Resolution inspiration.

Happy 2012, everybody! I had a great holiday season: I got to spend time with family and friends, play cards into the wee hours of the morning, drink wine, open presents, eat delicious food, go thrifting with my mum, finish my wedding thank you notes (FINALLY), watch trashy shows on TLC (Extreme Couponing, anyone?), check out the Boxing Day sales, and receive THE most fabulous coat (thanks, Mum!). My husband and I capped off 2011 last night with a small get-together with a too-large menu. We watched "Trading Places" and played cards, again. It was a wonderful time.

Now, it's a new year, and I feel a need to make resolutions, as I often do. This year, I decided to link my resolutions to amazing people I've read about as inspiration and motivation.

First off, I want to stay healthy: continue on the Diet, drink more water, take care of my skin, get enough sleep, and take up exercise, especially yoga and/or meditation to reduce stress. If people in their 80s and 90s can do it, so can I!

Next, I want to give a Spending Fast (or at least a Spending Diet) a shot. Anna's story is so inspiring, and this year people are pledging to join her. Having a group of people with this shared goal will be a great motivation. Now I just need to figure out my parameters...

Of course, I want to improve my creative side: writing this blog, getting back into making art, and possibly start posting outfit photos again (like these fantastic ladies!). I need to focus more on this and less on just noodling about on the internet.

Lastly, I want to focus on all the wonderful people in my life: my husband, our families, our friends, our cats (they're people too!), and all the lovely folks out there I have yet to meet. Watch out world - you're getting a hug!

Goals, not resolutions.

Happy New Year, everyone!

I have decided, after years of forgetting to make New Years' resolutions, that goal-setting might be a better idea than just generally trying to be a better person. Defined, instead of vague, goals make it easier to mark progress and to take steps toward positive and long-lasting change.

I am approaching it this way: first, I'll go over how my life stands as a whole right now. Some areas are doing well, and some are not so great. Regardless, I'm going to set goals to improve all of them.

DIET AND NUTRITION

My life right now in 2010: I am following the SCD religiously. I have been doing really well in sticking to the diet in the face of temptation. I am working hard to balance my meals so I'm not overconsuming anything. I am keeping track of what I eat, my B.M.s, my exercise and stress levels

My goal for 2011: Continue following the SCD and keeping track of my progress in my food log (make sure to continue logging stress levels and exercise in there as well). Test SCD results by spacing out my Remicade infusions based on symptoms leading up to infusions. Make sure to keep everything in moderation, especially sweets and nuts - eat more veggies instead. Eat at least one serving each of broth/soup and yogurt every day.

EXERCISE

My life right now in 2010: Walking 30-40 minutes 5-7 days a week. A pole dance class once weekly.

My goal for 2011: Continue with the above, but add in workouts to tone and build strength. Strengthen my core through pushups. By the end of the year, I should be bale to do 100 pushups every day. If I can afford it, try a class at circus school (possibly with my husband?).

STRESS MANAGEMENT

My life right now in 2010: I work at a job with very tight deadlines and lots of multitasking. It can be very stressful, especially for someone like me who is high-strung already. Right now, I don't do very much to help manage my stress, though I have noticed that my stress in general is lower since starting the SCD.

My goal for 2011: Try out yoga and/or meditation (possibly on lunch breaks?). Be stricter with to-do lists and procrastination.

SHOPPING AND STYLE

My life right now in 2010: I own too many clothes. Since the 30 for 30, I've bought a fair amount of new items. I'm always looking for my next new purchase.

My goal for 2011: This might be the toughest of all: a shopping ban. These are the rules: NO new items, except for undergarments, hosiery, and workout gear. I will have three other exceptions: I will continue searching for the ruffled Joe Fresh cardigan and the perfect yellow cardigan and a winter wool Duffel coat to replace my old one (it's older than I am! Seriously. It's at least 25 years old), if I can find one on sale. I'll be allowed to go thrift-shopping 12 times in the year (presumably once a month, but if I miss a month I can use it later). I can accept new clothing or gift cards to spend at clothing stores as presents. I am also allowed to make my own clothing or have it tailored. At the end of the year, I will have a massive closet clean-out and keep only those pieces I really love. I also plan to continue blogging my outfits and updating on my progress. Wish me luck!

MARRIAGE

My life right now in 2010: I'm not going to be talking much about my personal life here. My husband and I have a good relationship, but we've fallen into a bit of a rut. It's really important to both of us to have a date night every week, but we usually don't.

My goal for 2011: Date night once a week, EVERY week (we'll take turns planning). Also, more workouts together.

SPIRITUAL LIFE

My life right now in 2010: I have a lot of thinking to do about this one. I've been meaning to do research and reading, but I keep putting it off.

My goal for 2011: Stop putting it off: research, reading, long walks, quiet contemplation. This fits in well with my stress reduction goal: yoga and meditation might become part of my spiritual practise. Try that church I keep meaning to visit. Attend church with my husband at least once a month. Sing more often.

MONEY

My life right now in 2010: I keep trying to track my spending, but all I have is a mostly-neglected computer file and a huge pile of receipts. I have things to save up for!

My goal for 2011: Discuss budgeting with my husband. Figure out a strategy to monitor spending. Figure out how we're going to save up (and what we're saving up for - prioritise the list!). We want to go on a trip to celebrate successful completion of the SCD, so we should start saving now. We should also put aside some money for emergencies.

This is a lot of stuff. I know that by the end of next year, I won't be a perfect veggie-munching, 100-daily-pushup-doing, meditating, shopping-free, date-nighting, spiritually fulfilled, money-saving maven. I'm only human. That said, I do hope I'll still be following the SCD with a will of iron, that my body will be stronger, that my stress levels will be lower, that I'll be a more conscious clothing consumer, that my marriage will be even better, that I'll have a richer spiritual life, and that there'll be some extra moolah in my bank accounts. In 2011, I want to be stronger. What will YOU do next year?

Kisses,

Meg

Something important.

It is 4:30am and I can't sleep.

On the plus side, however, as I was laying in bed tossing and turning, I had a bit of a revelation that is going to change my life majorly and for the better. I don't think anything this important and positive has happened since my wedding day. Granted, that was less than two months ago, but still.

The other day at work, I had some time to kill and I found myself wandering from a blog about professional blogging to a site called "Man Vs. Debt". I'm not terribly interested in personal finance as a hobby, but I have significant student loan debt and I was curious to see what this fellow had to say.

It was about more, much more, than debt. It was about changing your life for the better, whether it be in a small way like de-cluttering your garage, or in a large way, like living free of credit cards. It's about aspirations, ambitions, and life goals.

It mobilised me. I started writing lists of things I wanted to achieve, and the words just poured out of me onto the paper. I felt powerful. I felt confident. I felt... trepidation.

It took me until tonight to figure out why. The cogs had been turning in my head for the past two days. I have two life goals, and I've known what they are for a long time, though not how to put them into action. I want to (1) help people and (2) to travel.

In university, I studied International Development Studies. My intent was to go to Africa or somewhere and feed starving children. I knew I wasn't cut out for the medical professions, so I figured that this would be the most concrete way to help people. However, once I got to school, I soon learned that my way of thinking was imperialistic - very "white man's burden". Also, in my third year of school, a very unfortunate housing situation lead to a relapse of my Crohn's disease, which had gone into remission around the time I started university.

After the return of the Crohn's, I suffered a flare-up so severe that it put me a year behind in my studies. My disease had worsened, and it continued to adversely affect my life, and shattered my dreams of travelling internationally to work for non-profits.

What I need to do is get back into remission permanently. The drugs I'm on now are so new that the long-term effects aren't known yet. It would make so much sense for me to shape up and get myself out of this mess.

This is not an easy proposition. Beating Crohn's is going to take lifestyle changes galore. I am a worrier, and stress is my biggest trigger when it comes to Crohn's. I need to remove stress from my life wherever possible and learn to cope with the problems that I can't get rid of. It could mean creative outlets*, meditation, volunteering, research, diets, strict budgeting, or yoga. My goal for right now will be to come here, every day, and tackle this, and write about my results and discoveries for the day. It may take time, but I read somewhere that it's the dull, plodding types who get things done, otherwise the world would be full of serial novelists and Olympic athletes.

I feel like this idea needs a catchy name of some mind. Something that ends in "Project". I'll get back to you on that.

And so my adventure begins.

Cheers,
Meg

*And all this time, I thought I wanted to write a fashion blog? ...well, who knows. Maybe that's a creative outlet right there. :)

On fashion and consumption

When my future mother-in-law gave me “Funny Face” as a gift, I was thrilled. I was even more thrilled when I saw what the film was about – Audrey Hepburn, an intelligent and intellectual young woman, is swept up in the tempting world of fashion. I was excited to learn something about how the two worlds could be reconciled: the purer virtues of knowledge versus the fun frivolity of fashion.

What I got instead was a film that glossed over the issue by creating a fashion-y love interest and a sleazy philosopher-villain. Sigh.

I spend a lot of time wondering about my interest in fashion, and how it fits into my world. My dad’s biggest hobby is thrift shopping, to the point that I have called him the Imelda Marcos of pants. He has owned literally hundreds of pairs of the things. I’ve inherited this love of thrift shopping. As a result, my wardrobe has a turnover not unlike a character on a TV show (though I do actually rewear clothing). It seems justifiable because the individual items are so cheap, but, over time, it all adds up: I’ve got a closet that’s nearly full and a wallet that’s close to empty.

Not only is this a bad thing from a financial perspective, but it’s also an intellectual dilemma. At school, I study international development; we talk about how countries all over the world change through time, and what that means. After years of study, I feel that I’m qualified to say that the current trends towards consumerism and materialism are unsustainable. If every country in the world becomes like developed countries are now, the planet won’t have the resources to support us all.

If we lived modestly, this wouldn’t be a problem. But we don’t. We live in a world of disposable items and quick obsolescence. Don’t like your current iPod? Don’t worry, there’ll be a new model next year. Your blender broke? It’s cheaper to buy a new one than to replace the single flimsy plastic piece that broke. Very few things are built to last, and we’re encouraged by the advertising industry to throw things away and start afresh. A prime example of this is, of course, the world of fashion.

But I love fashion. The excitement of a new dress or the thrill of the hunt on a sales rack or in a thrift store is a pretty great feeling. Even though I rarely buy things at full price, I am definitely contributing to the problem. So how do I slow down and tell myself that I don’t need a new cardigan to match that skirt? Do I give up caring about fashion altogether? It sounds a bit silly, yes, but for me it is a valid concern. What do I do? What about you?

Elaine, the budget-conscious fashionista helming Clothed Much, one of my favorite fashion blogs.