Friday, May 28, 2010

Summer Resolutions

Inspired by Kelle Hampton's lovely post (not a "writing" blogger, but I've mentioned my addiction to mommy blogs before), I thought I'd write today about summer resolutions.  Softer and gentler than New Year's resolutions, summer resolutions should be like a puffy dandelion - easy come, easy go in a warm breeze.

So these are my summer resolutions:
  • I'll do yoga and go on long runs. When I want to.
  • I'll spend weekend mornings at Starbucks, drinking decadent coffee-related beverages with extra whip and working away on The Goddess of Vengeance Wore Pink Galoshes.
  • My mountain bike will make it out of the garage at least once a week.
  • Homemade ice cream will be made, and consumed, regularly.
  • Travel for work is a given, but I'll make the most of it. I'll do tourist-y stuff and explore local coffee houses for new writing spaces, rather than staying in my dimly lit hotel room to work. I'll go to the movies by myself for the first time ever.
  • I'll make it to the beach at least once, instead of just griping about how much I miss California, where it was a regular destination.
  • I will meet with other writers. Some time. Somehow.
  • My toenails will not resemble some kind of horror-movie villain. I will get a pedicure once a month.
  • I'll make some kind of art - play around with my point-and-shoot or my old beloved charcoals and see what happens. 
What are your summer resolutions?

23 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Oh What lovely thing to do for summer! It's always new year's resolutions so why not summer too!

And what great positive ones. Good luck with them - all attainable and could be done - especially the ice cream. Now that is a definite must! LOL!

Good luck with these!!!

I prefer going to the cinema by myself. I concentrate more and am able to focus better. But sometimes it's nice to have someone to talk about it after. Then again that's why blogging exists! LOL!

take care
x

Shelley Sly said...

What a great list! I'm laughing at the toenail one... I need a pedicure sooo badly.

On my list is to finish my WIP (I only started it a few days ago, but I'm determined to finish it) and send it to beta readers before the fall, when ideally I'd like to query.

Thanks for tweeting about my blog fest, by the way! I really appreciate it. I haven't had the time to advertise it anywhere else yet because my blog time has been limited, but hopefully the word will get out soon.

Guinevere said...

Old Kitty, that's what I thought - although I do think summer resolutions should be fun. New Year's resolutions are too much work!

And that's true - at least I can blog about my movie adventures! Y'all will have to replace MJ, my usual movie date. :)

Shelley, me too on the need for a pedicure! Too bad we can't go together.

I'm also hoping to finish Goddess this summer (I've got a headstart though, I'm at 11k). Maybe we can be summer novel buddies and keep up with each other's progress? I'll race ya. ;)

Kittie Howard said...

What a great idea. And so positive. And I enjoyed your resolutions, especially the pedicure once a month. I put that off too much. And, don't understand why this post showed up on my blogroll and the previous one didn't. When this happens it seems to be in spurts. Sorry! And have a great weekend!

Stina said...

I love your resolutions.

Wow, there's mommy blogs? I've been so busy with the writer blogs, I hadn't even considered that might be other topics to blog about. ;)

Hold my hand: a social worker's blog said...

Great post... I love the resolutions. Some of those I have actually made my resolutions a while ago...and I swear, it's worth it!
Thanks for visiting and following my blog.
Doris

Aubrie said...

Those are great resolutions! What's a summer without the beach! I always try to go at least once. And I've already had my first summer ice cream!

Stephanie Thornton said...

I love homemade ice cream! I've already done rocky road and a strawberry peach sorbet. Next up: white chocolate!

Unknown said...

Those are some good resolutions. :) I hope you succeed in all of them.

Neurotic Workaholic said...

I love your resolutions, especially the ones about writing in coffeehouses. It's fun to do that because there's something about the atmosphere, good food, and flavored coffee that gets me going.

Guinevere said...

Thanks Kittie! I always put off pedicures too... it's such a little, reasonable luxury (and my feet look so awful) I don't know why I do. Hope you have a great weekend as well!

Stina, I love mommy blogs! I think the biggest one is www.dooce.com; she's a book deal, and she and her husband both stay home (and have an assistant) off her blogging/book income. Crazy, but cool!

Thanks Doris! I'm glad your resolutions have gone so well; I'll have to give y'all a status update (with photos even, now that I've finally located my camera charger!)

Aubrie, I love the beach! It's a bit harder to get to now that I live in Northern VA; I miss running on the beach every day like I did when I live near San Diego. But... the beach is worth the effort. I need some sun, sand and water in my summer life. :)

Guinevere said...

Stephanie, white chocolate ice cream sounds amazing! I've only made strawberry so far, which was like, the best ice cream I've ever had. I'm not going back to storebought!

Thanks, Taryn! :)

Neurotic, I'm the same way - I go to a coffeehouse to work when I want to be really truly productive. The atmosphere is inspiring, and I'm not distracted, like I am in my house, by cats and dirty dishes!

Anne Gallagher said...

I love this idea of summer resolutions. I would love to do it but I always break my New Year One's so it doesn't seem worth it to me to make them.

Although I'd like to finish my WIP by the end of the summer too, so if you and Shelley are forming some kind of accountability group, can I join too?

Guinevere said...

Piedmont, I love that idea! Why don't we have a Summer Novel Club? I'll put a post up about it tomorrow, and we can make plans to help each other stay on track. :)

Melissa Hurst said...

Great list! I'm so ready to go to the beach, too, but it's sooo hard with a toddler. I'm waiting for the hubs to get some time off so he can help me out.

notesfromnadir said...

I like how you describe your summer resolutions in the introduction!

Great title for a book.

Nothing wrong w/ going to the movies by yourself. You don't have to share your popcorn!

Good list you have. & take a picture of that homemade ice cream! :)

Guinevere said...

Melissa, I can only imagine how hard it would be to take a toddler to the beach! (I'm sure I'll find out someday, though) I had a friend who took his two-year-old to Hawaii... he said it was not the most awesome vacation plan in the world, since she cried every time sand got into her diaper... which was hard to avoid on the beach. lol. A day trip should be a lot more managable though!

Thanks Lisa! I'm going to try and get pics of me keeping my resolutions (I think there needs to be evidence, given how well my resolutions usually go) so I'll def try to post a pic of my homemade ice cream. And my sweet electric ice cream maker - no ice or salt required!

Lydia Kang said...

I love your resolutions. Especially the ice cream and pedicure one.

I want to try to get more active and healthy again. Thanks for the idea to make some goals this summer.
:)

Anonymous said...

You have great summer resolutions there, especially the pedicure! I have to admit I have never had a pedicure!
My summer resolution is to plant and cultivate flowers, even though presently I am watching snow fall. The season may be short, but a few days of flowers is better than none!

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Talli Roland said...

What great resolutions!

I'm going to try to run at least 5 days a week in an effort to stop the spread of my butt. Also, I want to keep eating guilt-free!

dolorah said...

These are lovely summer resolutions. So doable.

My summer resolution is to work on the fantasy every chance I get. And have a picnic at the park with my grandchildren sometime soon.

Thanks for the inspiration Guin. :)

.......dhole

Guinevere said...

Lydia, I want to get more healthy and active too... I'm trying to be easy on myself too, though, hence the "get the bike out once a week" and "yoga and running when I feel like it...". I'm hoping taking the pressure off helps keep being active fun and actually helps me stick with it more! We'll see.

Lynn, your flower resolution is a good one! I managed to plant a few containers of veggies and herbs, and they're low maintenance (important for me) but it's so fun to watch them grow. And eat them... I like that part too. :p

Talli, I'm hoping to run, swim or bike at least 5 days a week too. That's a great goal! I'm also trying to avoid butt spread... I tend to come from a family of, erm, wide-hipped women, so that's a bit motivator for me. :p

Donna, those are two excellent resolutions! Good luck on the novel and have fun with the grandkids!