Tiny In Toronto

I feel like New Year’s resolutions are a bit controversial. Like, why set up these goals when you’re just going to be upset if you don’t achieve any of them? Why set yourself up for failure? I totally get that because part of me doubts that I’ll drink as much water as I should or even exercise once a week, but I’ve always been a goal-oriented person. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before but I consider myself pretty organized. I like to make lists any chance I get and I think this is one of those chances! To those of you that find this a little silly, I’m sorry. I’m just trying to have a good mindset to start off the new year (even if we might already be 1 week in)! If you like to give yourselves goals or resolutions every year, share them with me in the comments! I would love to read them. Here are mine!

1. Daily exercise – This one is super hard for me because I’m not a big fan of exercising. I think I just haven’t found my version of exercise? Does that make sense? I enjoyed yoga last year. I felt good after a good stretch so maybe I’ll try my best to do a bit of that every day? My main focus is to make sure that I move and get my heart pumping daily. It could even be a 10 minute stretch or whatever. I think that’s doable, right? I don’t know why I struggle to do this but I do commute to work 5 times a week. My job requires me to be on my feet and walking up and down stairs (we have 3 floors) for 8-9 hours. So I do get some exercise but I just want to be more mindful of whether or not my body is getting the exercise it needs.

2. Save, save, save! – If you read my last post, you know that I just recently took over the lease of my apartment. I no longer have a roommate, which means that all the expenses are solely my responsibility. It’s scary! On top of it all, it needs some furniture! (I don’t have a dining room table right now and it’s starting to bug me a little lol) What I’m trying to say is that this is all going to cost me. I need to save as much money as possible. I need to be savvy in order for me to achieve my dream home! I’m promising myself that I will stop buying things that I don’t really need, and save instead.

3. Read 50 books – You’ll find this out real soon in an upcoming post, but I disappointed myself with how many books I read last year. I got so caught up in running my small business that I completely neglected what I love most: reading! I am not going to fall off track this year. Reading is so good for you and it’s my favourite way of escaping reality. I love fiction and getting caught up in a good book. There’s really nothing like it. I’m determined to actually read 50 books this year!

4. Eat healthier – You are going to get sick of me mentioning how I’m living on my own now. I promise that I’ll shut up after a month or so ha-ha. Now that I’m solo, I think I want to experiment with cooking more. It’s just hard to experiment when you have to be mindful of someone else that might need the kitchen as well. With that no longer being an issue, I think I want to look into recipes that I’ve always wanted to try. Maybe purchase a cookbook? I’m not crazy/picky when it comes to what I eat, but I do have a terrible habit of eating a lot of take-out/fast food. I just can’t be bothered to take the time to cook. I was also really self-conscious when it came to cooking around someone else. I think it was my anxiety but I was worried about my meal being judged or if I was doing something completely wrong. It sounds ridiculous but I don’t have to worry about it anymore! I made my first roast in the slow cooker that I got for Christmas YEARS ago. It was delicious. My boyfriend actually enjoyed it, and no one died! I’m honestly quite proud of myself even though the crock pot did all of the work lol. Cooking at home is definitely much better than take-out food (and also better for my wallet), and I wanna do more of it.

5. Drink more water – This one is probably going to be on here for all the years to come. I don’t think you can ever have enough water. There also isn’t very much to say. I want to drink as much as I can and I’d like to create the habit of always carrying a reusable water bottle with me!

6. Grow my Instagram (reach 5K followers?) – This sounds pretty ridiculous because I’m not the type of person to care about how many followers I have. I’ve had so many wonderful opportunities in the last year that I’ve really started to consider making Instagram more of a focus. I love working with brands I love. I don’t want to stress too much about it but I want to post more often and be more interactive and engaging on there. However, I will have to break out of my comfort zone. I like my privacy. I’ve been nervous to let people see more of me. The internet can be so mean sometimes but it can also be an amazing thing. I have so many friends on Instagram with such supportive little communities. I think that’s wonderful when it’s a positive space. Whether or not I actually reach 5K followers doesn’t matter but I would like to create a little community of my own. We could talk about crocheting, interior decorating, books, fashion trends, etc.! I don’t know, it sounds fun and I talk about most of this stuff already anyway. Are you into it? Let me know!

7. 2 blog posts a week – I love blogging and I know I started this blog when I was in college, but I’ve just come to realize it now. Blogging makes me happy! I don’t really stress about who’s reading it or how many. I’m writing for myself. I think having two blog posts ready to upload every week is an achievable and reasonable goal. Some weeks there may only be one (like this week, for example lol) but I will do my best to remain consistent. I do find that most of the time the reason I don’t end up posting is because I haven’t had enough time to go over/proofread. I don’t want to post something without reading it a couple of times! But maybe I need to trust myself a bit more as well. I guess I’ll just try not to stress too much about my writing and just have fun with it.

8. Take a *much-needed* vacation – I know that omicron is very much a thing right now and therefore a vacation isn’t really in the cards at the moment. The last time I went on vacation or on an airplane was right before the pandemic. In February 2020, I went to the Dominican Republic with my best friend and I’d do anything to go back. If Covid-19 ever calms down and if we get to live a bit more like we used to, I definitely want to consider seeing the ocean again. I’ll go anywhere! But even if things do calm down, I’m not even sure if I’ll feel safe and comfortable. I tend to be someone that worries too much/overthinks so I don’t think I’ll book any vacation until it’s 10000% safe. I’m hoping that happens this year! *fingers crossed*

9. Find a salary job – I’m approaching 30 years-old (2 years to go!). I think it’s about time that I leave my hourly paid retail job and switch for something more corporate? I really want a salary position. Also: working from home has never sounded more appealing. While everyone is safe at home during this 4th(? – I’ve lost count) lockdown, I still have to take the bus and the subway to work 9:30AM-6:30PM at my retail job, interacting with strangers/customers 5 times a week. Is this essential? Definitely not. But I guess this keeps the economy alive or whatever. I think overall, I’ve outgrown retail.

10. Make my dream home/apartment – I’ve saved the best resolution for last! I’ve already expressed my excitement in my last post, so you already know I am dying to make this old apartment into something new and 100% me. The problem is that I have these small periods where I’m so impatient and I want to settle for sub-par pieces just so I can say that I’m done/the apartment is complete/I’m ready to host a housewarming! I don’t want that though! I know that stumbling across perfect pieces is going to take time so I’m giving myself until my birthday to have a place that’s maybe 85% finished. That’s like, 6 months? I think that’s achievable, don’t you? My boyfriend pointed out last night that my face and whole mood brightens up when I talk about my plans for the apartment. I’m so excited to get things going and to share them with you!

Those are my New Year’s resolutions. I think most of them are manageable. I wanted to add that I’d like to create a proper skincare routine for myself (morning and night), but I find that rather daunting. It seems like a lot of experimentation and research. I mean, I might give it a shot. Should I take you on my skincare journey? Maybe I’ll stick to the 10 resolutions that I’ve already mentioned and go from there lol. My skin’s not terrible, I just feel like I should start taking better care of it. This might have to be a separate blog post, but let me know if this interests you!

I hope you are all having a great weekend!

Until next time,

– Tiny ❤