Well, here we are in June. Those beginning of year goals I kept putting off? As of yesterday, they’d completely fallen off my radar. But when Bad on Paper podcast’s mid-year goals check-in popped up on my feed this morning, it hit me that, A, I had totally forgotten about goals. But, more importantly, B, it’s not too late, and mid-year is the perfect time to reset.
I’m also 7.5 months postpartum at this point, which feels like good timing to step back and look at the big picture again. A lot has happened both in baby life and professional life since then, but I would say it’s been less-than-intentionally planned. I’ve been going from one day to the next, and I’m fortunate that things have been working out (for the most part), but I’m ready to add a roadmap back in.
I’ve used the same structure for a few years now, breaking goals down into categories. So here goes, mid-year, let’s do this.
Daily
This is where I categorize the routine, the self-care, all of the little things that add up to big changes over the course of weeks and months.
First, there are a few things I’ve actually done well here without setting specific goals! We’ve been cruising with eating well at home and cooking. This has always been a strength, but I feel like the baby has pushed cooking earlier into the evening, and that’s a great thing. Last night, I whipped up a meal using everything we had — orzo, meatballs, sauteed peppers and onions, a nut-free pesto (because I didn’t have nuts!). It was delicious, and I even made brownies with homemade whipped cream and raspberries on top.
I also feel like we’ve gotten into a great routine just living in our house. If you’ve been here a while, you may recall that our renovation was a journey. It was finished weeks (maybe one week?) before the baby arrived. Living in our house has felt novel. We went years without actually using our living room daily! Now I feel like I’m fully settled in.
But on to the things that can improve…
Work out again: Besides walking (which I do a lot of!), I’ve been admittedly terrible at working out. I can’t make barre classes work with my schedule anymore — the morning classes don’t work with getting ready for the day, the evening classes cut into family time, and midday classes require too much of an investment of time in my already-shortened workday (shortened from my previous life — I’m now in a more 9-5 schedule). I do think, however, that I can start fitting in a home workout between shuttling Adam and the baby out the door in the morning and when I need to start my workday.
Reading before bed: This was a goal I quietly set a few months ago, and I’ve been able to make happen 10% of the time. I’d like it to be closer to 80%. The pull against this is working after bedtime, which I know will happen occasionally, but I’d like it to be the exception, not the rule.
Looking at finances: Transparently, once Mint went away, I never found a good substitute. I tried Simplifi, but hated it. Now, we’re trying out Monarch. I’m hoping this is the answer because I hate the feeling of not knowing where I’m spending each month. I need that visual cue to say, okay, this much went to eating out, this much went to groceries, etc.
Home
This has been on the list for years because we’ve been in a constant state of renovation, whether it was the cottage or our house in DC. While both are “done,” they’re not, so this category remains! We actually have a few big projects coming up.
Build a deck at the cottage: We have a super exciting update coming at the cottage! We’re building a deck that I’ve dreamt of since we bought five years ago. Fingers crossed, it’s happening in late August.
Freshen up at the cottage: Five years and countless Airbnb guests in, it’s time for a few upgrades. We have so many guests that come back year-after-year, and I want to keep things fresh for them. We just did new beds up in the hydrangea room, and I have a fun update planned for the green bedroom, too.
New windows at the rowhouse: I fought Adam tooth-and-nail to keep our original wavy glass windows. But, three years in, it’s time for them to go. Even with our storm windows, you can feel the air from outside pouring in. We need something more efficient.
Switch the rowhouse fireplace to gas: Our chimney at the rowhouse needs to be rebuilt. We could keep it wood-burning, which I love from an ambiance standpoint, but, the reality is, that’s dirty and annoying. We would barely use it. Gas will make it so much easier, and I think we’ll get so much more enjoyment out of that room.
Professional
I’ve been lucky that things have worked out this year, despite not sitting down to plan extensively. That makes me incredibly hopeful about where my business can grow in the next six months with a bit more structure behind it.
Rebrand everything: I’ve been quietly working on this behind the scenes, trying to decide when to bring in professional help. I’ve looked at colors, logos, fonts, branding materials, and I’m trying to figure out what feels the most aligned with how I visualize my brand. Looking at screenshots of my Instagram feeds from my main account and the cottage, the imagery is incredibly consistent, but how does that translate into a brand? I’m also thinking through how my interior design, blog, properties, and writing/marketing all sit together. It’s a lifestyle-portfolio career, but I want to make it more clear to others what I offer and do.
Build out content creation: As I’ve thought about how I can grow my business without adding more hours into the day, this feels like the obvious step. I’m always answering DMs with questions about anything and everything, so I need to leverage this on a broader scale.
Put more processes into place with my design business: My design business has grown so much this past year, and it’s made it clear that I need more processes to keep myself organized. I just launched a new contract, and I’m working on project management to keep everything flowing in a way that I can stay on top of.
Focus my marketing and writing: I’m so fortunate that, right now, most of my marketing and writing is all within the lifestyle realm, which aligns with everything else I work on. I want to keep drilling down there, and build out the clients and publications that feel most consistent to my interests.
Grow my substack: Who doesn’t have this as a goal? But I do need to do this.
Social
Before the baby, I’d set a goal of hosting one dinner party a month. I made it about halfway through the year last year before I was too sick to even think about it. But I’ve been lucky on the social front that our neighborhood group has been such a lifesaver! We’ve had a great group of women form in the past year, and I couldn’t ask for a better little microcosm of people in the neighborhood.
Host one dinner party before year-end: Let’s keep it low stakes here! Maybe if I’m feeling really crazy, I can try to do something around the holidays, too.
Focus on hosting a couple of friends at a time: Earlier this year, I had a few women over midday for a coffee break. I need to do this more often! Maybe a bimonthly cadence?
Travel
This year has been a lesson in adjusting expectations. Some people LOVE to travel with a baby. I am not one of those people. Maybe if they were a great sleeper, I’d feel differently. But that’s not our reality, so we’re not getting too adventurous.
Book trips to close-ish destinations: I’m thinking Charleston and Savannah in the fall. Something easy, low stakes, but somewhere I’d be happy to spend a few days. We also have Charlottesville and Nashville for friends’ trips on the calendar.
Take a press trip or two by myself: I’ve had to do a lot of solo parenting in the past month or so, and that means I definitely need to take a few press trips by myself. The first one up is, hopefully, a luxe hotel staycation here in DC (I’m usually anti-staycations because I hate packing so much, but I’ll make an exception if there’s a spa and a good meal involved!).
Start a travel tradition: I’d love the baby to grow up with a hotel getaway that we do year-after-year. I need to decide if that’s going to be The Homestead or The Greenbrier (groundbreaking for someone from Richmond, right?!). This could overlap with social if we loop in another family or two.
