Happy New Year’s!!
Welcome to the first blog of the new year! I am so sorry that this blog is coming out so late, but with New Year’s and all the craziness, it’s just taken me a little longer to get it out. It was intended for earlier in the year but things happen sometimes. We wish you a happy, healthy new year from all of us here at the Carlisle House Bed and Breakfast. We hope you take some time to relax, because you deserve it, and wanted to share some of our tips for the new year!!! I will also be sharing some music that may make 2024 a happier place.
Tips For A Great New Year
As it has taken me so long to get this out, use these tips as a reminder for your resolutions and a place to find tips to integrate into the year. Did the resolutions you set at New Year’s work? Do you need a new one or a few more? Can any of these be an asset in your life?
- Make A New Year’s Resolution (Or Two!): Making a resolution does not have to be big, but enough to help to give 2024 a direction. After making your resolution, make it smaller: break it into daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly pieces, so it is easier to obtain or be consistent with. Keep track of your goals and how close you are to them. This will also help to keep you accountable! Reevaluate your goals and resolutions frequently and make sure they push you in the direction you want to be heading. Refreshing them will also help if you realize you want to head in a different direction. There is nothing wrong with refreshing goals or resolutions to more accurately help you push your life in the direction you want it to be heading.
- Drink Water: I know you’ve heard people saying to drink water but it’s true. Human bodies are 60% water and blood is 90% water! This should help you see why drinking water is so important. Drinking water is always helpful. It helps your body keep a normal temperature, lubricate joints, and protect the spinal cord and other sensitive tissues. Drinking enough water can also help you to perform your best during physical activities. Drinking water when eating out can help you save money. Carrying a water bottle with you throughout the day can help to encourage you to drink more water (water bottles are also super stylish, can be decorated for your style, and help the environment through the use of less single-use plastics.)
- Make Time For Yourself: Everyone knows that sometimes you have to take a little time for yourself because the only person you have to live with every day is yourself. Plan some time every week to take care of yourself, whether it be a walk or cleaning your living space. Throwing away things you no longer use or donating things that are still in good enough condition for other people to use can help to declutter your space and help other people at the same time. Maybe making time for yourself just looks like some movement or fresh air. Making time for yourself can look very different from person to person, but is vital for all of us.
- Plan Things To Look Forward To: All work and no play makes you quite a boring person. Make sure you have fun things coming up in your life (concerts, travel, fancy restaurants, shows, etc) either by yourself or with friends and family, to make sure that you can still have fun around your work life. Doing activities that make you happy will improve your mental and physical health and will help you become a more well-rounded person. Taking care of yourself is so important and keeping a good work-life balance will help you to live your best life.
- Get Rid Of Negativity (Or As Much As You Can): Negativity is not something you can entirely get rid of. People in your life may bring in negativity and you might not be able to do much about that. Think positive things about yourself. Try to think positive thoughts and write down as many as you can to keep a memory of all the positive things you can. No one thinks being positive is easy and everyone knows it’s not possible to be positive all the time.
- Clear Your Space: Spring cleaning is very popular, but why not January cleaning as well? Throw away things you haven’t used in a while. Organize things so that it is easier to find the things you use frequently and keep your space the way that will make you happiest. Maybe move some furniture (in your bedroom or living room) so your space can be more conducive to the way you want to use it. Look for new decorations to make the space look exactly the way you want it to. Throw away any beauty products that are expired or old that you will no longer use. As you get a refresh, your space should get one too.
- Build A Better Budget: Money is a cause of stress for a lot of people. Make a budget you can work with. Have it reflect exactly how you want it
to look. Review what you did last year to make this year the best it can be. What did you spend money on in ways you didn’t like? Do you need to do a month with little spending? How much money do you want to save? High-yield savings accounts are at an all-time high interest percentage and can improve your money. Put some money that was in a traditional savings account and put it into a high-yield savings account to increase your interest! - Reflect On 2023: What did you like about 2023? What have you liked about this new year so far? How can you make these things happen more? What did you dislike? What changes can you make so those things happen less? It is always a good idea to take some time and reflect on the good and bad to make sure you can do your best to make your life the best it can be. Reflecting on the ways that spending your time is spent, whether it be good or bad, can facilitate a life that directly looks the way you want it to.
- Find Ways To Pamper Yourself: Do you like face masks? Getting your nails done? There are endless ways to find little things to do for yourself. Doing things that make you feel good is scientifically proven to have real benefits for your overall health. Self-care (also called pampering yourself) improves self-confidence and increases productivity and happiness. Self-care can also reduce stroke, heart disease, and cancer. Another way to pamper yourself is to set boundaries in your relationships, whether that be friendships, love interests, or family. Setting boundaries will help other people in your life treat you better and encourage you to pamper yourself more.
- Make Some Time To Disconnect: In our world of constant contact, zoom, and endless so
cial media, finding a way to disconnect is now more important than ever! Taking a hike and having a technology-less dinner with friends are great ways to disconnect. Reading physical books is another great way to disconnect (and they say that reading physical books can help with the retention of information). It is always a good idea to disconnect from the internet world for a little bit to increase your real-life connections. Disconnecting can increase mental health by decreasing anxiety and stress. It also helps to increase productivity. - Make Yourself A Bucket List For the Year: What could be better than your own personal bucket list for 2024? A list of all the things you think you could accomplish if you put your mind to it! The satisfaction you will get when you complete all of them! A year’s bucket list is a great idea for anyone. You can make one for yourself, you and your partner, or even your group of friends. This is also something you could decorate which is a great activity. If you laminate it, when you accomplish activities, you can use a dry-erase marker to cross off each item. Happy bucket listing!
- Get A Little Crafty: Do you have a craft that you enjoy? This can be anything from knitting to scrapbooking, to literally all the other crafts in the world. Crafting has been proven, through research, to improve mood, bolster self-confidence, and reduce stress. Crafting also improves mental agility, increases gross and fine motor movement, and decreases cognitive decline. It is a natural antidepressant. Incorporating crafting into one’s life can reduce symptoms of PTSD, Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Insomnia, and Chronic Pain. If any of these sound good to you, then crafting sounds like a good idea for you. Crafting is super easy to start: books and YouT
ube videos are a great resource and materials can be found both in-store at craft stores and Walmart, as well as ordered online.
- Try Something New: Is there something you’ve been wanting to try? It’s a new year, and trying something new might be a great way to celebrate the new year. Maybe it’s a new pair of shoes or going skydiving. Even if you don’t end up liking what you try, it still helps you to become a more holistic person. Whether big or small, the benefits of trying something new are endless. Some benefits of trying new things are becoming more creative, getting to know yourself, improving health, promoting happiness, learning a new skill, changing your brain chemistry, meeting new people, reducing stress, creating lasting memories, building courage, boosting confidence, becoming mentally strong, and personal growth. Trying new things can also help to increase your ability to learn new things in the future faster.
- Be Actively Nice To Yourself: Everyone makes mistakes but having positive self-talk can have a positive impact on many aspects of your life. There are ways to stop negative self-talk. These include being aware of the way you’re speaking to yourself, challenging your negative thoughts, putting your thoughts into perspective, stopping negative thoughts, and replacing those negative thoughts with neutral or positive thoughts. The benefits of positive self-talk are improving self-esteem, reducing stress, and improving well-being. Positive self-talk can also reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and personality disorders. Other effects include helping with chronic pain, improving body image, having more control over your life, motivating you to overcome obstacles, and calming you.
- A Stay At the Carlisle House Makes Everything Better: A great present for yourself this new year is to give yourself a stay at the Carlisle House Bed and Breakfast. Why not treat yourself to a stay at the Carlisle House Bed and Breakfast? There are no downsides. Carlisle House Bed and Breakfast has beautiful, spacious rooms. Each room is equipped with a comfortable bed to make sure that you get the best night of sleep possible. Homemade breakfast every morning is made fresh daily and can be modified to accommodate any potential dietary restrictions without compromising flavor. Rooms also have a Roku TV, which allows great relaxation in bed while enjoying quality TV. The common room is equipped with a library of books as well as a variety of games that
are available for guests to play either in the common room or in the comfort of their bedroom. - New Recipes: The new year is a great time to try new recipes. Or maybe you have a ton of recipes you like. Compile those into a book or folder so they are easier to find. This allows you to keep better track of your recipes and have an easier time sharing recipes with those you love. Having a compact recipe book also helps you to make grocery lists easier, as you are not scrambling around for all your recipes in separate places. This book does not have to be complicated: it can be as simple as a manilla folder or as complex as a bound binder with a homemade title page. Either way, this might help to make grocery shopping and recipe sharing easier for the new year.
Music Recommendations for 2024
Here’s a list of songs that make me happy. I think we need to bring a little more happiness into the new year, so maybe some of this will help.
Happy by Pharrell Williams
– This song never fails to put a smile on my face. It has exciting energy that can put anyone in a good mood. Originally from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, this song explains exactly how it feels to stay at the Carlisle House Bed and Breakfast: Happy. The lyrics are silly and are a wonderful musical representation of how it feels to be happy.
Dance the Night Away by Dua Lipa – This is a great pick-me-up song. Another song from a movie, this Dua Lipa song was featured in Greta Gerwig’s 2023 movie Barbie in the dance scene. The dancing will put a smile on your face, and if you choose to dance along, it can make you even happier.
Fast Car by Luke Combs – Being both the best single and song of 2023, it felt vital to include this song on this list. Originally written by Tracy Chapman and released in 1988, this song tells the story of a working woman trying to escape poverty. Comb’s reimagination of this song has allowed it to once again rise the ranks of the charts.
Is It Over Now by Taylor Swift – Are you asking yourself if 2023 is really over? Is the new year really here? Yes, it is! This pop song describes complex feelings after a breakup. By Spotify’s top artist of 2023, Taylor Swift, I thought it was essential to honor her with a song on this list.
Not My Fault by Reneé Rapp with Megan Thee Stallion – This song was featured in the 2024 remake of the movie Mean Girls (new year, new Mean Girls!). Reneé Rapp is an up-and-coming artist who made her start on Broadway in the musical Mean Girls. Megan Thee Stallion has been becoming more popular in recent years as well. Not My Fault has a great beat, that when played loud enough allows for the listener to feel completely free.
Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen by Baz Luhrmann – What a song. This song, though maybe not entirely fair to call it a song, has a rich history. It was originally written as a hypothetical commencement speech by Mary Schmich and was published in the Chicago Tribune in June of 1997. The song, a spoken word track set over a mellow backing track, was on Baz Luhrmann’s album Something for Everyone, released in 1998.
Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen charted number one in Ireland and the UK. Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen is often misrepresented as being Kurt Vonnegut’s 1997 MIT Commencement speech. In reality, Vonnegut never even gave a commencement speech at MIT, and this rumor became so widely spread that Vonnegut’s lawyers began receiving requests for permission to reprint the speech. Vonnegut has commented that he would have been proud if this had been his speech.
Come Over by Noah Kahan – You may have heard Noah Kahan’s name from his hit song Stick Season, also the name of his album. Kahan, who won the Grammy award for Best New Artist in 2023, has been gaining lots of popularity lately. Come Over is a slower song of his, which explores themes of loneliness, self-reflection, and desire for connection.
New Year’s Day by Taylor Swift – New Year’s Day by Taylor Swift is an incredible song. On her Reputation Album, New Year’s Day is a ballad that narrates a morning spent with a romantic partner after a New Year’s Eve where they are cleaning and caring for each other. It is a great song to play while cleaning (whether it is at a New Year’s Party or not) while studying or on a walk.
Thank You!
Once again, happy New Year’s! As always, thank you for reading the first blog of the new year of 2024! I hope you enjoyed this list and I can’t wait for the next one.
Chloe Moore