Tuesday Tips: On Setting Goals for the Future

I read an email this morning that really opened my eyes to goal setting and documenting accomplishments.  The email was actually a newsletter from XO Sarah titled "Where do you want to be this time next year?" that talked about how she realized that she "made it" as far as where she wanted to be in her life as of last year.

It made me realize that I've never really set out a list of things I wanted to accomplish in a year's time.  I talk about the future and post little goals for myself here and there but don't really have an actual checklist to refer back to.  It made me wonder:  Where am I right now?  Where did I think I would be last year?  What kinds of things do I want for myself for next year?

I mean, the big picture is the easy part.  Eventually I want to have a boutique, a house of my own, not have to worry about whether I'll have enough money in my account to pay all the bills on time, be surrounded with people I love who love me back, and be able to inspire others to create and do amazing things.  All of those things are what I hope to accomplish eventually in my life, but they're all still general ideas that need to be broken down and put into an actual plan in order for me to even start tackling them.

 "The thing is - if you don't make a conscious plan of where you want to go, you likely won't realize when you arrive. "

So tonight I will sit down with a glass of wine (which will most likely be a vodka/cranberry instead) and start going through my "eventually" goals to break them down into "1-year" goals.  This way, each year I'll be able to look back at my list and congratulate myself on my accomplishments and say "fuck yeah" because I actually did it, even if it was something as seemingly small as "deposit $500 in a savings account".  Dream big, start small.

Do you have an idea of where you see yourself this time next year?  What goals do you have to achieve to get there?

I scream for some ice cream inspiration!

Okay so before we get into the good stuff, I just want you to know how much I am FREAKING OUT about my daughter Aniyah's upcoming birthday. She'll be turning 10 - that's double digits, people! Holy frikken moly!  So for such an important day, you know that a party is bound to happen around here!

This year she asked for an ice cream themed birthday so I've been scouring the internet for some ideas and inspiration.  If you follow me on Pinterest, you may have noticed the abundance of ice cream pins lately.

Ice cream cone cupcakes!  They just look soooo delicious!

Colored popcorn in an ice cream cone - great way to incorporate the "ice cream" theme without going overboard with all the dairy and sugar.

So easy and inexpensive!

How epic would this be!?  A 10-foot banana split for a 10th birthday!!

And these ice cream scoop letters would be great to spell out her name!

Aren't those just awesome ideas?!  And that's just the things I found online - I haven't even gotten started on what I came up with in my head.

I plan on having a full ice cream bar spread - cups, sugar cones, sugar-free cones, sprinkles, almonds, macadamia nuts, Oreos, M&Ms, peanut butter cups, gummy bears, fruits, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup, etc.  We're also going to have a fried ice cream station and I've already got a cotton candy machine ready too.

And if you think that's exciting, guess what I'm hoping to have as well... (I say hoping because I haven't cleared it with the hubby yet - fingers crossed!)

Have you guessed?  Oh alright, I'll just tell you:  An Ice Cream War!!!  (Not to be confused with the William Boyd novel)

Okay, you may be thinking that it's a little extreme, but close your eyes and pretend you're 10 years old again.  A tarp on the ground, a bunch of your friends, and some squishy ice cream - you know you'd want to dive right in and slide all over that.  AND before you turn back into an adult and start to lecture me about wasting food, I'll be using whatever left over ice cream had not been eaten from the 10-foot banana split.

See, you can have your ice cream and play with it too!

*Oh yeah, and if you've seen my recent pins of outdoor showers, now you know the reason for my needing one soon!

Well, that's my party plan for this month.  What do you think?  Like I said, I'm still in the "planning" phase right now but I'll be ordering the party favors and some other decorations soon so I'll share those with you later!

"FML" is now banned from this blog.

I'm guilty of saying this all the time throughout my day.  In fact, it's become a habit that's been really hard to break.  I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this.

It's so much easier to say "f*ck my life" or "just shoot me already" when something goes wrong than to suck it up and deal with the problem.  We're already stressed out with the hustle and bustle of our daily lives that when something doesn't go our way we get overwhelmed and suddenly it feels like the end of the world.  But guess what?  It's not.

I know that I personally have been on my last nerve the past couple of weeks due to an extremely chaotic (and extremely hot & humid) summer.  The hubby's been home a lot while getting his business set up, the girls have been getting ready to go back to school, we've been renovating the house little by little, and the temperatures have been making Trace's nose bleed constantly.  All of these things have been stressing me out so much that I've been freaking out over the little things.  Crying over spilled milk?  More like screaming "F*CK MY LIFE!!" and having a meltdown over it.

But I'm putting all that behind me now.  I don't want to be the crazy frantic mother who freaks out over every little thing.  That's my mother...sometimes.  My sister and I jokingly call her "Manic Mary" or "Panicky  Patty" sometimes when she's in her freak-out mood.

My friend Mae wrote a post the other day that inspired me.  Her last lines were "Life is amazing. Just open your eyes a little. And if it’s not… change it."

Instead of sitting on my ass and complaining about everything that sucks, I'm going to get up and do something to change it and make it amazing.  This is part of the reason why I've been M.I.A. lately in my real life - I've been focusing on cleaning, rearranging, and redecorating the house because since this is where I spend most of my time, I want it to be a place that I love to be rather than just a place I have to be.

I've also mentioned in one of my previous posts that I've also started doing a little yoga at home and I really do want to take a real class one day soon.  This has helped me to relax a little more and has also showed me how valuable a little "me" time can be.  I just need to remind myself not to freak out when something goes wrong.

So from now on, "FML" will be a thing of the past.  I am going to to turn "f*ck my life" into "I f*cking love my life".  I hope this post inspires you to do the same.  Stay positive.

"You put your whole self in..." [Life lessons from the Hokey Pokey]

We all know how it goes:  "You put your whole self in, you take your whole self out, you put your whole self in and you shake it all about..."  So what does it mean and why am I writing about it?

Well, it's been a whole year since I became a stay-at-home mom and I've been getting a little stir crazy lately.  Maybe it's the weather, or maybe it's just been a long crazy summer for us - but whatever the reason, I've been taking on project after project to occupy my time and keep my sanity over the last couple months.

Working on another project yesterday.

Don't get me wrong, being a mother is hard work.  And staying home with my 4-year-old son will keep me busy throughout the day, but I'm one of those people who thrives in a fast-paced environment.  I feel like my life is missing something if I'm not constantly working on something or trying to accomplish a goal.  I need that instant gratification that I used to get when I met a deadline, helped a client, or cleared the files in my in-tray.  It's not the same when I'm doing a project for myself.

So, I've started job hunting again.  But the thing is - I don't know what I want to do or if I even really want a job.

I was good at what I used to do, but my heart wasn't in it.  It was just something I had to do to pay the bills.  And now I find myself applying to the same kind of jobs - not because I want to, but because it's something I know I can do.

That got me thinking, "If I don't put my whole self in it, will it really be worth it if I get it?"  Would I really get the fulfillment I'm looking for by throwing myself into some job?  Or would it be better to wait it out until the opportunity that I really want is available?

There was one job that I did apply for that I really, REALLY am hoping to get.  So far, I haven't heard any word from them yet but I'm still crossing my fingers for it.  It is something entirely different from my previous career path so I know it'll be a learning experience for me.

We're not so strapped for cash right now that I need to find a job right away, but it would allow us a little more room to live comfortably.  So the question is, should I get a job I don't really care for, or should I do what makes me happy (when I figure out what that is)?  What do you think?

P.S.  Here's a couple pictures of yesterday's project, a transparent messenger bag I made for my god-daughter.  I don't have a tutorial yet because I kind of just made it up as I went along, but I'll be perfecting it and putting a tutorial together for you soon!