My 2011 Resolutions

A print by the amazing Klaus Haapaniemi ASIO FLAMMEUS. Yours for £350.

I know I know…another non-food related post. But it’s December 28th and there’s no time like now to make plans for 2011. And this year, I really do want to have plans. Plans are good. Here’s what I’m thinking…

• Give my accountant everything he needs to do my taxes NOW. You’d think that as a fairly intelligent person (I have my moments), I’d know how taxes work. But I’ve had a mental blank on doing my taxes since I got my first job back when I was like 16 years old. Sorry, I had to get this boring one out of the way first. Swallow the frog! Swallow the frog! (I love that phrase.)
• Host dinner parties. Lots of them. Become good at it. Richard & Mireia and Bryan and Stacey and Feathers and Mr. Feathers and Anna & Stephen and Al & Louise were so good to me in London. I need to pay it forward.
• Run 30 minutes every day in January. A nagging hip injury took me off the treadmill for most of 2010. 2011 is the year I get back on. Seriously. Running every day may seem like overkill, but I’ve been underkilling it for so long, it’s time.
• In the grand tradition of the UK, No alcohol in January from Jan 3rd onwards. (Gotta give me the weekend at least!)
• Use my new pressure cooker. Some of my fondest memories from childhood are the cchhh-cchhh-cchhh of the pressure cooker on a Sunday afternoon as my mom whipped up something special.
• Start working on my masterpiece. That is, my book. I’ve been talking about this forever. Time (again) to swallow the frog.
• Organize my office. This has a side benefit in that it means I’ll finally have to finish unpacking. You really don’t want to see what my office looks like now.
• Hang up my art. I like art. I actually have some real stuff, thanks to Klaus. I love Klaus. You should check him out.
• Ride my bike to work when the temperature is over 50 degrees and there’s no chance of rain. Riding my bike is one of the things I missed most about Chicago. It’s time to get back out there. Luckily I have the fantastic blogs Bike Fancy and Let’s Go Ride a Bike as inspiration.
• Meet new people. Over the years, my blog has helped me meet a ton of great people in London like Gourmet Chick, American in London, Howard & Ben, Hollow Legs, Cheese & Biscuits, Food Stories, Eat Like a Girl, Ms. Marmite Lover and so many others. (Please don’t be offended if I didn’t include you here. I love you all. Seriously.) And it’s also served as a Visitenkarte in many a foreign location. I need to do more of this.
• Break-even. Running a blog is not cheap. This year, I had Typepad costs and then porting-to-Wordpress-costs and designer costs as I moved everything to Chicago and well…I love my blog. But it would be nice if it wasn’t a black hole of money.
• Blog about things besides restaurants…

I’m SURE there are more resolutions I’m forgetting. What do you think? What other resolutions should I have in 2011? And what are your resolutions? Do tell, do tell…