Well hello there! I hope you’ve had a good start of the year so far!

This being the very first post of 2017, I though I’d stick to the bloggers cliché of writing down some New Year’s resolution and start a chat about a few of the things I’d like to achieve this year.

In the last couple of days I’ve seen everyone coming up with a magic formula on how to set the perfect goals for the year, everyone saying to be very specific and detailed to be able to achieve your goals in 2017. However, as you might remember, I’m not one for setting big overwhelming goals at all, and one thing I’ve learned in the years is that I rather like to set small achievable New Year’s resolutions that motivate myself, showing me how I can do them in a short amount of time and what I realistically need in order to tick them off, instead of loading myself with the weigh of huge unrealistic goals I will probably not be able to tick off my list in 5 years time (like reading *insert any number* of books per month).

Sure, I’d really like to have my own flat by the end of 2017, and buy my own car and make my business amazing and popular, but those kind of things doesn’t really depends on myself and they could come as well as not come. I’ve learned to appreciate where I’ve come so far instead, and give myself a pat on the shoulder for it.

Especially under a personal level, I’ve come to a nice balance during the latest year, and what my achievable New Year’s resolutions actually include is simply continuing with what I’ve built this past year and keep it going!

In particular, I’d like to continue to…

Cultivate my hobbies – 2016 taught me that there’s not enough time in a day to do everything. The thing is that I am passionate to so many things, but with working from home and being my own boss, it can be easy for me to forget about all the things I love doing and work day and night instead. In particular I’ve discovered knitting last year and a few hats later, I’m so passionate about it that I really want to find more time in my days to start new exciting projects! I’m sure this is something that can easily become part of my early morning or nighttime routine…

Eat healthy – I’ve learnt healthy eating is more of a habit than anything else. I’ve started my journey at the beginning of last year and, although it wasn’t easy to start with, as the months went by, I started eating healthy foods on a daily basis almost naturally, without thinking about it too much. I really think, as long as you keep doing it every single day (of course I like me some ice cream every now and then) without feeling it like a severe rule, healthy eating is more of a habit to cultivate and I’d really like to keep going with it.

Be active – This might sound the usual fitness goal, but really I’ve already started this last Summer and all I want to do from now on is keep it up! It’s a tiny bit more challenging to be active in the colder months, but I can’t wait for the new season to get out there for my daily walks, that used to do me and my mind a whole lot of good each time!

Be my best boss – As you know, I’m running my own business since 2015, and last year was the year of settling down, building a portfolio and understanding the direction I wanted to take with it all. I have a lot of plans for 2017 (which you might have already heard of if you’re subscribed to my newsletter), some bigger some smaller, but I also would like to put myself first: I should be kinder to myself, stick to my working hours and avoid feeling overwhelmed because I would like to do it all and I feel like there’s never enough time. I really need to work on that this year…

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That’s it, really! I would also love to hear about YOUR achievable New Year’s resolutions! Let me know! x

I’ve already shared my love for the Balanced App and the importance of treating yourself more often in a recent post, and since starting using that app and writing that article especially, I’ve started getting into those activities I love doing but somehow I always find myself too busy for actually practicing them. I realized what I was doing with myself was something very similar to suppressing my own passions in honour of work, and work again. Rediscovering those activities I’ve always loved doing felt such a treat recently, and since the beginning of this 2016 I’m feeling my life is actually a lot more balanced between work and passions.

Here are five things I should do more often in the following months…

01 :: Practicing yoga – At the beginning of every year I always feel so very motivated to get into yoga again, but as the year goes on that initial motivation slowly fades until at the very end I hardly ever practice yoga at all. I’ve always loved yoga, taking time for myself, switching off, stretching my muscles, welcoming a little heat (especially now that the weather is so cold it feels so lovely!), and this month I’ve rediscovered it again, wishing this time I can keep it going all year round!

02 :: Read – Reading more always appears in my new years resolutions, but this time I actually managed to start doing it right away (which usually never happens as ‘I have a whole year ahead for getting started!‘): right before bedtime I take my time to get comfortable into my PJs, heat up my hot water bottle and make a cup of fennel tea and immerse myself into some pages. It feels lovely to switch technology off an hour or so before bedtime, it not only helps to sleep better, but I’m also rediscovering the pleasure of reading a nice book and immersing myself in a different world.

03 :: Go outside – Yes, I actually added this one to the Balanced App, because, even though it seems so basic, I tend to forget about stepping out the house even only for a couple of hours a week! I work from home and sometimes it’s easy to forget where work ends and life starts, and when I take some time for myself I usually do it on the couch catching up with TV series – which I love, but sometimes it’s nice to go outside, get some fresh air in my lungs and just enjoy some time outside my usual spaces, at least once a week!

04 :: Colouring – In December we decided to give the whole colouring book trend a go and this month we have come to quite enjoy it on a Saturday night. It’s actually a quiet enjoyable couple activity I think and it totally relaxes me, so it’s something I plan on doing more this year!

05 :: Bake something new – I love baking (you would know it if you’re following this blog since a while!), it’s an activity I have a true passion for and something that always put me in a good mood. For some reasons I still don’t do it often enough for my liking, but I love discovering new recipe and trying my hands at something new. I’ve tried a couple of new recipes since the year has started and I’m totally happy with them! I should remember to bake something new every week!

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Would love to know what you’d need to do more often!
And if you have books and recipes suggestions please let me know! x

First post of 2016! And first post after not blogging for what it feels like ages: then happy New Year everyone!

I’m a strong believer that setting big goals for the year ahead is more counterproductive than anything else, with great goals tendency to become overwhelming or making you feel you actually didn’t do it during the journey. However I pretty enjoyed setting very tiny small goals for 2015 last year, as those small achievable things just make you enjoy the process and the little things you are building in the meanwhile. And then, if you happen to achieve something bigger, that’s always nice. But not every year is my year – I’ve learnt it the hard way – and New Year resolutions to me should be something to rely on when you feel down, so that you can see you actually did achieved something nice so far.

So this year I’m trying and promising myself I can do something small and achievable, that I know it’s good and healthy for myself and make me feel nice but that I somehow don’t ever “have time” to do. Here are my small goals for 2016…

Start a recipes diary + bake more

Baking is the thing I love more. And believe it or not, even if I still blog about some recipes sometimes, I’m not spending as much time in the kitchen as I would like. Carving out time for myself and some new recipes to try out is always nice and a priority this new year, so I thought maybe starting my own illustrated recipes diary (just the perfect excuse to use one of those cute notebooks I got for Christmas) was just the right push to spend more time baking and doing something I love!

Get better at calligraphy

In 2015 I decided to jump on the calligraphy bandwagon and discovered it’s an activity I actually love and find relaxing. At first I practiced almost every single day, but then, with the launch of the new website and work coming my way, I somehow find myself practicing it only rarely. In 2016 I’ll make an effort and try to get better at it, practicing more often and dedicating time to hand writing as it’s something I love!

Colouring evenings

Let’s be honest and admit it will never happen that I’ll be able to shut technology down completely before going to bed. I’m OK with it. But I’d like to get into some healthier evening habits this year, and having just joined the whole colouring book trend and discovered how relaxing it could be (and how nice if made in couple), I’ll try and avoid technology as much as I can in favour of spending some time colouring some pages instead these next months.

Read more

This is a tough one. One that always appears in my new year resolutions but that I can’t seem to achieve as I would like to. I have always loved reading and most times I miss it. There’s just no excuse; so this time, instead of going for a specific number, I’ll try and read more books than usual this year.

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Here’s to a new year full of little enjoyable things.
I’d love to know about your goals for 2016! Are you for the small or big goals? x