January never feels like the first month of the year. Snow, short days, frozen ponds at the park, leafless trees, the Christmas Season passing by--these all feel like the end. The finale. Spring is what feels new, the start of something full of warmth, and life. Color coming up out of the cold, out of the dormant, and the dark. So when the New Year arrived today I expected to feel the same. To be left with the feeling of normalcy, just trekking forward from December. Just another day. I expected that this wouldn't feel like a new start, because it never really does, and it never really has. But you know what? It feels a bit like new things are here. 2014 feels bright and warm, even with the snowy, grey sky that lingered this January 1st. It feels like this inner warmth building up, with color coming out of new adventures in my life. I'm pretty sure the warmth has been building for months, and I'm just now taking the time to notice. There are so many things on the horizon, that are new, and at the start. My new creative outlet at Anthropologie, new friendships building, contributing to exciting projects, learning calligraphy, traveling to New York for the first time. And these are all just the new things for January. I'm kind of blown away.
To start off the New Year, and the unexpected blessing of these bright and hopeful things on the horizon, we played games with friends and treated ourselves to a delicious Italian dinner donned even with a sweet dessert wine. And I wore an entirely new outfit. Not thrifted, and mainly from Anthropologie as my gift from Matt's side of the family this year. A serious treat to wear a brand new outfit to ring in the New Year, and the unexpected feeling of excitement I would find myself wrapped up in today as I see all the things planned for the beginning of January and February. Hurray, and hello, 2014!
