Categories
Fabulous living

Friendships First

Hey guys! Happy Wednesday and Happy February!


 I love the second month of the year, purely to celebrate Valentine’s Day! When the winter months seems to drag on with no need in sight, it’s always fun to celebrate love and get into the holiday spirit in the midst of a long and cold winter. Whether you are celebrating February 14 with your sweetheart of Galentine’s day on February 13 with your girlfriends, there’s always a reason to get into the holiday spirit and celebrate the big and little things in life. 


Speaking of girlfriends, today we are talking about prioritizing friendships!


One of my goals for 2021 was to prioritize my friendships, the pandemic made it hard to see friends and catch up in person, but no matter how far the distance, it’s still important to  make those friendships a priority and I think I did my best to make thta happen for the past year and I plan to keep it going in the year ahead. 


Here’s three ways to make sure you are getting the must-have friend time in:

-Set up FaceTime dates
This is a great idea for long distance friendships. It can be hard to make a trip for a day or a weekend getaway to visit friends especially if your days off don’t line up. However, setting up a monthly or biweekly FaceTime date or call is an easy solution. During the pandemic, I was really good with doing regular FaceTime calls with friends but as things got back to normal peoples schedules got busier too and it was harder to have regular FaceTime dates. However by finding a time that works good for you and friend whether it’s monthly or weekly and sticking to it, ensures you are staying in touch with friends and getting that quallity time in with them. My one friend Sydney and I started doing monthly FaceTime dates in January of 2021. We’ve been great at following through on this and only missed one month! We decided on the last Friday of every month we would FaceTime to catch up with our jobs, actviites, and adventures. In the summer, we did a few meet ups in person which was so fun, but monthly FaceTimes have worked great for us. I put it in my calendar on my phone and the event repeats every month, so I know on Friday nights, once a month, it’s FaceTime date time with Sydney!

-Scheduled coffee or dinner dates
For friends a bit closer to home, maybe a coffee, dinner or walk date is more convenient. Whenever I’m planning out my months and weeks, I always write a list of monthly goals, from work, to personal. One of my goals is often friend dates. For some of my local friends, I always like to make it a point to see them in person once a month,  whether it be a coffee break in the morning, a after work dinner date, or even a walk when the weather is nice. Schedules can get busy so it’s important to make a point to get it on the calendar for friend dates. I’ll even set a reminder for send a text to remember make plans with friends. My friends and I love to support local, so we try to make it a point to shop local when it comes to our food choices. Even with friends who live just a few blocks away, work schedules can become hectic which is why getting a plan set-up early on is key. Even if you have a big group of friends and can’t get everyone to meet up at the same time, a one on one date, or a smaller group is better than none, plus it also allows you more quality time with friends.

Grabbing a meal with a friend is a perfect way to catch up.
If you don’t have enough time for a meal, maybe a coffee break is better!


-Find common activities

This is such a fun way to stay in touch with friends and try new things out. FInd common activities or hobbies for you and your friends. Last year, a few of my high school pals and I did a book club, we would each choose a book, read it and discuss over Facetime. This was a great way for us to catch up and get our reading in (a goal we all had last year-read more!). This activity opened my eyes to new genres and authors. If reading isn’t for you, maybe try a fitness class if that’s one of your resolutions. You can try out new workouts, get a good sweat in and enjoy time with friends. The best of both worlds. If you are looking to get a big more creative, maybe try tackling sewing or scrapbooking, for find a hobby that you and your friends can enjoy and get a finished product at the end.

Finding a common interest, like reading among friends is what worked for me.
Or if you are looking for a way to get exercise, try going for a walk.

How do you put your friendships first?

Categories
Fabulous living

2021 Resolution Recap and Year in Review

Hey guys! Happy Wednesday! Merry Christmas! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with family and loved ones. I always love the time between Christmas and New Year’s, whether you are off for a break or working, it’s always a nice time to relax, catch your breath and take some extra time to reflect on the year. 

I wanted to take some time to reflect on the past year and my resolutions. For a quick recap, you can read my post here about my 2021 Resolutions. My word of the year was intentional. I wanted to be more intentional with my time with friends and family and more intentional with the things I put time and energy in. I wrote it on a post-it note in my planner and moved it from month to month as a reminder for myself. Overall, I think I did pretty well with focusing on family and friends when I spent time with them. I also prioritized what things I did during my free time too.

My first of three resolutions for this year was to be more intentional with family and friends. I found myself doing a lot of multi-tasking and wanted to be more focused on one thing at a time. I did well with spending time with family and a lot of this had to do with my new work schedule. I now get to spend a lot more time with family and do my best to put the phone down and be present, but there’s always room for improvement. 

My second resolution was less screen time. I did well by setting up times on my phone to have my phone shut off to focus on work or housework. But there were times that I was tired by the end of the day and just aimlessly scrolled, not the best use of time, but sometimes you need a brain break. That will continue to be something I work on in the new year. 

My third resolution was to be more consistent with friends. I definitely made more time for friends by setting up times to do things with friends. The pandemic put a halt to a lot of social activities so by really setting aside time for friends, I was able to maintain my friendships I hold dear to my heart. For example, I started the year out with my virtual book club with my high school friends, Maddie and Ryan. I also set up time for monthly facetime dates with friends (more on that on a post in the new year).

Stay tuned for my goals for 2022 next week!

Now, for a quick year in review. I had a lot of high hopes for 2021 and a lot of them came to fruition. 

I was able to spend lots of time with friends, either in person or via facetime or zoom.

Seeing my best friend Danielle was a highlight of the year.

I also got in a lots of day trips to new places for hiking and walking, from State Parks, to National Parks, new trails and old spots.

Going on walks makes the winter more manageable.
Fall weeks are good for the soul.

I also tried new things like ice skating and have loved it. I went three times in the past three weeks. 

Skating on the bay was such a fun experience.
Skating in Buffalo.

I got to travel with my family and get some great one on one time with loved ones.

Family time with my brothers on vacation.

I got a chance to stand by one of my best friend’s side as she got married.

Getting wedding ready!

I got lots of fall walks in and got to celebrate the start of the holiday season.

Apple picking was one of the fall walks and adventures I embarked on.

The best part of the year was getting my Covid-19 vaccine.

Work has been busy this year, but I’m so lucky with all the opportunties I’ve been given and all the things I’ve learned along the way.

Covering different stories every day makes my job so fulfilling.

I’m so lucky to have a loving family and supportive friends along for the ride too.

What a year 2021 was….2022…let’s do this!