2012 has landed!

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2012 has officially arrived and with it has arrived a whole lot of ambitious New Year's Resolutions.

Year in, year out I make the same resolution - Eat less and exercise more - and year in, year out I fail. Miserably. Last year I made my usual resolution and vowed to record my progress in a food diary. The first entry in said food diary was - 01/01/2011 - Breakfast - Chocolate Santa - Fail of all fails! With this said I have decided to make a few resolutions that I will not only stick to this year, but ones that I will also enjoy. 

My first resolution for 2012 is... drum roll please... To visit car boot sales and charity shops! This is something I've always wanted to get in to - I remember going to car boot sales every Sunday with my Mum, Nanna and Sister and, after watching Car Boot Sale Haul videos on You Tube and seeing all the little gems that some people have managed to pick up, I decided that I am going to start going as soon as the season starts again. Until the new season begins I am going to start looking in local charity shops and see if the vintage/second hand demon inside me can be stirred.

I have a list of vintage / second hand items I will be keeping my eye open for...

1. Dressing Table - I've wanted a vintage dressing table for a while now but I want one that needs 'doing up'. It would be a nice project to record on my blog so this is the first thing I will be scouring the charity shops and car boot sales for. I love the 'shabby chic' look so I'm thinking of painting whatever I get white and adding pretty handles and lining the drawers with feminine material or paper.

2. Trinket Boxes and Jewellery stands for dressing table - I really like the glass bowls and trinket boxes a lot of people use to store their rings, earrings etc. so will definitely be on the hunt for those! I will also be looking for small vases to use for storing my make up brushes in.

3. Vintage clothing - I never thought I would get into the whole vintage clothing thing - the idea of not knowing who has worn the clothes previously creeped me out - but after visiting a Vintage fair a few weeks ago and seeing how clean the clothes actually were (with the odd exception) I have decided to take the plunge into the world of Vintage Clothing. I quite like the fact that each item is unique and you know that nobody will be wearing the same item as you. Plus, I can always give them a good wash or two before wearing them!

4. Vintage Accessories & Jewellery - Although I have gotten my head around wearing some body's old clothes, I draw the line at buying second hand earrings - It just seems so completely unhygienic to me! Maybe clip ons aren't too bad but I think I will steer clear of vintage earrings all together. I am looking to buy other vintage jewellery items though such as necklaces, rings and bracelets as well as accessories like belts, bags etc. so I will have plenty to be on the search for come my first Car Boot Sale visit!

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My second resolution is to learn how to play the guitar. This was a spur of the moment decision - My college friend, Matt, plays the guitar and I was watching some videos he had posted on You Tube and thought to myself "I want to play the guitar!" a quick status update on the wonderful Facebook expressing my desire to play the guitar and Matt commented saying that he would teach me. So that's that! Lessons start soon so I'll keep you updated on my progress.

My third resolution is to finish writing the novel my sister and I have been writing for the past year. I don't have any hopes of getting it published but I just want to get it finished for my own satisfaction, so it can be passed down throughout the years and become a family favourite - almost an heirloom or tradition.

My fourth and final resolution is much less fun that the first two and is probably the only one that will get broken - To keep up to my housework. This may sound like a simple thing to do but I have a case of 'lazy-itus' and often leave things far longer than they should be left. I'm ashamed to admit that my sink is more often than not surrounded by a mountain of washing up and my washing basket is constantly over flowing! The plan is to draw up a 'rota' of which jobs need to be done on which days and stick to it! Fingers crossed I can stick to this resolution because its so much nicer coming home to a clean, sparkling house after a long day at work!

I am super excited to put my new year's resolutions in to action - Apart from the fourth resolution maybe!

Have you made any new years resolutions this year? How long to you think you'll go before breaking them?

With Love,

Rachel x