LIFE | 2017 RESOLUTIONS

I hope you all enjoyed your holidays! I know I made the most of my week off work. After christmas with the family, I spent a lot of time at home cleaning, organizing but most importantly catching up on Netflix. We’ve gotten a few little blizzards in the last few weeks which has been a great addition to the holidays. I enjoyed a few days on the mountain and we even hiked up Mt Royal on new years day in the snow, it was a great way to start the year. 

I’m not really much of a new years resolutions person. Since I rarely bother sitting down to make a game plan, I just end up with vague ideas in my head. But this year I wanted to take the time and think about it. And for me the best way to get my thoughts out and organized is by writing them down. So here we go.

Exercise 
This is nothing new. I’ve been doing pole and yoga weekly for the past 4 years and during that time I’ve tried lots of different things. I’ve done crossfit, aerial silks, trapeze, calisthenics, aerial fitness, barre, gym memberships, hot yoga and contemporary dance classes. But in the last year, I’ve been a little lazier – at least by my own standards. Working out once or twice a week may seem like a good effort for some but for my goals, it isn’t enough. I want to constantly work on my physical self, be stronger and more flexible to be better at pole. So it’s important for me to find a way to be active 3 days a week without busting the budget, getting bored or traveling around the city after work to get to each class. So right before the holidays, I purchased some classes at Très Barre Studio. I had taken some classes there before and really liked it. But when I moved and the studio moved, I just couldn’t make it there regularly anymore. Since I moved into the plateau this summer, I am now less than a 10 min walk from the studio. So far I’ve been going regularly since the holidays and so happy I made this decision. In the winter, it’s really important to stay motivated and when your gym is a 7 min walk away, you really don’t have any good excuses. So this year I want to be consistent and keep up a regular workout routine. It helps me sleep, feel happier and gives me more energy.

Create
This year I decided to draw my own christmas card design – something I have been meaning to do probably since I learned how to use illustrator 15 years ago. It was the first time in a while I had sat down to create something just for fun. And to top it all off, something made with all my art supplies that have been ignored too long. I would love to draw or paint at least once a week, even if it’s just an hour at night – after barre class of course. 

Adventure 
This one shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish as I already have a trip to Australia planned for the end of February. I’m visiting my sister in Melbourne for a few weeks with a little side trip to NZ (including a visit to Hobbiton of course). I am super excited for this trip and can’t believe how fast it’s coming up, it will be the first time I travel off the continent! I don’t currently have any other big trips planned for 2017 but what I want to do more of is smaller trips. I hope we can go camping and hiking many times next summer.  I bought Matt a BioLite camp stove for christmas so we are all set to go on some off grid adventures this year. 

Minimize
This is a constant work in progress. Every time I read a book or see a documentary on the subject, I become obsessed with minimalism and want to throw everything away. But at the end of the day, I realize that there is still a part of me who cherishes treasures and I don’t intend to change that aspect of my life. I love adding beautiful well made items of clothing from decades past from thrift stores into my wardrobe. I will never NEVER say no to a pair of vintage Levi’s. Never. This rule also applies to linen and silk. I also can’t help but collect all things brass and copper, but I digress. I try to go through my closet on a regular basis to donate the items I can never seem to fit into an outfit, despite how much I love it. And I often pass some of my vintage into the shop when I find myself no longer using it as much as I should. 

Be greener
Another resolution that is not new to me, but I sometimes need a mental reminder for. I already make an effort to bring my bags and even bought some awesome cotton reusable bags from Dans le sac, a local brand. But for me, the biggest thing I want to work on is being more conscious of the packaging for everyday food items. It’s something we don’t really talk about as much as the act of bringing your own bags, but making your purchasing decisions based on packaging should be something we all think about when we’re shopping for food. I recently took a fresh sponge out of the Costco plastic bag we have under the kitchen sink and realized that each individual sponge is also wrapped in plastic and my heart sank a little. We don’t really notice these things, like when you buy your vegetables pre-cut or pre-washed in thick plastic containers or bags. Convenience wins over being green a lot of the time and I’ve been trying to be better about these things. Since I am vegetarian, it’s very easy to just go to the farmers market and bring my own bags (big and small) and prep all my fruits and veggies when I get home. I get to feel really proud when I look at my groceries on my table and see no plastic packaging. So in 2017, I want to keep up that effort and also apply it to other parts of our home like cleaning products. 

So in an effort to finally finish up this post and publish it, I will leave it with these 5 resolution reminders for myself. Sometimes you just need to get your thoughts out into the universe.

I’m also thinking that it could be fun to share with you all the details of my efforts to live a better life. For example, the companies I shop from for eco products or local designers I love. I can also share advice I find useful for living a simpler life and ressources that I find helpful.