combating terrible tuesdays. or, finding joy in the little things.

since historically tuesdays are my least favorite day of the week (i often call it tuesday iLoseday...) i thought i would take this opportunity to take a few minutes to find joy in the normal, everyday blessings. so i posted a few things to start with a while back, so i am going to add a few things to that list today. 

• going through old photo albums (specifically of the college variety)
• introducing friends to your favorite neighborhood spots
• catching up with friends after long periods of not seeing each other
• a good nights sleep
• all things glitter/shiny
• summer months - i am appreciating them very much right now during the snowstorm saturn...
• unexpected but welcomed and positive distractions
• early morning smiles [mc]

xo

nikki

high five for friday!

thanks to the inspiration from mags, i'm going to kick this blog back off today with "high five for friday". linking up for the first time with lauren for h54f!   

1. getting pictures this week of my favorite "niece and nephew", olivia and owen! always brightens a day.

2. found this great gem, and i think it applies to my life in so many ways. don't let otheres get me down, and the obviously love for all things sparkly.

3. so incredibly excited for this girls visit this weekend. bestie time. the best part about it is that she is bringing her college photo album so we can laugh our butts off at our college freshman selves!

4. hanging out with this guy this week. i have missed him so! we had a date day adventure and explored new areas that we have never been in chicagoland (evanston and andersonville).

5. an outfit of the day instagram - spring inspired style! i got a lot of compliments at work and that was definitely a good feeling.

hopefully you will start seeing more consistent posts on this little ole' blog of mine!

xo

nikki

2013 goals...or, when i started blogging again

okay, i know it is january 3^rd and i am just now posting my goals for the year, but this is kind of like my re-introduction back into the land of blogging, and i wanted to make sure that they were the goals i wanted to and could actually reach this year. in the past i've really set unattainable, pie-in-the-sky “i’m going to do EVERYTHING” goals. so with that said, my goals and a brief explanation are below.

in 2013, i will: 

lose weight to the point that i feel good about myself (eating clean, working out 3-4x per week)
OK, so i’m right there along with everyone else on this one. but i have two weddings to stand up in this year and i want to look and feel good. and in all honesty, it’s more about how i feel instead of how i look. i got to a point last year where I felt so much better in my clothes, and my confidence was better. i’m never going to be a size 2, and that’s okay. i want to be a good size for myself and stop making excuses for not exercising!

get my finances in a better order
don’t get me wrong. my finances are in a decent place. however, i feel like i need to make a better budget for myself and follow it. i want to build up my savings in a better place. finally pay off that stupid loan that i regret taking out every day of my life. but i want it to be paid off and done; there isn't really a reason that it shouldn't be.

 read 'the happiness project'
i’m reading this with a friend, and we decided we would start this book in the new year, back in december. i acquired the book over Christmas with one of the many gift cards i had stock piled. i’m not an unhappy person and i don’t want to be bitter, but towards the end of 2012, i was. i want to do things that make me happy and work towards figuring out what that is. it doesn’t have to be big…i want to make sure that i can still see the good in the every day. so what if my life isn’t the same as everyone i grew up with back in michigan? So what if i am not married with 2.4 kids and a white picket fence? my life isn't the same as their lives and we are on different paths. hopefully someday i will find the man to call my own, but for now, i need to enjoy the hand i've been dealt. but some days I need the reminder to not let it get me down.

take a class for fun
i’ve wanted to take a class for a while now, just have never committed. i’ve wanted to take a photography class for a LONG time… and was amplified when i went to europe this year and one of the girls had an amazing camera, and took great photos. (first i need to acquire a camera!!) i started looking up italian classes here since i came home from europe and fell in love with the language while in italy. i think i just need something that will enrich my life; something to have and do on a regular basis outside of work.

figure out what i want to do with the rest of my life
i don’t know if i can do this for the rest of my life.. i feel like i need to figure out what will make me happy longer term so i can get a jump on that.  and where? i've always wanted to live in san francisco. Why shouldn't I do that when I don’t have any real “roots” (read: boyfriend, husband, etc) and have the opportunity to move across the country without too much upheaval?

 be more intentional with my friendships
since i have said sayonara to facebook, i need a better way to maintain my friendships. and, since we are being honest, facebook is not a great way to maintain friendships, even though a lot of people treat it that way. this is one of the main reasons i quit in the first place (in addition to the obvious privacy issues. so to do that, i want to do two things:

          1. talk to 2 friends each week (on the phone)
          2. send a card or letter or little treat to a friend each month


blog (at least) 3x per week
let’s be honest, right now this blog isn’t really a blog. it’s got 5 posts and 11 page views (all of which are me). but i want to blog three times a week. even if i don’t have anything that important or great to say. because it’s a creative outlet and probably if i start blogging again, even through the times that it seems like i don’t have that much to say, i’m hoping that it will give me more ideas about what to blog about, and then it will start coming more naturally. (here’s hoping..)

wash my hair less (3-4x per week depending on events)
my hairstylist scolds me every time i come into the salon. “you’ve been washing your hair every day. stop.” i need to take better care of my hair and both the shampooing and the heat styling that inevitably follows that is a major culprit. i want to “embrace the mess” – via messy.dirty.hair.  - challenge accepted.

in 2013, i will not: 

change who i am to make someone else happy
let a bad day make me feel like i have a bad life
let stress and worry get the best of me
forget to see the good things in each day
dwell on the past 

there you have it. these are my goals for the year. i guess not really goals per-say, but things i would really like to improve upon. now that they are written in stone on the interwebs/blogosphere, i guess i have to do everything on this list :)

xxoo
nikki

Choices, Chances, Change

The 3 C's of Life: 

You make a Choice 

to take a Chance

or your life will never Change

New Blog, New Post

I've been having trouble coming up with a subject to blog about. To start with, I'm going to write down some things that I am thankful for.

• coffee
• a good book
• quiet time
• a hot shower on a cold day
• a good workout
• being "auntie" nikki to some great babes
• raspberries
• naps
• the library
• employment
• good memories
• things from childhood 

I'm going to try to do a "daily 3" approach because sometimes the negative overcomes me.