Kicking Goals

Back in early November I set myself four goals to achieve by the end of the year. I’ve been doing this for the past few years and always enjoy challenging myself a little. I find setting short term goals so much more manageable then creating large lofty goals with no real time line attached. Anyway, I thought I’d let you know how I went achieving them…

Work my way up to running 10km

Yep, didn’t manage this one. I started off with the best intentions and down loaded a Couch to 10kms program, which I followed pretty closely for a few weeks. But my thyroid operation threw me off and then we moved house and I was literally TOO EXHAUSTED to even unpack a box let alone run for 30 minutes. So this fell by the way side. I’d definitely like to run more this year though, at the moment I rely solely on volleyball for exercise, which isn’t the worst (I do train and play up to 5 times a week) but introducing some additional training would definitely be good.

 

Branch out and try to use different outfit photo locations

I did manage this one! WOOHOO! I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and ventured away from those beloved colourful garage doors in Fremantle. After almost 3 years of blogging I’m still not very good at using my camera, so I kept an eye out for interesting backdrops that were in the shade and unoccupied before work starts (which is when I usually do my outfit shoots). Luckily Fremantle has a plethora of different options and I was thrilled to branch out a little and change it up. I’ll definitely be keeping it up this year

 

Sort, cull and sell my wardrobe

This one is a work in progress. While moving into our new house I was RUTHLESS with what I allowed back into my wardrobes. I filled two gigantic boxes with clothes I didn’t want anymore. One was donated to the Salvos straight away and the other is full of things I plan to sell at the Melville Markets. I didn’t get a chance to do a market stall before Christmas, but I’m planning to do one soon. I’ve also been pretty strict at sticking to my one-in one-out rule. So far this year I’ve only bought 2 dresses, but as they went into my wardrobe I pulled out two more and added them to my box of stuff to be sold. Told you I was being ruthless!

Complete a gallery wall in my new home

I didn’t so much create a gallery wall as I did decorate my entire house in the space of two weeks. So I’m definitely chalking this one up to a win. At some point I’ll share more images of my new place, because I’m pretty chuffed with how it all turned out. I was so impressed with how quickly I managed to pull everything together using only stuff from Gumtree, op shops and IKEA (I have a mortgage now so no extra cash to splash on fancy furniture that doesn’t require an Allan key to assemble).

So that’s it, I achieved 2.5 of my 4 goals… not bad considering the circumstances I was working with. Have you made any resolutions for the new year? Or goals you’d like to kick in 2016? I’d love to hear about them!

Scoring Goals

Way back in November I set myself a few goals to achieve before the end of 2014. And guess what? I actually achieved them all!

Goal number 1: Start and stick to a skin care regime

Read about my skin care revelation here (I’m happy to report that I’m still keeping it up!)

Goal number 2: Buy some herbs and keep them alive

This is the goal I was most dubious about, I’ve had terrible luck with plants in the past (i.e I’ve forgotten about them and they died). But I hate shelling out $4 every time I need some basil, so growing a little herb garden has been on my agenda for a while. I bought some coriander, mint and basil plants from Bunnings, potted them, watered them and waited for them to die. But they didn’t! They are still growing! The mint in particular has gone berserk, I’m very impressed with myself. (The above picture isn't the best example of them as I had just pillaged the mint for dinner the night before). 

(sneak peak of an outfit I'll share later in the week!)

Goal number 3: Learn a new hair style and wear it

I didn’t so much as ‘learn’ a new hair style, I just kind of altered something I was already doing. Over summer I like to put my hair up and have it off my neck. My favourite style is doing Heidi braids, so I used the same idea but instead of pinning two braids on top of my head I pinned them along the nape of my neck instead. It’s super easy to do and looks a bit prim and proper. Goal achieved!

Goal number 4: Enjoy my house and neighbourhood more

Goal number four was definitely my favourite. I am truly spoilt to live in the centre of Fremantle, with only a 50m walk to the beach, views of the ocean and harbour from my  balcony and the best coffee only minutes away. Since November I’ve made a concerted effort to go for more beach swims, go on longer walks, try different bars/cafes/restaurants and just soak up how lucky I am to live where I do. It’s been great and I will continue to love every moment I have left of inner Freo living.

I'm pretty pleased I managed to complete all of my goals! Hopefully it's a good omen and means 2015 will be super productive and awesome for me. Fingers crossed! Did you set any goals or resolutions?

Kicking Goals!

Hello, it’s time to share my goal-kicking progress! Goal Number One was to start and a stick to a skin care regime and I have a confession to make…

I have never had a proper skin care regime. As of about 6 weeks ago I still went to bed almost every night with my make up on, I had a dusty bottle of cleanser on my bathroom bench that got a look in maybe once a month and I don’t think I’ve ever used toner in my life. I knew it was a bad habit, I knew that the reason I didn’t have nice skin was because I wasn’t doing anything to look after it. But I was lazy, so 27 years slipped by before I got my act together.

I think one of the main things stopping me from looking after my skin (aside from extreme laziness) was that I didn’t want to spend millions of dollars on even more beauty products (my bathroom cabinet is already exploding with 37 shades of nude lipstick, it can’t handle much else!). But after doing a little research I realised that there were some inexpensive and basic products that I could pick up at the chemist to over haul my skin situation. So for the past 6 weeks I have been removing my makeup, cleansing, toning and moisturising twice a day, plus using an eye cream at night. I have also been steaming, exfoliating and using a mask about once a week.

This probably sounds very normal to all of you who look after your skin, but for me it’s been hard work to keep it going. Thankfully after six weeks it’s become a habit and I am actually seeing some good results. The photo directly below was taken the day before I started my regime. It is fairly hideous for a number of reasons, not least because I had rolled out of bed approximately 90 seconds before, but you can get a good sense of what my untended skin looked like, puffy eyes, grey bags and all those little spots and blemishes. These photos don't really show it very well but six weeks into my new regime and I haven’t had a proper pimple (touch wood)! My skin is smoother, brighter and feels softer, my pores appear smaller plus it is SO nice to wake up in the morning and not have clumped together mascara and smudged eyeliner half way down my face.

(six weeks ago, arrrg!)

(today! can you tell the difference?!)

Here are the products I’ve been using, they all cost less than $10 and were purchased from my local chemist;

Cetaphil gentle cleanser

Cetaphil gentle moisturiser (love this but it doesn’t have any SPF in it, so I might need to look for one that does)

Witchazel for a toner

Vitamin E oil for an eye cream

Johnson daily essentials fave cleansing wipes to remove makeup (I’ve been using these for a while and they are great, super gentle but easily remove my tough water proof eyeliner and mascara)

I have pretty normal skin, it’s not super oily, too dry or extra sensitive and all of the above products have worked really well for me, I’d recommend them all!

This goal has been a long time coming and I’m so glad I finally got my act together and started looking after my face, fingers crossed this habit stays for a while and I can continue to enjoy blemish free skin!

P.S This isn't a sponsored post, I just wanted to share the products that have been working for me :)