My Goals for the New Year! - M Loves M @marmar

Hello friends and happy happy Friday! This week felt like it went by super fast because of the holiday on Monday. Anyone else? While normally I wouldn’t complain, I’m over here hoping this year doesn’t go by as quickly as last year did. This past week I’ve been getting myself organized and prepared for the new year, though. One of the things I love about the time in between Christmas and New Years is that you have a little more downtime to stop, slow down a bit, and reflect on the past year and think to the future. I’ve gone through many years of resolutions, even a year of mini-resolutions if you remember that, but this year I’m going to just share some of my hopes & goals with you all. I am always inspired hearing about other people’s resolutions and I feel like sharing helps us to be a little more accountable. If you have any you’d like to share with me, I’m here and I’d love to cheer you on!!

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My Goals For the New Year

I feel like I have to break my goals up into personal and professional ones. One of the hardest things about what I do is that there isn’t much separation between the two. While on one hand that’s amazing, it’s also a little challenging because I never know when to power down. Hence my little holiday blog break. One of my biggest overall goals though is to set better boundaries between my two passions in life {family & blog}. I’m already on my way because one of my goals is to not be on my phone in bed at night. Instead of charging it on my night stand, I’m charging it on our dresser {our new one that I can’t wait to show you!} That already feels like major progress! Ok, let’s get to my goals for the new year!

PERSONAL

Make health a priority. I feel like I did a pretty good job with this last year but we’re coming off our “Pasta Parade” / aka holiday season 2017 where we ate crusty french bread with olive oil almost every night, along with pasta dinners & vino. Ahh it was the good life, you guys. It’s not all out of my system yet, though. I’ve been doing a detox week with no carbs, no sugar, no alcohol and no caffeine- basically no fun, so my body isn’t very happy with me! I had a massive headache the other morning which I thought was because of the caffeine, but I’m thinking maybe it was the sugar. Did I mention that I ate like 5 cookies a night?! {at least!} But I do want to really think about what I’m putting in my body and make smarter food decisions. I want to count the ingredients instead of the calories and choose fresh & local whenever we can. While I’ll definitely have my nights to indulge {no one is keeping me from my chocolate chip cookies} I’m going to try not to let myself feel guilty about it, and in turn not let it affect my regular healthy eating routine. I don’t want to live a life where I deprive myself of the things I enjoy but I do think everything should be enjoyed in moderation.

In terms of fitness, Matthew and I are planning on setting a schedule for alternating morning workouts. This requires me to get to bed a little earlier, though, so I’m going to have to work on that.

Sleep needs to be a priority. There were so so sooo many nights last year where I was getting 4 hours, or less, a night. That’s just not healthy. I told myself I’d try to get to bed no later than midnight, and already I’ve had one 2am night, but I’m going to try try try my best to shut off as soon as I can. Sleep is a Personal thing but it’s definitely affected, poorly I might add, by the Professional side.

Minimize. Was this a goal of 2017? I think so! And I did a pretty good job with it. I got rid of a lot of things I didn’t need, especially when we moved, and I’ve been adding more and more to my Poshmark account {if you haven’t signed up you can use code MARAFERREIRA for $5 off your first order}.While I’m not planning to be a minimalist, I am really trying to pare down the things that don’t add value or purpose to my life. If any of you are in the same boat, I loved this book. It really gave me a lot of encouragement to get rid of things I was holding onto for sentimental value or out of obligation. Getting rid of these kinds of things is so freeing though. It makes you feel so much lighter and allows you to better enjoy the items you do truly love and enjoy. I still have a long way to go when it comes to minimizing, especially with paper & receipts, but I’m on my way!

Date my Husband. I love that husband of mine!It’s M Loves M for a reason…wink wink! Matthew and I had 5 amazing years together before Augustine, and I never want to lose that special relationship and bond we have. Now that Augustine is sleeping better, I want to make time for more regular date nights. We might not be able to go to Angeli or Zushi anymore, but we have lots of spots to explore in our new area.

Be Present. It’s so easy to be distracted in our current day and age but I really want to try to be as present as I can with the people I’m with, especially with my little guy! That means taking my phone out of my pocket more, leaving it on a counter in gasp another room! What?! I know, such a crazy concept right?! Hands up if your phone is usually always within arms reach? I know that’s me. If it’s not you, I have major respect for you. If there’s one thing I learned from a quickly passing 2017, is that time needs to be savored and enjoyed. I don’t want it to flash by in the blink of an eye so I think I really need to be more present and focused on what I’m doing. I think by turning off those distractions I’ll be a much happier person.

Set Aside Time to Journal. My blog started as a journal of sorts and while I can still share with you all, there is a lot of things that I just need to write for me. Things you probably wouldn’t be interested in anyway! I hope I can get back to a hobby I really enjoyed. Journalling is something that is so beneficial for my mental state and I think this will also help me with the Be Present Goal.

Deepen my Faith. I just ordered this devotional {hmm I’m sensing a theme for my 2018 goals} and I can’t wait for it to arrive. I’ve heard such great things about it and I’m looking forward to making faith-based reading a part of my daily routine. I also signed up for this great newsletter from Proverbs 31. Every day they send out a biblical reading and message that helps you think about everyday life through the truth of God’s word. Each reading that I’ve read this week has really resonated with me so I had to share in case you’re interested too!

Plan more Adventures & Keep Educating Myself with Childhood Development. Last year was my first full year in parenthood and it was amazing, tiring, overwhelming, exciting, and basically all the emotions you could imagine. I love being a mom more than anything in this world and I feel so lucky to have this special little boy. I’m looking forward to planning some fun activities this year for him, making him yummy meals with new foods to try, and also educating myself more with childhood development. I loved all that I learned in my Mommy & Me group from the LMFT (Licenced Marriage Family Therapist) leader. I want to continue learning by reading books, listening to podcasts, chatting with other moms but also just trusting my own intuition. I can’t wait to learn more about Augustine and see this little boy he grows into. I hope I can always be the best mom and leader for him!

PROFESSIONAL

Oh gosh where do I begin? There have been so many things on my mind the past few months. I love this blog of mine, the memories it’s documented over the years, and most importantly the connections it’s created and fostered. You all know how much you mean to me right??

I really want this blog to be a space where you can come and be inspired. And I want to be inspired too. I’ve been blogging here for over 8 years and it can be so easy to fall into the same routine: outfit posts, recipes, collages, maybe an occasional beauty post. And that’s not a bad routine because it’s really been what I’ve loved to share with you all. But this year I’m looking forward to sharing more content that will hopefully inspire you a little more. While I’ve been used to posting 5-6 days a week it’s getting harder and harder to keep on top of everything. My mom job is #1 so I really only have naptimes {when I get them}, and after 7:30pm. So this year I’m going to be cutting down a bit on my posts, probably 3 or 4 a week, but hopefully these posts will provide more substance and quality. I want to give you more styling tips, tapping into my years as a Buyer and Stylist, show you the real outfits I wear on a day to day basis with Augustine, but still provide you with the feminine outfit inspiration that I personally love! I’m planning on sharing more motherhood and lifestyle posts, and talking about the current stages we’re in {toddlerhood is coming people!}. I also want to share easy recipes, along with ones to impress friends with, beauty products I’ve loved and even the ones I haven’t liked quite as much.

I love chatting with you all via email and DMs and I’m looking forward to doing more Q&A’s. Also I wanted to let you know that if you go to the top of my site, under the MEET MARA, there’s a new ASK MARA section. If you ever have a question, feel free to leave it for me there too so that I can share with anyone else who might be interested. This is also the best way for me to see and answer a question if you’re coming across an older post.

If you have a second I would LOVE to hear from you below. What would you like to see more of on here? If you have any post requests, let me know. So many suggestions get turned into posts, like my TJ Essentials, 4 Tips for Longer and Stronger Hair, and our Introduction to Solids post. Also, if there’s ever anything that’s irritated you about the site {font size or style, comment form} or a feature/page you’d like to see, let me know. I’m working on some site updates and would love to hear from you since you look at and use the site in a way that I don’t. I’m particularly interested in the comment preference. Do you all care that I use Disqus? I was thinking about using another commenting platform but didn’t want to change it up if this is easiest for you.

Thank you so much for your support! You all are the very very best part of what I do and I wouldn’t be here without you. I seriously love this community we’ve created together and I appreciate you being here and being a part of it! You’ve shared with me through so many incredible life stages and I can’t wait to see what 2018 will bring. I hope this next year is full of wonderful opportunities and adventures for us all! Yay 2018!!

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sweater . jeans . coat {a favorite from Eliza J!} . boots . bag {similar affordable . similar splurge}