05 Jan Coffee at Eataly & Planning #GOALS for 2017!

Hope everyone’s new year is off to a great start and that your holiday season was filled with lots of laughs, lots of loved ones, and lots of fun!

It seems like with each new year, the minutes, days, weeks, and months go by faster and faster.  I can’t believe it’s already over 4 years ago that I started my blog. It feels like the last 4 years went by faster than my 4 years in college and even faster than the 4 years prior to that. Time isn’t slowing down and as more responsibilities, stressors, and challenges get added, days start to feel more like minutes.

In addition to my ‘eat healthy’ and ‘be healthy’ goals for this year, I’ve also already committed to a handful of exciting projects! More than ever, I’m determined to make this year count. When I look back at my progress and memories next January, I hope that I have no regrets about letting time slip away or not pushing myself to devote time to my passion projects.

With that said, I went to Eataly earlier this week (they opened one in Fidi, YASSSSS). I sat at a corner table with a notebook, coffee, and I penned out my thoughts and goals for the coming months.

Here are my top 3 projects and challenges I’m looking forward to:

1. Teaching a Skillshare class

Okay so if there’s one thing I love just as much as food it’s school and learning! I was totally one of those dorks in school, always in the library and always picking up extra classes/extra activities just to stay involved and feed my curiosity. I think there is a lot of power in learning. There are so many resources available to us today. You can truly learn almost anything you want. When Skillshare approached me about teaching a class my first reaction was heck yes. I miss school tons and I love knowledge sharing so I immediately fell in love with the opportunity! The class itself will focus on food photography. If I hit all my milestones and stay on track with the content creation it should be available mid February (fingers crossed).

2. Planning a wedding for two great friends -> Ben & Prim

Honestly, I cannot think of two people more ambitious, more humble, and more generous than my friends Ben and Prim! When they asked me to help them plan their wedding, I was giddy with excitement. Just thinking about all the creative challenges that come with the task put a smile to my face. Design, decor, desserts! I’ll be helping them research it all. I’ve never helped plan a wedding before so as I go through the process I hope to document some of the great ideas and creative projects I come across along the way. I’m really excited about this not just because it will force me to focus time and energy on flexing my creative muscles but it’s so rewarding to be helping two friends that have helped me in so many ways!

3. Studying for and (hopefully) passing a sommelier exam.

I have been wanting to do this for so so long. It was actually a New Years goal of mine a few years back as well and I regretfully never stuck to it. So for 2017 I’m putting it on paper right now, please help me stick to it and hold me accountable for it! I don’t drink often but when I do it’s usually wine. Wine is fascinating to me because of all it’s complexities. There are more varieties in this world than I’ll ever be able to count. My goal isn’t to become somm but rather challenge myself to intensely learn about one of my interests. It goes back to my love of learning new things and I also feel that the more I learn, the more informed my decisions around wine will be. I want to be able to go out to a restaurant and really understand what would pair well with my dinner. I want to learn about each region’s unique characteristics and the wines they produce.

It won’t be easy. My best friend’s brother has a handful of wine bars in Montreal and I remember her telling me about his studying techniques, how he would have giants maps of regions with notes all over them, flash cards, the works. If any of you have done this or have any tips please please please let me know!

What are your goals for the New Year? I would love to hear about them in the comments below 🙂 !

xo Jus

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