Alright, so here we are! Twenty-Twenty-Two! As I had hoped, 2021 was ever so slightly better than 2020. The biggest thing for us that came out of 2021 of course was the ability to get vaccinated, which meant that we got to return to do some of the things I love…museums, Disneyland, and visiting other interesting places. As for New Year’s Eve… Well, it wasn’t as lackluster as ringing in 2021, but it was far from the big parties we used to have.

After taking down Christmas, Patrick and I decided to focus on making some changes to the house, and we spent the last week, including New Year’s Eve, shifting furniture (and even adding some new pieces of vintage Heywood-Wakefield), doing a bit of painting, and general reorganizing, with even bigger plans on the horizon. Despite being hard at work, we did take a moment to go outside and watch Disneyland’s midnight fireworks, which were a welcome sight. I didn’t get gussied up, but instead welcomed 2022 in a new set of pajamas from the Vermont Country Store that I bought for myself for Christmas. I was never much of a pajama person until the pandemic, and now I own four different sets!

I won’t lie, despite being vaccinated and “boosted” this new variant has me concerned. Making any sort of plans feels like I’m building a house of cards on top of shifting sands. Looking ahead, my dad will be visiting next month for us to go to a NASCAR race (while not often mentioned on the blog, I love NASCAR) which I’m weary about going to, but at least it’s outdoors. Speaking of the outdoors, there will certainly be a lack of indoor locations for the foreseeable feature here on the blog. We have resumed some of our spring 2020 regiments, with limiting outings, shopping, and not doing any indoor dining. Seriously, get vaccinated.

In terms of resolutions made for 2021, my biggest was to revamp my Etsy shop, which I did accomplish, however, I’m sad to admit that the second I was fully vaccinated, I let my shop fall to the wayside. I would like to say a resolution for 2022 is to get back on top of my Etsy shop, but honestly, getting outside in whatever way I can and feel comfortable in, takes top priority, and I will always choose going to somewhere interesting, researching it, and writing about it over Etsy.

As for resolutions this year, well, this is where things get a little more personal, and if you’re just here for the pretty pictures and less about personal vulnerability, then you can exit now. Near the end of the year I made some realizations about things I want to change within my life. A lot of it has to do with simply letting go. Letting go of people, letting go of stuff, letting go of people pleasing. Being kind is one thing, but letting people walk all over you is another, and losing your true self as a result has quite the negative impact.

How about you? How did you spend New Year’s Eve? Are you a resolution maker?