Resolutions old and new

As this year comes to a close I am going to take some time to revisit those pesky resolutions from last year and set some new ones for the year ahead. You can find the details of my resolutions here.

1. Consume less- Yet again I got a strong start with this, but when the holidays came around I just didn't have the time to make fancy packing materials. I have been buying fewer new materials, my shopping list usually consists of soaps and food items. The downside of so little time is that Philip and I have been eating out more than we should (which I guess is a way to both buy locally and consume less.)

2. Buy locally- I rocked out on this one. Since we had a booth at the Farmers' Market over the summer I automatically bought my produce there just out of convenience. I have also been making most of my purchases at neighborhood stores and my store sells as many products made by local individuals as we can get.

3. Fix my bike- I seriously thought about doing this, but the more I rode my bike around my neighborhood, the more I preferred walking so this didn't get done. I will probably address the issue again in the spring.

4. Learn to bake- I did at least twice as much baking this year than in previous years, but I still don't feel proficient in it. This has been added to my 40 before 40 list so I have more time to work it out. Sarah did get me a cake decorating set for Christmas so there is the possibility of lots of cupcakes in the year ahead.

5. Start my own business- I actually accomplished this, with a lot of help from friends and family. When I made the goal I was still having strong doubts and honestly without the push of Sarah, my business partner and long time friend, I don't think it would have happened.

Even though I didn't accomplish all of my goals for the year, 2006 was my best year ever and I am a little sad to see it go. I have high hopes for 2007, but a lingering fear that my life has peaked and it is all downhill from here.

My goal for the new year is to really start saving money. Philip and I sat down and figured out our budget and our savings goal for the next year. Things are going to be very tight, but I know we can do it. When we lived in Norfolk, we went on a hardcore budget and managed to save quite a bit of money (which we used up during our move and Philip's four months of unemployment last year.) We currently have a cushion in our bank account, but not as much as we should have and whenever we have unplanned expenses, like Astrid's big vet visit next month, things get tighter then they should. We started a trial of our new budget at the beginning of this month and even with all of the holiday expenditure we are in a better financial place at the end of this month than we have been in quite a while. This makes me very optimistic that by the end of January we will have 10% of our projected savings. I am adding a project bar for our savings goal on the side of my blog to chart our progress. Also, if you have any financial tips I would love to hear them.

A Very Merry Christmas

OMG, this is the best Christmas ever!!!! In fact, it is so great that everyone should make charity donations in lieu of gifts for me next year because this can't be topped. Here are the highlights...

Books-
Domiknitrix
Knitting Rules
Craftivity
Sew Subversive

DVD's-
Office season two
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (BBC series!!!)
Delicatessen (finally!!!)

Other-
Fiskars Soft Touch Scissors
Fiskars Pinking Shears
Coffee grinder (for flax seeds and spices)
Emersion Blender
Handmade Beaded Necklace

Oh yeah, and I got the Ashford Traveler that I have been drooling over for almost two years now!!!! Yes, this is the best Christmas ever. Thank you everyone and I hope you liked your gifts as much as I loved mine.

BTW- For the curious parties I will be posting pictures of my Traveler as soon as I finish assembling and applying the finish.

My secret pal plus another knit blogger

My secret pal was kind enough to reveal herself (again!) as Kim from Hand Eye Crafts. Kim spoiled me beyond belief; it has been a great exchange.

Also, I was working at the shop on Wednesday night when I met fellow knit blogger and podcaster Christine who is visiting Lexington for the holidays. I hadn't heard of Christine's podcast, Pointy Sticks, yet so I was really excited to check it out. While Christine was in the store, Renee from the AntiCraft stopped by so hopefully these gals will get together for the next episode of Pointy Sticks.

I am still struggling to finish my holiday knitting. I am about an hour from finishing my current project and I have one more project to finish by the end of tomorrow. I am planning on knitting nonstop until the festivities begin tomorrow night. I will be posting pictures of all my creations as soon as they reach their recipients.

More SP surprises

Two amazing packages came in the mail last week from my secret pal and my vegan pal.

First, my secret pal sent me the final package revealing her identity. In typical Robyn fashion I lost the letter revealing her identity on the car ride home. SP, please email me with your identity; I really want to know who has done such an amazing job of spoiling me. This package contained some sock yarn in the perfect green with several patterns to use it with, some amazing red lace yarn, a little Egyptian coffin to keep my dpns and notions in, and a cute little tote to carry it all in.

My vegan pal has never met my secret pal, but she had the foresight to make me a little special date calendar in the same colors and striping as the tote above; how cute is that? She also sent me some dpns in sizes I really need, stitch markers, vegan gummi bears, an Alternative Baking Company cookie in pumpkin spice, lip balm, dark, dark chocolate, and some Uncle Eddie's chocolate chip cookies. This package was definitely worth the wait. Thank you so much, Cathy!!

Philip and I are total Grinches when it comes to holiday decorating and merriment. We really enjoy the other parts of the holidays, just not the decorating. When we lived in Virginia we would take a trip to the kosher store, stock up on vegan junk food and watch movies on Christmas day. It wasn't exactly festive, but we liked it. We would usually drive back to Kentucky a week after Christmas to visit our family for the holidays. This is our second Christmas living in Lexington and we are starting to get the nesting urge. We have never felt bad about our lack of tree or decorations, but this year we are starting to feel a little sad that we don't have lights or a tree. We decided that after Christmas we are going to hit the clearances and stock up on decorations for our holidays next year. We are going to go all out with a tree, lights outside (LEDs of course,) and we are even going to throw a holiday party. It's weird when these urges hit you out of nowhere.

I am still knitting up the top secret Christmas presents and I have accidentally fallen a few days behind schedule. I am trying to catch up by watching more movies after work, but life is getting a little hectic right now at the store so I might have to amend some of my gift ideas. It is going to be a close finish, but I am still optimistic. I am reworking two of my projects to use worsted yarn instead of sport weight, that should shave off a few hours.

We finished almost all of our Christmas shopping last week and things are starting to get wrapped so other than the handmade stuff we are on the right track.