Missions to accomplish in 2011

I recently got tagged by Sydeny of Petite Little Girl to do my New Year's Resolutions. I am hoping to have my goals written down somewhere and revisit them again at the end of the year to see how good I do throughtout the year.

1. Be a better and calmer mother: I didn't do too good last year, I admit. The transition of my little girl from a little baby to a toddler took me by surprise. In a sense, it should be easier but it is not. I caught myself on several occasions that I was on the edge of losing my cool. I really need to be calm and handle things differently. Sometimes I feel like I am such a lousy mother!

2. Limit blog time and keep up with things around the house: This was a really tough one. A hobby that was once a hobby almost turned into a serious addiction. I found myself browsing, reading and commenting blogs way too much than intended. I had been thinking about the way to steer away and stop myself from reading blogs but couldn't do so as long as I had my smartphone in hands. One day out of the blue, my smartphone permanently lost an internet access, voila...problem solved lol. I will not bother getting it fixed because I know what would happen once I gained an access to an interagain..I am not strong enough. I love blogging and interaction with my blogging buddies, that's the part which contributed to my addiction. I have no plan to quit blogging, but it seriously is a time draw a fine line. Blogging twice a week should be enough for now and I have been doing great so far.

3. Make a smart(er) financial move: 2010 was quite a successful year of saving despite the temptations from fashion blogs. I was strong enough to resist several sales and products reviewed by several bloggers. I didn't quite meet my goal but acheived 92%. The saving plan went really well until the last quarter of 2010when holiday shoppings and plane tickets came into picture. What a major financial blowout! It was our fortunate, my annual bonus and a generiosity of my in-laws came to the rescue just in time. Both surprised money covered a huge portion of the costly plane tickets (to Thailand) so we didn't have to use our savings. I reallly want to have a six months' worth of emergency saving in our account, right now we have about three months' worth. However, we are going to Thailand this year and it will be hard not to shop. I just have to make sure not to go overgboard, it will be hard but I will try my best!

4. Be more creative and innovative in the kitchen: you know what happens when you have a long day at work and feel too exhausted to cook at the end of the day? I ended up cooking the same thing over and over and over again (luckily my husband bears with me and is very understanding, he ends up eating the same thing over and over and over again too lol). It is just the matter of convenience and familiarity, I cook what I am familiar with. So this year, I am determined to venture out and try more new recipes.

5. Spend more time outdoor: since I cut down the blog time, I should have more time for other activities and do fun things with my little girl like gardening and crafting. I used to grow some home grown / organic veggies in the backyard before I was pregnant and never got back to doing it. So this year, we are going to play with dirt and grow some veggies under the sun.

Upcoming posts:

**The Legendary Creme de la Mer

**A little black dress from eShakti

**Vacation Plan - Things to do, Places to visit