friday + happy 2012.

i've always loved fresh starts, and my favorite fresh start -- the biggest one of them all -- is a new year. i like to think of january as the first chapter in a book of blank pages that we fill in as days and weeks and months pass; each year becomes a volume in the encyclopedia of our lives.

the book of 2011 was happy-sad for me, and i know it was for many of you, too. ultimately, though, i let the year go -- at midnight, with friends and champagne -- with the thought that it gave just as much as it took away. and while i normally begin every new year with a lofy list of goals and resolutions, this year i thought, "i just want to be the best person i can be, across the entire plane of my life." a broad statement? yes. a little marshmallow-y, as my friend kate would say? yes. a little oprah winfrey? also yes, but i still think it's a good plan.

that doesn't mean there aren't little tweaks to be made and goals to be accomplished as i start out: the pesky holiday cookie weight (seriously) needs to come off pronto (here i come, yoga and spinning), and today i'm doing something kind of different with my hair in an attempt to shake things up a little bit. i also really need to work on the oft-committed-to getting-up-early thing, if only for my mental health throughout the day. but whereas previous new year's resolutions always emphasized cutting out the so-called "bad," this year i'm trying to think of every little goal i make along the way as bringing something positive into my life. it all falls under that "be your best self" umbrella i mentioned above. and there's definitely some magic in that.

happy 2012.

photo by olivia; i like looking at it and thinking of crossing over into 2012.