new year's resolutions

straight from my notes app

1. Track my personal spending. We have combined household checking, savings, and investments, but we also each have a personal checking account that we treat like fun money. I’d like to keep track of these purchases because even though it’s a (small) set amount each month, it does add up.
   

2. Get in my closet more and play. I actually started doing this a little bit because I recently downloaded the Stylebook app, which I’ve been using to catalog my clothes and make little outfit collages. I’d like to focus more on styling my existing wardrobe than acquiring new pieces.
   

3. Get back into baking. I used to bake regularly before Ari was born. I find the process meditative, and I love sharing baked goods with people. I’d like to bake through the book Snacking Cakes by Yossy Arefi and then get her second book as a little treat (pun intended).
   

4. Send more mail, especially to my nieces.
   

5. Keep up my writing and journaling. I enjoy what I am doing here, and I’ve kept a five year diary for eight years now (finishing the first one felt like such an accomplishment!). My friend Edan wrote an explainer of the practice, if you need convincing.
   

6. Read 35 books; make an effort to read outside my comfort zone every quarter (or more!). More backlist books, at least one science fiction and one fantasy pick, perhaps even a “classic.”
   

7. Be on time.
   

8. Carry cash.

I know many people have moved away from traditional resolutions, and I usually just pick one thing to focus on (last year it was the three month online shopping ban, the year before it was learning to compost), but I feel good about using this list as a guide for 2024.

Happy New Year!

With love,

Lexie