{Tony + me at a wedding last night}

HAPPY NEW YEAR, lovelies!!!!! I hope your holiday break was as relaxing and rejuvenating as mine was, and I hope you are surviving this first Monday back at work with more dignity than I am. (I’m writing this in pajamas, FYI. It’s almost noon.) I spent 2 1/2 weeks in northern California with my family, eating and drinking as much as I could stuff into my body and spending as much time as possible with the people I love. Highlights of my food/wine/sweatpants bender include:

Sunsets in Tahoe.

Dogs in Tahoe.

Babies in Tahoe. One of my best friends, Jax, and her sweet baby Beckett came up to visit us at the lake and we introduced him to hot chocolate and the possibility of owning 3+ dogs (sorry, Jax.)

Remnants from our wedding in Tahoe. (This was the homemade sign I made for the days leading up to the wedding so people could find our house, the purest evidence you’ll ever need that I have NO business doing anything DIY.)

Snowmen in Tahoe. (Full disclosure: We didn’t build this, we found it on a walk and the dogs peed on it.)

TAHOE. Just Tahoe. My happy place. Spending time there is one of the greatest joys of my life. We’ve been home less than a week, and I’m ready to go back again.

Dogs not in Tahoe.

Maggie snuggling my dad on a footrest way too small for her.

Introducing Tony to a beautiful walk along the arboretum in my hometown, where everyone (rightfully) judged us as animal hoarders.

Christmas with my family. We spent the day laughing and eating. It was THE BEST.

Babies not in Tahoe. Here is Tony cuddling our friend Julia’s son at a New Year’s Eve party. (I had my hands full of sandwiches, but it made my heart melt to see him holding a baby.)

Going to the Farmer’s Market with my dad, where we listened to a local bluegrass band and balanced all the cinnamon rolls we bought with some veggies.

I love going back to Davis. Even though L.A. is home now, the town I grew up in is still “home base.” Tony and I went for my favorite run through my parents’ neighborhood nearly every day, “traffic” meant it took 15 minutes to get somewhere instead of 10, we never left the house without running into someone we knew… It felt quaint and cozy, and made Tony and me want to work harder to find ways to make L.A. feel like a small town, since we have to live here for work.

We got home Saturday evening, and I went straight to the grocery store to buy ingredients for all the healthy recipes I’ve been feverishly Pinning (ignore the various mac & cheese and cupcake recipes. I’ll try to, too.) This morning, I dragged out my ol’ glass gallon jar and filled it with water, getting back on the wagon of drinking more H20 than wine on a daily basis. The party is officially over. I wrote before about my thoughts on New Year’s Resolutions… So, instead of calling them “resolutions” and setting myself up for failure, I’m instead setting some intentions. Not just for the new year, but for my life. Some are old ones that have been making me feel guilty for as long as I can remember, others are new challenges to tackle. Here goes…

{Me, achieving the only New Year’s Resolution I REALLY need: To live life as my best and truest self, as frequently as possible in my snuggie with a kangaroo pouch for dog babies.}

DRY JANUARY(ish). Starting today, no booze until February 4th. I made this choice for a variety of reasons, namely: 1) My pants don’t fit right now. 2) This article. 3) I’m probably/eventually going to have kids, and won’t be able to booze for 9 months. One month is a good test run to make sure I can do it… But I adjusted the date because we had a wedding to go to last night, and I wanted to toast the happy couple. (Instead, knowing what was coming today, I slurped down cocktails like the world was ending, in hopes the joy would last me a month. It had the opposite but equally positive effect – I drank too much and don’t want to see alcohol for another month. So, I’m right on track I guess.)

Be grateful. I know #blessed is gross, but I am blessed. I spend too much time thinking about the things I haven’t yet achieved or accumulated. Instead of being hard on myself, I’m going to try to look at the things I have accomplished and the things I already have.

Read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up without breaking into hives. Actually follow through on the book’s advice without having a nervous breakdown. I bought it as a Christmas present to me, possibly the meanest and most passive-aggressive thing I’ve ever done to myself. But, I really don’t want to end up on Hoarders. So, we’ll see… Maybe 2016 will finally be the year I give away those corduroy pants I’ve been hanging onto since high school!

And, while I’m tidying up my hoarding, clean up my personal life. Stop following people on Instagram whose pictures make me feel bad about myself. Stop hanging out with people who make me feel bad about myself.

LAUGH. A LOT.

Like my body by my 30th birthday. (Even if none of my pants fit. Especially those corduroy ones from high school.)

Piggy-backing on that last one, actually use the gym membership I pay for regularly. What a cliche, right?!

And piggy-backing on both of those last ones (I like the term “piggy-backing,” makes me feel profesh), be conscious of what I’m eating and where it’s coming from. Try to eat less meat (red meat, especially. It’s bad for the environment, and cows’ faces remind me of Maggie and I want a pet pig one day. And also, I don’t want to have a heart attack.) Buy more at farmer’s markets, because that supports local businesses, is a fun date with the hubs and offers an opportunity to get in proximity to food trucks. And even though I will always consider frosting and french fries their own food groups, maybe I’ll make them smaller ones on the top of the pyramid, instead of building blocks on the bottom.

Judging by the anxiety and pressure just writing this list made me feel, on second thought, I’m pretty sure these are New Year’s Resolutions. DAMN IT. Oh well. I guess I’ll just try my best and see. How were your holidays? What are you doing (or not doing) in 2016?