POMEGRANATE LIME SPRITZERS

This time last year this blog didn’t exist. I was working at a coffee shop in a city I despised, John was only halfway through law school – which he hated – and ‘our life’ as we’d planned it just wasn’t where we’d hoped. The funny thing is, our circumstances were all a result of decisions we had made, whether actively or passively. And despite our careful planning and forethought, we simply weren’t happy with the direction we were headed. We all know what you’re supposed to do in these situations: Remain positive and keep putting one foot in front of the other even if the road ahead appears grim.

But on New Year’s Eve of 2011, we did just the opposite.

As we sat in our third-story one bedroom apartment with our blinds open, listening to the sound of rain tick the sides of our building and fireworks go off in the distance, we talked about our lives: what we wanted, what we didn’t want, what it would take to get there, what was holding us back, and if it was possible to achieve.

The conversation was one of the best we’d had yet, one that honestly changed the trajectory of our lives as a married couple and as individuals possibly forever. That night we decided if we don’t like something we change it, and if there’s something we want to do – be it as small as starting a website or as big as traveling the world – we find a way to do it. From the outside looking in, we look like crazy people sometimes. But if we’re doing what we love, does it really matter?

We’ve realized it’s extremely important to ask yourself – and ask often – what it is you really want to be doing with your day, your week, your life, otherwise you drift, begin reacting instead of enacting, and never really end up where you want to be. If you want something bad enough you can make it happen, you just have to remove the distractions and find a way. After all, if your happiness is at stake is there really any other option?

One year later we are leaps and bounds closer to where we want to be. John graduates from law school in May – thank God; I balance my time between writing, cooking and photography; and we have our eyes set on where we want to be in the next few years. Honestly, it feels amazing, liberating and totally worth raising a glass to. I can’t wait to see what 2013 brings. If we make half the progress we made in 2012, I can only expect it to be awesome.

So cheers to a New Year, and thanks in advance for celebrating with us in 2013. Here’s one seriously fine cocktail to kick things off.