06.15 Goals Roundup

1. Read a book: I read Not that Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham, and her by Christa Parravani. Both are memoirs that deal with serious issues; Dunham's about herself, and Parravani's about both herself and her sister. Even though both are interesting reads, they're completely different. Not that Kind of Girl is more comical and written in a light, "learn from my mistakes" type tone. The issues discussed are ones that most people seldom talk about, but it was nice to read someone speaking so openly and honestly about any and all topics. On the other hand, her is a lot more serious as it dives into the issues of how people cope in response to tragedy and the resulting consequences. I'd recommend both memoirs for different reasons. Not that Kind of Girl is essentially a memoir full of short stories, whereas her reads more like a novel.

2. Finish my art/gallery wall: I really wish I could say I finished this, but I didn't. This was one of my big yearlong goals for my 24th birthday, and since my birthday is in less than a month I was hoping to have my art wall complete by the end of June. I did manage to fill one more frame though with my handmade California print. However, I still have four more frames to fill before I can begin to hang everything up.

3. Figure out my exact plans for my first knit sweater: I'm super excited about this goal! My yearning to knit a sweater became even more dire when Lauren and I made plans to go to Rhinebeck this fall. And since we'll be attending this weekend full of yarn goodness, I of course need a handmade knit sweater to fit in. I'll be using Patons yarn in Mercury that I bought several years ago to knit Boothbay from Home & Away. This is also a fun way to knit down my yarn stash. The timing for this sweater is perfect too. Woolful recently announced their upcoming Home & Away KAL which started July 1.

4. Sew at least three wearable garments: Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make three garments. I did however make almost two that I'm proud of. I sewed a knit Linden and am so close to completing my first knit Plantain Tee that I'll be sharing here soon. I had plans for two other garments but never made time to make these a reality.

5. Go for a bike ride: I had big (okay, not that huge) plans to rent bikes from Indego and ride through Philadelphia with Lauren. But, Lauren wouldn't let us ride bikes without helmets. I almost bought a helmet just to go on a single bike ride, but realized how silly that seemed. I have a perfectly good helmet at home in California and I'll be flying there this month. It makes a lot more sense to just bring my helmet back to Philadelphia with me instead of buying a new one since I know it won't be used that often.

6. Finish Marissa's present for her upcoming birthday: While I didn't finish her present yet, I did make a lot of progress on it. Luckily, I still have several more months before I need it ready to gift.

7. Walk/run 10,000 steps every day: So, so close. I reached my step goal every day but three Fridays. The first Friday that I missed was so hot and humid outside that I refused to leave my apartment the entire day.  Fridays are the hardest days to reach my step goal because Saturdays I go on early morning long runs. I feel like I should truly rest my body, especially my legs, the day before instead of going on hour-long walks. I'll have to start planning Friday outings to make sure I leave my apartment on those blazing hot days in an effort to get my steps!

8. Wake up earlier to go running first thing in the morning: I wish I could say I wake up super early every day of the week, go running, then start my day. But the truth is, I really only wake up super early (for me) on Saturdays. I've been waking up between 4-5 AM to make sure I finish my long runs (anywhere between 12-21 miles) before it gets too hot. Although I would like to get into the habit of waking up earlier during the weekdays as well, I'm calling this goal a win in my book as Saturday runs are the most important days to get an early start.

9. Start doing yoga again: I've recently been going to yoga at least once a week. Although it makes my legs sore to later run, I know that the little strength I'm gaining during yoga does help. I think it's important to mix things up every once in awhile to keep things interesting.

10. Reorganize my cut out sewing patterns: This was by far the easiest task. A few months ago I hung up a Command Strips hook to hang up my cut out sewing patterns. Almost all of my patterns are pdf print outs, so I didn't mind punching holes through each piece and securing all pieces of one pattern together with yarn. I then hung up each pattern set on the hook, making everything easily accessible. However, several weeks ago my hook fell off of the wall because I had too much weight on it, and I never hung it back up out of pure laziness. Seeing this mocking me on my list of goals for the month, I finally attached a new command strip to the back of the hook and rehung everything. It took less than a day, but made a huge difference in tidying up the room.

Score for June: 5 out of 10.

I started making these monthly goals to help me accomplish my 24th birthday feat where I carved out 24 separate goals for myself to complete in a year. Since July 24th marks the end of this challenge, my July goals will be the final goals list.