Twelve Days

In T-minus five hours I start my much anticipated holiday vacation. I have twelve days of freedom. No checking the blackberry. No responding to email. No thinking of work. In other words, sheer bliss. In addition to being a complete bum over my vacation I also plan to make some serious headway on my list. I had a complete panic attack when I realized in the middle of our holiday party last Saturday that I had four months to the day to complete it. Yikes!

I've also come to realize that many of my goals are progressive. They aren't driven by one single event, but more a development of a habit or characteristic. Having said that, I do feel that I've made some progress ...

#29 Set up monthly "family" dinners with friends: We've had two so far and have one scheduled for January (December was just way too crazy). I'd cross it off as done, but I think I need more than two to say I've set up monthly dinners.

#5 Work towards becoming debt-free: Every month the hubby and are making small dents on the mound of debt we have. We've got a good plan in place for 2010, so once a couple changes are made I'll be able to mark that off my list.

#19 Create a signature kick-ass cocktail (or master one already)/signature drink: My husband and I have claimed a classic cocktail, the Moscow Mule, for ourselves and it's now the drink of choice at our annual holiday party, as well as throughout the year for friends. I feel like I need my very own cocktail and while many would say "B, it's obviously the bubbly," I want something I can claim as purely me. I've got some ideas brewing in my head, but feel like if I can't come up with my own, my husband and I definitely have a monopoly on Moscow Mules.

#23 Take more pictures: My camera is with me at all times, and I've tried to be better about taking photos of the small moments in our life. In fact, I did just that last night when my husband and I went on date night to Zoo Lights. Normally I wouldn't have taken pictures, but last night I whipped out the camera to catch the beauty of the lights in an attempt to remember our night. I'll give it a little more time before I mark this off as done.

I hope all of you get some time to veg out during the holidays as well as create some wonderful memories with family and friends! Happy Holidays!

-B

Hosting vs. Hasting

Hasting??? That's my version of an event you have to host that you don't want to.

I love hosting. I love having people over at my house. I love creating menus for guests and figuring out wine pairings. I love setting up the dining room table and figuring out creative ideas to spark conversation. In fact, I love hosting so much that my husband and I throw an annual kickass holiday party. Alright, he really has nothing to do it other than making sure I don't spend too much money and playing bartender for the night. But it's something I look forward to every year as my ultimate hosting event ... it should be available on Pay-Per-View.

However, despite my love for hosting I despise hasting. My job in the Communications industry means that part of my job includes organizing, managing and hosting corporate events. I'm the envy of my friends during those events, in their mind I get paid to party ... not quite. Tonight is my company's annual holiday party that I'm responsible for. There's nothing fun about the tons of work that goes into the event, dealing with vendors (including a crazy Mr. and Mrs. Claus), working for the entire party while all of my colleagues have a good time at the company party (where the hell is my party that I get to relax at?) or working 10 hours on a Saturday in addition to my regular week.

So to all those future PR girls who think there would be nothing better than being paid to party, take a moment to think about hosting vs. hasting because hasting definitely sucks.

-B

Pony Up!

After reviewing my list with the hubby last weekend I realized I have about half the things on my list that I will have to wait to complete this summer and half that I seriously need to pony up on now! This comes at a slight shock because I really thought I was doing okay… slowly plugging away on a couple of items on my list. Big wake-up call!

So its time to pony up and the current ponies in this race are:

#10 focus on friends, family and being thankful: after all tis the season! Please don’t get the wrong idea here. I am not a mean, hateful or cruel person. For me number 10 is for me to work on changing my priorities and not letting work rule my life. Its about making the people that mean the most to me know they are my world.

#11 read 30 books: unlike B I might be the slowest reader on the planet… yes a small child learning to read may be able to out read me. So for me 30 books is my Everest. Slow as it may be I am confident that I can finish. Want the skinny? Here’s how it breaks down: 29 books left, 9 months, 3.25 books per month, at approx 500 pages per book I am looking at 52 pages per day. Eek!

#14 look & feel better at 30 then I did at 29: I finally made it back to the gym. Day 1 I tried a core strengthening/ spin class and I have to say I could barley walk, sleep, move or breath for about 5 days. Day 2 treadmill and core strengthening and the ball of my left foot is bruised. Day 3 stationary bike and lots of stretching. It might be a little bit harder getting back on this pony then I thought.

#20 start a 401K: on my to do list to be finished by 12.30.09. Literally just need to call fidelity and make it happen. I know it’s not that big of a deal. I know I should have done it a long time ago. But it really intimidates me and that is why I keep procrastinating about it.

Fire the start gun... I'm off!

-k