Are You Excited For the New Year?

I hope that this newsletter finds you enjoying the holiday season and looking forward to a fresh start.

As we welcome a New Year, there’s often a sense of pressure to have everything in place—lists organised, resolutions set, and a clear path ahead. I like the idea of starting the year with a plan, but it's perfectly okay if you - like me - will not have all your goals and aspirations in place at the stroke of midnight on December 31st.

We need to take our time to reflect, dream, and define what we want the year to hold. It's important to remember there is no rush to have it all figured out right away.

In the spirit of this, I have some fun ideas I use to help bring some shape and clarity to my plans that you may enjoy using too. But first, let's celebrate!

My Favourite New Year Cocktail

With lots of bubbles, the warm kick of brandy and a hint of citrus, this twist on a traditional Champagne Cocktail is sure to please.

Get the recipe

Easy Appetizer & Canapé Recipes

There's something for everyone in my collection of easy appetizer recipes, perfect whether you are having a quiet night in or hosting a party this New Year's Eve or in the New Year.

Get the easy recipes

Fun Ways To Get Ready for 2025

Here are just a few ways I enjoy getting ready for a New Year that I hope you might also enjoy.

Choose a Word/Theme For the Year

Choosing a word for the year can be fun and I find it helps me stay focused too. My word for 2025 is THRIVE - and my theme is Thrive in 2025. I hope that "Thrive" will help me stay on track with many of my personal and business goals, including health and fitness, business and creativity. Choosing a word or theme for the year can also be a fun thing to do as a couple or a family.

Will you choose a word for 2025? I would love to know what it is! Hit reply and let me know!

Make A Vision Board

For the last seventeen years, I have been living in a house that featured on one of my first vision boards, so this is an activity I highly recommend. Of course, there are no guarantees, and not every single thing I have put on a vision board has come into my life yet, but many of them have.

There are so many ways of making a vision board. You can use a scrapbook, a large piece of poster board or you can use an online design package. I made a vision board using Canva last year. However, I also still love the old fashioned way of using photographs and cuttings from magazines and other print media. I collect lots of images of things, experiences and locations I want to bring into my life and then either paste them on a board or into a beautiful scrapbook.

Make a 25 for 2025 List

Inspired by the Happier Podcast, I have been crafting annual lists of the same number of things to do/achieve as the last two numbers of the year since 2018. Back then, it was 18 for 2018, and of course this year it is 25 for 2025.

This list is not exclusively for resolutions; it can also be a list of things you have always wanted to do. Last year my 24 for 2024 included using my Peloton tred at least twice a week, going to Florence, buying new saucepans (mine were decades old!) and staying in two new to me London hotels.

This is a no pressure exercise. It's okay if your list evolves as the year goes on, and you can always move things to the following year if you do not manage to fit them in. Some things may simply fall off the list as you grow and change too.

More Ideas...

For more ideas, check out my article Get Ready for The New Year on the website now.

Links marked with an asterix (*) are affiliate links - If you purchase using these links I make a small commission. Your purchase price is unaffected.

This week I'm...

Reading - I'm starting to read Simple Abundance* by Sarah Ban Breathnach once again. I have re-read this daily collection of essays almost every year since it was published in 1995. It is both inspiring and thought-provoking, especially when I compare my notes from previous years to how I see things when I read it now. (affiliate link)

Watching - re-runs of Nigelissima. We recently visited Florence and some of the series was filmed there. It is lovely to watch the series again now we have actually been there. I also regularly use recipes from my copy of the book, also entitled Nigelissima * (affiliate link)

Listening to - The Goal Digger Podcast - Episode 837 "How to Finally Stop Caring What Others Think with Mel Robbins" Mel's new book Let Them* is on my reading list for 2025 (affiliate link).

Working On - My Legend Planner * for 2025 (affiliate link) an undated diary that has space for goals, reflections, to do lists etc. I use a shared on-line diary as well, but this is my third Legend Planner and I find it very effective for helping to keep me organised.

Whether you are celebrating with family and friends or having a quiet night in, I hope you have a wonderful time welcoming a new year. Thank you for all your support in 2024!

Wishing you and yours a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2025!

Thank you so much again for being a subscriber. Remember you can reply to this email with any questions, comments, suggestions or just to say hi. I love to hear from you.

Warmly,

April x