Bossypants by Tina Fey :: read this one in 24 hrs and had me laughing out loud, by myself, on the train home from NYC. i wasn’t a huge Tina Fey fan before, but her book totally converted me. it’s her background to becoming a comedian, and some feminism  mixed in with hilarious parenting stories. basically spans her life from how she got the scar on her face, through what it was like working on the set of SNL, and being a female in a male comedians world. READ THIS!

one of my favorite excerpts…

“I was defensive and grouchy whenever the topic (of breastfeeding) came up. At a party with a friend who was successfully nursing her little boy, I watched her husband produce a bottle of pumped breast milk that was the size of a Big Gulp. It was more milk than I had produced in my whole seven weeks – I blame Entourage. As my friend’s husband fed the baby, he said offhandedly, “This stuff is liquid gold. You know it actually makes them smarter?” “Let’s set a date!” I screamed. “IQ test. Five years from today. My formula baby will crush your baby!” Thankfully, my mouth was so full of cake they could not understand me.”

completely and utterly inspiring. and a little reminder of just how small we are in this world.

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

(source)

bali, indonesia. i still have trouble saying it out loud cause i can’t believe it’s actually happening. elephant rides, balinese cooking classes, monkeys, and lots of beach time are on the agenda. can’t wait to mingle with the local artists of ubud, and maybe talk the husband into some yoga overlooking the rice paddies.

i will have to work on that one ;)

as for resolutions…i’m not a huge resolutions person, but i am a huge believer in goals. specifically writing them down and saying them out loud (even if it’s just to yourself). looking at last year’s list, i am happy to say that i accomplished almost all of the things i wanted to this year. i still need to get better at those damn thank you cards… :)

for this year, my goals are still similar but in a different way.

1- in 2011 i got better at finding the balance between work/life- but there is still vast room for improvement. 2012 is the year that my email is officially taken off of my iphone. no checking emails every 15 minutes while i’m grocery shopping, out with friends, or at times when i should be focusing on being present instead of stressing about the inbox that keeps growing. my new rule is that if i am not prepared to address the email right then and there, then it is not efficient to be reading it anyways. emails will also be answered during normal business hours. i already started this and i have to say it’s quite scary when you realize JUST how much you were working on your iphone when all of the sudden it’s no longer available. i caught myself reaching for my phone 3 times in a 7 minute timespan. yikes! bad habit. goodbye iphone email access. i am getting a little piece of my life back thank you.

2- as far as health and fitness, i did pretty well in 2011…until the craziness of wedding season in the fall came around. sticking to healthy habits was not happening september-november. i have to keep reminding myself to make meal planning, working out, and eating right a priority for myself. i love doing it and my attitude sucks when i don’t because i become resentful about it. so we’ll see- more meal making, less meal buying. more regular workouts whether they are only 20 minutes long or 2 hrs long. the only rule is that they are fun. i’m a big believer in finding workouts that are fun for you- i would rather do a 20 minute workout doing something i love doing, than 2 hrs of something i am going to hate the whole time.

3- financially plan both business and personal finances for our future. i am a huge financial planner, but i would like to start looking into more long term investments and evaluate what is working and what’s not. and if no one has ever heard of www.mint.com i highly highly recommend it! it is crazy easy- we started using mint in 2010 and it was literally life changing. (and free!) maybe a future blog post about it if anyone is interested?

4- be a better communicator with my husband. i am really good at eye rolling. and giving the “are you serious because if you are i will slice you!” face. and throwing my hands up all colombiana style. it’s amazing that even over the computer my husband can sense it and says “stop rolling your eyes”and i look around as if the room is bugged. i have always been pretty direct with how i feel. (the whole stereotype of the husband asking “honey what’s wrong” and the wife saying “oh nothing..” is definitely not me. you want to know what’s wrong? oh i will TELL you what is wrong! :) so this year, i will try less eye rolling and more listening. no really babe…i promise! :)

5- it’s time to go back to the simple things i used to love. this goes in line with #1. i miss reading. so much that i can’t remember the last time i read a book so good i couldn’t put it down. i’ve realized that any free time i do have i spend on the laptop doing mindless activities. i am ready to fall back in love with reading. at the moment i have on my nightstand The Hunger Games, The Secret, Three Cups of Tea (having a hard time getting into this one), and Committed. if anyone has any book recommendations i would love to hear them!

so there is a little of what has been going on in my head. and here is a little glimpse of what this past holiday season has looked like for me!

merry christmas and happy new years everyone!

much love,

{a}strid

2 hrs, many miles, even many more failed pull-ups, some groaning, jumping through mud….

6 friends later…we all had the biggest smiles on our faces.

merry christmas eve everyone!

xoxo