party like it's 2011

New year, new decade, new excuse to reflect on life. As everyone rushes to the gym or attempts to quit smoking, I find it difficult to make a list...and why should I?? What power does this new year possess over me that the old one didn't? I mean we only just met, and already 2011 is trying to change me...little controlling, wouldn't you say? But really, we all know that come Valentine's Day, the gym go-ers will be stuffing their faces with chocolate and the smokers will have tossed the Nicorette for their old crutch because after all, in a relationship or single...it's the first sign of a holiday, right?? If not the old holiday excuse, the fact that life simply keeps going in this shiny new year just like it did in the old one will surely cause those goals to come to a screeching hault.

BUT...wouldn't it be wonderful to wake up on New Year's Day and feel a shift...a shift that has nothing to do with your spinning head from your hangover? To have a fresh sheet of paper, with a fancy heading "2011" to cover with your neatest living. But nope, the scribbles, that time you spilled coffee, and your attempts at white out from last year are still there, and this endless scroll picks up right where you left off in 2010. I don't want to make a change in my life just for the sake of the date on the calendar, but I have taken a closer look at my happiest moments and biggest regrets of the past year and have compiled a small list of REMINDERS to myself to check back on every once in awhile. 11 for 2011...preeeeetty smooth, eh?

1. "The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them." — Maya Angelou

2. avoid vodka

3. smile more...nothing is that bad.

4. if it looks delicious, eat it.

5. say hi to that cute guy...and then forget about him when it goes nowhere because your worth isn't calculated by the men you attract.

6. writewritewrite!

7. nothing good happens after 2 AM

8. just like the most amazing pictures are always of simple subjects, the best moments are found in the simplicity.

9. learn something new!

10. moisturize

11. stick with your gut...other than the final resting place for your beer, it has a helpful purpose.

Go forth and party like it's 2011...because, well...it is.