Happy new year! Or is it already too late to say that? I usually publish some sort of “new year goals and resolutions” post in the first couple weeks of January, but as much as I’m a diehard new year person, I just wasn’t feeling it this year… not really having interest in any of the usual new year reflections, goals, planning, etc.

If you recall from over the summer, I did a sort of “strategic planning” retreat for myself in June and realized I feel SO much more inspired to set goals during the summer, when the days are long and it’s warm and sunny. One of my biggest takeaways from my soul-searching was that a lot of the stress and angst I feel about blogging (and other aspects of my life) is self-inflicted. Why?! Sure, it’s good to set goals, but not so much when the goals are unachievable and leave me feeling dejected December after December… I was surprised to realize that I’m actually a terrible goal setter.

So, I decided to take a new approach this year. I set way fewer goals. And I only set goals that I truly, deeply care about (not things that I think I should care about, not things that other people expect of me). We’ll see how it goes!

As I mentioned, I debated not sharing a new year post at all, but I ultimately decided I owe you an explanation since I will (yet again) be making several changes to the blog in 2025. Without further ado, here is a list of goals/resolutions/ideas I have for the new year.

Grace Per Wear Goals

As you’ve probably already noticed, I’ve decided to stop doing my weekly recaps in 2025. They’re such a fun memento to look back on, especially being able to see every outfit I wore in a year. But I ultimately decided that they are too much work for what they’re worth. They take hours to write, edit the photos, add all the cost per wear details, etc. As much as I love my blogging endeavors, I’ve begun to feel my priorities shift, and I want more time to spend on other hobbies, like sewing and scrapbooking.

With weekly recaps gone, my website will be even more scaled-back. Whether I like it or not, people’s attention has been shifting away from blogs towards social media for a long time, and I’ve finally decided to play the game. I still plan to share my month in review blog posts, as well as OOTD roundups every now and again. But otherwise, blog posts will be shared when the inspiration strikes, rather than sticking to a strict schedule.

Instead, I plan to focus a lot more energy into social media, which, frankly, is less time consuming in many ways. You may have noticed that I’ve started posting my OOTDs everyday on Reels/TikTok (rather than Stories, like I used to do). I’ve been enjoying this so far, but the verdict is still out on whether or not it’s a successful strategy.

I also replaced my weekly recaps with weekly “percent worn” videos where I share how much of my closet I’ve worn so far in 2025. I have really enjoyed this challenge so far. Even though I’ve always been focused on cost per wear, tracking the total percent of closet worn has helped me think about my outfits in a whole new way. While I would love to wear 100% of my closet in 2025, the (more realistic) goal I set is 98%, since I likely won’t be wearing my prom dresses/any gowns this year.

Other goals for Grace Per Wear include pitching to one brand a month (now that I LOVE my website and blog name, I feel more comfortable putting myself out there!) and launching my own product. Several people have reached out to me about my cost per wear spreadsheet, and I think it would be so cool to sell it as a template!! I’m not entirely sure what all would go into that—it’s very different than anything I’ve done before—but I’m confident I can figure it out.

Personal Goals

Of course, I have some personal goals as well. My motto for the year is “kill two birds with one stone.” I historically haven’t been the smartest or most efficient with my goals, so this year I’m really trying to embody the phrase “work smarter, not harder.”

Probably my biggest personal goal is to make new local friends. Don’t get me wrong, I have some really great friends (they’re my blog’s biggest supporters!!), but only a couple of them live in Denver. I worry if they ever decided to move away, I would be left without any close girlfriends within driving distance. Like investments, you gotta diversify, right?

I’ve decided to approach my friend-making goal with a project management lens. I’ve compiled a list of ideas and places to try to meet other girls my age (some of which I have already tried with no luck—but it’s still early). I feel like nobody talks about how hard it is to make friends after school, especially in a world where lots of people work remote. I know there must be other gals like me trying to meet new people, and we just have to find each other!

Another goal of mine is to start volunteering again. I used to volunteer a lot in high school and I’ve realized I’ve been missing that part of my life (plus, it could be an opportunity to make new friends—two birds with one stone). I also want to get serious about learning Spanish. I have a really solid foundation from taking five years in school, but now I need to get comfortable speaking it and listening to it. I have lots of specific ideas for how to do this that I won’t get into, but if you’re bilingual and have any tips for learning a second language, please share!

Otherwise, I am trying really hard to set more realistic to-do lists. Like I said, a lot of my stress is self-inflicted. I realized if I just set more achievable goals, both on the day-to-day and longer term, I would be less likely to feel stressed about “never accomplishing anything.” Am I just inflating my sense of success? Perhaps. But I think at this point I’m okay with that. Yesterday I set an ambitious—yet realistic—to-do list and actually accomplished the whole thing. Damn, did it feel good!

What about you? Do you still partake in resolutions and goal setting at the new year, or are you over it? What kinds of things are you hoping to accomplish in 2025? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Oh, and for today’s outfit: I first tried the black denim on denim look back in October at a bachelorette party. I wasn’t sure about it initially, but now I love it. It was especially cute with my new silver sneakers and the pop of pink in the hat! A very sporty look for me but still a stylish casual outfit, something I’ve always had a hard time putting together.

As always, thank you for all your support of my blog. It means so much to me when you leave comments or reach out saying how much you love my OOTDs. Thank YOU!!

 

Miles of smiles,
Grace

 

White Tee: Old Navy, $8 ($1.33 per wear) | Black Denim Jacket: Topshop via Nordstrom, $55 ($1.34 per wear), last worn here | Grey Jeans: Express, $19 ($0.26 per wear), last worn here | Silver Sneakers: JustFab, sent to me for collaboration, $50 ($12.50 per wear) | Pink Hat: Amazon, $25 ($6.25 per wear) | Purse: Gift, $50 ($1.85 per wear), last worn here