I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions, but sometimes the new year is just the push I need to do the things I’ve been thinking about for a while. The rainy, dark winters in Seattle can make getting motivated challenging and the last few months of 2016 were especially tough.
I needed to get out of the rut I was in, so I decided to participate in two New Year’s events through my gym; a Whole30/Reset and a fitness challenge. I also had an unused Dusty Strings gift card, so I signed up for the winter ukulele ensemble session. Between hitting the gym 3 days a week, cooking Whole30 compliant meals and ukulele lessons, January and February have flown by.
I successfully completed Whole30 and while I’m happy to have more flexibility in my diet, I am still feeling pretty good from no sugar or booze for a month. Making exercise a priority again has helped a lot too. I’m feeling recharged mentally and physically and ready for the year ahead.
Rake and Make had it’s fifth anniversary this month and this blog has morphed a little over the years. I still garden and cook, but there are so many better cooks than me out there and I haven’t been doing anything new with the garden lately. What I really love about blogging is sharing my makes with you, so I’m thinking I’m going to focus on that from now on. That said, my 2017 gardening and cooking goals are going to be slim to none while I focus on my sewing and knitting projects.
MY WORD OF THE YEAR IS FUN
At the beginning of each year, I like to assign a word to the year, sort of like a mantra. One year it was “balance”, another year it was “intention”. This year it’s “fun”. This year, I need to have more fun, whatever that may look like. Maybe it’s not even doing more fun things, but having more fun with the things I already do every day, from working to exercising. I’m good at practicing gratefulness, but I could use some improvement on my enjoyment of everyday things. I’ve always been so goal driven and future focused. As I get older, I feel how quickly time passes and the need to stop and enjoy each moment more. I could also stand to relax a little and quit being so serious and hard on myself. It’s all related to having more fun, so I feel like that’s the perfect word for this year.
2017 SEWING AND KNITTING PROJECTS
- My goal is to make two pairs of Closet Case Files Ginger Jeans this year, one in a blue Cone Denim and one in a black denim.
- Christine Haynes Ellsworth Coat– I’ll be taking that Jacket Making class at Camp Workroom Social this year, so I will be learning how to make this jacket with the designer Christine Haynes. So excited.
- The Grainline Studio Archer Button Up Shirt is such a great staple, that I have a feeling once I finish the first one, I will want to make tons of these. My goal is to make two this year. One in a gray plaid shirting and one in a blue chambray.
- Sewaholic Pacific Leggings– I’m in need of some new workout clothes and have a black yoga pant material and a black and white checked lycra for these already. I may even be able to eek out two pairs.
- Finish Hannah Fettig’s Calligraphy Cardigan
- Sewaholic Dunbar Top to match leggings
- Grainline Studio Moss Skirt in green canvas from Mood Fabrics
- Colette Patterns Hawthorn dress in Cotton and Steel/Alexa Abegg Hatbox Fabric
- Grainline Studio Linden Sweatshirt in quilted gray knit fabric from Mood Fabrics– I’m still looking for a matching gray ribbed knit for cuffs and can’t for the life of me find any. Anyone have any good sources for that?
GARDENING GOALS
I’m gonna do it, but may not blog about it so much.
COOKING GOALS
I say it every year, but maybe this will be the year I start doing some video. The first one I want to do is a quiche shell tutorial. That’s about all I have planned on the cooking front.
DIGITAL MARKETING COURSE
You may have read about my career change a couple of years ago. It’s been a challenge, but I’m finally starting to get in a groove. I studied photography in college and my marketing experience comes from my time in the Rat City Rollergirls, my stint as a freelance photographer and this blog. I think I do a pretty good job considering I’ve never had any formal marketing training, but even so, I’ve always considered going back to school or taking some sort of certificate class. With the world of digital marketing constantly growing and changing, I decided it was time to sign up for a Digital Marketing Course. I start this week and will have class on Tuesdays and Thursday nights from now until the end of April. I expect there could be quite a bit of homework (we have to give a big presentation at the end), so things could be quiet on this blog for a while. It’s only 10 weeks and it’s such a great opportunity. I am very excited for this course and can’t wait to start applying everything I’ve learned.
SEWING CAMP
I’ll also be returning to Camp Workroom Social in October. This year, I have been asked to be an Alumni Resource Committee member. What that means is, I will be there to help out with things, welcome campers, answer questions and help with anything they might need (such as directions, campus tours or even finding more clean towels).
Camp Workroom Social is such an amazing group of instructors and campers, so I’m super honored to have been asked to do this. If you are attending Camp Workroom Social this year, give me a shout. I’d love to hear who’s going (new or returning)!
This year is shaping up to be another busy one, full of personal growth, creative endeavors and most of all FUN. Time to get to work and slay my 2017 goals!
