Monthly Guide: 2017 Resolutions Check In

We’ll it’s Memorial Day weekend, which pretty much marks the halfway mark of 2017. (What!?! How did that go by so fast?!) With just about six months down and six months to go, I thought I would check in with the list of goals I outlined at the start of the year.

1. Plan outfits the night before.

While I certainly haven’t done this every day, I am definitely on my way to making a habit out of it. I have noticed three main benefits: 1) my mornings are calmer and I find myself in less of a rush, 2) I have been able to wear outfits and clothing combinations that I otherwise wouldn’t have considered, and 3) the number of times I get to work and think “Ow, what was I thinking!” has almost disappeared. This is perhaps one of my simplest resolutions and I am glad I am revisiting it now so that I am encouraged to make a daily habit of it.

2. Wear the fancy clothes.

This “resolution” corresponds almost perfectly with resolution #1! When I choose outfits the night before, I am awake and alert and able to comb through my wardrobe and consider outfits I haven’t worn in a while. When you’re tired in the morning and in a rush, you tend to pick out the same, comfortable go-to outfits over-and-over again, and before you know it you wear only 5 outfits (when I know you closet has more than that). However, this resolution as required I change my outlook a bit. For instance, I have some very nicely tailored work dresses that I would save for important meetings or events. I have started to change the way I think about my “fancy” clothes and think, why shouldn’t I look my bets every day? I feel more confident. There is, of course, the reality too that not everything in my closest fits like it used to. While this is always disheartening, it is important to accept and move on. Some of my clothes that don’t fit I have sold, and some I plan to take to the tailor to see if they can be let out. I would rather address the issue than continuously being discouraged every time I open my closet doors.

3. Visit a museum a month.

So this was my only real resolution; something I definitely wanted to stick to throughout the year. In January I went to Dupont Underground, which was very fun and very different than I expected. I thought there would be more art (really only 3 installations) and less creep (like the weird dentist chair in a torn apart room…). Honestly though, not knowing what to expect was part of what made it exciting. There are so few times now-a-days when you can truly be surprised (since we seem to Google the wazoo out of anything and everything before we do it). I think that’s why speakeasies are such a draw in today’s culture. Clearly we don’t need a secret room to drink our legal cocktails, but not knowing what the decor looks like or what the drinks on the menu will be allows us a to feel that allusive sense of excitement and wonder. Here is the list of #MuseumAMonth2017 so far:

• January: Dupont Underground

• February: The National Gallery of Art, Sargent paintings (My absolute favorite artist. I took a Sargent painting class through the Smithsonian’s, so this was great to see!)

• March: Hishhorn Museum, Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirrors (I was able to score tickets pretty easily sought-after exhibit because I had known for many months it was coming—before all our Instagram accounts were plastered in photos. I am glad I did, because they soon after became almost impossible to get!)

• April: National Gallery of Art East Wing (The newly reopened East Wing is one of my favorite museums in DC. It’s full of marvelous modern art, and they have a great tour you can download on your phone so that you can learn about each painting as you view it. It really helps to make art accessible.)

• May: National Museum of the American Indian (I had only visited this museum once before, and a very long time ago. I didn’t remember much about it, but that’s probably because it’s not that memorable…

4. Get up early.

For most of this year, this continued to be difficult for me. I managed to get up early once or twice, but I wasn’t able to fall into my old rhythm of early mornings. I think it’s because I used to run in the mornings early before work, but after hip surgery this was no longer an option. Now that I am running again (and now that it is light out earlier) it’s been easier for me to make this happen. I also recently re-read my own blog post on how to be a morning person. I share this with some readers and soon found I was not the only one who wanted to make a habit of getting up early. So through Instagram we all encouraged each other and having that sense of accountability has truly helped! It’s so much easier to do something difficult when you know others are depending on you! So let’s keep it up! And message me if you want to make this a habit and we can encourage each other.

5. “Exercise” aka stretch.

I have never before had to make this resolution because I truly enjoy exercising… as long as it’s something I want to do. I don’t complain about having to go for a run, because I love it. When I sign up for a yoga class, I look forward to it all week. But this year, I fell into a different category. I had hip surgery at the end of 2016, which means most of 2017 has been learning to walk; not running marathons. While recovering from hip surgery one of the most important things I had to do is stretch. Six. Times. A. Day. Do you realize how many times that is? It’s exhausting just thinking about it. And on top of that, I needed to do an hour long series of hip exercises once a day. Well, I am proud to report that I kept up with this resolution better than expected (probably because if I didn’t I wouldn’t be able to move my hip correctly every again). But now that I am finally able to run again, I find myself severely slacking on doing my hip exercises, which at this point won’t wreck my hip, but it will likely lead to future problems. So I need to figure out how I can make myself stick with it. Urg. Any ideas? I need the help!

6. Read the newspaper.

The best part about this resolution is that I can pair it with another (getting up early). Two birds, one stone. There are always so many things to do around the house that my Sunday paper very often goes unread, and I hate that! Not only does it feel like a waste, but when I do pick it up and read a few articles, I always learn something new and enjoy the time I spend reading it. Isn't it time we spend more time doing the things we enjoy?

7. Slow down.

Ahhh, this the resolution to top them all. I am a mover and a shaker. I hate sitting still and I think walking should look more like jogging. Well, it’s time for me to stop rushing. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times this year I spilled my coffee because I was moving too fast to put the lid on tight, or lost something because I didn’t put it back in its rightful spot. You would think by now I'd realize that moving quickly doesn’t really allow me to achieve anything all that much faster, and very often it ends in frustration. It's time to slow the pace, quit the rush, and stop making unnecessary blunders. Wish me better luck on this one (I’ll need it).

8. Continue to curate clothing.

This is something I picked up over the past year or so that I wish to take with me into the new year. I have become much more skeptical about the purchase I make, particularly with clothing. I used to buy a top or dress if it looked good and fit the occasion. Now I only by a new top or dress if it feels good and fits many occasions (and, importantly, if I already don’t have something else that fits the occasion). It is such a simple way buy, and for me it has made all the difference. It encourages me to dive deeper into my closet and pull out forgotten items and it keeps me from buying things that will look great for that one co-worker’s wedding, but that I will then never wear again after. Comfort and simplicity is key.

9. Pickup a lost hobby.

As we grow older and become more comfortable with the life we live we lose our passion to discover new things about ourselves or indulge in former hobbies. I think we also do this because when you are young, you are trying a million different things to find what you are good at. You finally choose a career and life style and stick to maybe two of those million things you once tried. Then down the road, you realize that you miss doing some of those other things. For me it is painting. I loved to paint. Before, I would paint because I had to in high school art class, or I would paint because I had free time to kill after college. Now, there are plenty other boring grown-up things to fill my free time and no teacher is there to tell me to paint, so I simply don’t. At the start of the year I wrote: “Picking painting back up will be a challenge for me because it is always scary to start something new, and though I used to do it daily, it does feel new. I hope I find the courage this year to pick it back up.” Well, I am proud to report that in February, I had signed up for a painting class through the Smithsonian and loved it. It was crazy how quickly it all came back to me. I loved it. The three hours I spent paining every Saturday morning felt like time standing still. And at the end of the 8 weeks, I had a painting I was proud of. I even included a photo of it at the beginning of this post (and I will include the original I copied below). I will say though, that ever since my classes ended a few months ago, I have still have yet to pick up a paint brush. Like I said, it’s hard to get yourself to do something that requires such attention and effort, even if you love it, when there are so many other daily to-do’s and TV shows that stand in your way. Do you have an advice on how I can better stick with this hobby? I’d love to hear it!