Sharing the Love

I know... Valentine's Day was last week. But I can still share the love!

One of my 2013 New Year’s resolutions was to be more green. We try to be as eco-conscious as possible, and have made big changes in our house the last few years:  greener cleaning products, composting and eating organic whenever we can. I’ll write more about this (one day), but this even goes for Otto now, who is on an all-natural raw meat diet as of a few weeks ago.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but one of my guilty pleasures is to pick out new nail polish. I have a little bit of a nail-polish hording problem. Thankfully when we renovated our bathroom last year, I had to do some major purging. But I still have at least 6 or 7 colors at the ready. While looking for a new color last week, it occurred to me that I’ve never sought to “green” my manicure routine... and with all of the new, toxin-free formulas available, there was really no reason not to try them.

Zoya offers over 300 shades, and all of their formulas are all formaldehyde, toulane, DBP and camphor-free.

As part of their “Share the Love” program, it is super easy to get free nail polish. By clicking on the below (which is my personal share-the-love link), and creating an account, a coupon for a free bottle of nail polish will automatically be added to your account (FYI, this is an $8 savings). You will only pay for shipping, or, if you buy 2 bottles of nail polish on top of your free one, you will get free shipping on your order!

https://www.artofbeauty.com/rd/01726BFC

In the spirit of full disclosure, I will get  “points” when you create an account & place an order. While I’m sure the points will eventually amount to something (I’m not sure what, to be honest), that is not why I’m sharing the link. I really just thought it would be fun for all of you to get a free bottle of nail polish!

I just placed my first order, so I can’t comment on the product itself, but since Sherry (from YHL) has been using Zoya since 2008, I’m sure it is great. After-all, I consider Sherry & John the ultimate product knowledge gurus on pretty much everything.

In case you are curious, here’s what I ordered!

Morgan

Jane

Happy Shopping!

I was in no way compensated for saying anything about Zoya products or their “Share the Love” program. My order was placed by & paid by ME, and I received absolutely no discount from Zoya. 

Twenty Thirteen Resolutions

I love all that a new year brings. The hope and promise of new beginnings and a clean slate. The opportunity to re-prioritize and reflect, and choose what to focus on for the next 365 days.

via

I’ve already mentioned it in my 2012 Resolution Recap, but I love resolutions. It appeals to the list-maker in me, and I love having something to reference to keep myself accountable. Last year I kept my resolutions in a little notebook I carry all the time, and I truly believe it helped me stay on track for the year.

1) Learn to sew, apply eye makeup, and check my tire pressure 
Sewing is something I’ve always wanted to learn, and I’m looking forward to working on some projects I’ve been dreaming up. Applying my eye makeup is something I’ve always struggled with. I wear the same colors every day, and rush to apply my mascara as I’m waiting for the train to pull into the station each morning. I’d love to learn a new day and night look that I can do easily and that makes me look like I’m actually sleeping through the night ;) And checking my tire pressure is just something I need to learn to do. End of story!

2) Lose 5 more pounds
I was able to get back to my pre-baby weight in 2012, but that is still 5 pounds heavier than I was when we got married. I don’t feel like I have to fit into any particular size, but I remember how great I felt about my body 3 years ago, and would love to feel that way again.

4) Continue to read one book a month
Because I commute to work, this is pretty easy for me to accomplish. I loved reading one book (sometimes 2!) a month last year, and look forward to finding some new favorites again in 2013. I’ve already started my book for January, and will share it as soon as I’m done!

5) Learn to photograph in manual
Something I wanted to learn last year, but didn’t. I know learning this could really help my photography (of both my family & my home), and I’m excited to challenge myself in this way. Santa was very generous this year, and brought me a new camera lens & tripod, so now I have no excuse to not work on my photography skills!

6)  Continue to grow my business
Staring my business last year was one of the hardest, but most rewarding, things I have ever done. I’m excited to work on some new projects I’ve been thinking of, and to see how far this dream can go.

7)  Cook one meal a month
We all know that I’m not the cook in the house. I have a wonderful, handsome husband who also happens to be one of the best cooks I know. Many people are shocked that I don’t cook, but frankly, I don’t have time. If I cooked, we wouldn’t eat dinner until 8:00 every night, and well… that’s not feasible. I do however, want to learn to make more than scrambled eggs and my token salmon in puff pastry.

8) Less Internet & Social Media
I had planned for this to be a resolution for months, and then on New Year’s Day, I accidentally left my phone at home while we were with my family. It was so liberating to not have something to check out of habit, and just BE. I use my train ride to catch up on my blogs, and I don’t feel that time takes away from being with my family. But when I’m home, I’m guilty of checking social media while A is playing away on the floor. I want to be more present, and putting my phone away is the best way to do that.

9) Be more green
While I made a lot of strides in 2012, I am still guilty of being lazy when it comes to some things. This year, I want to use less plastic (specifically water bottles) move all of my magazine subscriptions to our iPad, and actually remember my reusable bags when I go to the grocery store.

10) POML (Project Organize My Life)
This deserves its own post, so I won’t go into too much detail now. But I’d like to continue setting monthly goals for getting our home organized, and creating more attainable routines. From cleaning, to managing our pictures, and organizing our recipes, I want to simply.

11) Take some time for ME
I think it is natural for moms to always put themselves last, but I do need to start taking a little bit better care of myself. You know... all the good things: drink more water and less coffee, get out for more walks, take my vitamins & get a little more sleep. Pray more when I need some grounding, and find more time for a glass of wine or a phone call with my friends.

Looking forward to the new year, and all that it brings!

Happy New Year & 2012 Resolutions

Happy New Year, friends!

I had the BEST 10 days off, and spent some much needed quality time with my boys. A and I had so much fun being home together, and tried to fit in as much playtime as we could. It's going to be hard to leave him tomorrow morning! How could you not love this face?!

The last few years, I feel like the new trend in blog-land is to not make new years resolutions. And while that may be for some, I love making resolutions. I'm a Virgo, through and through, and lists & goals keep me centered. Before I make my resolutions for the new year, I love looking back to see how I did the year prior. I don't ever beat myself up over not meeting any of my goals for the year, but making progress on all some of them does give me a great sense of accomplishment.

2012 Resolutions

• Get back to my pre-baby weight
I'm happy to say that this summer, I was finally back to my pre-baby weight. I earned every pound of the 29 I gained with A in 2011, and was blessed with a wonderful pregnancy and a very healthy 7 pound, 15 ounce baby boy. A was just around 16 months when I met that goal, and it honestly felt great. My body has certainly changed since having a baby, and I now seem to be a size larger in most brands, but I'm OK with that.

• Read one book a month for the entire year
This was such a great resolution, because it forced me to pick up my Kindle on a regular basis. In the past, I had a tendency to read in spurts, only to not read again for months. You can read all about the 18 books I read here, and plan to continue this resolution next year, too!

• Learn to use my DSLR
Ahhh - this goal I didn't do so great in. I'm guilty of always shooting in auto, because it is easy and my pictures seem to come out pretty good. Next year I plan to make this goal more specific, and try to learn to shoot in manual

• Launch Bella Carta Boutique Website & grow business
Complete! I plan to do a separate post all about this, but launching my business this year was one of my proudest moments. I am also happy to share that between Etsy and private orders, we had an extremely successful holiday season. It was full of stress & late nights, and lots of growing pains, but I wouldn't have it any other way! You can read all about the Etsy launch here!

• Start a blog
Pretty obvious, but yes, I started this blog. The amount of time and organization that it takes to manage a blog was definitely a shock at first, but I feel like after 5 months I am in a little bit of a groove. I don't feel the same pressure I did at first, to post every day... 3 times a week seems to be manageable for me, and I love that the blog keeps me accountable for my projects. Starting a blog was a dream of mine for many years, so I'm thrilled to have finally accomplished this 2012.

• Become a little more "green"
This resolution was pretty vague, but I do feel like I've done a pretty good job with this. C and I are both extremely environmentally conscious, both in our home and in our lives, and have really made this a priority. This year, I made my own homemade cleaners, was able to significantly reduce our junk mail by discontinuing many catalogs we receive each week. I started (but didn't finish) to create a way to manage Bella Carta's accounting all online, so that I can avoid printing out receipts & invoices all the time.

• Project Organize My Life
This resolution deserves a whole post in of itself, but having a disorganized home kind of drives me crazy. It sounds ridiculously unattainable, but what I truly strive for is order in our everyday life, so we can spend more time doing the things we love. I hate that I have to do a huge purge of our linen closet or pantry 4 times a year (for an hour or more each time) - if it was all organized to begin with, it would never get to that state. Here are some of the things I set out to accomplish this year.

     - Organize our Photos: find online storage, organize pictures in folders on computer & get albums printed
     - Work on our Living Will: write & sign our will, choose guardians & executors of our estate
     - Create a filing system: mail, receipts, taxes, health insurance documents & Otto's vet information

I'm happy to say most of these things are done. I'll share more about each of them in a later post, but having each of these items taken care of has made so many things easier.

Phew! It's been a good year!

On a personal note, 2012 was all I could have imagined and more. We watched our little baby grow into a rambunctious toddler, and embraced the new family dynamic that came along with it. C and I feel more settled into our roles as parents, and have carved out some time for ourselves, too.  That's not to say that our year wasn't also full of challenges, but knowing that we've gotten through them all as a family has only made us stronger.

The last few weeks have been heart wrenching for me, personally, as I've struggled to find my 'normal' after the Sandy Hook shootings. I found it hard to not feel guilty during the holidays, as so many families were still grieving for their babies. All of this has made me slow down a bit, and just soak in every moment I can. I've never been one to take anything for granted - I know my life, and my family, are all enormous blessings - but this holiday season I savoured it all a little bit more. I've made it my own personal vow to turn off the tv / put away my phone / get off the computer more often, and just BE. Be a mom, be a wife, a daughter, a friend... because those are the things that matter. My resolutions? They are important (to me), but never more important than my family.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your families! Here's to a healthy & happy new year!

XO