doing: december 2014

kickin ass on my small biz christmas goal

decorating our {real} christmas tree

stepping on lots of needles {sewing and tree}

struggling with my monthly mileage

celebrating love #GretchenEls121314

drinking a lot of red moscato

burning woodwick's Fraser Fir candle

riding my bike to work {still!!}

getting excited for Downton Abby in january 

fulfilling bow tie and pocket square orders {online & local}

{photo from Woodchuck's Ciderbration, waaay back in august}

hello december 2014

last month was a struggle with the cold and darkness, slowly but surely i'm adjusting {no other options, right?}. i got lots of stitching and running done, and this month looks about the same:

 

> small biz christmas: oh target, you've got me hook/line/sinker with so many lovely things, but big box stores, are the problem.  so kickin it up a notch from last years goal, i'm shooting for 75% of my gifts to be from small businesses and/or handmade {by me or others}.update: success! between wandering into small shops around town, finding fun things on etsy, lots of stitching, and stocking stuffers from Trader Joe's, only a few books were ordered from Amazon. yay!

> blog revamp: new year, new fresh and shiny spaces. that's the dream, right? well not much can change in our rental house, so i'm thinking it's time for a blog renovation instead. also, not nearly as expensive or messy :) update: i've got a {secret} pinterest board of inspiration, but so far, nothing ready to go live.

> finish rennie garb: i always forget how complicated these outfits are. mostly it is the pattern adjusting or the coordinating fabric finding that slows it down, but now that everything is in house and cut out, it's time to pull it all together. update: still working on them, and i'm oh so close to being done. it's always the finishing bits and buttons that trip me up.

> run 50 miles: ahhhhh! that's all i need to get my {adjusted} goal of  300 miles this year. i'll be super pissed if i miss it by a handful of miles. super. pissed. update: eff, eff, eff. i was going strong the first few weeks, but then a week of heavy nor'easter rain, a wicked cold, then focusing on christmas presents.....and that's where i'm going to end the excuses.

around here: december 2013

peanut butter m&ms and fritos get me through long drives // new running shoes {thanks mom!} // pretty snow // pain in the butt snow // his&hers on the couch // soft morning sunlight // what a combo, groupon.... // all of the important parts were covered // hehehe

deck the halls....2013

the rest of our house/apartment may be pretty spacious, but the living room is quite ittybitty cozy. there are two huge doorways, a big window/radiator combo smack dab in the middle of the third wall, and a giant tv involved. call me a grinch, but i have strong feelings against squeezing in a christmas tree too.  so we just work with what we have {including the landlords choice in walpaper...}.

i think the 3-d paper snowflakes, fake mistletoe, garland and bulb wreath, greg's baseball stirrup stockings, and draped lights make it festive. oh, and the balsam&cedar candle helps too ;)

ps, what are your favorite holiday decorations? leave a comment!

hello december

after having my ass handed to me goal-wise last month, all of the holiday craziness, and the likelihood that ill still be a cranky, sunshine-needing blob this month, i'm gonna slow down a bit.

> i'm still not very good at this one, but i'm trying.  i need to write more. recipes and tutorials are easy for me, just writing is much harder. time to work the keyboard. update: well 9 posts worked out to be just over 2/week. that didn't make my goal, but i did write about gloves and feeling productive.

> i want to have my own handmade biz, so i feel the need to support other awesome small timers.  why bother buying from giant corporations who are only worried about their bottom line. {and that is a whole 'nother conversation....} update: over 50% of my gifts were either handmade, from a small biz, or recycled, yay!

> i already feel smothered by how messy the house has gotten while we were prepping/away for thanksgiving.  there's going to be just as much going on this month, but i might as well be productive while i'm holed up indoors.  there's nothing like feeling light and refreshed when you set big goals. update: decluttered some of the *junk* piles around the house and sorted a few boxes of stuff from when we moved in 15 months ago...

> just because it's too cold and dark to run during the week, doesn't mean i need to be so lazy. i've got plenty of cheesy workout dvds to get my blood pumpin'.  this also applies to laying around and being lazy in general.  i can write blog posts from the couch, no reason to not be productive in some way, shape, or form. update: this didn't happen, boo.

PS, what are your goals this month? share 'em in the comments!