep it simple and direct. Active not passive. "Oh, so I'm going to be more healthy."  "I'm packing healthy snacks to bring to work everyday."

1. Micro-Resolution: Pick something tiny! I strongly believe it's the little things that make a difference. My husband made a mid-year resolution to make the bed everyday. He's done it, kept to it, and receives uber satisfaction from the practice. Gretchen Rubin gives this little change A LOT of attention in The Happiness Project, which is essentially a year of resolutions. I consider her an expert on the subject.

2. Health Resolution: Who hasn't picked something health-related as a new year resolve? Go for it! If you have a list of desired changes, try setting and achieving them quarterly instead of tackling them all right out of the gate. Set the goal, establish the habit for three months, then hit up another. Bam!

3. Personal/Professional/Parental Resolution: Sure, you can establish one for each of your personas. OR  just focus on ONE area that needs extra attention: "I'm saying 'yes' to my kids as often as possible." or "I'm only going to swear at work if it's an actual emergency." or "I'm going to increase my sociability and engage with the other soccer moms instead of playing Words With Friends on my iPhone."

4. Maintenance Resolution: Say Yes to Success! What's one thing you have accomplished or felt great success from in 2013? Will you vow to keep it going? Maintaining is almost MORE critical than creating the habit. Plus, it's nice to have a leg up on one of your resolutions. Consider it an easy win.

Extra Credit

New Year's Magic: An article published yesterday in The Atlantic, sparked my curiosity about the parallels of religion and New Year's traditions (excess, celebration, coming clean).

Making New Year's Resolutions: 5 Key Questions to ask Yourself, at The Happiness Project

It's a New Day

I'm always a bit delayed on my New Year's Goals...I give myself until January 26th, my birthday, to set the wheels in motion. Also, from Thanksgiving until about now I've been in a bit of a funk. Today I really felt the energy of the new year and wanted to grab it and run (which I did, 11 miles baby!). Between now and my birthday I'm going to lay out a few simple resolutions (in no particular order), and I'm phrasing them in the most productive, positive way possible.

2013 Resolution

"At the end of this year I'd like to feel like I followed through on the commitments I've made to both people and projects."

First in order? To thank and honor the super cool Liebster Award I was given by Go Mama O!

Facts of the Liebster Award

The Liebster Award’s origins are pretty much a mystery. Bloggers nominate other bloggers that have 200 or less followers. It’s basically a “Hey, that’s a sweet little blog you’ve got there. Here’s an award!” You can’t just accept the award. You have to play by the (ever-changing) rules and pay it forward. Then you can put the award on your blog for all to see.

The Rules:

1. List 5 facts about yourself.

2. Answer the 5 questions given to you. (My 5 questions for each of the 5 nominated blogs are near the bottom of this post!)

3. Create 5 new questions for the bloggers you nominate for the award.

4. Choose 5 worthy bloggers to nominate. (At the very bottom of this post you will find the links!)

5. Go to each bloggers page and let them know about the award.

6. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog. (see the intro of this post!)

5 Facts about Me:

1. I was a total asthmatic klutz as a kid and now I consider myself athletic.

2. I can sing/rap every lyric to Rob Bass and DJ EZ Rock's It Takes Two.

3. I absolutely loved the era of my life when my sole function was to get up at 5 AM to make coffee and get paid for it.

4. I write ad copy in my head and daydream tweets, t-shirt slogans, and headlines that will never be seen.

5. My friends and colleagues think I'm totally organized but I often feel like a lazy, chaotic procrastinator.

Go Mama O's 5 Questions:

1. You gain 30 minutes of free time. What do you choose to do? I am a total magazine whore. Instead of trying to clean something, fold laundry or something so productive I would sit down and pour over WIRED, Sunset, Women's Health, Vogue, Elle Decor, Vegetarian Times, you name it.
2. What’s your favorite holiday tradition? Much of my family heritage is English, and we break out the Christmas crackers at our Christmas Eve feast. My aunt and cousins make them, and each one has silly little trinkets and candy. This year we were all treated to fake gnarly teeth, paper crowns, jingle bell necklaces and a custom "would you rather" question to answer out loud at the table.
3. Name one person who inspires you. This is so difficult. Okay, Virginia Woolf. Honestly, I think she was such a rock star. Totally independent, bright, curious, brilliant.
4. What’s your favorite type of cheese? Oh god really? I have to PICK? Shoot. Drunken Goat from Spain. I also love Blue Camembert. And the real deal Parmegiano Reggiano.
5. What do you like most about social media or writing a blog? I love that you can make meaningful connections with other people across the country, across the globe, that you have never met before.

My Five Questions for You 1. If you could pick a theme song for yourself, what would it be? Imagine the opening credits in the movie of YOU, or when you walk out into the ring for the biggest fight of your life... 2. What one quote/saying inspires you consistently? 3. You've been given $10,000 to donate to any one (non-profit) cause. Where do you invest? 4. If you could own one piece of art from any major museum what would it be? 5. What do you consider to be your most brilliant asset?

My Liebster Nominees – Check these ladies out!

http://breakthelookingglass.wordpress.com/ http://relishthejourney.net/ http://notdifferentbutinteresting.wordpress.com/ http://leoniecumiskey.com/ http://clarecooks.wordpress.com/

Thanks again Mama O!

Wish List

One of my favorite keepsakes each year is the completed Wish List from each of my boys. First, they needed to be old enough to write. Now they are of the age where they like to "research" products online.  I especially like such request as "pillow," "shirts" and "pears and apples," as it lends credibility that at times my children appear as Dickensian orphans: shirtless, bedheaded, hungry. Let us take special note of the detail in "Candy Canes (10)" or the vagueness, in a wish for a "surprise."  Either way, such lists represent a time capsule of our lives, their dreams, this moment.

This year, I created a printable PDF for you to download. Click here for your own WishListTemplate.

Planning Camp Athena

I've been working on the outline for next weekend's retreat with my gals from the Ax Collective...in the quest for some inspired material I came across fabulous camp crafts via Design*Sponge, which featured Derek and Lauren from The Curiosity Shoppe, one of my favorite online haunts. These images are ALL theirs...and I can't wait to forage some sticks and craft up some God's Eyes. Don't you think the leather wrap lanyards are way cooler than the old hard plastic ones?

Finally, for a bit more substance, I discovered this poem from one of my favorite authors:

For Strong Women

By Marge Piercy

A strong woman is a woman who is straining
A strong woman is a woman standing
on tiptoe and lifting a barbell
while trying to sing "Boris Godunov."
A strong woman is a woman at work
cleaning out the cesspool of the ages,
and while she shovels, she talks about
how she doesn't mind crying, it opens
the ducts of the eyes, and throwing up
develops the stomach muscles, and
she goes on shoveling with tears in her nose.
A strong woman is a woman in whose head
a voice is repeating, I told you so,
ugly, bad girl, bitch, nag, shrill, witch,
ballbuster, nobody will ever love you back,
why aren't you feminine, why aren't
you soft, why aren't you quiet, why aren't you dead?
A strong woman is a woman determined
to do something others are determined
not be done. She is pushing up on the bottom
of a lead coffin lid. She is trying to raise
a manhole cover with her head, she is trying
to butt her way through a steel wall.
Her head hurts. People waiting for the hole
to be made say, hurry, you're so strong.
A strong woman is a woman bleeding
inside. A strong woman is a woman making
herself strong every morning while her teeth
loosen and her back throbs. Every baby,
a tooth, midwives used to say, and now
every battle a scar. A strong woman
is a mass of scar tissue that aches
when it rains and wounds that bleed
when you bump them and memories that get up
in the night and pace in boots to and fro.
A strong woman is a woman who craves love
like oxygen or she turns blue choking.
A strong woman is a woman who loves
strongly and weeps strongly and is strongly
terrified and has strong needs. A strong woman is strong
in words, in action, in connection, in feeling;
she is not strong as a stone but as a wolf
suckling her young. Strength is not in her, but she
enacts it as the wind fills a sail.
What comforts her is others loving
her equally for the strength and for the weakness
from which it issues, lightning from a cloud.
Lightning stuns. In rain, the clouds disperse.
Only water of connection remains,
flowing through us. Strong is what we make
each other. Until we are all strong together,
a strong woman is a woman strongly afraid.

It's a New Year

With a January birthday I'm blessed with an alternate new year. After losing my way on resolution road, I really embrace this opportunity for a new direction. I know it's only 3 weeks later, and really I do begin with the best intentions. But then I get a little lazy. And distracted. Then I turn another year older. Yikes! Focus. Here goes...

My life is not perfect, but it's perfect for me. We laugh and we yell. We kiss and we fight. This house of testosterone is a total blast and I'm so glad that I can be their queen bee. Even though I'm awkward and accident prone, I try to juggle about a million balls at a time. Do I need to tell you that it doesn't always work? Oh well. I gave up on perfection a while ago. I prefer eccentricity.

For this year...(in a nutshell): keep up the exercise. drop the diet coke. write. a lot. set aside time for truly fine. write some more. make some new money. nest. love. box. smile. drink damn fine coffee.

Navigating Change

The most successful people 

are those who are good at Plan B.

-James Yorke

This quote was brought to my attention on Monday, when I was at the Getty in LA for a an exclusive tour of their Rembrandt exhibition with the Museum's key donors. The special events manager shared this with me, and i felt it was perfectly suited for the topic at hand...

Did I mention before how honored I am to be included in the Axiology Collective--A smart and beautiful group of women? I'll be attending my sixth gathering tonight. Since I'm so very delinquent on my personal posts here, I thought I'd use tonight's topic of Navigating Change as my first blog of 2010. What about you?

For Reflection...

1. Do you generally embrace change or find yourself unsettled by changes that come about in life?

I think I take change in stride...

…though, changes I make I tend to embrace, while changes other people make I’m a little more hesitant to accept. I find it an issue of control when it's in the context of work, while I'm more open to it and often want to instigate change in my personal life…

2.  Some changes we choose, others seem unwelcome. Is your reaction different toward each? Do you like the way you react? 

I tend to get very inquisitive/curious when confronted with unwelcome changes. While I'm not always the most graceful person to accept change that I don't endorse, I do take pleasure in finding out how and why a change was made.

3. What does stability mean to you? When do you feel stable? 

first thought: financial stability. tangible things...like home, husband, family. second pass: the path i've chosen for myself--my own intelligence, strength and peace provide me with a spiritual/emotional and physical stability that could carry me through a breakdown of the first layer.

4. Recall a moment in life when everything changed. A time when you knew in that instant that life would never be the same again.

this seems cliche, but it's a vivid moment in my meager collection of foggy childhood memories: My sister and I in the car on the way home from swim lessons (age: 9) and my mom tells us that she and my dad are getting divorced.  My sister (age: 5) completely brokedown in tears, i was silent. I recall being relieved and disturbed at the same time.

5. As a child, was there a lot of change or were things seemingly stable. How do you think this affected the person you are now?

I have to stay that while she did the very best she could, after the divorce life with my mom was fairly disconnected. Four years later, we were with my dad and step-mom in a more structured environment. Of course this has shaped who I am today. I'm sympathetic to what happened at that time, and I know that there was unconditional support for my sister and I from extended family and friends.

 this I gained an odd sense of confidence and independence, and at the same time an incredible set of insecurities; I have a solid work ethic, an appreciation for working class values, and I know the difference between a "want" and a "need". Finally, I have great empathy for families in stress, single parents, and most importantly, the children affected by this all.

Whoaa

My head is freakin' spinning. Maybe I have a month's worth of blog posts in my brain. What happened to the last 30 days? What have I been doing for crying out loud?

At work we launched a new member program I've been working on for the past nine months...The Gallery. In conjunction with the launch came a blog (I post once a week or so...) and new collateral materials. Whoo Hoo! We have 30 members to date...

I'm getting my feet wet as the mom of two kindergartners...in separate classrooms. The PTA is knockin', the Foundation is callin', and daily emails are delivered from room moms. I volunteered to be the "Art Odyssey" teacher for Max's class, and a helper for Beck's class.

I was invited to join a group called the Axiology Collective. This dynamic dozen is packed with intelligence and sincerity. It's been less than a month since I was introduced to the group, but I am truly grateful for the invitation and look forward to the monthly gatherings. And yes, there is a blog (find me there, too)! The ladies have done a beautiful job of designing and documenting the past year of topics with related resources, and now our collective commentary.

Oh yes! I finished up the logo and business card design for a fabulous new matchmaking business called Love Happens Here. Yea Kim! Fun project and wonderful connections...On this Truly Fine note, I was thrilled to be a featured designer at the VIP Grand Opening for Green in Hillcrest. My longtime floral friend, Carlos Franco gave Truly Fine Design a prime spot in his hot new shop.

Which reminds me...the Mister surprised me with a gorgeous floral arrangement from Green after we celebrated 9 years (of humor, of hip hop, of love, of friendship...) at Cucina Urbana near Balboa Park. We sat at the community table, met great people and had a fantastic night with lively conversation. The Basil Martini is a MUST, the egg and pancetta pizza was outstanding (with a Super-Tuscan red), and really, yes, the roasted strawberry frangipane is SO worth it.

Which brings me finally to the last big hurrah of the past 30 days. My very dear BFF Cindy (better known as Cynthia) accepted a job in Boston with Reebok. Last weekend we threw her a party at the East Village Tavern & Bowl. This Monday we'll have our last Muffy & Buffy adventure before she heads to beantown. Heavy sigh.

A Good Exercise

Here I am, putting it out there. It is said that you are more likely to stick to your goals if you share them with friends and family. Really. Do I have to?

Yes. In 2009...

• I will spend more time outdoors. In my backyard, on a trail, up the mountain, at the beach.
• I will exercise 4 times/week. Including spinning, which I love.
• I will be flexible in my definition of exercise. It is a walk with a pal. It is yoga.
• I will be more realistic with myself and my expectations of others.
• I will eat really excellent food. In moderation.
• I will plan {more} meals with enthusiasm and creativity.
• I will listen more. Judge less.
• I will make time for my business each week.
• I will paint and write and read {books. not magazines}.
• I will create and stick to a budget.
• I will get my oil changed regularly.
• I will reduce my carbon footprint.
• I will show my love in new ways.

The March of the Headless Plush Toys

Your life story would not make a good book. Don't even try.
-Fran Lebowitz

2008: It was a very good year...

boys
I'm so utterly in love with ages 4 and 5. Always have been, always will. Max & Beck are completely in their own heads most of the time and it thrills me. Creative, sensitive, bossy, witty, imaginative, adventurous, passionate. SO completely full of life. Unfiltered. On the other hand they can get super distracted and frustrated which ultimately ends in one (or all) of us growling, screaming or swearing.

work
I held out for advancement in my Museum career and worked to earn a promotion to a position that is both rewarding and challenging (especially in this economy). To boot, I am now surrounded by some fabulous women with great energy and humor.

art
I kept up with Truly Fine Design after a late 2007 launch. LOTS of room to grow. I had other ideas so I took up painting as well..

passion
I'm married to a Scorpio. We're still having fun...I think.

politics
Obama. Sarah Palin. Tina Fey. Last, and so not least...Jon Stewart. Heart, heart, heart.

friends
I do have some terrific peeps. They may not all hang together, or even be in the same state, but I love them each truly, madly, deeply.

Is this even interesting? I'd love to know what my mom was going through at 36. She was divorced with a 14 and 9 yr. old I believe.

This year I could not get my game on for regular workouts. Fuck. Why is that so hard? Doing the usual job-wife-mom-juggle...not a great strength of mine, but I do put up a good front. When I think of all the things I should be doing, like oil changes, eye appointments, oops, bill paying, video returning, oops, running, writing xmas cards, oops, having a really lovely family photo taken, oops and oops. This is how I feel:

"A week after my drugs ran out, I left my bed to perform at the college, deciding at the last minute to skip both the doughnut toss and the march of the headless plush toys. Instead, I just heated up a skillet of plastic soldiers, poured a milkshake over my head and called it a night. "
-David Sedaris

Dear Diary,

Dear Lucy, That's your official name now, because Diary is simply a bit drab and really not personal at all. At times, I may even refer to you affectionately as Lulu. Greetings! I've officially made it 50 days into the launch of Truly Fine Design. To begin, why blog? It has come to my attention, in the crash course of marketing and managing a small business in the new millennium, that creating a BLOG is as important as creating a website. My greatest fear in starting this little monster is for it to seem cliché, ego-maniacal, or worse, boring. I'm going to treat this media as a window into my Truly Fine World of entrepreneurship, motherhood, art & design, stationery (of course!), fashion, culture, communication, and literature. That's just a start...in essence, whatever rings my bell. Hopefully it chimes for you as well. If not, at least I have a record of the journey, Subscriber:1.

Yours truly,

Sarah