Restart

I love the beginning of a new year. It is a time full of optimism, and enthusiasm about being a better person. Being the best version of you. At the end of the old year you press pause and evaluate your life, accomplishments, habits, how you spend your time, and how you treat yourself and the people around you. You think where you could do better. Or at least that's what I do... And then in the beginning of the new year you can press restart, and feel good about the intention that you have for creating a better life, a better you. I don't usually call these intentions resolutions as they are more directional, but I guess you could call them resolutions too.

As I mentioned yesterday, in 2012 I had decided that it was time to stop excessive shopping. I wanted to stop wasting time hanging out in stores / malls, and stop shopping for fun, or boredom, or retail therapy... I decided to stop taking the kids to shop with me, and instead spend time with them doing other things, or nothing at all. We went to parks a lot, and in the summer to the pool, and had many lovely picnics and walks. We found a few favorite LI beachy places that we love going to. Also as a result I cooked more at home on the weekends.. Time well spent!

I will continue with this way of life. So much healthier for all of us, and my wallet is thankful, and I haven't felt deprived. I actually felt really good about not accumulating that much stuff. It's environmentally conscious, and I have not organized my closet for months (a big bonus as that is a chore that I HATE!). I also had more time to enjoy the things that I already have. And I am being a much better role model for my daughters.

This year I will take a new direction toward more health conscious Food choices. I have bought organic milk for years, but now I want to expand to more organic foods, especially veggies and fruit. The first step: buying only organic apples. One thing should be an absolute must: Each meal should contain a veggie.

In addition, I will promise myself to work out at least once a week. Now that I can, I should. I am a master in coming up with excuses to not go to the gym..but I should love myself more and exercise out of that love, to make myself feel good. I should also expand my definition of exercise. It doesn't have to be a killer training session every time, but could be something softer like restorative yoga, or something fun.. I have promised my 10 year old that we'll get xbox kinect and play "Let's Dance" and "Zumba". So that is on the to-do list now, or actually I delegated the actual acquiring and setting up to my hubby who is so much better in these things. Imagine the surprise when I asked my husband "honey, could you please buy an Xbox and kinect and set it up for me?" Ha, ha, his jaw dropped as I am so totally not a video game type person and have campaigned against them throughout the more than 20 years we've been together... But people change, and that's the whole point, right?

I'll just tack on today's outfit to the end here. Nothing new, this is all old stuff: Lacoste skirt, H&M silk top, Kenneth Cole cardi, and Anthro necklace.