Christmastime Goals | Happy December

Hi lovely readers! The holiday season is officially here and I hope your first few days of December have been good. I have been quite busy lately as I'm sure many of you University students can relate to as well, with the semester wrapping up! Winter break cannot come soon enough as I am ready to relax and enjoy this lovely season. I am definitely one of those people who gets a great deal of satisfaction from making lists and then crossing things off, so when this time of year comes around and there are tons of things that I want to do, I sit down and write them all out. I love reading and hearing what other people are planning on doing to be festive and it usually inspires me to add to my own list. I thought it would be fun to share my "Christmastime Goals" with you all and I would love to hear what yours are too! I also plan to have some posts centered around these "events", so stay tuned!

Do we have any of the same goals? Any suggestions of other fun and festive things I should do?

Cheeky Quote Tuesday

Cheeky Quote Tuesday

Looking Ahead | 2015

Well Christmas is officially over at my house, all the decorations have been put away until next year and the only trace of Christmas past is the left over cookies. It's three days into 2015 and I have been trying to reflect on what I want to get out of this year. I've thought about things I want to do, how I want to feel, and so on. Now if there is one thing that 2014 has taught me, it is to expect the unexpected, both the good and the bad. So, I am aware now, more than ever that you never know what tomorrow will bring and what the future holds. With that said, I still think that it is good to make goals and write them down so that you can see, looking back what you may have accomplished as well as be able to hold yourself accountable. So here are four things that I am striving to do in 2015!

1. Live in the moment.

Made these two photos myself:) 

I learned these two quotes last year and they have resonated with me so much. I am 100% someone who stresses out about what is to come or may come (majority of the time it's the fear of the unknown) and by doing that I ruin the present. I don't always have control over it, due to anxiety, but I want to try to do anything and everything that I can to keep myself present, and take one day at a time.

2. Eat with the 80/20 idea in mind.

I've read multiple places that it is good to eat 80% "good stuff" and if you want to eat something that's probably not the best keep it at about 20% of your diet. I like this idea because I enjoy food, especially over the past year I have become more adventurous and am willing to try new things. I love baking and am starting to like to cook more as well. I enjoy trying recipes out of magazines or blogs, especially if they are meant to be a healthier option. However, I have also found myself at times to be almost obsessing over what I eat, and whether or not it's healthy or the amount of carbs it may contain. This is not good either. Yes, it's good to be conscious of what you are eating and exercising regularly, which I try to do. However, if you want a chocolate chip cookie, eat the cookie! Obviously it's probably not best to eat loads and loads of certain things, but you should be able to enjoy food, and not feel like you have to deprive yourself. Just make sure to balance it out with exercise and such.

3. Be more confident.

This is something I definitely want to work on. For me, I feel like my confidence comes in waves, depending on the situation. (who I'm with, where, etc.) I do feel like I have lost some confidence that I had gained before, within the past couple of months. Going somewhere basically by yourself with all new people and new surroundings, has made me a bit more conscious of being self conscious. Before when I would be with my best friend, as cheesy as it sounds, she would make me feel more confident. If we were together I didn't care what other people thought as much because I had her and was content with our little world. (not sure exactly if that makes sense but hopefully you can relate) But, she moved away and so I don't necessarily have that anymore and I feel like I shouldn't have to. I know everyone has those days but I want to have the majority of the days be ones where I can be and feel confident on my own and know that the only person I should care about how they think of me is myself.

4. Do things on my own.

Also something that I have improved on within the last year and would like to continue to improve on in 2015. The other day, I went to the mall by myself and it was so nice. It may sound simple but it's something I don't normally like to do. However, I enjoyed it. I could take my time, look at what I wanted to look at, and be left to my own thoughts. Running errands by myself and just having alone time in the car is something I have grown to love. (I sing as much and as loud as I want and it feels so good, like a little escape) I also want to travel by myself. Like I said, my best friend moved away and I want to visit her. I want fly alone and have to figure it out for myself.

My full list of goals is much longer, some goals little and some big, but I thought these four were the most relatable. I read this post on World of Wanderlust and really liked it so be sure to check it out as well. If you don't already, I would highly encourage you to make a list, even if you just have one goal, if you write it down then you can go back and check it off or post it somewhere as a reminder. What are your goals for 2015? Xx

6 Things I Want to Do This Spring

Hiya lovely reader! I hope your April is going well. With spring already here for some and hopefully on its way for others, I thought I would do a reflective post of things that I want to try and do more of this spring and in the future. This post is inspired by Tanya Burr's "10 Things I Want To Do" post that she did on her blog a while ago. I really do believe that it's always nice to step back and evaluate how your live is going and what you want to do. So here are 6 Things I Want to Do This Spring!

1. Fill my space with flowers: As I have mentioned before I love having fresh flowers around! Whether it's a small arrangement of flowers in a mason jar or a massive bouquet, flowers can really brighten the mood of a room. I know it can get quiet expensive so I want to grow flowers and use them rather than buy!

2. Sit outside and read: As of now, there have not been very many nice days to do this, but I am going to take advantage of every beautiful day in the future for sure! Sitting outside and reading a book or a magazine while disconnecting from technology is always a good thing to do, whether it be for half hour or two hours. Recently I have really gotten back into reading and it really gives me a chance to turn off everything else and just immerse myself in a story. Currently I am reading "The Fault In Our Stars" and it is out of this world amazing!

3. Wear Dresses Daily: I love springtime because during the day you can go out and you no longer need a big coat, you can feel a sense of freedom and not have to cover up whatever cute outfit you are sporting. This spring I want to wear more dresses, I have been buying a lot more skirts and dresses with the plan of wearing them during the day. For a while I would only wear dresses if I was going to something that called for a bit of dressing up. But the ones that I have been buying are casual enough that they can be worn during the day to just hang out in or go shopping or to the park and I plan to do exactly that! 

4. Take Time to Meditate Once a Day: I mentioned this in my "App-y Days" post but I downloaded this meditation app called Calm and I want to take time to use it once a day. I have been using it, just not as frequently as I would like. You simply put it on your device and a woman will talk to you and teach you how to meditate, you can unlock more types of meditation the more you practice. I have found that it has helped my anxiety and is a nice thing to do in the evenings or mornings. 

5. Try New Hairstyles: I haven been more versatile with the hairstyles that I do, rather than going with the simple ponytail or down and natural. I am becoming more careless with whether or not it's something other people are wearing. I'm doing it simply because I like it and I want to wear my hair like that. If I feel like wearing a big bow in my hair then I'm gonna wear a big bow in my hair, if I want to wear flowers then I'm gonna wear flowers. (Z SNAP) 

I will leave a few videos tutorials that have some more simple hairstyles I love to wear.  

Halo Braid

Quick and Easy

6 Styles

6: Take Tons of Pictures: Often times I will find myself in situations where I want to take a picture but hesitate wondering what will the people around me think, but going forward, if I want to take a picture of something then you can bet I'm gonna do it! If I think something is pretty or interesting and photo worthy then who is someone else to judge and who am I to care? My storage space, not theirs:)