Color Me Styled - Resolution Check In #12

image via The Glitter Guide



Well the last day of 2013 is upon us!  I hope you are getting ready for a fabulous party tonight and a low-key day tomorrow.  We're excited to host a dozen of our friends for lots of appetizers, lots of cocktails, and lots of fun and maybe we'll pay attention to the clock!

For the last 12 months I've checked in on my New Year's Resolutions.  Sometimes reporting success, sometimes not, but I wrote a post every month no matter how I fared.  December was more of the same, I gained weight over the last 2 weeks but we stuck to our Christmas gift budget and we didn't go too far over our Christmas extras budget. 

I did the post for Smitten Boutique and worked closely with Kirstin and Erin there to get the product lists and photographs all set up.  I'm continuing to work closely with the girls involved in the Windy City Blogger Collective and we're going to have a big launch in January.  I'm working on my personal branding to help align both blogs with each other so you'll see a few enhancements here and on Daily E.  I've got some fresh ideas for content here on Color Me Styled next year (aka Thursday)... an ingredient of the month club, weekly links, blogger features, and of course more recipes, craft projects, and style posts!

I'm continuing to learn more about myself and how I work and what type of job will be the best for me.  Best meaning fulfilling and plays to my natural skill set with room to grow.  In 2013 I took a big step forward by moving back into the Non-Profit Sector and as I continue to learn and grow in my current role we'll see what opportunities present themselves!

I think I'm going to keep my mini resolutions into next year!  I have been better this month about my dresser top, I got bangs halfway through the month so I have had to do something with my hair everyday... but I still wear a lot of topknots.  My face is washed most days but I'm still not doing it daily. 

That'll do it for 2013!!  I'm finalizing my intentions and resolutions for 2014 and will share them on Thursday. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Color Me Styled - Resolution Check in #2

February Florals | image via Katy Elliott

Well since it is just a normal, boring, non leap year the month of February is at an end and it is time to Check In again on my Resolutions!

My first personal resolution to loose weight is going so-so. I do well every other week it seems. As long as this stays the pattern I can plan for it and adjust my expectations. I did resolve to move more this month and I didn't exercise as much as I should have but I did more than January. I plan to continue to improve my movement amounts as I head into March.

The second resolution is to get household finances in order. We were a bit over budget but we learned from the areas where we went over and have adjusted it going forward. I filed our taxes last night so technically I got that done as planned. (Just in the nick of time)

My blogging resolution through February has been to finalize the design for the blogs. While I admit now that they'll never be truly finished I am very happy of the layouts on both Color Me Styled and Daily E. I will continue to learn new tricks and will make updates as I fancy.

I also resolved to put energy into my career path. I didn't officially schedule any coffee dates but I did love the networking opportunity the Chicago Blogger Network Oscar Party provided. A lot of thought has gone into different options and in March I resolve to move outside my comfort zone and meet people in the industries I am interested in and pick their brains.

The mini-resolutions I undertook (washing off makeup, drying hair more, getting back to set and reading before bed) have only slipped a little. I'd say one more month of getting these things done daily and they'll be lifelong habits!

February was full of friends, family and celebrations. March will bring more of the same and hopefully consistently warmer weather!

Color Me Styled - Resolution Check In #1

Perfectly January | image via flickr

Can you believe it is the end of January already?!

With 30 days of 2013 in the books it is time to check in on those resolutions. Statistically, most people have already abandoned their resolutions (it happened by January 22nd). But so far so good for mine!

I've made a slew of resolutions and most I have kept up with and the ones that have slid to the side can easily be recovered if I want to.

For Color Me Styled I resolved to update the design and while I'm still working on it I am happy with the look of the site right now and can see it as the base for the blog's brand. I have another month to focus just on the design and mechanics of the site before I move on to having posts scheduled a week in advance and then move on to shameless self-promotion.

I have several personal resolutions that I have been consistent with and am proud of the new habits I am forming. My first is to shed the last of my college weight in time for my 5 year reunion this June. I'm a couple pounds behind my schedule but only because I gave myself the weekend off for my birthday trip to NYC. 

Secondly I resolved to get control of the household finances. We did really well (again, except for NYC) and we ended the month under our projections. This is a team effort and Danny and I have done it together. Coming up in February I will be filing our taxes and organizing our essential documents.

My third personal goal was about blogging... and I've already mentioned how I am proud with my progress so far. One more month of design updates.

My last stated resolution was to put some energy into my career path and how I want to develop as a professional in the next few years. This one I haven't put a lot towards yet but if you permit my fortune cookie-ness: I see potential for a great development in my future.

Those are all the official resolutions. I have picked up a few habits because it is time to just be a grown-up and do grown-up things. I have removed my makeup every night except one in NYC and have washed my face. I've blow dried my hair at least once a week instead of just throwing it into a bun on my way out the door. I've read from a book instead of going from West Wing episodes on Netflix to bed. And I've made the bed and gotten rooms back to "set" almost every day per the advice from Gretchen Rubin's Happier at Home.

So far 2013 has been fantastic and I am encouraged by a successful January. Bring it on February! I'm ready!!

Color Me Styled - 2013 has arrived

Greeting Card from Emily McDowell on ETSY

Well the new year is officially here and already I'm breaking even for resolution success.

Before bed yesterday I didn't clean up the entire mess made by our Fondue dinner and there are still some Christmas gifts that need to find a home.

But this morning, I woke up on time and got out of the door early. 

New Year's kind of snuck up on me. (Hence the Christmas banner logo and color scheme is still up. I will update it in the next few days.) There is a lot I want to do with CMS this year! I want to update the design (move post body to the left side, clean up ads / boxes and set a standard format for posts). Then I want to get back to the point where posts are scheduled a few days in advance so I don't feel like I am rushing to get content posted! And finally I want to grow the audience through shameless promotion. 

I plan to have the design updated by the end of February and then plan to have my posts caught up by the end of April. Our first birthday is in July and by that point I hope to have grown the audience and become a stronger presence in social media.

And then it will just be 6 quick months and we'll be ringing in 2014!

Color Me Thrifty - Resolutions & Scary Saving

This morning while making my own lunch to take with me to work I was watching the Today Show and saw a segment on the Face Retirement app from Bank of America. Basically it is an aging software to show you what you will look like in retirement. It also projects the average cost of everyday items in the year you plan to retire (like $9 loaves of bread). 

The stat going around is that those of us new to the work scene will have to have over a million dollars saved in order to retire. 

Armed with this information and with the ceremonial New Years Resolutions quickly approaching I figured I'd share this one of mine with you.

In 2013 I will understand my finances, stick to my budget and save.

Seems basic yes, but at the end of each month it seems that I've somehow steered totally off track! I'm not adding any new debt (credit cards) but I'm not really improving my situation much either.

There is a grand master spreadsheet where every financial transaction will be tracked. Paychecks are listed out for each period throughout the year and each paycheck has an amount allocated for savings (401k and basic savings account), and expenses due at that time of the month. There are then weekly amounts for groceries, shopping, entertainment. Monthly amounts for bills, loans, insurance and gas. And finally a "MISC" column broken out by month where birthdays, trips and holidays are counted for. 

On another tab within the workbook is a place to literally dump my online bank statement each week so all purchases can be checked and counted in their bucket. 

The plan is to visit the spreadsheet once a week and plug in all the details. Any cash leftover and not used in that month goes directly into savings. 

If you would like to see the template of the spreadsheet just shoot me a line at colormestyled@gmail.com and I'll send it over. You'll have to make some adjustments to it to customize it for you but it is a great starting place.

I am also convinced that financial discipline and success is directly related to weight loss success and my second resolution is to loose 35 pounds. I am tracking my weight loss on Daily E every Thursday... starting (again) today.

The final resolution is to shamelessly promote my blogs and to make as many connections in the blogosphere as I can. Since starting Color Me Styled in July the site has grown past my initial expectations (thank you for your loyalty) but if I want to make Blog-world Domination my resolution for 2014 I've got a lot of ground work to do!

What are you resolving to do in 2013?