2011 Resolutions

Hello 2012! I am very excited to see what you have in store for us this year. 2011 was a very exciting year for us with trips to Europe, new jobs and our wedding festivities.  2012 is probably going to be a bit more low key but hopefully just as fun.  Last January I made a few resolutions for myself and of course now it is time to see how I went with them all.  They were nothing too major as I am also doing my 101 in 1001 but still gave me a little something to aspire to.

1 - Read More

My aim was to read 52 books this year but unfortunately I did not quite make it.  I am still pretty happy with what I did manage to read.  I hit 40 books in December (yes that means I only read 1 book in December).  This is a major improvement for me though considering all I read in the 3 years previous were text books and magazines. Before uni I read a lot but when uni started I just didn't have the time. When I graduated in 2010 I was in the habit of not reading so it just continued. Having said that I am pretty happy with having read 40 books in 2011.

2 - Introduce more vintage into my wardrobe.
At the end of 2010 I decided that I wanted to start wearing vintage clothes.  I had always admired the vintage style but was never game enough to purchase anything.  I made my first purchase at the end of 2010 when I bought 2 dresses to wear for Christmas.  In 2011 I wanted to expand my vintage wardrobe and I have definitely been successful at this goal.  A trip to London in March saw my vintage wardrobe grow considerably.  Since then there has been many purchases via etsy, ebay and in person at various vintage stores that we have passed in our travels.  I really feel like this year I have come into my own style a bit more and I definitely feel more comfortable about who I am and how I dress.


3 - Start sewing with vintage patterns.
So I didn't give myself an actual number of patterns to sew with so technically I can call this one a success.  I did only sew 1 vintage pattern though.  I used an 80's pattern to sew a pair of high waisted shorts. I do own a few more vintage patterns which I would love to make but as you will see by my next goal my sewing exploits this year were a bit slack.


4 - Sew 30 things in 2011

This goal was an epic fail with only 17 items being sewn this year.  I really wanted to sew more this year but with a month taken out for Europe and October - December being a total write off with birthdays, the wedding and Christmas I just didn't get anywhere near as much as I wanted achieved.  I am happy with what I sewed this year though. They are all items that I love and I am very happy with how they all turned out.


5 - Knit 15 things in 2011

I am so happy with how much I managed to knit this year.  I love to knit but I get a little slack when a project takes too long.  Something I would love to achieve this year is to knit a garment for myself that I actually wear.  I have knit myself a few cardigans in the past but always end up wearing them once and then getting rid of them.  Usually this is because I stuff them up somehow so that they don't fit comfortably or I knit something that isn't really my style anyway.  I am hoping to change that in 2012.


6 - Bake More (at least 30 things).

I love to bake and 2011 was definitely a good baking year for me! One thing I am really happy with is the birthday cakes that I made this year. I have been wanting to make some fun themed cakes for ages and this year I definitely achieved that. My burger cake I made my dad is one of my favourite cakes I have ever made.  I am hoping I can continue to make fun cakes like this again in 2012.

So, how did you all go with your 2011 resolutions? Have you made any resolutions for 2012 yet? I have a few things I would like to achieve much the same as this year but I will be back to post about those later.