2021 Resolutions
Congratulations, you've officially made it to 2021!!! There were definitely some days where it felt like 2020 would last forever, but we finally made it. Yes, we're still in the middle of a global pandemic, but I'm feeling hopeful and optimistic about this year. I'm putting 2020 and all of it's bs behind me, and moving forward with HOPE.
If you remember, last year I did a 2020 resolutions blog post and I have to say looking back, I laugh at the fact that one of my goals was to put more effort into my outfits (jokes on me haha)! I also really put a focus on my wellness last year, which is something I want to do this year as well. Below I am mapping out my goals and resolutions for 2021.
Meditate 3 Times a Week - I always notice a huge difference whenever I take the time to meditate, even if it's just for 5 minutes. I really want to get this into my weekly routine.
Workout 5 Days a Week - Last year I was able to get into a much better workout routine. This year I want to create even more of a consistent routine. I have physical goals for myself (I don't feel the need to air those), and the workout goals go hand-in-hand with achieving them.
5,000 Active Minutes on Peloton - This goes along with my last resolution. Peloton does a yearly challenge and this year I want to have 5,000 active minutes on the Peloton platform. This includes their app and all of their workouts along withe the spin classes.
One Walk a Week - I'm really excited about this resolution because we started taking more walks this year and we LOVED it. Our new house is in such a great neighborhood that is perfect for walks.
Blog Once a Week - Ooof this one has been a struggle for me haha I am really excited about transitioning into sharing more home/lifestyle content and I am excited to share more on the blog.
Put More Effort Into My Content - With so many exciting changes with the new house, I'm excited to put more effort into my content across all platforms! Definitely ready to jump in full force with this one!!
Read 10 Books - This past year I fell in love with reading again, and I'm excited to finish a few books that I started at the end of 2020, and start (and finish) more books this year.
Put More Effort Into My Outfits - Sweatpants, I love you but I'm getting sick of wearing you 24/7. I'm ready to DRESS UP in 2021. I'm ready to curate my outfits and really put more effort into them.
Well, there you have it. There are a few of my goals for 2021. I'm excited for this year. Feeling super hopeful and really excited!
What I'm Ordering For the Kitchen
With stuff finally starting to move on the renovations, I'm slowly starting to pick stuff out for the house (it's hard to order stuff especially when you don't know the exact color of everything yet). Now that I have a general look I know I'm going for in the kitchen, I can finally start ordering stuff!! Below are some of my picks from Crate & Barrel.
click on any image to shop
WE BOUGHT A HOUSE
WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!! I am so happy that I can finally share this! This is something that we have been working towards for a while now, and we are so happy that we're finally here.
When we moved to LA last year, we knew that we wanted to buy a house. We were sick of paying rent, and we knew it was time to start getting serious about buying our own place. Thankfully, Vince's parents live in LA and they offered to let us stay with them rent-free while we saved up for our own place. They created a little apartment area inside their house for us and we're very thankful for it.
We had been watching the market/browsing houses on Redfin pretty much since we moved here. We went to a few open houses to get a feel of the different neighborhoods, and just kind of kept our eyes out. We were pretty much open to anywhere, but we ended up narrowing it down to somewhere near the coast. Vince was born & raised in Silver Lake (right near DTLA) and was ready to be close to the beach. I grew up in New England, and we both love the beach so we decided to narrow our search down to beach city. We picked a few cities that we like, and ultimately landed on one in Orange County & found the neighborhood we wanted to be in and went from there.
Honestly, once we found a realtor we wanted to work with, it was a surprisingly quick process. I need to preface this by saying we do realize just how lucky we are that this process has gone so quickly and smoothly. We have multiple friends that are also in the process of buying as well who have told us about how they have been putting in multiple offers & looking for months. Our realtor even warned us from the beginning that right now there are a lot of buyers, but not a lot of inventory. Our first weekend we met with our realtor to tour houses, we found our house. It was surprisingly the first place we looked at. I had looked at this townhome a few times online, but honestly the photos weren't the greatest and I wasn't completely sold just from the photos. I kept going back and forth, and then on Friday I texted our realtor asking if we could add it on to the tours the next day. She got back to me and said yes. Vince was not sold at all haha. Like to the point of he didn't even really want to go tour it. Lesson to anyone who is selling their house: always spend the money for good photos. It makes a huge difference. When we walked up to the condo, I liked the outside, I liked that it was an end unit & there was a quiet street on the other side. Then we walked in, and we looked at each other and before I could say anything, Vince said "I love it!" I like to remind him that going to tour this house was my idea haha! We walked through and instantly could see ourselves there. There are a few minor changes we want to make, but overall we love the house.
We went to tour the next place and did not have the same feeling as we did in the first. We talked with our realtor about how we felt so confident about the first place and she reassured us that this was completely normal. She said that if we wanted to think about it, that was totally fine. We drove home and couldn't stop talking about the house. I woke up the next morning thinking about the house and just knew that if we didn't put in an offer and someone else got it, I would be crushed. We reached out to our realtor and told her we wanted to put in an offer. She had spoken with the owner's realtor and he told her what they would sell for. We went in at that exact price, I wrote a letter to the owners, and we sent in our offer. Trying to stay occupied all day and not let my mind wander and think about the house was so hard!! I was honestly so worried someone else was going to get an offer in before us.
Around 6pm that night our realtor sent us a text that said "Congratulations!!" and I flipped out! I could not believe we were BUYING A HOUSE!!! And, to top it all off, it was my birthday. :)
I'm excited to start sharing more house content including the renovations, decorating the house, and RECIPES (can you tell I'm excited for my kitchen?!). Be sure to follow along on Instagram as there will be a lot of behind the scenes especially on stories.
Well if you've made it to this point, congratulations! Haha this was definitely a long-winded post but I'm honest just so excited to share everything with you all!!
Recent Amazon Favorites
We all love Amazon, let's be honest. I have had my Amazon prime account for a while, but this year especially I have really found some amazing items! I'm going to start sharing my monthly Amazon orders that I'm loving. But for now, I thought I would share some of my Amazon favorites from the past few months.
click on an image to shop
Leopard Love
