Sunday, January 1, 2012

2011 - my year in review

At the start of 2011, I set six goals for myself (don't call them resolutions!) with the overall goal of making 2011 better than 2010 by "taking care of myself, and striving for happiness in my life and the lives of those close -- and not so close -- to me." I accomplished 3.5 of them, which isn't bad... although two of them I totally failed at. Let's review :)

  • Get Healthy: I will eat better and utilize either my Wii Fit or the treadmill -- that I plan to "borrow" from my parents' garage -- at least three times per week, in addition to continuing Pilates. I also want to resume hiking when the time changes.
    • Check! This was my biggest accomplishment this year. I met my weight loss goal (25 lbs) plus some by completely changing my eating habits -- no more fast food except for special treats, very little bread, and lots of salad, chicken, lean cuisine, fruit and yogurt. I also worked out a minimum of 2 times per week, sometimes up to 5 times using the Wii Fit starting in mid-January, keeping up Pilates once a week, hiking/running 1-3 times per week at Runyon Canyon from March-October, and adding Pop Physique classes, which are a mix of Pilates, ballet barre work and light weights. It kicks your butt and shapes it up at the same time :) I also started taking my multi-vitamin everyday again and added an extra 2000 mg of Vitamin D since Vitamin D deficiency is thought to be a cause of MS.
  • Write More: I will not put my journal in a drawer. I will keep it in eyesight and use it to brain dump feelings and ideas not for public consumption here.
    • Fail. I wrote in the journal a few times, mostly about tracking my weight loss goals/successes, but it was in the drawer most of the year. And I only updated this blog 21 times all year. Bad, bad, bad!
  • Read Actual Books: A minimum of four this year. One per quarter. That's doable, right? (Sub-goal: I will not let my magazine pile deter me from this goal, no matter how tall it gets.)
  • Volunteer More: Operation Gratitude takes place four minutes from my house. I can give up three hours of my life every few weekends to bring some happiness to the lives of people sacrificing theirs for our freedom. I also plan to participate in the "Walk MS" in April to raise funds for the National MS Society.
    • Fail. I didn't volunteer once this year. I thought about it a lot, but never did. I did increase my charitable donations this year though, especially to the National MS Society, LA Mission, amfAR, and Smile Train -- I helped four kids have their cleft palates repaired so they could smile again and live a normal life. That makes ME smile. 
  • Host More: I love my house, I have a great kitchen and I just spent a lot of money on an awesome patio. I need to invite people over to enjoy it with me more. I also need to practice cooking more, minus eating more (see goal #1 ;)
    • Check! In addition to poker nights and my annual July BBQ and Christmas Cocktails, I also had Grilled Cheese Night again this year and started "Summer Grillin' Saturdays." Oh, and I also co-hosted a baby shower for my dear friend Hilda in August (And she welcomed baby Yevah in September :)
  • Travel for Me: I will go to Portland this year to spend time with friends -- I've made that promise. I also hope 2011, one way or another, will finally be my Italian vacation year. I'm thinking either April for someone's birthday, or a solo tour in the Fall.
    • Half Check/Half Fail: I did go to Portland and had a fabulous time with my dear friend Jenny and her family. Also went to San Fran in May to see Hugh Jackman's show and visit with my friends Jason and Josh. And went to Orlando for a rainy trip to Disney World and an awesome night at Harry Potter World. But the Italy trip still hasn't happened. I did do a little research on it though... and got a new big suitcase for Christmas ;)
I think those goals were overall good ones so I'm sticking with them for 2012, with minor adjustments. For instance, this year I want to read the classics sitting on my bookshelf that I've never read... The Hobbit, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Jane Eyre. If I get through half of those, that will be a good accomplishment, considering three of them have been on my shelf since high school ;)

And for posterity/since I apparently don't write in my journal anymore, here are some of the memorable things from my 2011:

January:
  • Burke Williams trip #1
  • Pre-hockey meal at delish Bottega Louie
  • My mom and dad celebrated their 41st Anniversary
  • Get healthy goal achievial begins
  • Game Night #1
February:
March:
  • Hmmm....
April:
  • Grilled Cheese Night
  • The Los Angeles Kings make the playoffs for the 2nd time since 2002! Lose to friggin' Sharks
May:
  • Trip #1: San Francisco for Hugh Jackman in concert
  • The 2011 Summer Movie Blockbuster Club kicks off its season
  • Trip #2: (work) Hackensack NJ (yuck) and Chicago (yay) for focus groups
  • Afternoon tea at Chado with mom and dad
June:
  • U2 at Anaheim Stadium
  • Pop Physique starts
July:
  • Met my weight loss goal
  • Hosted my 2nd 4th of July BBQ (on July 3rd)
  • Burke Williams trip #3
  • Dolly Parton at Hollywood Bowl, with Mom, Dad, Daryl and Diana
  • Summer Grillin' Saturdays begin
August:
  • Hairspray with John Stamos at Hollywood Bowl
  • John Williams @ the Hollywood Bowl, with narrator James Taylor
  • Bella the crazy, adorable puppy joins our family
September:
  • Trip #3: Portland to see the Z's
October:
November:
  • Dinner at Little Dom's ... delish
  • Sophie the cocker spaniel joins our family
December:
  • Christmas Cocktails
  • 12 days of vacation kicks off
  • Christmas with siblings and Granny
  • Burke Williams trip #4
  • Tea at Rose Tree Cottage in Pasadena
  • New Year's Eve dinner at The Melting Pot in Pasadena (too much food!)


And here's what I did this year, according to some of my favorite Facebook status updates:
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