Last year started out a bit rocky, and I found Jan/Feb to be very tough months. This year, I’m feeling way more hopeful and inspired. I can’t say why, but I have the sense that 2026 will be a transformative year.
HOT TIP: Last year’s resolutions are here. Check em out, why dontcha?! (I did…okay with them – hoping to have a stronger success rate this year.)
- Pay more attention to my finances. When tax time rolled around, I simply forwarded along documents and signed when asked. We caught a pretty major (and expensive) mistake that could have been avoided if I had been looking more closely. I’ve also avoided taking the kind of action that would make investments work harder for me. It’s time to take charge.
- Buy a new oyster plate. It’s time to add to my collection and I absolutely love the ones at Cailini.
- List our apartment. We’re ready for more space. Note: that does NOT mean we want to move to the burbs. For us and the life we’ve built, we need a more urban environment so we’ll be staying in the five boroughs. If we leave NYC, it would only be to move to Savannah, where we would still seek a downtown locale. The first step to more space is listing our apartment (and doing whatever we need to do to make it ready for sale). It’s a daunting task – and an even more daunting thought to be open to the possibilities – but I’m excited to take a big step.
- Keep candy dishes sprinkled around the apartment. It’s a fun surprise for guests and a great way to sneak in extra vintage dishware.
- Read more diversely. I absolutely CRUSHED my reading goal – even more than last year. That said, I want to be even more intentional this year. While I did really well in terms of reading female authors (88%, surpassing my goal of 60%), I missed my goal of reading works by non-white authors. I wanted 50% of my books to be by POCs; however, I only hit 28%. I definitely want to improve on that this year.
- Finish my draft. I wrote the first words of a novel in April 2025 and have made great progress. I’m at about 30k words now with a goal of 80k that I would like to have reached within a year. It won’t be easy, especially with a full time job and a toddler, but I love how it’s taking shape and am committed now. I think setting a standing appointment to write in a bar (I’m loving Rough Draft in Harlem) will help. I also bought a copy of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and I think that will help too.
- Romanticize my commute. I work in the office five days per week, which means I’m commuting five days per week. That’s a lot of time walking and standing on the subway so I want to treat it like I’m the main character in a movie montage. That means leaving a little earlier for my cute lil coffee and accessorizing intentionally.
- Take a toddler on a trip to Europe. My toddler, to be specific. Finn has a lot of school breaks and that means my PTO must often fit around that schedule. There’s a particularly tough week-or-two period in the summer when camps end but school hasn’t started. Last year, I had grand plans to go on a trip, but there was a flash sale on flights to Savannah that was too good to pass up. I loved being with my family, but this is a primo opportunity to go away. Also, being in a completely new environment with new restaurants and playgrounds often makes filling the day a bit easier – everything is an adventure. I’m either saving my days and spending money on childcare while he’s off school OR I’m taking my vacation days and should use them for an actual vacation. Sure, it will look different with a kid, but it will be magical in its own way. And how cool to expose him to another culture like that?!
Peaches to Apples 