Hi there. OMG it's #NYE don't you even know? I plan on hanging out at home after a lovely dinner with Nick at one of my all-time favorite East Bay restaurants, Desco. It's a cozy Italian place in downtown Oakland with lovely owners and servers working there, and a very talented chef that truly cares about creating clean and delicious dishes. If you're local, go to there!
NYE home plans go like this: I have exactly one bottle of champagne (Veuve Clicquot because why not it's #NYE), but unlike last year, and maybe even the year before, I shant be Instagramming much about anything about tonight. Instagram has become such a disappointing game this past year! Not to say there aren't super talented people I follow on there to inspire me, but there is also a seedy dark side that only comes out when you're scrolling past perfectly curated photos of unrealistic "real" lives that the disappointment really settles in. So you see, the disappointment isn't with Instagram the app, it's with myself. My full time job allows me to see the logistical business end of all of this, and knowing how un-spontaneous and highly coordinated it can be has kind of turned me off to playing the whole game myself. So I've resolved not to. I've lost "followers" ever since and I haven't given a single fuck.
Ok, let's get to it then. New year, new resolutions:
1. My credit card debt will die a horrible son-of-a-bitch death this year.
Student loans withstanding, I refuse not go into 2017 with any debt. I've dilly dallied around this for years. People who follow this blog since the early times will know this resolution all too well. But this year? The year I am 30? It's over. I really mean it. I've come up with a plan, with actual numbers this time and I know I can do it. I'm also selling most of my close on Depop and Tictail. So take a look if you're interested. Don't be shy and make me an offer if something catches your eye.
2. I will paint more because I love it.
Paintings has become one of my favorite things again. It has renewed my creativity and optimism if you can believe it, and it makes me genuinely happy to sit in front of my easel and just have at it with my acrylic. (I don't mess with oils because I frankly don't trust my clumsy and messy self with them still). I haven't painted this much since I was at Berkeley getting my Art major, and I've got so many ideas now. I resolve to share a little bit more of that here, too, and not only with Instagram, that ungrateful app. (JK, I don't care! Remember!)
3. I will put my phone down more.
I want to be present and available for my friends and family and I would love to travel more. This can only happen when I've successfully mastered the urge to capture these precious life moments with my stupid iPhone and commit to remember it all with my own two eyes and my brain.
That's it. Three things.
I don't know your goals, but if you have them, I wish you well, pal! Happy New Year!
Image: collage by me, photo by Pernille Teisbaek in Gucci