Planning 2017!

Welcome to 2017 everyone! I can't believe that we are celebrating a new year already. 2016 was a crazy year for the world and a busy one for myself. I spent a lot of time on personal things and very little time blogging. What have I been up to in 2016?

- I quit a job for the first time ever

- I started a new job with a company that I have been impressed with since I was a graduate student

- I traveled over 50,000 miles in the air and visited ten countries

- I focused on spending time with the boyfriend and strengthening our 13 year relationship

With each new year I like to look ahead and make plans and goals for the next 12 months. I'm happy to let you know that I already have some trips planned and I will be sharing those adventures here. I would say that this year is going to be super busy again, but I wouldn't want it any other way. I'd hate for a year to go by quietly. Here are some goals that I have for 2017...

Personal Goals...

1. Eat the groceries I buy - each week I buy aspirational fruits, vegetables and grains at the grocery store and they inevitably go to waste and into the garbage. I hate the idea of contributing to food waste. Tied in with this goal will be to try out meal planning. I've bought this refrigerator menu planner to help out with the weekly plan.

2. Run 3 half marathons - Last year the boyfriend joined me for a half marathon and has decided that he also likes running! We are planning on doing a few local races and I'm hoping to go to Florida for the Disney half in the fall! I'm also trying to complete the MapMyRun 1000K challenge, I believe that I can do it this year!

3. Keep Learning - I really enjoyed taking all of the courses last year! In addition to practicing my calligraphy and night photography, I'd love to take another course or two. I think that I need to get some cake decorating skills.

4. Travel and plan ahead - In the past, the boyfriend and I haven't really been planners. We would schedule our vacations a maximum of three weeks ahead of time and just wing it. Moving forward, because of our jobs, we feel that it is necessary to schedule our vacations at least two months out. This way we might get better deals? Who knows. We will definitely still have impromptu weekend getaways though.

Blogging Goals...

5. Complete my WITK 2015 challenge (I know, it's already two years old) and work through my candy making challenge from 2016. This challenge should be much easier to complete now because my new company has hundreds of employees to feed sugar! I'm also trying to decide if I want to attempt a true 2017 challenge, let me know your thoughts.

6. Catch up on travel blogging here at WITW! I actually have several trips that I have never posted here. If you follow me on Instagram, you will be aware of all of my trips from 2016 but I have some knowledge that I would love to share with you!

So plan A will be to catch up on back-logged posts. Plan A+ will be to increase blogging overall here and get back into the swing of things.

Random Goals...

7. Renovate the powder room - It's the only room left in our house that needs to be completed. We have been living in our townhouse for just over two years and we haven't gotten around to renovating that room. We have some ideas for decorating, but can't agree on wallpaper, a mirror or sink. We did buy some art for the room. Baby steps.

8. Donate unused items - I hate clutter! Now I'm not planning on completing a Marie Kondo challenge and getting rid of all of my things, but there are plenty of things just sitting around the house. I have already done a lot of closet cleaning out, getting rid of my grad student wears, now it's time to tackle the boxes!

There we have it, my main plans for the coming year! Time to print it out and put it on the fridge. I'm a visual person and I think that I need to look at my goals every once and a while to ensure that I stay on track.

What do you have on your goal list for 2017? Maybe there are some things that we can work on together!

2015 Goal Review

The end of the year is upon us and I thought I would do one final check-in before it becomes 2016! I've been about 50% successful with my goals, which means that I have a bit of work ahead of me in the coming year!

Health & Fitness

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1. Workout 4 times per week - At the mid-year point I mentioned that I workout consistently when I'm home (which is still true), but I was having motivation problems while traveling for work. I'm happy to report that I've found my groove when traveling and I hit the gym each morning when I'm away. While I was traveling to Denver this year, I hiked some of my favorite trails in the Flatirons. When working in Shanghai, I stay at a hotel that has an amazing gym. 

2. Run a half marathon - This goal will have to be pushed along to next year. I'm sad that my favorite half marathon conflicts with my favorite conference of the year! I'll have to find another half marathon to run, I'm considering one of the NYC borough runs.

3. Strive for Five - Definitely still closer to 4 per day with this goal. I'm thinking that I should transition one of my meals to a fruit and vegetable smoothie in order to fit in a few more servings of the healthy stuff.  If I could eat five bananas and call it a day, then I could totally reach this goal. However I don't think all of that potassium would be good for me!

Personal Growth

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4. Take four courses - I'm afraid that I failed at this one, but I have taken one course this year! I'll be sharing a post about my jewelry making class soon. I have my eye on a few different personal growth courses for 2016. I should just book them and then I have no choice but to go!

5. Visit two new places - This year was a busy year for travels. I visited Eleuthera (Bahamas), Prague (Czech Republic), Bratislava (Slovakia), Budapest (Hungary), Brasov & Bucharest (Romania), Istanbul (Turkey), Shanghai & Beijing (China), Vienna (Austria)  and Faro & Lisbon (Portugal). I'm going to need to get more pages added to my passport!

6. Make our new house a home - The plan was to finish all of our renovations before we were in the house for a full year. We've come very close to this goal with only one room remaining, the powder room!

Blogging

what I need to learn...

7. Post 3 times per week across both WITK and WITC - With all of the travel this year, I've been slacking majorly on my blogging. With the transition over here to Wilde in the World, I have plans for next year to increase my blogging by combining my blogs into one location!

8. Add more lifestyle posts to WITC - I've been attempting to post travel updates as I return from my trips. Next year I will be adding more food, fashion and beauty posts!

9. Try 12 more candy recipes for WITK - I certainly didn't make 12 new candy recipes this year, but I did make quite a few tasty new treats! - Cadbury Creme Eggs, Honey Marshmallow Peeps Raspberry Lemonade Jellies. 

How did you manage on your 2015 goals? Did you have any major accomplishments this year? 

Next time I'll be setting my big 2016 goals!

2015 Goals - Mid-year Update

Here we are, just over halfway through 2015! I thought that I should take a moment to check in with the goals that I made in January. I have to admit that I haven't done my best so far this year. I all but forgot about the goals until a few weeks ago! Going goal by goal, let's see where I am and how far I have left to go...

Health & Fitness

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1. Workout 4 times per week - I'm so close to this goal! On weeks that I'm not traveling I make it to the gym three times per week and I do one home workout. Sadly, I've been a total slacker when I'm traveling. Sometimes I don't even bother to pack my gym clothes. On the bright side, I wear my Fitbit everyday and try to hit my 10,000 steps each day.

2. Run a half marathon - My favorite marathon (The Central Park Women's Half) fell on a weekend that I was away at a conference. I was so sad! I'm looking for a fall half marathon. And the will to train for a marathon during the heat of the summer. Ugh, I hate running in hot weather.

3. Strive for Five - Definitely not five. I think I'm closer to 3 a day. Summer is always better because produce is more delicious. I need to do some research into making this goal a little easier.

Personal Growth

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4. Take four courses - Ultimate fail. I haven't done anything to improve myself yet this year. I do spend time each week looking through course websites. I have the urge, just not the conviction...

5. Visit two new places - This goal can definitely be crossed off the list! So far this year I have visited Eleuthera (Bahamas), Prague (Austria), Bratislava (Slovakia), Budapest (Hungary), Brasov & Bucharest (Romania), Istanbul (Turkey) and Shanghai & Beijing (China). I still have a few more trips planned for this year, my passport is getting quite the workout! 

6. Make our new house a home - The boyfriend and I are well on our way to completing the renovation and decoration of our new townhouse. We still have two rooms to paint/reno and there are some missing pieces of furniture in each room, but we have a collective goal to finish before this year is up! 

Blogging

what I need to learn...

7. Post 3 times per week across both WITK and WITC - Total, major fail. While I have been traveling a lot this year, I have definitely had time to post more often than I do. What have I been doing? I have no idea. I need to utilize my planner more in life.

8. Add more lifestyle posts to WITC - Does this one count? Probably not. Time to get back on some sort of blogging schedule.

9. Try 12 more candy recipes for WITK - I've completed 3 more candy recipes so far this year - Cadbury Creme Eggs, Honey Marshmallow Peeps and Raspberry Lemonade Jellies. I tend to make more candies in the fall/holiday season, so hopefully I can finish up this goal during that time of the year.

How are your 2015 goals coming along? Have you met your expectations, or have you abandoned all hope? We've still got another 6 months in this year, time to redouble our efforts and make 2015 a year full of growth and adventure!

2015 Wilde Goals

We're more than halfway through January 2015 and I thought that I would take a moment to share some of my personal goals for this year. I'm not one for resolutions, because I feel like they are often too wide-sweeping and never followed through on. Goals are more of a tangible thing that I can work to achieve and cross off when I accomplish. I've broken down my 2015 goals into three different catagories - Health & Fitness, Personal Growth & Blogging!

Health & Fitness

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1. Workout 4 times per week - When I was a postdoc, I was at the gym every single day. It helped that I was earning extra money teaching classes, so I was required to show up! Since starting my new job last year, I really fell out of a gym schedule. I made excuses like - I'm traveling so much for work or we're moving and that's exercise enough - and my muscles have gotten so weak! Time to hit the gym and get back to my strong self.

2. Run a half marathon - I completed my first half marathon two years ago and absolutely loved it. I trained for 6 weeks and ran the Women's Central Park half marathon. I started out as a mediocre runner and finished six weeks later with a time of 1 hour 58 minutes. So not only do I want to run another half marathon, I want to beat that time! Do you want to train with me?

3. Strive for Five - For years of my life, that saying meant long hours in the lab (chemistry PhD students will know what I'm talking about), now I want it to lead to a healthier Vicki. I'm sure I'm not the only person who buys lots of fruits and veg at the grocery store, only to throw it all away the next week. I'll be working to incorporate more produce into my diet by prepping it all early. I'll be documenting this food journey both here and at WITK.

Personal Growth

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4. Take four courses - There are so many classes available in New York City and I want to take some time this year to learn something new. I've got my eye on a few jewelry making classes as well as some cooking/baking classes. Maybe I also need to learn how to salsa?

5. Visit two new places - Last year, I visited ten new places! Most of them were business trips, but I was able to enjoy at least one day of sight seeing on each trip. I love to travel, learn more about other countries and speak new languages. I have fewer work trips this year (and most of them at to places I've already been!), so that means vacations to far flung locations are a must! So many places to see, but where to go in 2015?

6. Make our new house a home - Last year, we bought our house. This year, we make it our own. The major goal for this year is to renovate and decorate our place. The boyfriend and I are taking our time, not wanting to buy everything at once and regret it. So far we have bought a couch, mattress and two dining chairs. To say there is a lot of work left is an understatement!

Blogging

7. Post 3 times per week across both WITK and WITC - To help myself with this goal, I have a 2015 challenge running on my cooking blog, creating junk foods at home. I've been slacking off on both of my blogs and really want to get back to a regular posting schedule.

8. Add more lifestyle posts to WITC - With the new job came a whole new schedule for life. I've had less time to spend on fashion photos and have spent more time traveling, decorating and enjoying life. The occasional fashion post will pop up, but I want to make it more of a mix of all things Wilde!

9. Try 12 more candy recipes for WITK - A few years ago, I worked on a candy challenge at WITK. I really enjoyed working with sugar syrups and creating chocolate confections at home. The world needs more sweets (Not really...), and I am happy to help!