Auld Lang Syne, My Dear

Dress Warning, this is a text heavy post.  First, I wanted to share my New Year's Eve dress. I threw it on on a random night because I wanted to share it with you all in case anyone wanted to order it for themselves. I also wanted to mess around with my camera and the Christmas lights. Killing two birds with one stone, ya know. Anyways, I have something super fun planned this year and cannot wait! You'll have to follow along on Instagram! Now onto 2014's reflection.... What a year it has been. Can I just openly say how much I love having a blog. A perfect example of why is that I can look back on this post and see exactly what I wanted from 2014. And I can look back even further than that. I actually look back on this post from just three years ago and laugh. So here is the Spark Notes version of my 2014 goals: Savor the Moment Travel More Wear Lipstick more often Show Gratitude More Go To Church More Be A Morning Person Go To Bed Earlier Be Less Type A, aka Chill.  Take more photos and videos Drink More Coffee Overall, I'd say I did pretty darn good. I'm glad I didn't set unrealistic expectations for myself either. These were all very attainable goals. I'd have to say I improved on all of these items. I especially improved on savoring the moment. Sometimes I just smile to myself about the stupidest little things during my days and weeks, and that my friends, is savoring the moment.  I traveled a ton... but bring on more trips for 2015! I already have a super fun trip planned for South Carolina at the end of January. Can't wait to share more about that!  I wear lipstick almost daily thanks to this. Gratitude, I've been decent, but I can show improvement, for sure.  Church, morning person and going to bed early. Well, those are going to have to flow into 2015 as well because I need major improvements on those three.  Less type A, more photos and videos and more coffee... check, check, check. But really, being super super up tight and on top of things is great in certain situations, but I've really learned to cool it this year. I've been so much more lax about things and I really think it has help me to come a happier person.  ----------- Ok so, 2015... boy oh boy. April will mark my 25th year. I'm not going to lie. I'm somewhat dreading it. I've never been freaked out about my age, but the fact that I'll officially be in my mid-twenties is a little bit of a scary thing. I still feel like a child 50% of the time. It's funny, last year at this time, I was 23, and now 23 sounds so far away. This year brought upon a lot of change for me--but luckily, in all of the best ways possible. Here's what I hope to be able to work on in 2015: Get into a workout routine.  I used to love working out. I mean seriously I would work out every single day in college. I have to get back into it because it's a great stress reliever and I also like having a six pack... I mean, who doesn't? Say I love You more I love a lot of people. Seriously. Sometimes I feel like I have so much love bottled up in me, I want to explode. But I feel so lucky and I need to tell the people I love that I love them more often. So Callie, Mom, Dad, I LOVE YOU (hehehe... but really).  Trust My Gut This is somethingI learned in 2014. Have you ever been in a situation-- whether good or whether precarious, where you just know what you should do? I've had a lot of gut feelings this past year on what to do and how to handle situations and decisions and so far, trusting my gut has really been a great thing. I need to remember to continue to do this in 2015.  Value Relationships This kind of goes along with last year's resolution to show more gratitude. If there is one thing I have learned from being a post-grad is that as the years go by, you learn what a truly incredible friend is. I think in the business world, and in the general 'adult world', people are all trying to make connections for selfish reasons. We are all guilty of it. You know you want to connect with someone because they know someone who can help you get the job you've always wanted... or maybe your neighbor knows a cute boy for your sister to date... I mean whatever the reason is, people are oftentimes not genuine and selfish. So when you realize you have a 100% true friend, you need to value it and be the same friend back. The same goes for any type of relationship. I think in the digital world, hookup culture or whatever it is that they are calling our generation these days, that it is harder to genuinely connect with someone-- so when you do, recognize it and value it.  White Hot and Passionate Is the Only Thing To Be This is an excerpt from my favorite quote. I think this is another one of my lessons learned since I've graduated college. Having a passion in life is so important. Whether it's watching your favorite sports team, playing an instrument, traveling the world, whatever it may be, I think it's important to be passionate about certain things. Skiing is definitely one my life's passions. I may not be headed to South Korea for the 2018 winter olympics, but I still enjoy everything about skiing. There's a finite time period for ski season, so I need to make the time and effort to get out on the slopes more often! Spend Time With Mac  I love Mac so much. He's my best friend and I truly think there is an unexplainable love that a dog and a family share. I hesitate to even write this-- but Mac is getting old. He's 13 and he's started to slow down a bit. I know there will be a day where he won't be with us, and I hope that time is very far off in the future...but it is truly something that worries me and weighs heavily on my heart and mind from time to time. But sometimes, when the havoc of life gets in the way, I get annoyed when he needs to be let out or walked or whatever it is that he needs... I need to remember that he is the best and I am so lucky to get to spend time with him.  Spend More Time Writing Working full time and blogging while still trying to have a normal 24-year-old social life is pretty darn hard. Sometimes, I only have time to write a quick post and it's hard for me to accept that when I want more time to write. Who knew I would miss my college days when I was able to leisurely sit at my computer and work on Summer Wind all day. I love shooting outfit posts and sharing my latest fashion finds, but I also love writing articles like this and sharing posts like this. But those take time... I've just gotta find the time... anyone know where it is?! Read More Books Like actual books...not on my iPad or not small articles online. I love reading, but I never make time for it. This year I definitely resolve to make more time for reading... leave your book suggestions in the comments! 
Try Something New I really want to take a class of some sort. I'm all about bettering myself and being well rounded. I used to dance when I was younger and then cheered in high school, I miss that and think it would be cool to take a dance class or gymnastics class. I also loved French in middle, high school and college, I think it'd be fun to take a French class at a University, just for the heck of it. I've also thought about cooking classes, photography classes, or even an HTML coding class... these are all things I'm interested in and think it would be great to try! Heck, I am even considering joining a bowling league. I am so bad, but my work group went bowling one night at a really cool bowling alley in the city and it was such a blast!  So I'll stop there, before I add about a billion things and then feel like a failure come 2016. What are your goals for 2015? Have a fabulous day! 
Yours,