Re-Focus

Hello!  Its been some time since I've written a post, so I'm putting up a general update on the life of Sarah these days.  Not much different from most the population, I have spent the first few weeks of January recuperating from the holidays, doing a general assessment on the status of life, being healthy, and bracing for the soon-to-be rapid onslaught of 2013.

The final months of 2012 were a rip-roarer, consisting of ping pong between work and personal travel, long heavy days of work focus speckled with my personal explorations and aggressive "foodie-ism".  Thus, I was definitely ready to check out a bit ... let the frantic pace slow to a drool ... stop telling myself I needed to be doing something.

Health
Once I returned from the States from a lovely X-mas with family and friends (I mean, my little Ri is just the sweetest), I took to the stereotypical resolution planning.  I am not one to get real particular about it, but the urge to cleanse is etheral for me.  On the typical day I focus on the food I put in my mouth and the thickness of "cold protection" forming on my extremities, but I step it up in January to aid the "post cookie tin" recovery.

I am back in Bikram yoga twice a week, and running as well.  Diet is veg, grain and legume heavy (I mean, I have never loved lentils so much!).  Actually made it three days in a row without wine in week one.  (ha, ha).

Work
I instituted the pay-it-forward philosophy.  I knew that early in the new year organizational and strategic changes meant things were going to go bananas quite soon.  So, as a result I had little guilt from taking it easy early in the month (which also helped me keep up the exercise program). Things hit hectic pace about mid-month, but I was rested and on-point to tackle the challenging times.  I'm hitting a high at work right now ... it just feels right and its preparing me for the next phase.  Drive ... determination ... vision.  Look out.

Travel
Early in the month I didn't even want to ponder travel, as all I wanted to do was hang in lovely London, waking late and enjoying strolls in the afternoon.  Though, soon enough life offered up the need to start booking, and inevitably this got me into personal travel planning.  Since I moved to London I had a mental goal of one trip a month.  So far, that goal has been fulfilled.  I'm kind of an over-achiever, so this goal too must go on!  Last week it began ... Milan (work), this week Paris (work) and onto Chicago/Florida (love/work), Hamburg, Germany (work), Barcelona (pleasure/work), and Florence, Italy (pleasurable girls' weekend).  That gets me through March ... April has another US trip, Paris and Milan (hmmm Venice?) ... May to Mykonos, Greece for a girls trip.  Definitely more travel blogs to come in 2013 ... and to think I have yet to plan Champagne, Burgundy, Portugal, and the Amalfi Coast.

Peace
Beyond that, I have put the priority on simply finding peace ... I am a loner of a person and need to have the time in my life to do those things that are important to me ... alone.  Browsing the Borough market squeezing the perfect tomato, taking the fishmonger's advice for dinner ... watching the foxes play in my back yard ... a Sunday afternoon stroll in the fresh snowfall ... hanging at the pub for conversations with my neighbours ... hand-crafting jewellery and knit goods ... spending time staring at the flora in my neighbourhood pondering survival in January ... chop, chop, chopping veg to the sounds of my "hot ladies pop" playlist on Spotify ... just laying in bed looking at the ceiling letting the natural thoughts and conclusions flow from one side to the other as the sun rises to remind me to actually get to work and start the action of 2013!  Bring on February!