Today...

kicks off my 27th year on Earth, and so far it's been a pretty good day. The husband and I played hooky, went out to lunch, saw a movie, and I did some shopping. The husband gifted me with a beautiful Pandora bracelet and 3 charms - it's absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to add charms as cool stuff happens :-)

I've also been thinking about what this year will be like and what I want to acomplish... so I made a list:

1. Clean out my house of all the crap and really decorate. I think that right now our (rented) townhouse feels like home (more so than our last apartment) and even though we don't own it, we are here for the long haul and I want our house to reflect that. I want to find storage for the things we need, get rid of the things we don't, and maybe paint a wall or two. I want it to look like a real home, cause for the time being, it is our real home.

2. Use all of the fancy stuff I save for Special Occasions. A great example - I bought a green silk dress at Ann Taylor LOFT probably 2 months ago. I have yet to wear it. Why? Because it cost a lot of money and I'm afraid to ruin it. Another great example - I bought expensive shampoo that makes my hair feel like silk. I never use it. Why? because I'm afraid I'll run out and I'll have to buy more. Last example - My college roommate brought me the most wonderful Dove body creme back from Australia. 5 years later, I still have over half of the tub left. Why? I am afraid that I'll use it up and I won't be able to get more (not sold in the US) so i only use it for special occasions.

NEWSFLASH: My life is a Special Occasion. I will start acting accordingly.

3. Cook more. Now don't get me wrong - I cook dinner 5 to 6 nights a week. But that's usually chicken and rice or pasta or something quick and easy. I want to cook more things that require a recipe and more than 30 minutes. I know that sounds counterproductive (isn't everything about quick and easy these days?) but I enjoy cooking... and I enjoy it even more when Ryan asks me to make it again. Also, more baking from scratch.

4. Baby. I assume this doesn't need an explanation.

5. Career-wise, I want to make the right decisions. I won't go into it here, but wanted to document this to look back on next year. I know what I want, so I just need to see if I can make it work.

6. Lose weight. I want to hit my 10% goal, set a lifetime goal, and make Lifetime.

7. Get rid of debt. I may have mentioned it before (recently, I think), but I want my credit card debt gone. I've been carrying it long enough and by this time next year it should be minimal....

OK, that's probably enough to handle over the next year... (Holy crap, next year I'll be 28 which is 2 years away from 30. How intense is that?)