CathInTheCity

10 Things To Try This Year

48 Comments | Fashion

Being a blogger based in Bergen isn’t always easy. I know you’re probably fed up with my complaining about the rain, but it makes it impossible to take outfit pictures. Fashion and outfits are the most important things my blog is based on, and when the horrible weather makes that so difficult, I’m left so frustrated and my blog motivation goes south. I can’t even remember the last time we saw the sun here in Bergen, it must be a day in early October. Today I sat down at my home office, and didn’t let myself leave before lots of creativity was unfolded, and I had come up with solutions on how to make this blog what I want it to be. Now I’m suddenly filled with motivation, and all the fun of blogging is back. Or, at least I know it’s going to come back very soon. In other words, I’m very excited!

In the meantime, before my new plans kick in, I remembered something my friend Celin told me a few weeks ago when I was complaining about my loss of blog motivation. She told me that she loved list based posts, with different tips and tricks. From previous posts it seems like that’s something you guys like to read too, and they’re definitely fun to write. So I thought I’d make a little list post, and the theme is ’10 things to try this year’. I hope you enjoy!

♦Dinner with friends♦ (Fire stjerners middag)

As you know I love my friends, and I love food. So why not combine the two on a regular basis? I’m a huge fan of the show ‘Fire Stjerners Middag’ in Norwegian, which is about four celebrities who host a dinner once each. The dinner includes an appetizer, a main course, a dessert, and also entertainment. Everyone gives each other scores, and the winner gets a prize. Maybe this can be something fun to try with your friends in these dark and depressing winter months?

♦Try new workout methods♦

I know that a big part of the reason I’m not really motivated to work out now, is because I do pretty much the same thing every time I’m at the gym. Why not try some new workouts, like Bikram Yoga, a dance class, Barry’s Bootcamp, pole dancing or rollerblading? Let’s make 2014 the year we explore all the wonderful workout opportunities there is out there!

♦Become your own best friend♦

Let 2014 be the year that you become your own best friend. Focus on bringing yourself up, in stead of bringing yourself down. Us girls have such a bad habit of focusing on the things we’re bad at, or maybe even imperfections on the way we look. Screw that! Say to yourself every morning when you wake up; ‘I am amazing’. Find all the positive qualities you have, and focus on them. Maybe even write them on a list and hang them on your mirror (or other places you frequently look, hah). Don’t allow yourself to thinknegative thoughts about who you are, what you are about, and the way you look. Included in this is making other people happier as well. That is so important, every single day! Do you suddenly make awkward eye contact with a girl on the street? Smile to her, and I promise you’ll get a smile back. Are you on your way out of a store, and you see someone walking behind you? Stop for a second, and hold the door for them. By treating others well, you’ll almost definitely feel better about yourself. Also included in this is; No gossiping! Remember girls; “What Susy says of Sally, says more of Susy than of Sally“. Enough said..

♦Travel some place new and exotic♦

Save a little money each month, and treat yourself to the travel of a lifetime! Earlier today a sweet girl named Renate posted a comment on my blog, and after I visited her blog I was stunned (I love to visit the blogs of girls who comment here). She is such a traveller, and she’s been to places and seen amazing things that I didn’t even know existed! Check out this post of hers for some major travel inspiration. Amazing! As you know my boyfriend gave me a trip for Christmas, and I could choose the destination. I had my heart set on LA and the rest of California, but now I just want to explore the incredible nature of South America and the rest of the world. A place that isn’t too much of a ‘mainstream’ destination..

♦Phone free zone♦

Like I posted yesterday, try to prioritize the relationships you have with the people around you, and let the relationship you have with your phone come second (or fifth). For at least an hour every single day, don’t look at either your phone or your computer! I will definitely do this. I always check both my phone and my computer all the time, either to answer comments, emails or just check out what my Instagram feed consists of. And make it a rule that every time you hang out with your friends, whether it’s before going out or just chilling, leave all phones my the door.

No more looking at my phone while hanging out with these beauties..

♦Take a chance / chase your dreams♦

I’m all about chasing dreams, and I want everyone else to do it too. We are so lucky in this world that we live in, because with hard work, patience and belief in ourselves, only the sky is the limit for us! Have you always wanted to go backpacking around the world? Well, find a way and make it happen! Or maybe you’ve always wanted to make your own tea brand, or jewelry business.. Go for it! But not only those sorts of things. I think most of us hold things inside that are bringing us down. Often we’re afraid to let it out, because we worry about how other people will react. Maybe you have an issue with a friend, but you don’t want to say something. Or maybe you have a crush on a boy, but you don’t dare to tell him.. Well, life is too short, let it out! Holding things in and letting them bring you down is self torture, don’t allow yourself to do this. Take the chance – let it out!

♦Discover the joy of cooking♦

As you may remember my mom is the most incredible cook, and I’ve always wanted to learn everything she does. Even though I still feel very young, it’s probably not too many years until it’s time to settle down and make a family with my man, and I don’t want to be the mom who serves dinners bought from a frozen bag with already prepared food. I’m sure it’s necessary from time to time (what do I know), but mainly I want to make yummy, fresh food from scratch, with natural and healthy ingredients. Just like my mom always does. So another thing I’ll definitely do this year, is to try one new recipe every single week. Something I’ve never made before! I love cooking, so this one should be easy. Below you can see some of my favorite recipes from my blog, maybe you can try one of those this week?

Recipes (all LCHF):  Burger here / Cookie dough ice cream here / Cauliflower soup here / Serrano wrapped chicken here / Granola here / Pizza here

♦Read / Learn something new every day♦

I’m a sucker for reading good crime books, but I mostly just do it on vacations. I want to expand my reading list, and try new genres. I’ve always been very fascinated by space, the stars, how it all came to be, so I want to read more science material as well. Maybe I can even finish off the year with doing the science exam from high school again, and improve the 4 I got. In 2014 I want to read regularly, and try to learn something new every single day. Are you with me?

♦ Extreme sports ♦ 

I’ve always been so fascinated with my bestie Tonje. She’s the typical girly girl; If she sees a spider she’ll scream her lungs out, but at the same time she is one fearless female. Sky diving, bungee jumping and rafting is just a couple of the things she has on her list. She has actually bungee jumped from the highest bungee jump spot in the world in Africa! I find that so inspiring, so maybe we could all have that goal in 2014; To try something new and go completely out of our comfort zones. I’m not saying I’ll sky dive any time soon (I’d rather shoot myself in the toe), but do something related to extreme sports, haha. Come to think about it, horseback riding amongst hippos, rhinos, elephants and lots of other scary animals in Africa was pretty extreme, don’t you think? I’ve never been that scared in my whole life, but the adrenalin rush I got was unbeatable. Read the post here (It still cracks me up).

♦Unfold your creativity♦

Creativity is such an amazing quality we humans have, so let’s make 2014 be the year where we explore what creative things we’re good at and passionate about! Letting your creativity come out is such an amazing feeling, and actually seeing a finished product that you’ve made based on your amazing creative mind is so powerful! Why not start painting, sewing, knitting or maybe even take a pottery class? I love to do different creative things. I have a huge box of different paint and paint pictures from time to time, I sew (even though it’s been way too long since last time), I draw and lately I’ve even started to write songs in my head, haha. They’re not exactly chart toppers, but I have fun with it. Find time in your schedule, and have a creativity night every week where you do something fun. Bring a friend in on it, and it becomes even more fun.

Some of the things I’ve sown.. 

I hope you found some fun things to try this year. If you have any additions to the list, why don’t you share them with the rest of us in the comment section?♥

Comments

  2. Cathrine, du er fantastisk! Et mer inspirerende og jordnært menneske tror jeg vi skal lete lenge etter :) Det er en fryd å lese alt du skriver og du er så utrolig flink! Skal definitivt lese over disse punktene jevnlig. Og del gjerne nye oppskrifter som du tester ut (dette er noe jeg burde bli bedre på selv, er så fryktlig kresen..)

  8. Beautiful resolutions! I like especially the idea of being creative, do more dinner with friends (I would love to do that ‘game’:p), travel (Brasil, Malaysia and Australia are top on my list) and chase your dreams. Thank you so much for inspiring me with this post (and providing some beautiful pictures of exotic locations to dream away with…) xxx

  11. Oi, for et utrolig inspirerende innlegg! Jeg vil ALT du listet opp selv! xD Mange av oss trenger et lite push i baken av og til, og et innlegg som dette gjør at vi faktisk get up from our lazy bums and DO IT. Jeg elsker f.eks. å lese, men det siste året har det blitt svært lite av det. Merker at internett ofte stjeler tiden jeg har tilgjengenlig. Skal bli flinkere til å legge bort både mobilen/dataen som du skriver. Å komme i kontakt med mine kreative sider igjen er også noe jeg svært gjerne vil. Så tusen takk for inspoen!

    Og TUSEN HJERTELIG TAKK for fine ord om meg og bloggen min, og ikke minst link! Det setter jeg utrolig stor pris på! :D Reising er en superstor lidenskap jeg har, og hver ledige mulighet jeg har til å reise tar jeg. Så satser på atter et år med fantastiske reiseopplevelser! Håper du og kjæresten din finner et spennende reisemål å dra til, det er ufattelig mange å ta av. ;D

  12. Jeg kan slenge meg på det punktet hvor du skriver om å finne gleden i matlaging- der har jeg litt å gå på. Jeg har faktisk laget noen middager helt fra scratch i år, til min kjæres begeistring. Det hadde vært veldig gøy om du postet en oppskrift i uka! :)

  14. Cath this post is amazing and very inspiring. I just had to write that down to my planner for 2014 and will sure try to realize the most of them :)
    Thanks! A wonderful idea :))

  18. Wow! It was so good to read these tips! Yes, you should make them more! You are one of the few bloggers who’s not afraid to post about her down-moments next to her great moments and write about what pulls you down.

  21. Heihei. Jeg er veldig glad i lavkarbokostholdet. Jeg føler jeg blir en bedre versjon av meg selv når jeg holder meg til det fast, med masse mer energi, mer stabilt blodsukker, bedre hud og hår, og jeg blir ordentlig mett etter hvert måltid så jeg har ikke noe behov for søtsaker. I desember har jeg hatt ‘fri’, og så i dag at jeg har klart å legge på meg hele 4kg haha, så akkurat nå er jeg litt streng (begynte mandag). Men jeg elsker jo lavkarbomat, så det er bare deilig :) Du kan lese mer her: http://cathinthecity.com/?p=23194.

  25. Det er jo kjempegøy når man først kommer litt inn i det, spesielt når man har en kjæreste eller venninne man servere maten til :) Jeg vet ikke om jeg klarer en oppskrift i uken, men skal absolutt prøve å gjøre det oftere enn jeg gjør nå :)

  26. Så søt du er!! Utrolig hyggelig at du likte innlegget, og baare hyggelig å skrive om deg :) Jeg ble full av beundring når jeg besøkte bloggen din, du er kjempeinspirerende! Jeg gleder meg til å følge reisene dine i 2014 :) Stor klem

  31. Mange gode tips. Hadde vært gøy å lese litt bokanbefalinger hvis du skal starte å lese mer. Er noen ganger litt vanskelig å finne noe man har lyst til å lese. Legg også ut syprosjekter og DIY turtorials eller tips hvis du bruker tid på dette på fritiden. :)

  35. Wow, that post really impressed me! I’m reading your blog since you started and sometimes there are these moments where I am like: “Maaaan, today she killed it again!” haha .. seriously, I am fascinated by the way you motivate yourself and come up with these nice ideas .. aaand you write down your ideas in such a clever and beautiful way, that I automatically feel like I can reach everything I want!! I wish this feeling could hold on forever…. Cath .. I admire you! Kisses from Austria!

  37. Jeg elsker slike innlegg!! De er de beste :-) Og denne var utrolig bra! Tusen takk for massevis av inspirasjon *bokmerket*. Jeg skal også bli bedre til å bl.a. å lese mer, for jeg elsker det jo, så jeg sier ikke nei takk til bokanbefalingrr f.eks, hvis du leser mer fremover :-)

  42. This must be one of the sweetest comments I’ve ever gotten. Thank you so much for your lovely and motivating words, you have no idea how much I appreciate it <3

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