Off to a Great Start!

So it's not even March yet, but I've already succeeded in accomplishing several of my goals for 2010! I do believe I'm well on my way...

One of the first goals I tackled was #3 on my list: re-decorating my bedroom. I've lived in my current apartment for over 3 years, yet I've never been happy with my bedroom decor (mostly because I never really put any effort into it). Since saving money is also a 2010 goal of mine, I knew this project would have to be cheap. Would you believe I completed an entire room redo for only $170.00? I credit HGTV for all the frugal inspiration, along with my own creative instincts. All of the photography on the walls (pictured below) was done by yours truly and the photos were taken mostly at the Lincoln Park Conservatory (one of my favorite spots in the whole city). I already own a color photo printer and photo paper, so I didn't have to pay for printing, albeit a new color ink cartridge, which I included in the total cost of the makeover. Randomly, pretty perfume bottles (seen on the dresser in the first 'after' photo) inspired the use of bold colors in the bedding and rug, the black & white photos of statues, and the color photos of flowers. Very French, very feminine. Ooh la la!

Before

After

My #2 goal on the list: learn to cook 3 new dishes. Well, I'm happy to announce that I've more than surpassed this goal. Cooking is a fairly new activity for me. Prior to the past couple years or so, I only really knew how to boil water and use the microwave. But I've come a long way baby, and have even collected some fun kitchen gadgets along the way (i.e. cheese grater, meat masher, pizza cutter and tongs, just to name a few). I've definitely developed a strong interest in cooking and I'm excited to continue taking on new culinary challenges. I derive most of my recipes from the show Everyday Food on PBS. The show features quick, just-challenging-enough recipes for novices like me. Recently, a recipe was featured that I was anxious to try, but it wasn't posted on the website as promised. Determined to try out this particular recipe, I emailed PBS regarding the error. Would you believe that someone from Martha Stewart's company actually responded!? Soon after, the recipe was posted and I was able to create my newly legendary (by my standards, anyway) pasta & potato bake, which was deeeee-licious. Granted, I was forced to max out my dork card very early in 2010 just to obtain said recipe, but it was totally worth it. Other dishes I've made so far in 2010 include: tuna noodle casserole, chicken mole nachos with avocado cream, spicy deviled eggs, nacho casserole and Morrocan soup. The nachos & eggs were served at a party I threw in January. My friends kept referring to me as "Martha" during the evening, and I couldn't have been more flattered. On tap for tonight is spicy pecan-crusted chicken and salad with homemade sherry-shallot vinaigrette. Yum!

Chicken Mole Nachos with Avocado Cream

Spicy Deviled Eggs

Happy New Year - a little late...

I feel it's finally time to join the 21st Century and take my thoughts to the Bloggosphere (or whatever the kids are calling it these days). Althouth this blogging idea has been setting up shop in the back of my mind for a while now, one of my reservations included not being able to come up with any important blogging material. I mean, my life can be pretty darn boring by most people's standards, so why the heck should I spill my unimportant guts and expect anyone to care?! Well, I finally came to the conclusion that it has always been the everyday observations & nuances that have made the biggest impact on my life, so the importance of life's little things is what I hope to convey through my blogging.

Also, in the ruminating thoughts leading up to my venture into Bloggo-land, I decided I would need a theme. I knew I couldn't worry about how important or unimportant my chosen theme would seem to others, but I was sure that in order to preserve authenticity, the theme would have to be important to me.

In an effort to avoid the horrors of being a cliche, I struggled with various ideas for a while. For example, as a single lady, my first instinct was to blog about dating, finding love, losing it, etc. Thankfully, though, Carrie Bradshaw already covered that territory extensively, and she did a mighty fine job of it. Instead, I will blog about the 10 New Year's Resolutions I made for 2010. Yes, I made a whopping TEN. Granted, my 'resolutions' are more along the lines of 'goals,' but they still count in my book, or in this case, blog. I've already accomplished some of them, so I'm off to a good start considering it's only February! I'm extremely motivated to accomplish the rest of them by 2011, but I'm hoping that blogging about my experiences will perpetuate my motivation throughout the year. You will notice that that most of my listed goals aren't very earth shattering, life-altering or even all that interesting, but they are a big deal to me. And they are attainable! This is very important considering one of my goals for 2009 included, "winning the lottery." Good grief...

So without further ado and in no particular order, my 10 goals for 2010 are as follows:

1. Run at least 5 races
2. Learn to cook at least 3 new dishes
3. Decorate bedroom on the cheap
4. Read 10 books and record favorite quotes from each
5. Write in my journal at least once a week
6. Go on at least one big trip
7. Volunteer at least 1 time
8. Take a class (class TBD)
9. Pay off my 2 credit cards
10. Save some dang money