Thursday, January 1, 2015

My Life Essentials + January Goals

Image Credit: Jeff Sheldon
Hi there and happy New Year! It's pretty crazy to think that we're in 2015 now and it's January, isn't it? I'd hate to add to a list of repetitiveness from all the New Year blog posts you might be reading, but hey, I'm just being honest here. I hope that you're all super excited about the newness of it all and that you prosper this year.

Today, I thought I'd share with you all some things - material things - that I find are absolute essentials in my life. They are just things that I can't quite get through my day without. I'm not in any way trying to say that you absolutely need all these things in order to survive because that is not the case at all (you really don't need a $40 agenda to survive AT ALL), but they do add a bit of colour and use in my everyday life.

I'll also be sharing my goals for this January, so let's get into it!

Laptop


Okay, it might be a bad thing to be stuck on my laptop all the time, but since I'm a blogger and student, it's pretty much where my life is. Though I might plan for posts on paper, the actual putting-together of a post is all done on my laptop. School assignments and calendars, not to mention a more suitable screen compared to a phone to access the internet is also all on my laptop.

I don't think there has been a day when I haven't been on my laptop unless I was on vacation or something like that. I've been pretty attached since my dad got it for me in September 2013. It's the HP Envy Touchsmart Ultrabook 14" if you were wondering.

Phone


Even though I complain about it on a daily basis (it's the Blackberry Z30), I also use it a lot. More than I should, probably. It's all about communication these days (not that I've been around for that long, aha) and while I do talk to my friends quite a bit on there, my parents get quite annoyed if they can't contact me via phone or email or anything like that when we're out and about in our day.

I'm also a huge music person and if I'm commuting to school or anything like that by myself, chances are, you'll find me plugged into my phone where my Taylor Swift album is playing.

Kate Spade Agenda



Yes, it was quite an expensive thing, but I got it as a gift, so I don't really need to justify it. Most people might think that it's a decently bulky agenda that wouldn't be as convenient as a smaller one or an electronic one, but it's actually one of the quirks that I appreciate the most about it. It's so big that I can always easily spot it and it guilts me into getting things done.

The layout is also so nice since it's all pretty spaced out and minimal, leaving you lots of room to plan out your days. They also very smartly included a monthly calendar because while there's a big one on my wall, it's such a useful visual tool when it comes to scheduling things in.


Breakfast oatmeal

There's something so satisfying about starting my day off with a warm bowl of oatmeal, even in the summer days when it's pretty hot and humid. I think there's a certain comfort attached to knowing that it's healthy and that it's good for my body that makes me rather content. Oh, and how it's like a warm hug in the morning when it can be a bit lonely.

When it's a school day, I'll typically mash half a banana with a rounded half cup of Quaker quick oats with about half a standard Mason jar of 1% milk the night before, then heat it up in the morning. I'm going to be writing a post of my favourite overnight recipes to go up next Thursday, so keep an eye out for that!

Notebook


My friend J just got me this notebook with some inspirational and motivational liners all over the front cover for Christmas. I'm someone who's incredibly picky about paper in notebooks, so I'm so pleased that these lines are just perfectly spaced out without any margins to constrict me (I can only deal with Hilroy's margins, if I'm honest). I've been writing everything in there from blog posts to my New Year's resolutions.


Pens


My personal favourites are the fine-point Pentel RSVP, although the medium-point is pretty fantastic as well, it's just a lot harder to get a hold of. Another pen that I've been using a ton lately and the only pen that I use to write in my new notebook is the Prismacolor Premier Fine Line Marker in #1. If you're an art fanatic or even if the closest thing you've gotten to art is art class in school, you'd probably know that the marker/pen isn't necessarily something intended as a daily writing utensil, but it's just been so good to me (aha) that I can't help but reach for it.

There's something about holding a pen and writing down tasks for the day or maybe just some school stuff that makes me really, really happy.

Now, onto my goals for January!

If you read my New Year's resolutions post, you'd know that I made a long list of resolutions this year of a bunch of small things that I'm hoping to get accomplished. Compared to my failed resolutions-keeping format of last year (though it might work for some of you, it didn't for me...), I'm hoping that this year's format will work a lot better for me. I'll be setting 3-5 goals monthly and we'll see how it turns out!

This month, I'm hoping to...
  1. Start my weekly sewing classes at a local college and also practise at home, as well
  2. Blog 22 times this month
  3. Clean up after myself (or else it'll make exam season a heck of a lot harder)
  4. Get into bed at around 9:30-10:30 every night (NO LATER)
  5. Keep up with workout schedule
What goals do you have in mind for this January? What are you excited for in 2015? What are your life essentials? Leave your comments and share your stories below!



Thank you so much for reading!
- J


No comments:

Post a Comment