Hi friends! This one is going to be a doozy of a run-on post so brace yourselves! It’s so nice to be back in the swing of things and I hope you all enjoyed a restful and happy Holiday Season. In case you missed it, I took about a week long hiatus from blogging and posting on my KaraLovesCoco social media accounts. It gave me anxiety to be away because in this business (who am I kidding, in every job I’ve ever had), it never feels like I’m doing enough. My mind is always on my next post, what the caption in my photo will be or if you guys will be inspired by the content that is produced across my platforms.
My hope for my vacation from my computer and phone was to allow the space for creativity to grow while spending 100% of my time being present with my family. Much of this business is run from my phone so I am the wife on date night arranging our food perfectly to snap a pic while my husband salivates in his seat. I’ll admit to consistently checking e-mail while Coco plays next to me. I’m the girl who asks my brother in-law to snap an #ootd pic at Disneyland when everyone is tired and ready to head home from a long (and wonderful) day. I struggle to disengage but let’s be honest…there isn’t a job out there that doesn’t require sacrifices and those seem small compared to sacrifices I’ve made in my previous job.
Luckily, my family and friends are beyond supportive of my business and as annoying as those things are to everyone (myself included), a consistent commitment to those little things and a lot of hard work has allowed my business to grow over time and suddenly I’ve found myself to be one of the lucky ones who actually loves their job. Don’t get me wrong, I’m nowhere near the goals I’ve set for myself yet and I have so much to learn still but I’m working on it! Austin and I tend to do a lot of reflective thinking and talking this time of year and the conclusion we’ve come to is that we’re so lucky and so happy. I hate to use the term #blessed but that is how I truly feel. My intuition tells me 2017 is going to be an exciting year and I want to say how lucky I feel to have found all of you through this process. Thank you for all of your support, your likes, your e-mails, your DM’s and your comments. Without you, this wouldn’t exist and I appreciate each and every one of you more than you’ll ever know.
Resolutions aren’t really my thing but I did update my 101 in 1001 list for you below and made a few goals that I’d like to achieve in 2017. If you can believe it, I have just about one year left to accomplish those 101 goals. Next up is planning a trip to Austin, TX to visit my brother and his family. The last item on my list is to inspire someone else to make their own 101 in 1001 list. If you make one, can you send it to me? I’ll post it here and then finally be able to cross that off my list!
Other goals of mine are to stop stress eating, find an exercise routine that I stick with and to create a weekly schedule (which will really help with the first two). Lastly, I’d like to work on getting Coco to sleep better OR simply accept that being a poor sleeper is a part of her DNA. She was a terrible sleeper from BIRTH (diagnosed with Colic at 4 months) and continues to have sleep disruptions today. Yes, we did Cry It Out. Yes, I read all of the books. Yes, I hired a sleep trainer (which she slept through the night for 4 months after that). She’s a bad sleeper people. If you’re judging (most of the judgement I get is from those who have perfect sleepers), I wish you a bad sleeper for your next child or 2.5 years of poor sleep. Just don’t. Does it seem like this is a touchy subject for me? Because it is! But this is one of my goals of which would be a literal DREAM to achieve.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Do you make resolutions?! I’d love to hear what they are and how you challenge yourself to stick to them! That’s always the hardest part, right? I’ve missed you guys and am so glad to be back. As always, thank you so much for following along. xo
1. Create 101 in 1001 list (May 2015)
2. Don’t shop for one month- eeeek
3. Learn to fold fitted sheets
4. Have 5 Go-To Dinner Meals (#1: Salmon, Pea Puree and Roasted Brussels Sprouts July 2015, #2: Butternut Squash Ravioli with Walnuts May 2015)
5. Finish Organizing the Garage
6. Organize the 11,000 Photos on Computer
7. Create Photo Book of Pregnancy and Colette’s First Year
8. Unsubscribe to Junk E-mail and Snail Mail (Used App Paper Karma for Snail Mail, July2015)
9. Change over to a G-MAIL account
10. Find a way to manage Birthday’s of Friends and Family
11. Update all contact lists in Iphone with addresses
12. Have a Margarita- It’s been almost two years! (In Marco Island @ Snook Inn)
13. Get a professional hair blow out
14. Golf with Austin
15. See a Broadway play (Book Of Morman FEB 2016, Wicked 2016)
16. Visit Lauduree and have a Macaron (JUNE 2016)
17. Refurbish outdoor bar cart
18. Attend a Polo Match (JULY 2016)
19. Host a brunch for friends
20. Go wine tasting (September 2015)
21. 100 Days of Happy Journal
22. Take a trip with my Mom
23. Visit Marco Island (August 2015) (April 2016)
24. See a Red Sox game at Fenway Park with my Dad
25. Go back to Hawaii with Austin and Coco (OCT 2016)
26. Visit Austin, TX
27. Take a Ski Trip
28. Visit Adrian in NYC (JUNE 2016)
29. Plan a trip to Europe
30. Weekend in Palm Springs (NOV 2015)
31. Meet Arielle (April 2016)
32. Enroll Coco in swim lessons (July 2015)
33. Take Coco to Disney Land for her 2nd Birthday (JUNE 2016)
34. Expand Family 🙂
35. Learn to open a bottle of Champagne
36. Surprise Someone (DEC 2016)
37. Stick to our budget for 6 months
38. Leave a 100% tip for excellent service (DEC 2015)
39. Pay for the car behind me in a drive through line (NOV 2016, Starbucks)
40. Read 10 new books ***UP TO 15***Not that kind of Girl (July2015), Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (June 2015), Heaven is For Real (July 2015), Leave Your Mark (July 2015), Start with Why (FEB 2016), Spark Joy (March 2016), Blood Feud (July 2016), The Nest (July 2016), New Order (August 2016), First Comes Love (August 2016), How Toddlers Thrive (Sept 2016), The Girl With The Lower Back Tatoo (OCT 2016), Essentialism (OCT 2016), Daring Greatly (NOV 2016)
41. Host a visit from Stacey during her pregnancy (August 2015)
42. Take a Barre Class once per week for 2 months (Feb/March 12 classes total)
43. Get back to spinning
44. Do one or more pull ups
45. Take an Aeriel Silks lesson
46. Understand our investments (October 2015)
47. See a concert (Beyonce May 2016)
48. Do the splits again (Sept 2016)
49. Outdoor updates: Mulch (OCT 2016)/Stucco Clean/Shutter Paint
50. Paint House
51. Purchase footstool for master bedroom (April 2016)
52. Purchase whole house water softener
53. Attend a Ballet
54. Take Vitamins everyday for a month
55. Meditate for 10 minutes everyday for two weeks
56. Unplug completely for 24 hours
57. Become a Barre Centurion (100 classes)
58. No refined sugar for one month (July 2015)
59. Run a Turkey Trot (NOV 2015)
60. Run a 10K (San Diego Celebration Run October 215)
61. Buy another pack of hot yoga classes and actually use all of them
62. Get a massage (August 2015 @ RB INN)
63. Attend one show at fashion week (SDFY October 2015)
64. Attend a blogger conference (Create and Cultivate MAY 2016)
65. Purchase new camera (DEC 2015)
66. Thank you’s, Letterhead, Biz Cards etc for Kara Loves Closets
67. Have home featured on Design Darling
68. Edit and/or Style a minimum of 1 client per month for 6 months (Natalie/Christina (NOV), Lauren/Brennan/Christina (DEC), Kendall/Lauren (JAN), Heather/Barron (FEB), Brittney/Darcy (MARCH), Heather/Darcy/Natalie (APRIL)
69. Grow Instagram Following to 15K
70. Fix website snafu’s (July 2015)
71. Blog once per week for a year (Feb 2016)
72. Do a loop giveaway (October 2015)
73. Establish connections with 10 like minded bloggers (Shopngym August 2015) (Inspadesblog, Lilbitsofpau, LuckyLittleMustardSeed NOV 2015, Simplyxclassic (NOV2016), Itsasparklylife (NOV2016), Dtkaustin (NOV2016), 1111lightlane (OCT2016), TheSirenConfidential (NOV2016), LivinginStyle (OCT 2016))
74. Do an OOTD Instagram post daily for one month
75. Be featured in a magazine
76. Create Blog business cards and hand them out (October 2015)
77. Establish Local connections with retailers (Carlsbad Premium Outlets March 2016)
78. Have professional photos taken for the blog (June 2015)
79. Master the view from above selfie (November 2015)
80. Hang all pictures in the house that are not hung and sitting on our floor (FEB 2016)
81. Get 8 hours of sleep (DEC 2015)
82. Learn to cook fish and not get freaked out by the potential to under cook and get sick (July 2015)
83. Get routine physical, blood-work and dental appointment (July 2015) (FEB 2016) (DEC 2016)
84. Hike Torrey Pines (DEC 2015)
85. Explore the beaches of San Diego (La Jolla Shores July 2015)(Del Mar August 2015)
86. Stroll through La Jolla on a Summer date night (must include dinner and wine) (AUG 2016)
87. Visit Little Italy Farmers Market
88. Drive to the top of Mt. Laguna (NOV 2015)
89. Visit Julian in the Fall or Winter
90. Try 10 new restaurants in San Diego (Lemonade October 2015, Market January 2016, Monello Feb 2016, Vintana March 2016, Blaze Pizza March 2016, Dolce Pan E Vino April 2016, Coasterra April 2016, Catania April 2016, Westroot June 2016, Crudo July 2016)
91. Go to the Del Mar Fair (July 2015)
92. Explore Balboa Park (April 20160
93. Take a drive and look at the Christmas Lights (DEC 2016)
94. Visit the Wild Animal Park (June and July 2015)
95. Visit the San Diego Zoo
96. Visit the Flower Fields (March 2016)
97. Visit the Birch Aquarium (June 2015)(July 2015)
98. Bike Mission Bay (Austin runs with Coco)
99. SUP (August 2015)
100. Host a Holiday party (NOV 2016)
101. Inspire someone else to make this list