Thoughts brewing on 2013 "goals"

Hello dear readers!

Well, the past three weeks have been a blur.  Mr. MF and I decided that this would be a good time of year to re-do our basement by ourselves. And by "ourselves" I mean Mr. MF.  From Monday thru Friday the man has a full time day job, and then for the past month, his nights and weekends are consumed by his second full time job, which is redoing our basement.  That means that I, for all intents and purposes, am a single parent on the weekends.  Which would be manageable, except that it's the holiday season (I don't know if you noticied?) and on top of caring for and playing with Bebe, and doing all the routine household chores by myself, I've also been trying to do holiday shopping, decorating, baking, etc.  It's just been crazy.  To give you an idea, I was up on Sunday at 4:50am to start the day, and actually considered staying up once I put Bebe down (for the second time) at 3:45am this morning to get stuff done around the house.  Then I mentally slapped myself across the face and went back to sleep. 

But I can't complain (although perhaps the first paragraph might seem like I am, it's meant more by the way of explanation on my spotty blogging this past three weeks). I am truly blessed, and have spent the past 48 hours thinking of and praying for those in Newtown.   I hope you all hugged your loved ones a little tighter this weekend.  I know I did.

ANYWAY.  Let's get down to brass tacks, as my mum would say.  I have a Christmas picture posting coming up, like hopefully tomorrow, AND there's the Embracing Change series with three more interviews in the queue.  That's all in the hopper to go up on the blog over the course of this week.  But today, I'm leading with my lighter side.  I don't know if y'all remember my post on goal setting?  Well, I've been thinking about goals for 2013, and I've come up with two things for my list.  One of them isn't so much a goal as a fun project.  Let's start there. 

I have a new found admiration for Dita Von Teese.  I've spent the past week rather obsessively reading about her.  I could go on and on about what I love about her ethos, persona, artistry, etc, but I promised you light so here's it is - I love her dedication to glamour.  I love that you never see this woman out and about without a red lip on.  I love that she looks classic and ladylike even running errands.  I love her avowed determination to celebrate the feminine mystique.  In contrast, I often feel accomplished if I can get out of the house having brushed my hair and putting mascara on.  Most of my clothes have to be washed immediately because they're covered in "baby" (food, snot, drool, etc) by the end of the day. 

I have a feeling that Dita would find a way to look glamorous even as the mother of an 8 month old (I mean, look at the below pictures of her grocery shopping!!), and so here it is:  I'm going to go glam for one full month in 2013, as inspired by Dita.  I'm talking red lips, jewelry, nice lingere, tailored clothes, no jeans.  I want to see if I can pull it off, and I want to see how it makes me feel.  I'm still thinking through the details, but it's going to happen.  I imagine I will take pictures of myself everyday and post them here so that you guys can keep me on the up and up.  I think it would be fun if you wanted to join me!!  What do you say?  Up for a little glamazon action in '13?

The second "goal" for 2013 is more of a traditional goal.  I need to start eating better.  I don't mean dieting, but rather incorporating more fruits, veggies and whole grains into my daily intake, and backing off the carbs.  This isn't a weight loss thing - what I need is more energy.  I have been feeling wiped out lately, and I suspect that my current eating habits are not helping with my low energy levels - AND - after a respite,  my historically problematic skin has started breaking out again.  I'm curious to see if changing my diet helps my skin out.   I'm thinking about incorporating the following things:

• Kim Synder's Glowing Green Smoothie - I've heard rave reviews about this smoothie, especially about energy levels and skin tone. 
• Drinking more water during the day - keeping a carafe of cucumber and mint water (a la Martha Stewart) on my desk.  I used to do this religiously, and have fallen out of habit.
• Eating more whole grains and "ancient" grains.  Farrow, quinoa, etc.  Maybe they'd fill me up more?
• Start yoga again.  Bebe and I are starting baby yoga classes at my local community center in January and I can't wait!

Anyway, I'm going to work out a plan regarding these two "goals" and share it with you once it's firmed up.  Let me know if you'd like to participate in my "Month of Glam" project - I'd love to post reader pics alongside mine!!!

xoxo,
MF