My New Year’s Eve plans were dashed by sickness, so I spent the night on the couch in my pajamas with a pint of mango sorbet. It gave me some time to reflect on the resolutions I made for 2011 and make some new ones for 2012.
2011 Resolution Review
1. Finish planning the wedding and maintain my sanity. Done. Sanity mostly intact.
2. Stick to a strict budget to save for aforementioned wedding. No credit card debt. Ha! Oh, this did not work out. I’m not deep in debt, but there is some. I should be able to dig myself out by mid-2012.
3. Related to three: Cook four nights a week. Bring lunch at least four days a week. I cooked dinner often, but I rarely brought my lunch to work. I kept it up for a few weeks in January of last year, but eventually fell back into my sandwich or fancy salad bar routine. Just laziness.
4. Post on Apartment Dining at least twice a week. Nope. Not even close.
5. Read fifty books. Also not accomplished. I read more in 2011 than I did in 2010, but not enough to meet my goal.
6. Learn how to draw. I took a drawing class and learned the fundamentals, so I think I can mark this as accomplished. Still need a lot more practice.
7. As finances allow, attend more cultural events in New York. Saving for the wedding didn’t allow for too many outings, but the places I did go were great. A few museum trips, some readings, a few shows, etc.
8. Document more. The next year is going to be fun, stressful, crazed, and momentous. I did not document as much as I should have. Let’s mark this as not accomplished.
9. Maintain a work/life balance. Work in the evenings when it’s needed, but devote more time to creative pursuits. Nope. Definitely not. The first six months of the year were focused on wedding planning and the last six months of the year were most intense months of my working life.
Lesson learned: Don’t make too many resolutions for the year that you’re getting married, other than successfully planning said wedding.
Resolutions for 2012
1. Take at least two trips that require plane travel.
2. Take one photo per day, every day. (Yes, I know I tried and failed at this in 2010, but I just got a fancy new camera. It will hopefully serve as a motivator.)
3. Read three books a month. (I know this isn’t ambitious, but between various blogs and my New Yorker subscription, there’s way too much reading material out there.)
4. Bring lunch to work at least three days a week.
5. Take three cooking classes, preferably a knife skills class, chocolate class (need to hone those tempering skills), and a general cooking techniques class.
6. Stick to a regular posting schedule on Apartment Dining. (Let’s shoot for three times a week to start.)
7. Work out three times a week.
8. Rebuild my savings account.
9. Regain work/life balance. For real this time.
10. Take time to paint or draw something at least once a week.



















