Resolutions & Wrap-Ups

Happy New Year!  I normally feature a blogger Q&A interview post on the first of the month, but since today marks the beginning of a brand new year, I wanted to share some of my 2015 resolutions with you.  I've found that it really helps me to write down my goals by hand and then display them; I know some people have enough will-power to keep them in mind all the time, but I need a good visual component.  And speaking of visuals... I know I recently did a seasonal round-up of outfits from this past autumn, but I wanted to include a small sampling of my favorite outfits from the last 365 days -- just to remind myself that although this was a tough year, it was filled with a lot of great ensembles!

I came up with a goal chart earlier in the year, at a time when I was feeling very lost and in limbo.  I found it helpful to divide my goals into different categories, so I decided to continue with that for my resolutions list.  For instance, my health goals include sticking to my Weight Watchers tracking, implementing more exercise into my day, a specific weight loss goal, and to focus my attention on my skincare routine.  My financial goals are to limit and keep better track of my spending, and my career resolutions include finishing my professional website, finding a new (or second) day job, and putting definitive plans in motion to move.  My blogging resolutions are to continue to expand my readership, improve my photography and establish sponsorship with brands.  I also wanted to make sure to include some other resolutions that are focused on my well-being, like getting a car of my own, seeing friends more often, getting a massage, reading more, and making an effort to keep a clean and organized personal space for myself.

There are times when coming up with resolutions makes me focus too much on what I didn't achieve during the previous year.  Because I don't want to discount all of the good things that happened in 2014, I made a little list of what I achieved from my other goal chart.  These accomplishments included getting my driver's license, being cast in some new and exciting projects, surpassing my blog readership goals, and taking some much-needed time to focus on myself.

But my last (and favorite) resolution is to keep dressing in ways that make me happy!  It was hard to pick just one outfit per month from 2014, but here are my favorite 12 outfits from the past year -- all of which brought me a lot of joy:

January  //  February  //  March  //  April  //  May  //  June

July  //  August  //  September  //  October  //  November  //  December 

Thank you all for spending 2014 with me (and sticking with me through these past 12 months)! Although it's been a bit of a tough year, it's been a very valuable one, too.  I'm eager to see what the next 12 months will bring.

So tell me: if you make resolutions, what are some of your goals for 2015?

Have a great start to your year!

xox Sammi