The Obligatory New Years Post

December 26 is not my favorite day of the year.  It's always a little bit of a let-down.  I usually feel a little sad that all the festivities are over, the presents have been opened, I've eaten 98 million cookies and feel like barfing, and the decorations have to come down.

The melancholy usually only lasts a little while, though, because I really like the feeling of the new year.  It's a fresh, new start...a whole set of days, laid out before you, with no mistakes in them yet.  I feel inspired and start making resolutions for the coming months.

I'm happy to report that my resolutions for 2012 are just this:  stay the same.  I have a job that pays the bills and gives me a great sense of satisfaction.  I'm lucky in love.  I share a home and a life with the person who is truly my other half.  Before I even leave the house in the morning, I already start looking forward to going home to him.  As if that weren't enough, I have all of My People within a stone's throw of my house.  My parents, my siblings, and my non-birth siblings are a huge part of my life, comprising a huge part of my foundation.  We love each other, we respect each other, and we really like to hang out with each other.  

I could resolve to go to the gym, stop allowing my credit card information to be saved on my favorite online shopping accounts, eat better, or take the dogs for a walk more often.  I could resolve to make this year the year that we add a baby to our family.  All noble and valid goals.  Instead, though, I'm going to focus on maintaining the pretty darn good life I already have. 

Please know that you, our family and friends, are part of what we in the O'Neil family are so thankful for.  We wish you the very best in 2012!

I've Joined the Clog Cult.

It started with my sister, Nic.  And then my mom joined in.  The love of the clog.  And I'm not talking about drains, either, as you may have surmised from the photo above.  I'm referring to footwear, and I mean the most comfortable footwear in the universe.

Today, I am the proud owner of my very first pair of these dream shoes, specifically the Sanita Birgitte.  Even as we speak, my feet are singing a little holiday song because they are so warm and comfy.  Now, my new clogs are not exactly as those listed above, but very similar.  Mine are actually a dark, root beer-ish brown color in an alligator skin pattern.  I adore them.  I already have plans to buy the patent leather bright red model, soon followed by the patent leather black and then the teal ones and then the flat brown ones.  This could really get out of hand.