new year ♥

Happy New Year!

Ashley, from You're the Charlie Browniest, wrote a really great New Years post of a letter written to the version of herself that existed one year ago.  I thought that was a great way to look back over the year, so I've written my own letter.

Dear Julie of December 31st, 2010,

     You are so happy at this moment-- hold onto that feeling.  Hold onto it tightly.  Because you will need to draw on that reserve of happiness so much for the next year... but you will make it through.

     There's a man next to you right now, and you are absolutely convinced you're going to be spending the rest of your life with him.  You'll actually only be together for a few more weeks.  But even though you're heartbroken and furious at first, you don't stay bitter for very long.  You've learned how happy and alive you can be, and how deeply you can love.

     April... in April, you lose another love.  I wish I could tell you that you get over it quickly and painlessly.  But it does get easier, and eventually you're able to remember the quietly joyful moments and smile instead of cry.

     When your dad gets sick, spend as much time with him as you possibly can.  Losing him is the worst thing that you've ever experienced and you won't understand how the world could possibly go on without him.

     That still hasn't gone away.  Hang in there, Julibee Roo.

     The year does have some good points, though.  You do very well in school, and you grow up more this year than in any other period of your life.  You learn that having an amazing best friend is an invaluable gift.  You learn to deal with overwhelming grief by channeling it into your art, even if you can't put it into words.  You learn that, as one friend puts it, "there's a tiger hiding under all those ruffles and bows."  You're a strong girl.  Keep trying to find a balance between that strength and letting yourself be soft and vulnerable.

Be gentle with yourself, busy bee.

Love, Julie of December 31st, 2011

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fill-in-the-blank friday ♥

Hi everyone!  It's the first Fill In The Blank Friday post here on my new site!  Wheeee!

via the little things we do

1. New Years is kind of a non-event for me these days.  I usually fall asleep on the couch, wake up a few minutes before midnight, and stay awake just long enough to say "Happy New Year!" before falling right back to sleep.  

2.   One of my New Year's resolutions will be to stay on a schedule with yoga.  I'm so much happier and more relaxed when I'm doing it regularly.  I'm also resolving to go to bed earlier because I am such a morning person, and I hate waking up late and feeling like the day has started without me.

3.  A New Year's resolution I've made in the past was to keep my camera with me and take more pictures-- and I think I've done that!  I also wanted to go for more walks in the West Village just because it makes me happy, which I have certainly achieved.  I can be found wandering around there pretty much every Friday and most Sundays.

4. The most time consuming resolution I ever made was learning French.  I'm still working on it.  But I have a decent basic understanding of the language at this point.  It's a lot easier to remember during break, when I'm not also trying to do the work for a million other classes.  My friend Lisa would always try to start conversations with me in French during patternmaking class, and I was never in the right headspace, because I'd be too busy thinking about patternmaking.  I can speak and understand a bit, Lisa, I swear!

5.  This year I will be spending New Year's Eve either at my grandmother's house or at my house, depending on how cold it is.  If it's very cold, I'll go home to keep my lovely little cat inside the house and warm.  So...once again, I'll be asleep on the couch at New Year's.  Yessss.  Keeping the tradition alive.

6.  If I could wish one thing for my new year it would be that 2012 be better than 2011.  Seriously, 2011, you have been hideous.  Sorry, I can't have a second date, I'm washing my hair that year.  It's not you, it's me.  Whatever.  Just please, 2012, be better.

7.  2012 is going to be exciting.  I'll be graduating from FIT, transitioning from school into work, hopefully finding an adorable and cat-friendly apartment, and who knows what else! 

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