Saturday Recap: Day 12

Saturday! I've been slacking and it's only two weeks into the year... bummer. I'm pretty sure what my real downfall is in the direction of not finishing things that I start is that once I hit one tiny snag in the over all "plan", I decide that if I can't do it perfectly then I should just quit. So I do. The only way to remedy this is to allow myself to make mistakes sometimes. I'm allowed to take a break! In my defence, I have actually written something for the blog every day, I just haven't followed up by hitting that little orange button to publish it.

Regardless of this break though, the week deserves a recap..

Things that were great about this last week:

• I read a Dr. Suess story to Phoenix for a bedtime story, beginning to end, and only made two maybe three mistakes. It's ridonkulously hard to to do that! Serious tongue twister.
• I got a new nail polish (Sand Tropez from Essie) and painted my nails.
• Lunch was ordered in at work this week not once but three times. I think that's a record.
• We had Coco Brooks for lunch yesterday as one of those three times. It's been years - sooooo good.
• Hung out with M while I assisted with the picking up of the deliciousness at Coco Brooks.
• I've watched an insane amount of How I Met Your Mother and we've only just made it to the end of Season 2.
• I found out Big Brother Canada starts next month! I'm actually dying to find out if I know any of the houseguests, because everyone from Canada knows everyone else from Canada.
• Shameless plug: I'm having a ghost-Partylite party this week, ending January 15th. If you would like to order something, it's [J.en Ke.tl.er] without the dots, for the Monday, Jan. 7th party to answer the prompts.
• I ordered replacement stickers for some of my Rubik's cubes just after Christmas and they shipped on Monday. Fingers crossed they'll get here next week so I can stop fiddling with the app on my phone.

Looking forward to next week,

- Jen

New Year's Resolution #4: Be childish

Originally when I chose to add this to my list of resolutions, it was the first thing I thought to add. I stress over WAY too much. The last two years have been one giant stress ball of time, and it's just not healthy, but I feel like if I were more child like in my outlook then life wouldn't be so bad. I resolve to be childish.

Kids have all the fun, so I'm giving myself permission to be a kid. I will get lost in daydreams. I will have simple fun. I will play more. I will try to be more optimistic. I will take life day by day and live more in the moment. I will be silly. I will laugh at nothing. 

I will start reading this blog; she seems to have the right idea. I actually came across this woman's blog by accident while looking for a quote I heard once and wanted to use in this post (couldn't find it). It was fate. Clearly.

This last year, I tried my best to have a handmade Christmas. Anything I didn't make myself, I assembled from simple things and I'm pretty sure there wasn't a single thing I didn't find at either Dollarama or Value Village. Phoenix is at such a fun age, and he loves to create things, so I couldn't resist putting together my favorite gift I made: a DIY Fort Kit. 

I sewed together the tote bag out of white flannelette, and drew on it with some fabric markers, but left it mostly blank so he can decorate it. 

Inside the bag: 

 - 3 flat bed sheets (2 Queen Sized, 1 King Sized)

 - Rope

 - Suction cups (for attaching things to windows)

 - Clamps

 - Clothes pins

So in the spirit of child-like fun, today Phoenix and I (mostly I) made a fort in our livingroom.

This is the back of the fort, as viewed from my chair.

Best. Fort. Ever.

...it even has two "rooms". 

Sand chairs are perfect seating for forts. Even Molly (the cat) has a place inside the cube.

He was over the moon when we told him he could sleep in his fort tonight.

I foresee the fort thing becoming a regular occurrence in our house.

Your turn Internet:

Tell me about your most favorite fort you ever built. 

Do you have any fort building secrets that you use?

Am I the only one that continuously tried to build a fort around the bathroom?

Still going...
- Jen


New Year's Resolutions: A Series
1. Finishing what I start
2. Make better friends(hips)
3. Meal Plans
4. Be Childish (You are here)

New Year's Resolution #3: Meal Plans

There once was a time, long, long ago, when the space in my head was somewhat organized. I actually had the faculties to keep track of my money, and make grocery lists and actually buy groceries for more than two or three days of food at a time. We didn't eat out as much, and I used my slow cooker often, and life was grand - somehow I've let this brain-organization slip away from me, so this year I resolve to get back into meal planning.

I long to have a beautifully stocked freezer full of pre-portioned veggies and other ingredients. I have the room, I just haven't been using it and that makes me sad. This is largely due to the part I mentioned before about keeping track of my money - I've stopped that too, but that's a resolution for another day.

I've come across several things I think are helpful and wonderful and make me giddy inside (it's exciting, don't judge me), most of which can be found on... wait for it....................Pinterest. Have I mentioned how much I love it? Oh, I have? Well good.

I didn't make this - Robin @ RobbyGurl's Creations did...
you can even buy everything you need to make your own on her blog... 

This wonderful creation is what I aspire to have hanging on my kitchen wall some day, in the very near future. It's glorious. Even if I don't have exactly this menu board, I'm perfectly okay with concocting my own version. I've got the whiteboard already, and the rings, and the magnet strips, and a tonne of index cards. I will make this happen... it would be a hundred times easier if my printer worked though. Foiled again. Next time Gadget... next time.

So tell me, Internet:

What is your favorite recipe?

Do you meal plan, or just go day by day?

Still going...

- Jen

New Year's Resolutions: A Series
1. Finishing what I start
2. Make better friends(hips)
3. Meal Plans (You are here)
4. Be Childish

New Year's Resolution #2: Make better friends(hips)

I'm back for round 2! So far so good! I may continue the entire week out for a series of New Year's Resolutions.

Today, I resolve to make better friends(hips). This sounds a little wrong, and I'm not trying to imply that any friends I currently have totally suck, but to expand on this idea I'd also like to strengthen the existing relationships I have. I was originally going to label this resolution "Make more friends." but it's probably better to go for quality over quantity, as hubby so kindly pointed out to me.

I actually received an email from meetup.com that was filled with "Unresolutions", and I thought it was rather clever!

"Friend" more people - CHECK OUT SOCIALIZING MEETUPS - meetup.com

Could this be the answer to my problems?! Maybe. Something I am severely lacking in my social life is a good set of girlfriends. Friendships with guys are super easy for me, and I have tons and tons of guy friends, but I dare say I'm reaching a point in my life where I'm outgrowing the need to "hang out with the guys". Girls are considerably harder! You would think it would be easy, given that I'm a girl (shocked? Me too) but I really think even understanding myself is too hard some days... but girls need girlfriends or "girl buddies" as I like to call them.

As much as I love Damian, I try not to inflict too many chick flicks on him in a month, and he's much too biased to ask for advice on wardrobe or make-up or hair, or anything even remotely feminine. I may need to find a girls only type of meetup; something that doesn't involve going out for drinks hopefully, since I find any friendships I've started while out drinking, or in that sort of establishment, have been based on that one thing in common - alcohol! That's a horrible place to start a friendship.

How about you, internet?
Where do you go to make new friends? 
Have you ever tried a "meetup" to meet new people? How did it go?

Still going...
- Jen


New Year's Resolutions: A Series
1. Finishing what I start
2. Make better friends(hips) (You are here)
3. Meal Plans
4. Be Childish

New Year's Resolution #1: Finishing what I start

I've done this so many times I'm beginning to lose count. "This" being: starting a new blog. I come to it, make one or two posts, but then I get busy. Life is funny that way - but ENOUGH I say. This time will be different, so ironically I've decided to make blogging part of a New Year's resolution. This is ironic because I can't name a single person that has made a resolution on the first day of the year and actually kept it.

But this year, I resolve to finish what I start.

Every day, for the next 365 days, I solemnly swear to blog something... anything... even if it's just sharing something cool I saw on Pinterest, lest I be sprinkled with sugar and devoured by six year olds. I'm not going to focus (completely) on designing everything and making my blog pretty (this may be largely what my problem is) and resigning myself to the free, and lovely default template I've been given. For now. There will be plenty of time to give the blog a makeover once I become rich and famous form a proper blogging habit, and it will probably give me something to write about, so double win.

To help me on my quest to blogger-dom, I feel I must share this gem that I (not surprisingly) found on Pinterest. I give you:

Image property of The Flourishing Abode @ http://www.theflourishingabode.com/

This 10-week blog series is from a graphic designer named April Starr, with a writing style I find similar to my own. Mostly I just like her style! We'll ignore the fact that she prefers Wordpress - I do love me some Wordpress, but I felt like Blogger would be easier to form a habit with. It's chock full of insightful goodness and the tips are generally transferable, even if I have to skip Part 8 in the series, though I can just keep it around in the event I ever make the switch -- or if I ever dust off my photography website, that has suffered the fate mentioned in the first paragraph, but was in fact created using Wordpress + my own domain.

Even if starting a blog (and finishing, if one could ever truly finish) is just an example, I really do have a problem finishing things that I start, so if there's anyone out there reading this:

What was the last thing you started but didn't finish?
How do you keep yourself on task? 

Let me know! Until then, I'll be planning out what to say tomorrow.

Here goes...
- Jen


New Year's Resolutions: A Series
1. Finishing what I start (You are here)
2. Make better friends(hips)
3. Meal Plans
4. Be Childish