Happy new year to all of you!!! I am, like so many of you, excited for a new year, but I have a history of making lofty resolutions and putting too much pressure on myself each year. This year, I feel genuine excitement for the few resolutions I created for 2024, and in my January reset video below, I tell you all about my strategy for creating resolutions and how to make sure you achieve those goals in 2024!

I think the number one thing to remember is how to live an authentic life. What do YOU want to accomplish this year? Is it to be more mindful in your daily life? Is it something that truly brings you joy and happiness, so that you will look forward to working towards it every day in 2024?

I feel extremely passionate about making goals and resolutions which is why I create monthly resets every month, and why I make resolutions every year. If I didn’t truly enjoy this, I wouldn’t make them, and you should not feel pressured to make any resolutions if you don’t enjoy putting that kind of pressure on yourself or if you don’t have measurable goals.

I hope in 2024, we all strive to be kinder to strangers, live less on our phones and more in the moment. I hope we look up at the stars and trees and practice gratitude every single day for all the blessings we have. I hope we get to call our loved ones more, send more birthday cards, feel less “busy” and more intentional with our time. I hope we all get more active, not to lose weight but to have a healthier heart and a longer life.

I hope in 2024, my posts and my words will add to your life and your inspiration and keep you looking inwards and not distracted. I hope you all have a magical new year!!

January Reset Video:

In this video, I talk all about how to make new year resolutions for 2024 and share my own personal resolutions and goals for the upcoming year and month.

Last month’s favorites:

Here’s some of my favorite items from the month of December:

Free People Movement Hit the Slopes Printed Jacket

Skims Boyfriend Sleepwear

COSRX Snail Mucin Essense

COSRX Snail Mucin Lotion

Bombas Gripper Slipper Booties

Revlon Hair Styler

Books I read last month:

All books linked here to shop through Amazon

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza
- Rated 4/5 stars- The scientific proof of how your brain can be altered for the better through meditation and mindset. I would say this book changed my life but I haven’t practiced the meditations as of yet- I plan to start them this month. I also have read some books that are of the similar topic, but this definitely altered my mindset for the better. I love books that teach you about your brain and your mindset and how to make your life the best it can be. So much of our lives are spent in a subconscious state, and this book teaches you how to pay attention to the subconscious that has taken over and recognize if you want or need to change that subconscious mindset. It also explains HOW to do that, which is my favorite part about this book. I highly recommend it to everyone!
- Some of my highlights:
  - We don’t have to settle for our present reality; we can create a new one, whenever we choose to. We all have that ability, because for better or worse, our thoughts do influence our lives.
  - The thoughts we think send an electrical signal out into the field. The feelings we generate magnetically draw events back to us. Together, how we think and how we feel produces a state of being, which generates an electromagnetic signature that influences every atom in our world. This should prompt us to ask, What am I broadcasting (consciously or unconsciously) on a daily basis?
  - Isn’t it ironic that to influence your reality (environment), heal your body, or change some event in your future (time), you have to completely let go of your external world (no thing), you have to release your awareness of your body (no body) … you have to lose track of time (no time)—in effect, you have to become pure consciousness.
  - Whether we’re addicted to cigarettes, chocolate, alcohol, shopping, gambling, or biting our nails, the moment we cease the habitual action, chaos rages between the body and the mind.
Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand
- Rated 4/5 stars- The Quinn family lives on Nantucket Island and although they are a broken family, they all come together for Christmas 2014. I love the way this book is formatted- each chapter skips around to a different family member’s POV and it makes the book constantly entertaining and fun to read! I flew through this one, read it in 3 days and can’t wait to continue this series. This is book 1 of 4 in Elin’s Christmas novel series. Perfect books to read by the Christmas tree 🎄
- Some of my highlights:
  - After all, one is given only a certain number of Christmases in one’s life.
  - “You look beautiful, sweetheart. You remind me so much of your mother.” Ava’s heart swells. The ultimate compliment. “Thank you, Daddy.
  - It had all been a golden dream, Margaret thought. If only they had realized it at the time.
Winter Stroll by Elin Hilderbrand
- Rated 4/5 stars: The second book out of 4 in the winter series. This one was better than the first because we are really getting to know the characters. In this one, Bart is missing in the war and Ava is choosing between Scott and Nathaniel. Jennifer is struggling with being a single parent and we learn a lot more about the plus 1s in the family in this book. It takes place a year later than the first book.
- Some of my highlights:
  - ‘Lust is great in the bedroom, but Like is better at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.’”
  - She has never felt so torn in all her life. She needs to talk to her mother.
  - She says, “Let’s give her back to her parents so we can go to dinner.” The most miraculous thing of all about grandchildren: They can be handed back to their parents at any time!
  - Happy in whatever: this throwaway phrase is Mitzi’s life goal. Margaret Quinn is happy in whatever because she is filled to the brim with self-confidence and pluck. She has achieved her dreams a hundred times over. She has nothing to prove to anyone. She would look beautiful in a burlap sack because Margaret’s beauty comes from within.
Winter Storms by Elin Hilderbrand
- Rated 4/5 stars- Book 3 in the winter street series and I think this one may be my second or first favorite so far? These books are so entertaining and I’m going to miss the Quinn family! We find out what happens to Bart in the war, we see two of the Quinn’s get married and Jennifer’s pill addiction gets handled. The main parts in the book are Kelley’s health, Ava’s love life, and Bart’s status since missing in the war from the first book.
- Some of my highlights:
  - Anyone can fall in love, but not just anyone can achieve forgiveness and acceptance and real, deep respect for his or her former partner the way those two have.
  - They try to follow Jennifer’s three cardinal tree-decorating rules: 1. When you think you have enough white lights, add three more strands. 2. Glass-ball ornaments are placed all the way inside the tree, near the trunk, so that the tree appears to glow from within. 3. Showpiece and heirloom ornaments go on the ends of the branches.
Winter Solstice by Elin Hilderbrand
- Rated 4/5 stars- Book 4 in the winter street series and I can say I was more interested in the first 3 books, but this one is cool because it is a bonus sequel to Elin’s other novel, “The Rumor” and that is certainly fun! In this book, Ava finds love and Jennifer gets a new career, and the family must move forward into a future without the Inn as well as without Kelley, the patriarch.
- Some of my highlights:
  - Like any dream, hers has required sacrifices. Why that seems true for women more than men, Margaret isn’t sure.
  - She wants Darcy and every other Millennial woman out there watching—many of whom idolize Margaret and think of her as a pioneer who broke through very thick, very real glass ceilings—to know that success always comes with a price and that greatness often doesn’t allow for balance.
  - Time remains a mystery to Margaret. A game of Monopoly can consume an afternoon, and an hour on the treadmill seems like forever. But a lifetime passes in an instant.
  - Margaret remembers how it felt to hold a newborn, the love expanding inside her until she was sure she would burst. Life seemed like a golden ribbon, unspooling into eternity. They were parents. It was all just beginning.