I must say that my year has started of on the right foot. First of all, the weather has been fan-fricken-tastic. This is the best winter I have had in Montreal so far, and probably my life (remember, I grew up in Manitoba and had a brief stop in Edmonton before settling here). I even made it outside for a run yesterday – something I would NEVER do in January – mostly because I don’t have the right equipment to stay warm and not break a hip on ice.
Second, my workout routine has been impeccable averaging about 4.5 workouts per week. I honestly have not felt so good in a long time and I hope that I keep this up after our trip. This also helped with my vacation prep, which is great, because it made up for some not so great eating on the weekends (due to crazy schedules and just sheer laziness) and also not pulling through with my January notable resolution – sobriety. If you follow me on Instagram (@kristinforgala) you probably already knew this. But for those who don’t, I lasted almost two weeks before giving in to my temptation, the vino! I have to say though, I know that the amount that I am consuming is a reasonable amount and has not impacted my training and weight/fitness goals. And its not more or less that on average before. So I tried it, didn’t work, but I’m really ok with it.
On the work front, it was actually harder to get back into routine than I thought it would be after the holidays. I was happy to have gotten ahead in some of my school work for my final semester and feel really on top of things. But work has been a rocky start but a satisfying finish to the month. I hope that continues into February and the first half of the year as it will be quite busy for me again.
Onto my design, I’ve been spending a lot of time focussing on school in order to finish this final semester with a bang. I can already tell this one has a lot of the missing pieces to complete my knowledge and allow me to be successful. I have had a couple more requests for design ideas from some family and close friends (with no rush which really works right now). I’ve been spending a lot of time researching suppliers here and tradespeople and amping up my presence on social media in order to connect with more people. I’ve also been getting some crazy ideas for some spin-offs that I may have to explore later in the year.
So what’s next – well, as you know – VACATION!! I’m headed to sunny Mexico in a week. Very excited to disconnect from work and life in general. While there, I’m looking forward to catching up on some inspirational reading and working on my photography skills. I’m going to be taking my DSLR and I really want to hone my skills in order to be able to use it in Interior Design. This is one of the main observations I have – a space can look amazing in real life, but dull and lifeless if the right photo isn’t taken (lighting, settings and angles) and editing isn’t used. I’ve started testing this out very quickly this past week and can really notice amazing results between using my DSLR with even something as simple as Instagram or Afterlight vs iPhone with the same tools. Now you may be thinking – well duh!! – and I did figure that, but had gotten annoyed with carrying a bit camera around. But the right picture makes such huge difference that I don’t want not having the right equipment to compromise any hard work I’m doing.
Something new I’m doing on Instagram is a daily design inspiration. Each day I’m re-posting a picture that I find design inspiration in from my fellow designers that I follow on the social app. This has been a great way for me to start connecting with people and looking outside my own comfort zone – getting me ready to take on new clients with any tastes.
So in a nutshell – very much looking forward to February for the following reasons. Vacation, work stabilizing, getting first assignments out of the way, gaining more inspiration for design and connecting more with people on social media. Whew! Sounds like a busy month. Luckily its a short one!
Thank you so much for reading so far! Don’t forget to subscribe on the top right and follow me on the various social medias. Also comment on what you would like to see more or less of! Open to writing about things people are looking to read about! Take Care!!
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