Lolita Fashion and being pregnant

 As I've mentioned in some posts before: we are expecting a little human (boy!) at the end of January 2021! At the moment I am in week 19. For your information: pregnancy takes about 40 weeks, so that means I am almost half-way there.


Why I wanted to write something about it, is because I have never read something about lolita fashion and being pregnant before. My guess that is because either most people decide to leave the fashion at a certain age or don't have time for it anymore after having a kid. I will probably discover that later, but I can at least talk about pregnancy and a growing body while still in the fashion. That said, the things that I say do apply to me myself and I can't speak for every body (literally for different body types) because everybody develops differently during pregnancy and your size might not even have a lot of influence on it. I think your health and spirit do though. So keep that in mind please!

So here I was, discovered I was pregnant and (we are) happy about it, but thinking I can not wear lolita fashion for the coming year. Eh well, that apparently went differently. It is possible to wear lolita fashion still, yes!  

In general the body will start to grow visibly later in the first trimester, so after week 10 or so. A lot of pregnant women have a hard time in the first months because of nausea and hormones, and only start gaining a bit of weight later on.
Okay, it does depend a bit. The growth of the body during pregnancy is different for everybody. I heard from people that went a lot of sizes up from the start as well. And usually if you're pregnant for the 2nd time it tends to go faster. But even then, it is still possible to wear the fashion. Why?

• Lolita dresses have a sort-of hour-glass shape already, so that means that a bigger belly is not going to be a big problem, especially under layers of petticoat. For the bust and waist, some extra shirring might be useful at a certain point. 
• There have been a lot of options for larger sizes in the last years. Besides full (back) shirring, western and chinese lolita brands (and not forgetting Bodyline) have been offering sizes that go up to XXL for example.

I've been thinking I couldn't wear it, until I decided to try what I could fit and what not. Some of my handmade dresses are made with a bit more space than the usual brand-dress, or with fabric that has some stretch to it. That already helped.  My skirts don't fit anymore. That is because those usually sit around my natural waist (a bit lower than the dresses), and that obviously doesn't work anymore.

Can you see I'm pregnant here?

I still fit in a normal jsk with half-shirring on the back though! I did pull out the lacing-ribbon for more comfort (one could of course just extend it as well). But that is just a regular Angelic Pretty jsk for you. It says on Lolibrary that it has a bust of about 91 cm, but I can assure it was bigger here 😋.

Of course probably a lot of lolita's that are not an S/M-size know this already, so it is no news. I am glad though that it still stretches up a bit.
The same counts for petticoats, they usually are fully elastic, although I would not wear them the whole day (especially after dinnertime my stomach feels like a balloon haha).

During pregnancy what also might happen is that legs and feet get a bit bigger because the body saves water there in some cases. That could possibly be solved by wearing stretchy tights instead of otks. The stretch is better in some socks anyway, so it depends. For me at the moment it's not a problem yet. Tights of course can't be worn higher up on the waist at a certain point, but there are ones existing for maternity. Sure, they might be of a plain color, but you can't have it all. My opinion: don't let one thing hold you back.

For blouses, the ones with shirring are usually still good to go for a while. I have the luck that I bought some of Chinese brands in "L" size. Which is not a western L per se but do still fit me. There are also Chinese shops that sell very elastic crop tops that fit a wide range of sizes. Same here is with tips for people that are larger in size, you can also try western lolita brands like Lady Sloth or main-street shops to search for blouses that are "loliable". On the photo I am wearing something I found in a local thriftstore and has frilly accents, I got lucky!

All in all, pregnancy until now means I can not wear one-third of my wardrobe, the other two-third I still can. And I think that is fine. I don't wear it daily, but if I would wear it more often I'd definitely go purchase more items that are wearable for bigger sizes. I already did buy one dress that I can probably still wear for the months to come and looking forward to it!

Negatives?

Aren't there any downsides then? Well..there might be. this depends on how you feel about it and about the situation.

• Some people don't really feel well as much because of hormones and because 'growing a baby' costs quite some energy. Some days you feel tired a lot and just want to wear comfy homewear. Yeah the lolita style is not the most comfy one, that is true.
• Some people have a hard time adjusting their body-image or feel like they lose their identity because of clothes they can't wear and a body that so quickly changes. I can imagine that if you used to wear it daily, it is a bit of an adjustment, temporarily.

Other than that I can't really think of something. Above points have the emphasis on "some" though. And as you could read earlier, there are quite some ways to go around it so that you can still wear it. Buy clothes you like that do fit and don't let it get you down if you can not wear one or two pieces of clothing! 

And I guess indeed, a healthy body-image and mindset around a changing body in combination with your 'identity' is really an important thing. I know lots of people struggle with this and that is understandable. I've never told a lot about it, but I had an eating disorder about 13 years ago and I've gone through stuff and in the end learned to have a better relationship with my body and a healthy mindset around that identity is not just material/visible things. In some way I am glad I got through that so I don't have to deal with it now mentally. If you ever have troubles though, please go see a counsellor or therapist, your mental health is super important.

The one thing I was actually more frustrated about is the limited range of styles and flavours within maternity clothes here in the Netherlands. Even when looking second hand, a lot of it is like the usual standard middle-age women style or just plain boring (probably so it caters to 'everybody' so they can sell it better). It's okay for now, I wear normal clothes during working days anyway, and I might look up some bigger sizes stuff online that is more cute-looking. Also, wearing cute accessories helps a lot too. And luckily it is all just for a limited time. Of course I know that after having a kid, getting back to your normal size takes a while, and that is okay, but then at least I won't need space for a melon around my waist, haha.

I'm happy baby clothing is at least cuter than the choice in the standard women-department

Until then I am all taking this in positively. I mean, isn't it amazing we can grow a little human 'ourselves'? And how the body changes and makes that possible? I think it is pretty damn special, even though yes at times it might be hard (and I know it is easy to say for me as I did not have complications until now except for some nausea and some rare times I almost fainted because I did not eat enough before going for a walk, oops). The time we went to see the first ultrasound was a-ma-zing and every time after that was so cool. I know getting/having a child it is not for everybody, and that is totally fine, but I'm a happy mom-to-be until now. Having a baby is the best reason to look up and buy all kinds of cute baby and kid stuff! Not that you need a reason for buying cute stuff anyway. 

I hope that this posts will encourage any woman that is wearing lolita fashion and wishes to become pregnant, to not throw aside the idea to still keep wearing it as long as you can 💓!

Two years later...oops

Hi all,

It's been a looooong while. It is now Summer 2020, I have already had 2 weeks of holiday and 4 more weeks to come. I missed blogging, so even though my energy is going up and down at the moment, I am going to try to write a long post with a long update (so if you don't like reading long stories, just skip it or skip to the parts you like).

What happened?

There were some reasons why I stopped blogging here:

From September 2018 I started doing a course for coaching. In spring 2018 they had no plans to prolong my contract as a teacher (at the applied university), so I had to think of other stuff. Looking back I think I was both slightly frustrated with not getting a contract and determined to start/keep doing work I love that I wanted to make sure to 'get there' and not give up. And because I got more and more interested in personal development and coaching, I chose to follow a professional coaching course that would provide me with a decent level of skills and a certificate that proves I can actually do it. And so I learned a lot of things and finished it in September 2019! It was amazing, but of course it took quite some hours to do the work. Meaning less hours for hobbies. You can also take into account that I actually paid for the course myself and if I calculate it back I could have bought at least 20 brand new lolita dresses for it. Think about that. I even started selling some dresses, because I felt like I had to balance it out at some point.

The funny thing was that by the end of the academic year in 2018 they wanted to keep me after all (yay), which means that I got a permanent contract for three days a week and had to follow a training for teachers throughout the following year as well, which also costed a bit more hours (not as much as for coaching though). So because of both the coaching course and the training, by the end of the day/week I would just have less energy and time for lolita fashion and/or blogging.

At a certain point I did not feel comfortable anymore to put my blog on public, even though I had plans of making posts about our holiday to Japan in 2018. I also had my instagram on private for a while. I'm not sure but I felt that maybe now I am a 'real' teacher and coach I should not show this side of me. I got afraid for students or colleagues to judge me or something, even though I just wear it around in real life certain times as well. Later on I felt more comfortable again, because I do believe that I should just be myself and if others want to judge me that says something about them, not me. Then again, I also started to wear slightly more classic or casual coords so that made it a bit easier I guess. It is an interesting thing though in hindsight... I never really was ashamed or afraid to wear the fashion. Maybe it was something more psychological that I was going through.

Last year

In 2019/2020 I started to be more active with the fashion again. I met up with lolita friends a bit more and I went to the Summer Tales Boutique event Strike a Pose as well which did still make me happy. I did not go to a lot of general community meetings though. Around December 2019 I got less energy and motivation again (work-related) and that influenced me quite a bit. Then around Spring 2020 it got better again but you know what happened then already: Covid-19.

Anyway, in the last year I made four new dresses for myself again, two of them were for the Strike a Pose event.

The grey one I also made the print myself. In the end I was a little less happy about it, but I just wanted to try something different. I always wanted something like a landscape painting on a dress, bu maybe next time some different colors would have been better.

The black one with butterflies was made with a fabric from Timeless Treasures. The gold lines around the butterflies are of a shiny gold color. It inspired me a bit to do something with a Japanese/Wa-like silhouette, in the end I was pretty happy with it. It is versatile as well since the butterflies have all kinds of color, for example I wore it with a blazer on top for another (non-lolita) event.

The other ones weren't really made with something in mind, I just liked the fabrics when I saw them. The brown one I still want to coordinate in a more steampunk-ish way one day. Both also can be worn pretty casually, which fits into my current 'style'.

I also made some accessories to go with it of course:

The dangly headdress (actually probably has a different name?) was for with the misty mountains jsk. The rest can speak for themselves I think. I also made some resin necklaces again, but I don't have good pictures of them at the moment.

For the rest I did not touch my sewing machine a lot. Last thing I made were some masks for when we had to travel with public transport (did not happen until now, since I worked a lot from home and for traveling we use the car until now, we did not go away a lot anyway because of corona).

Purchases

At the Summer Tales event in 2019 I bought quite some things (well in my perspective). I was actually happy, because usually at events I get overwhelmed and always start thinking "I don't need this". But I think because I did not do a lot the year before I thought it was okay to spend some money. I bought some jewelry from Angelic Pretty, a bolero from Summer Tales Boutique and some accessories from Triple Fortune and Violet Fane. In july 2019 also bought my first item from Innocent World, the Forest Harvest Festival skirt in beige. I have been looking for either the dress or the skirt quite a while so when I saw it I was happy to buy it. Then later in October or so I also saw a nice (sweet!) print from Alice and the Pirates and someone selling the skirt for a nice price while it was brand new. By husband thought it was cute as well so I bought it and already wore it several times. But..I don't think I can wear skirts for a while (I'll tell why you below). Then a friend of mine, Charlotte, also offered to sell her BtssB cardigan since I've been looking for a light-green cardigan and it was perfect <3. Besides that I bought some minor things like tights/accessories.

Coords

Here are some coordinations I was happy with:

Skirt: Innocent World - Forest Harvest Festival

Left - Blouse: Bodyline, accessories handmade, rest offbrand (Ebay/AliExpress)
Right - Cardigan: Baby the Stars Shine Bright, Necklace: handmade by me
Brooches: Mulberry Chronicles, Rest is offbrand.

Skirt: Alice and the Pirates  -  Jewelry world on the clouds

Left - Blouse: Angelic Pretty, Blazer/coat and shoes: Bodyline. Star-clip was made by a friend, necklace by my mom-in-law. Button was a mirror that I glued a pin on, it was from the Dream Masquerade Carnival event in London. Rest is offbrand.
Right - necklace and ring: Angelic Pretty, Rose-brooch: Triple Fortune (won in a raffle!), otks from Baby the Stars Shine Bright. Both coords with headbow from Summer Tales Boutique. Rest is offbrand.

Coord to the left - Jsk and headdress handmade by me. Bolero from Summer Tales Boutique, otks from Alice and the Pirates. Rest is offbrand.

Future

Now for something different: talking about the future. It's been a while since my husband and I started thinking about having kids. For a long time we didn't really 'feel' it. I have brothers and sisters with kids but I frankly easily feel overwhelmed when I see kids play very loudly (I know it is different when they are at home and it is not a party of course..). And we love to travel so we used to say we "still wanted to do this and go there", but at one point it started to feel a bit empty in my life. Some family moved to new houses and I started missing having my own close family a bit (if that makes sense?). Of course I love my parents and brothers and sisters and my family in law but they all have their own thing and we are not a super-close family. Then Christmas after Christmas it felt a bit the same year after year, I got a bit tired of it. Next to that I think we got settled a bit: both a stable job, already together for years, having a home etc.
That does not necessarily mean I think it is logical to have kids then, I totally still understand that there are people who do not feel like that at all, or need a partner for that sake, to be happy. And I agree. It's totally okay. But my husband and I it felt like a good next step. There was one big holiday planned at the end of April but that did not happen because of the coronavirus and so, we thought why not now. Then I got pregnant, haha.

The pregnancy announcement I made for lolita friends/insta.

Then another thing is that I planned to start to going for a masters degree. We didn't really expect to be expecting something soon, since a lot of friends around our age had either 'troubles' or at least it took longer for them. Anyway. Same thing for the master's is that I had to request a scholarship for it so it depended on that but I got it in the end, meaning that I will do another part-time study for the coming years.
It will take some decent planning and effort to fit it together with both work (but at least I get hours for both things haha) and our lives of course, but we are going to try. If anything I am really happy and excited to have things going on and happening again, because last year was really a 'bla' year to me.
I am now pregnant for 14 weeks, the due date is January 25, 2021. And everything is alright until now, healthy mom and mini-growing-baby. Had some small pregnancy ailments of course, but I think less than average (?), let's hope it stays alright. In some weeks we'll know if it is a boy or a girl :) I am so excited to meet this cute little human!

Our general pregnancy announcement.
Our Dog Kairi is reading books here, we made covers related to babies and dogs living together :P.

Anyway that also means that some things will change again and I am really not sure for how long I'll keep wearing lolita fashion. As long as it fits and I feel like it. I definitely don't think that because I'm having a baby it means I should stop wearing it or anything. I'm already past my thirties anyway, I don't really care. And I think I'm not the only one, since I follow some other lolita-moms-to-be on Insta too.
The one thing I do feel though is that I feel less interested in meeting a lot of new people. Obviously I think it is really cool that more people get into the fashion and I'm happy for them, but at a certain point age also influences what you talk about or how you talk about it. I don't follow all releases closely (that is also maybe because lots of them don't spark my interest...), I don't get excited anymore when I see a random kawaii-stand at a convention or something unless it is something I haven't seen before. Maybe that is also because my style-preference changed a bit (even though I feel like wearing sweet from time to time). After multiple big events and going to Japan three times, a certain 'standard' grows with you. For example: I don't really feel like going to anime conventions at all anymore, why when we could easily just go to Japan ^^; I'm sorry, that sounds really spoiled and it is, but that is how it feels for me. That does not mean I don't appreciate small meets or Japan-markets or anything, I still like those quite a bit. But having more things going on in your life, makes the balance a bit different and influences choices and what you talk about. Sometimes I have to skip/cancel going to a meet because I got more work to do (teachers have deadlines too..). It is just how it is.

I did feel like writing blogposts about lolita fashion though, maybe it was just because I did miss wearing the fashion for some time and writing about it (sorry, Instagram and FB groups are just not the same..). Maybe it is because sometimes I felt like referring to a blogpost but then my blog was set on private. Maybe because simple I just still love the fashion and am sad that it is not smart to buy a lot at the moment because it will not fit me anymore in some months. So who knows I'll just write a thing or two here, maybe do a small story about the last Japan trip etc. Anyway, thanks for reading <3.

Catch-up Feb/early March

Yet again, I haven't written anything new in a while. I have to be honest and actually tell you that lolita fashion has not been on my mind 'a lot' recently, even though I wore it several times last month. In January I wrote that one of my goals was to not buy new things, or either sell things and, well I bought new things, and sold other dresses, and still I kind of feel 'meh' about wearing it lately. It didn't really help either that both packages got lost. The first one got here 1,5 month later, the second one (not from Japan, but from the US) is still lost T_T. Feels like I'm cursed.
I planned several new coords in my bullet journal and managed to wear some of them, but it did not feel the same somehow, it was more 'doing what I had in mind' than 'yay let's wear lolita to be happy'.
Maybe it was also just the cold outside (I'm really happy it became Spring now, but we had weeks of really freezing cold temperatures and all I wanted to do is stay inside. But yeah, maybe I'm just getting bored with it, who knows. However, I did manage to wear it for several occassions, so here are some coords (or parts of it).

First off: we had a meet at the local cat cafe again, and I mixed my milky planet yellow with some lavender and pink things, I'm honestly really happy with this coord, I love the colors. That star in my hair was a gift I got when I bought the Sugar Dream Dome skirt, I thought it would work with Milky Planet as well! The cats at the cafe were really cute and it was nice sitting and chatting there!


Then some casual outfits (more Otome-kei like) I wore on some days off. I actually don't mind not wearing a petticoat everytime. It's a lot more convenient when you are at home sitting on the couch for example, or when you need to visit a busy place. That and I don't need that poof all the time for just daily use (I don't have a petticoat that gives an in-between/small poof either).

And it took a while, but I finally wore the cape I made last winter. I was waiting for a snowy sunny day but it didn't came and so I just wore it on another cold day. I had this coord in mind for a while so I'm happy I could finally wear it. I also finished sewing a jumperskirt with the fabric I bought in japan. I also made an overskirt for it in plain pink chiffon which I hope to wear soon.










Last week I met up with two lolita friends. With Eveline I did some resin crafting, which was a lot of fun doing together! We forgot to make outfit pictures, but I managed to make some snaps that morning so not all is lost. I wore my Lucky Star Dreamland jsk with the yellow AP cardigan I just got in and the easter/bunny socks. I really like this cardigan, it's comfy and perfect fit for the waist-height of lolita dresses (to me at least), I should have bought one sooner.

And then lastly, I met up with Nienke, who I hadn't seen in a long while. I took the chance to wear my new Wondery Story jsk with a fairly standard coord I'd say, but it works nonetheless.

That card-ring from AP I bought from Yvette, a lolita friend who lives in my own city, I'm glad I could buy it from her, suits the coord perfectly don't you think? The resin necklace I had made at Eveline's place, I could use some embellishments from her <3.

With Nienke I shared some yummy cupcakes that her partner made and we chatted the afternoon away! Then yesterday I hadn't anything planned (just chilling with my husband, which is perfect for a Sunday, right ^_^ !), so I took the opportunity to wear my Tartan Love JSK again. Maybe not the most versatile of dresses, but sure is easy to wear and a good match for a rainy day I guess.

That said, I'm still not feeling that same spark I had anymore with lolita fashion. I kind of feel like it's time for something new in my life(?). Whenever I feel that, I have the habit to want to get rid of old things. I'm not saying I'm suddenly going to sell all of my dresses (I'd probably keep some of my handmade ones anyway), but yeah I've just been focussing more on the future or at least on 'something else', so that's why I haven't written new lolita-related blogposts, I don't want to force myself too much. Do you know this feeling too? If so, what did you do with it?

My husband and I have done double driving lessons per week (haha, there goes the money), and I've been studying for the theory exam as well (which is planned next month), I'm super-duper looking forward to having a car at this moment, because more and more I feel like I'm keeping myself from doing what I like and need in my free time (like, hiking/walking in nature/parks etc. or going somewhere just because I feel like it and NOT depend on public transport and the stress that comes with it. But yeah it probably will still take a while before we can officially drive.

In other new: we have another vacation planned to Japan. Yep! But this time, suprise surprise, my best friend and her partner are coming with us, which I think is superduper awesome :D, I'm so stoked for it, but we have to wait until Autumn. Last time we said we probably wouldn't visit Japan anytime soon, but then we looked at other places to visit and still thought "hmm..but we could also go to Japan". We hope to plan more daytrips outside of Tokyo/Osaka, and plan to visit Hiroshima too this time. I can't wait for our new adventure ^_^ !

Okay, that was it for the update. Thanks for reading and see you next time!

Plans & resolutions for 2018

As promised I'm going to talk a bit about my plans for 2018. At this point in my life I feel like there are definitely going to change some things this year, and other things I should just keep doing. For now my resolutions are (in short):

1 ☆ focus more on (long-term) happiness
2 ☆ buy less, sell some things
3 ☆ eat/drink more healthy
4 ☆ keep jogging/ work out weekly
5 ☆ get driver's license
6 ☆ find a new job (for after summer)
7 ☆ find another place to live possibly
8 ☆ do more *new* things
9 ☆ keep track of and remember my goals

1. Focus more on (long-term) happiness
This is the biggest one and probably the hardest one to explain. It's some smaller goals into one actually. Sometimes I feel my life is a bit empty and I don't feel as much happiness as I did before. One of the things it has probably to do with is friends...friends I used to have OR that aren't as close. I can't just say that it just happened, if I want to stay in touch than I should do that right? But it's kind of hard. There are plenty of people I'd like to meet up with but most of them are at least 2,5 hours traveling away. So when I go it means I'm gone for a day, that costs, next to working, quite a bit of energy and also less time for spending with husband. I guess I discovered that maybe it shouldn't really matter as much and I should just do it, I think friendships are important and I should definitely meet more up with all the nice people in my life!

So that was one of the reasons for long-term happiness. The other one has to do more with my own life. I think I should be more 'me' again, more enjoying the moment as is and enjoy the little things. Not reading facebook as much for example, but DOING more myself. Especially Facebook I haven't enjoyed thát much last year. Some people and groups are on there that I do follow and like and that is nice and all but there's no use actually on coming there multiple times a day. I fell like there have been more and more ads also, so it feels less 'me' anyway. The same goes for my relationship: less hanging on the couch, and putting more time in things I like to do (individually) so that when we see eachother at least we are genuinely being close with eachother.

Other goals are probably also more in line with this big happiness goal so yeah, here's the rest:

2. Buy less, sell some things
After these three years of lolita fashion my closet is full and I think I won't wear some pieces that much anymore so I'm going to sell those. Maybe I'll have more space for new things but also, I feel like maybe I won't have to buy as much. It's a weird feeling but after all, happiness doesn't come exactly from buying new stuff, it comes from doing things that make you happy. I just don't want to hold on to things forever, if I had a lot of great time with it, that was what mattered anyway!

3. Eat/drink more healthy
During the holidays it's always the case, whether I try to avoid it or not: I gain some extra weight and eat less healthy. It's not bad, it's what a lot of people experience. I usually eat less carbs, only one slice of bread at the start of the day and then maybe some cookies/snacks at night but during holidays I always give myself some time to enjoy some bread and all the nice things that come with this time of year. And I really like bread but eating salad for lunch is just healthier and eating a hand full of nuts as a snack also does the trick so it's just back to basic. Same goes for drinks. I can't deny I love some cocktails or wine, but it's not healthy physically and mentally so I definitely want to cut out drinking as much (and that probably helps snacking less too).

4. Keep jogging/ work out weekly
It was really nice to start jogging/running last year, it's good to do. I took a little break in december from it, it was too cold for me really but lately temperatures are going higher again so it's time to start jogging again. And else just keep working out inside of the house in some sort of way. I started doing some dancing with stepmania already today.

5. Get driver's license
I'm happy l did some new things in 2017. I started with driving lessons after we lost both of our ferrets, I felt like if I ever wanted a new pet (or maybe even kids later) I definitely need to be able to drive a car. And also, because then at least we are free to go places. It's really hard to reach some places like local forests (I love taking walks) or remote places where family lives and my husband and I got really tired of doing 'nothing'  just because we can't go there easily. That's why I really want to get my license...but it's hard >_<. I'm not a natural multitasker at all and driving is not something I learn easily (in comparison with theoretic things or other stuff where I can take my time..). But hopefully when I just keep doing it, I'll reach that point to get the license.

6. Find a new job (for after summer)
Unfortunately my current job as a (parttime) teacher/coach at the game/design department at the applied university was temporary from the start. I got an extension of the contract, but it's one day less work so I definitely need to find something new on the long term. Illustration hasn't gotten me that far either so I'm not sure if I should give that another kickstart as well, although I have a huge job coming right up tomorrow so we will see!

7. Find another place to live possibly
This has to do both with #6 and #1: finding jobs (for the kind of work I can do) is hard in the north of the Netherlands, so it's possible that we'd have to move. Next to that, we have been living for a long time now in Groningen and we're kind of ..bored with it. All fun things happen in the west/centre of our country but we enjoyed being in bigger cities as well (I mean, London..Tokyo..) and it's really attractive because it seems so easy as there are so many things to do there. So yeah possibly a bigger city at least, don't know when and don't know where but I'm excited to experience something new!

8. Do more *new* things
Talking about new, I definitely need some refreshing things in my life to spice it up. I'd like to challenge myself to do at least two new things every month. Whether it be crafts or making music or speaking a language or photography or meeting up with people I don't know, I don't know yet but I should definitely do new things, because that also makes me happy and just fills my life with genuine experiences. 

9. Keep track of and remember my goals
Guilty: after some time I will just forget what my goals are. After working and doing a lot you might just simply not remember it anymore. But this time I really want to keep track of it. I decided to keep a bullet journal and not have everything digital anymore. I already started doing something new today: I sewed my own journal together (it was kinda hard to find a nice one with blank pages and the art store was closed today so I just thought: why not make one myself).
So hopefully that helps with remembering what I want to do and full up my life with positive things!

Thanks for reading ♥ , I'd love to hear what your own plans for the new year are and of course I'll try to keep you posted about mine. See you again soon!