-read one book a month
-check into Finch app daily for January✅
-get my arm tattoo
-go to high tea
- get cash savings to $50k
-max Roth IRA out
-two new bkr purchases, trade/sell ones I don't need or like
-no large PLG purchases
-don't waste time or effort on people who don't care about you
-donate something monthly (weekly if possible?)
-keep up with EMDR
-tackle yard and garden
I don't think I realized how much time has passed since I started. Definitely not as far along as I had hoped, but that is life.
I don't think I'm going to tick off more of my travel goals. I might make it to NYC, but I haven't been itching to be traveling. A little too overwhelmed by life.
I think I have been pretty good on health stuff. I made a big push to get back to regular medical and dental care. It was tough and 100% overwhelming, but I made it through a slew of appointments to get a physical, mammogram, IUD replacement, skin check, vision exam, regular dental cleanings, been doing acupuncture at least monthly, therapy along with starting the EMDR process. Whew, it's a lot! I also signed up to do monthly facials and massages. I think it has been really nice to have some relaxing thing to look forward to every month. I've also been trying to get better about sleep and stuff. It's been difficult that I will just rebel and stay up till 4AM some days because I'm upset about having to conform to this day person life. I hate it.
In terms of getting active, I have not been very motivated. My depression has been looming large for the last year+. I know it would be helpful to eat better and at least be walking more, but I just can't find the motivation. The summer got unbearably hot for weeks on end in July and August, which is starting to affect me more as I get older, so that also hindered activity. I feel like social activity and going out to do stuff has also taken a hit due to sadness.
One thing that has definitely improved is finances. I've held steady to saving the max I can for my 401k, paid off my student loan(!!!) in July, and have a pretty good amount of savings. Plus I have sucked it up and done my taxes. So that's something to be proud of, for sure. I still need to get better about budgeting, and have been looking into different strategies, so hopefully I can find something that works for me to actually stick to.
So, as normal, maybe not the best progress, but honestly, I'm pretty excited to have 11 goals completed.
Welp, I haven't been the best at keeping to my goals, but I did finally try acupuncture. I think it's helping a bit with my trouble sleeping. I did almost weekly for the last 4-5 months of 2023, and am trying to do at least monthly, to every 3 week visits for the year.
I've been pretty good about getting facials on a regular basis. I wish I could get them all the time because I do really like how my skin feels after getting one. I've been toying with doing a monthly facial subscription type place, but the vibe is definitely not as relaxing as I wish it was.
I had dinner at Season to Taste and it was really delicious. Obviously it was expensive, but everything tasted very yummy. I have missed going out to restaurants, so I want to try to make it a priority to go out at least monthly, if not twice a month. It's just tough because everything is so freaking expensive!!
I've probably picked up flowers once or twice more than I think I have, but I am hoping to make a concerted effort to pick them up monthly. They do bring happiness that I should make the effort for.
I still haven't taken my bike in to get put together but hopefully I get my butt in to do that soon!
Last month wasn't the greatest for getting things done, unfortunately. I still haven't purchased a bike or started on some of the monthly tasks that are supposed to be enjoyable like doing a puzzle and taking a bath. It's been hard to be motivated on anything.
However, I did make progress on empties including 2 FS products and11 DS/foils. I think September will have even more FS empties. We saw Twilight, which while it was very tough subject material, I am glad I saw it. I went to a couple new restaurants: Colette and Geppetto.
I killed a bottle of Bombay, but still need to take inventory of the collection to keep better track. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with work, so I held off on registering for a PM class. I need to get a better rhythm and schedule to be productive.
Goals for September include: getting a facial, going to the dentist, going to Brimfield, hitting up a late season Sox game, schedule vet appts, schedule acupuncture intake, and spend some time reading/relaxing outside before it gets too cold.
A few updates on July:
I didn't buy a new bike yet, so that is still on the list for August.
I ponied up for fitness classes, but have yet to take any. My goal is to try one online class a week this month.
I got a haircut! I saw 1776! I had dinner at Faccia Brutta (and Mex Taqueria)! I tried a fancy wine (2017 Jean-Marc Pillot Rully Premier Crus Les Raclots)! I did a day without social media!
No bath, candle burning, post crossing, flower buying, or book finishing happened. So the goal is to get some flowers this month, burn a candle once it cools off a bit (it was too damn hot to have any additional heat sources!), finish Can't and Won't the book I started last month, plus at least start another, and I just registered a postcard to Germany. I don't know this bath thing is going to happen anytime soon.
In terms of beauty empties, I kicked 2 FS products (Ulta Body Scrub, and the Ordinary Copper Peptide Serum), and 9 DS/foils, so that feels pretty good so far. I'm working on 13 DS/foils and 4 FS during the month of August, so I hope to average things well.
Restaurant of the month: I may try to hit up Celeste since that's really easy, but other places to keep in mind are Oleana, Little Donkey, Urban Hearth, and Gustazo.
Other big goals for August:
All the doctors appts to schedule!
15) find a therapist
16) get a mammogram
17) get a vision exam
18) get acupuncture monthly
60) Shakespeare in the park yearly (0/3) Need to do this before Aug 7th!
62) get a certificate in project management (register for a fall semester class by Aug 25th!)
Alright! Here are the things I'd like to focus on for my first month in July:
26) buy a bike I'm hoping to buy myself a new bike for my actual birthday. I haven't ridden one in years, so I'm going with cheapish and cute. We'll see how that goes.
28) join and go to the gym each year I already joined the gym for the year. The school runs on a June - May yearly schedule, so I went ahead and got a year membership...for $24 😂 I generally am not the type who just goes to the gym to lift weights or run on a treadmill, so I'll need to pony up for the classes as well. But I think that's like $160 for the year. Seems not horrible when averaged over the year.
33) biannual haircuts (0/6) It's baaaaadddd. I need a cut ASAP. Have an appt at Ulta for early July.
39) monthly baths (0/33) I need to do a deep clean of the bathtub, but this will be a nice reward for doing so.
43) pan 12 FS beauty products/year + 10 samples/month (0/33) + (0/330) I'm hoping I'll have at least 3 products finished by the end of the month: both toners, copper peptide serum, and potentially a sunscreen. In terms of samples I'll be working on the following: Sunday Riley Good Genes, a couple face moisturizers, a couple sheet masks, and a PTR pumpkin mask, but that leaves 4 more!
49) Postcross quarterly (0/11) I reactivated my profile and probably have plenty of cards to chose from.
51) try a new fancy wine monthly (0/33) Hoping our wine tasting will be back, but if not, maybe it's time to open one of the bottles I've been holding on to for a few years.
52) try a new restaurant monthly (0/33) Already have reservations for Faccia Brutta for my birthday. I'm really excited to try it out! It's not only new to me, it's new to the Boston restaurant scene.
54) go to every ART offering for a season (0/3) We have tickets to see 1776 again with friends, so might as well count it.
63) get physical Somerville and Boston library cards I'm so close to the library. I literally just need to get off my butt and walk the 5 minutes to get it taken care of.
64) read 33 books (0/33) What book do I want to read??? I've started The Gift of Imperfection and The New Jim Crow, but neither are reallllly sparking my interest. So I might do something fluffier like Paulo Coelho's The Spy or Bossypants or Nobody Is Ever Missing.
68) buy self flowers semi-monthly (0/17) Birthday is a perfect excuse to buy flowers.
77) pan 10 candles (0/10) I have like 3 candles that are close, but maybe I'll chose a more summery smell.
98) finish 3 liquor bottles yearly (0/9) I think it might be helpful to make an inventory of what I have so I can keep track a bit better.
