So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye (2009)

As I bid a farewell to 2009 I'm taking time to be thankful for all the wonderful things that this year has brought me. I've spent another year living in London and have made some wonderful new friends who I know I'll keep in touch with long after my days of living in London are over. I also had the luxury of visiting Paris and Mykonos this year. Both trips were amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed the exploring, feasting, and new experiences. I was also fortunate enough to take three trips to see my family in Florida this year-- something that I always look forward to.
During one of those trips I went with my sister to Mississippi to visit my great aunt and Kentucky to visit my grandmother and grandfather-- I'd been meaning to do this for some time, but hadn't been able to due to living in London. Felt so good to visit all of them. One of the biggest feats of the year was bringing my tiny little two pound baby from Florida to London. Her quarantine period was up (silly UK rules) and I was finally able to bring her to live with me! We flew into Paris and then made our way to London-- she's quite the well traveled pup at this point :] Another feat was getting my work visa for the UK. A process that was painstaking, drove me crazy and took AGES. So, in 2009 I was able to tick quite a few things off my to-do list! I am thankful for my health, the opportunities I've been given, and for all the new experiences I've had this year. Cheers to another great year and an even more amazing one to follow!

New Year's Resolutions

Every year when people are coming up with "resolutions" for the new year I'm completely stumped. This isn't because I think I'm perfect and needn't improve anything, it's quite the contrary actually. I think I'm afraid to even sit down and consider all the things I should be doing differently! This year however my resolutions came to me at random and really required no thought whatsoever. This is how all resolutions should be! So without further ado, here are the resolutions thus far:

-Cook atleast one new recipe a week (Yes, I too was inspired by Julie and Julia- who could watch that movie and not be?!)
-Run in a 5k before July (Sounds simple enough, right? This is a major feat for me as anyone who knows me knows that I do not exercise...)
-Get a sewing machine and USE it!
-Declutter my life (get rid of extra clothes, shoes, random items, etc)
-Work on making a career out of the things I'm passionate about-- fashion, home decor, psychology, etc.

I've chosen not to number them as I don't feel I should give any more importance to one than any other. Ordering things seems to diminish the value of the item at the end, and I want to fulfill all my resolutions! I don't want to be one of those people that throws out random resolutions and then never follows up on them. (Ahem, the "I'm going to exercise every day, give up smoking, and give up all carbs" group) Any others that my mind happens to conjure up while I'm multitasking will be added as well!

Saw this in my local pizzeria & had to share :]

I've been meaning to start a blog for a while, but I'm always torn as to which direction to go. Do I write about my love for fashion? My passion for home decor? My interest in cooking? My desire to get in shape and run a 5k? I've been overwhelmed with ideas and just not had enough discipline to pick one and go forward with it. So in thinking of my 2010 resolutions I decided to just start a blog and go with it...