I forgot to share my 2015 resolution. It would be silly to keep it to myself, because I kept it ALL YEAR no exceptions.
For 2015, I want to try something new every day.
This is real. I did it. All 365 days.
Every night, I wrote down my “something new” in my planner and eventually categorized them to see how I did. I gave myself no other rules. Some days, there were more than one, but never zero. Today, I’ll share with you how it broke down and some favorites and not so favorites.
In 2015, I tried…
26 new movies & TV shows – Star Wars was still at the top although I highly recommend Making a Murderer if you are one of the few people left that hasn’t watched it. The worst one I watched was probably Dumb & Dumber To.
5 new projects/classes – I have a favorite, but it’s not quite ready yet. Stay tuned in February for a quick peak.
32 new beers/ciders – My two favorites were the New Glarus’ Moon Man (which sadly you can only find in Wisconsin) and the Huckleberry beer I drank in Montana. I did notice that I only tried one NJ beer the entire year, so I’d like to get better about local stuff in 2016.
23 new kinds of wine – I think my favorite is the wine in a juice box I had with Kirsten on the beach in Florida, but mostly because it brings back awesome memories. I also discovered that we love almost anything from the Wolffer Vineyard on Long Island and the place is gorgeous.
32 new places – That includes NYC neighborhoods, other cities and even one country. I think Iceland takes the cake on this one.
23 new make up/beauty items – This number surprised me because I didn’t think I was that adventurous when it came to beauty items. I did have 3 new Lush bath bombs on this list. One of my favorites was the goat’s milk lotion I got in Montana – see similar products here – I will try any lotion to find something that works for my sad winter skin. I also became a fan of Kiehl’s Shampoo & Conditioner and Jamberry nails.
23 new articles of clothing – This number can’t be right because I’m sure I bought stuff this year and didn’t write it down. Of the things listed though, my Icelandic slippers are at the top and are worn almost daily now that it’s cold out. Another favorite were the onesies we purchased and wore for our Christmas card picture.
67 new restaurants – Guys, I live across the river from NYC, of course that was going to be super easy. The ones that jump to the top right away are Queens Comfort in Astoria, Steve’s Key Lime Pies (for dessert only) in Red Hook, Brooklyn and Good Enough to Eat on the Upper West Side. A new favorite in Minnesota was Buster’s in South Minneapolis. I’m drooling just thinking about their veggie burger.
64 new experiences/adventures – These were items that didn’t really fall into another category. Some of the highlights include Kayaking with Manatees, visiting the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, the MS Climb to the Top of the Rock and many other adventures.
71 new foods/drinks – I needed a category for the stuff that wasn’t necessarily a new restaurant, but a new food or recipe that I had never tried. Zeppoles are at the top of the list, but I also loved the Smores Oreos, Deep Fried Pumpkin Pie, Skyr and Cheerwine. On the flip side, there were quite a few recipes we tried that will never be tried again. I even learned to have two Pinterest boards – one for recipes we haven’t tried yet and one for recipes we love… the ones that aren’t good, get deleted.
28 new books – I’ve already recapped my books and I also think I’m missing a few, so I won’t dive into this one again.
55 new items – This is the treat yoself category that includes a few bracelets, coffee mugs, a new planner, some records, a Harry Potter coloring book (thanks Holly), a new vacuum, and new couch pillows. You would normally exclude these from a list of new things you’ve tried, but when I wrote them down on this list, I seemed to enjoy them even more.
20 new people – I only counted people that we hung out with for the first time. This included my brother’s friends at his wedding, our awesome neighbors turned friends, new babies/spouses of friends and a few people Justin met through surfing.
To summarize…
In 2015, I tried 469 new things. It seems like so much looking back on it. It makes me proud.
There were a few days where I struggled. I would either get lucky and receive something in the mail or I would wander over to CVS or Target and go hunting for a new nail polish color or scan Netflix for a new movie. There were other situations, like our Iceland trip, where everything was new and I could pick a favorite or two from the day to capture.
I cherish some of my routines. Having a challenge like this with very few rules helped me switch up a few routines without feeling like it was torture. Now, I read the whole menu instead of jumping to my go-to item or I’ll buy a brand new kind of wine at the store because it has a pretty bottle. There’s a little more variety in my life and I’m so grateful for that.
What was your 2015 resolution? Did you keep it? Would you try a daily challenge like this?
Don't you love how blogging is a way to remember and categorize your moments? Looks like you had a great year!
Ummm, this is AWESOME and such a fun idea!!! I know I've said this multiple times before, but I love how adventurous you are! 2016, I will be on the list of new people 😉
This is so awesome Steph! At first I thought, how would you ever keep track of THAT many new things, but it's even more cool to see everything categorized together!
this is SO awesome. what an amazing year. i love that you did so much. i would love to do something like this, but maybe a week or month rather than every day otherwise i'd just keep buying things to cover myself haha. but i love that you wrote them all down, that's a great way to keep track of it. i kept some of my goals, but not all of them, probably because i made too many!
so awesome! the fact that you tracked everything is even more awesome 😀 i would have forgotten to write it all down.
I LOVE THIS. This is so cool..what a fun year!
This is absolutely AWESOME!!! Such a smart idea to write it in your planner every day like that. Makes me want to try this for a month and see what all I can try/do in 30 days ya know?!
I think this is awesome! And I love that you categorized them and I want to do this now.
That's a great idea! I kinda want that Harry Potter coloring book. I love trying new restaurants, although I'm a little more limited that I have to find ones with vegan options. But I don't mind. Maybe I could try a month of this? I love that you tried so much new stuff. We went to Iceland last year, too. We didn't go to the Blue Lagoon, but we did go to the Myvatn Nature Baths, which looks like it is very similar from the pic!
Omg this is an awesome idea, what a fun thing to look back on! I have to say it's no surprise that Iceland makes your favorite list a few times, but I am biased 😉
Iceland is such an incredible place. If I didn't have a travel list a mile long, I'd be back ASAP. In the meantime, I'll just keep looking at the pictures you guys post!