pin to present: Tollhouse cookie pie - check!

I really had fun working through (most of) the items on the 18 in 2018 goal list that I made last January - but given how much I love any variation on a chocolate chip cookie, it's kind of shocking that #8, bake a Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie pie, wasn't the first item I tackled. But a yummy dessert for cozy night in is my kind of New Year's Eve, so on December 31 this one got checked off!

I bookmarked this recipe after seeing it in late 2017 on The Everygirl (because of the aforementioned love of all things chocolate chip cookie, of course), and I thought 2018 surely would have some kind of celebratory occasion for baking it. Gotta admit that it was a semi Pinterest fail - I baked it for longer than the recipe called for, but it still was incredibly gooey. Nothing a little time in the freezer couldn't fix (if there's anything I love more than chocolate chip cookies it's frozen ones), but tasty as it is, my previously shared Pinterest-inspired cookie pie recipe is still my fave.

With that, I thought it would be fun to recap the rest of the 2018 list - before I share my 2019 one tomorrow! (Bold ones are completed.)

1. Learn to apply eyeliner well - love my It cosmetics superhero liner find
2. Have a one item in/one item out closet policy - got rid of more than I brought in, actually.
3. Get a new stamp in my passport - visited Quebec for the first time
4. Train for a race - PR in the Tulip Time 5k, plus Hendrik's first (mini) race
5. Check one big house project off the list - whole exterior got painted, plus a new door color!
6. Hold a garage sale
7. Do a wine tasting - family fun, plus we found a go-to wine to stock at home
8. Bake a chocolate chip Tollhouse pie
9. Visit Cincinnati friends - visited my best Cincinnati friend in her new city, so it totally counts
10. Read a classic - Anna Karenina
11. Plan a friend date once per month - well, I did more than I would have...
12. Submit applications to websites for home tour feature - moving to 2019 list
13. Bike outside in each month of the year - for a total of 1777 miles!
14. Record all new books read with Hendrik - found some new faves, yay
15. Go to the symphony with Peter - thanks, mom & dad for the birthday dinner/concert
16. Design a big boy bedroom - not implemented yet, but it's designed!
17. Read 85 books - 93, actually
18. Create Hendrik's year 2-3 year photo albums - whew, that was a lot of work but love the results

Pretty proud of how much I did on this list, but even more, I love how this got me to do a mix of fun and also productive things that made me have an even better 2018 than I might have. Can't wait for what I've come up with along these lines in 2019!

18 in 2018 update

Man, speaking of how summer flies by, how about the year in general? I meant to do a check in on my 18 in 2018 list, at the halfway point, and here we are past it already.

I'd say I'm doing quite well: while only 4 items are officially checked off (marked in bold), I have 7 more in process (marked in italics), and three more are definitely on the calendar for late summer/fall (trip to Montreal being one of the most exciting!).

1. Learn to apply eyeliner well - I'm getting close, thanks to finally finding a product that I seem to be able to manage: the IT Cosmetics superhero liner.
2. Have a one item in/one item out closet policy - Goodwill dropoffs and Poshmark listings (see my closet here!), and trying to be very selective with the shopping, have probably made the balance more out than in, so I'm feeling good about this one. And also really enjoying a couple of recent buys: Soludos embroidered mules, ruched tank dress, high-waist jeans, sleeveless chambray.
3. Get a new stamp in my passport
4. Train for a race - Tulip Time 5k, in which I PR'd! Didn't take that much "training" for me to do a 5k, but I skipped out on the 10k in order to be at Hendrik's first-ever kids' fun run, so that was worth the swap.
5. Check one big house project off the list - hmmm we've put a whole bunch of money into window restoration, but we still don't have screens, so we still can't open them, so I guess I have to say it's still in process. Dang.
6. Hold a garage sale - made a few hundred bucks and a vow to not do that again for a looooong time. Loving my emptier basement/garage though.
7. Do a wine tasting - joined my parents and brothers for a tasting of various cabernets at a local wine shop. And we found our go-to red to stock at home out of it!
8. Bake a chocolate chip Tollhouse pie
9. Visit Cincinnati friends
10. Read a classic - Anna Karenina about killed me, but I did it!
11. Plan a friend date once per month - I might have missed a month, we're making up for it in the summer with having other families over for dinner, and arranging playdates for Hendrik.
12. Submit applications to websites for home tour feature
13. Bike outside in each month of the year - so far so good. Even if that January one might have been really short, I still got out there! And of course now that it's summer I'm easily getting multiple per week.
14. Record all new books read with Hendrik - you can check out my Goodreads shelf to see our favorites, but right now we're all pretty obsessed with the Mercy Watson series, with the companion Tales from Deckawoo Drive on next. Most recent favorite picture book is Not Quite Narwhal - it's adorable.
15. Go to the symphony with Peter
16. Design a big boy bedroom
17. Read 85 books - I'm up to 58 already, with some of my favorites so far being Pachinko, Force of Nature, Dumplin', Still Me, and Calypso.
18. Create Hendrik's year 2-3 year photo albums

I'm a girl who loves lists, so I can become a little intense about them, but this one has been so great for being intentional about family/friend/home/leisure time this year, and I've been having fun doing it! A good reminder that I really should get on those home tour feature applications and photo albums though - things that I would love to have happen in my life, but you've got to make work of it to make them happen!

Do you have a list of goals for the year? I'd love to hear what they are and how they're going.

18 in 2018

Halfway through January seems a little on the late side to be posting any sort of resolution stuff for 2018, but in my defense - having a terrible cold for the first week+ of the new year, plus feeling totally beat down by winter weather already, made me feel very little motivation for rah-rahing any grand plans for the year, so I initially frowned when my mom asked me if I was doing a "18 in 2018" list. But now that I can breathe deeply (without coughing) again, and I've actually needed sunglasses 3 times in the last week, I'm ready to take on a list of 18 things to help me make 2018 a great year personally.

Here's what I've come up with (in no particular order of importance):

1. Learn to apply eyeliner well
2. Have a one item in/one item out closet policy
3. Get a new stamp in my passport
4. Train for a race
5. Check one big house project off the list
6. Hold a garage sale
7. Do a wine tasting
8. Bake a chocolate chip Tollhouse pie
9. Visit Cincinnati friends
10. Read a classic
11. Plan a friend date once per month
12. Submit applications to websites for home tour feature
13. Bike outside in each month of the year
14. Record all new books read with Hendrik
15. Go to the symphony with Peter
16. Design a big boy bedroom
17. Read 85 books
18. Create Hendrik's year 2-3 year photo albums

Making a list like this for the year (or for something like a 30 before 30) is less to me about resolutions and more about intentions - intentions to do the kind of stuff I always mean to do but somehow never get around to doing, or to be the type of person I would like to be but never quite find time/motivation/energy to push myself to be. A few of these are pulled from my life list, and the rest are new ideas that will be so good for personal growth and/or just plain fun.

Coming up with this list has me excited about what the year could hold... so let's get to it! Do you have goals for the year too?