My favorite resolution ever!

Happy 2011! Hope everyone had a great NYE!

Our last days of freedom before returning for the longest Monday ever today was wonderful! Also, we came up with the best resolution for this year, so I just wanted to share.

The weekend started on Thursday when I celebrated my friend Kate's 30th on the 30th (notice the oh-so-classy tiara her hubby made her sport for the picture.) The next night, Dan and I used a gift card for a decadent meal out and stopped by one of his friend's NYE party.

Determined to follow through on new New Year's traditions, we made waffles, eggs, and sausage for brinner on New Year's Day. I freakin' love brinner. This idea developed from a wedding I went to once (holla, Laura!) where the bride and groom served brinner because "you have breakfast at the start of something new." Since they were starting their married life together, it fit perfectly. Such a sweet sentiment. And waffles. Love it. Thus, a new year's day tradition is born for this family of two.

We also started the new tradition of buying a scratcher lotto ticket since we were feeling lucky.

Before scratching:
The million dollar ticket:


After scratching:

Wah Wah Waaaahhh. Not sure if this tradition will stick.

Dan and I went to our neighborhood coffee shop on the 1st and got around to the subject of New Year's resolutions. As mentioned a year ago today, I'm wary about making them. You see, January is one of the longest months in middle school land, filled with cranky students, 18 week tests, and bleary-eyed teachers. It just goes on and on and on. And that resolution to, say, give up eating the occasional resource room doughnut goes to hell in the first week. I've learned from past experience that trying to overhaul my life in January would be a total fail.

Basically, I don't want to feel like this next January:

(Hmmm... Maybe my resolution should be to stop using Someecards as a lazy attempt to add wit to every blogpost. Just a thought.)

Instead, I usually come up with one small, fun resolution, like "take more photos" or "dress up more often". This year, I was out of ideas. Then, Dan told me about his two:

* Lose some weight.

and...

* Try a new Richmond restaurant each month

My first thought: Ummm... those two resolutions are completely contrary to one another.

My second thought: Sign me up for the second one!

Dan then casually mentioned, "You should turn this into a 'just do it' challenge for your blog. You know, we can gorge ourselves, and then you can write about it. " Love this man.

So, my Just do it challenge #14 is... Try 12 new restaurants in 12 months!

This challenge fits us for three reasons:

1. Dan and I can get into a rut when it comes to restaurants. Case in point: my favorite Vietnamese place actually knows me by name... even when I'm simply calling in my order. It goes like this:
Me: "Hi! I'd like to order the sesame chicken with brown rice and broccoli."
Restaurant owner: "Hi, Christen! How are you?"

2. I figure this will be a fun way to prove that Richmond can hold its own when it comes to restaurants. Take that, big cities. :)

3. I actually think this may help us save more money. On tighter months, we can be creative and do breakfast or tapas somewhere in lieu of dinner. Also, Dan and I want to cut back on picking up $20 take-out dinners constantly when we're too tired to cook, and instead save up our pennies for a nicer monthly meal.

We already have done our homework by buying a Richmond Magazine and checking out the new restaurants in town, like:

Fancy pants places, like Amuse:

Realllly low budget places, like Nate's Taco Truck (famous for his spicy hot chocolate):
Restaurants known for their masterpiece desserts, like The Empress:

This is one resolution I may actually keep.
I'll keep you posted!

Amuse picture from here, image of Nate from here, and dessert image from Empress website