2018 New Year's Resolutions 🎉

I have commitment issues.

For me, it's always been difficult to propose a New Year's resolution and then actually commit to it. For many years, proposing New Year's resolutions has always been about the attention. Of course it doesn't hurt to set yourself some goals for the new year, but I've noticed that I never actually complete the goals I set for myself. It may sound silly but I think 2018 is going to be different than last year. In many ways, it is going to be my defining moment. I am going to be 18, and I will start my first semester of college. Without a doubt, this year is going to get busy. I want to cut through the chaos and propose the fives most important goals I want to achieve in the new year.

1. Revive this blog

This blog is my baby. It was how I entered the book community, and I've recently been neglecting it to work on my Booktube channel and Bookstagram. I wish I could make the excuse that I didn't have enough time in 2017, but my watch history on Netflix would certainly object. The thing is, I had the time to churn out some blog posts or write a short review. I was just sooooo lazy. I always imagined this blog as being strictly about books, after all I am The Book's Buzz. However, lately I've been thinking about posting some non-bookish content as well. It would certainly make sense since I haven't been reading lately, but I have been exploring, discovering and experimenting. This year, my goal is to POST, whether it be about books or not.

2. Have a fucking awesome second term senior year

Sometimes I forget that I'm a senior in high school, who is going to college next year! I spent majority of my first semester of senior year crying, complaining, and being depressed. I was in a bad state for the first half of the year, and I don't want a repeat. I want to enjoy school, even though I dislike homework and tests. At the end of 2017, I received the greatest news of being accepted into my dream college. It was a great way to end the year because now I can spend the rest of senior year happy and excited for my future! I will study hard, but I will not let school get in the way of my mental health and social life. I promise to make the most out of the rest of my senior year!

3. Become a minimalist; live minimally

Some of you are probably giving me the stink eye right now. How can I be a minimalist when I collect and hoard so many books? That's something I ask myself every day. Truth is, I've been trying really hard to donate a lot of my books and give them away, especially now since I'm moving away for college. To me, becoming a minimalist means reducing the waste that I make and the things that I own. I can achieve this by packing lightly for college. Another huge goal of mine is to become zero waste in college. This will actually be easier to achieve because my college is also becoming a zero waste institution, so it will make my transition a lot easier if my college has the same values as I. It's so easy to see something in the store and immediately buy it. Something I want to start doing is evaluating what tangible objects I need and what I don't need. NEED being the key word here. In my opinion, this will likely be the hardest goal to accomplish because I am a sentimental person who will find a reason for everything to be in my life.

4. Be daring in college

I will be starting college this year, and I will be moving out of the state. I would say I'm already being daring by moving out of state for school, but I really want to explore outside my comfort zone. What do I like to do besides reading, blogging, taking pictures and sleeping? I've already been doing some research on my future college and plan on trying out for the school's female a cappella group, joining a house (which is their version of a sorority), attending parties, and running for a leadership position of some kind. In this new year, I want to be daring and spontaneous, not just in college but in life.  

5. Drink more water

This isn't just a filler goal for me. Because of the little fluids that I drank, I experienced some health related problems in 2017. Drinking water has so many health benefits, that I really don't know why I can't just drink water! It's more of a memory thing, where I just forget to drink water through the day until I'm ready to go to bed (which by the way is really bad because you end up having to go to the bathroom a lot before bed or even wetting the bed altogether!). In this new year, I need to be happy and healthy so drinking water is imperative.

Happy New Year! | Looking Back

Happy New Year! It's New Year's here so sorry if I'm a bit late or early in your timezone. Anyways, it's a new year and there so much to reflect on and even more to look forward to. I want to look at some old blog designs and at some of the accomplishments I achieved this year. Link any New Year's post down below! 

2014...

In 2014, I was a baby blogger. I had a simple concept of what I wanted to do with my blog but never imagined I'd make it far and meet as many friends as I have. I gave my design idea to Livia @ Butterfly-o-meter Designs, and she completely blew my mind with this first design. It was freaking adorable and a perfect fit for me but we all need a little change sometimes, which leads me into the next design phase. 

2015...

What I Accomplished

• Started a Youtube channel with 279 subscribers!* 
• Changed my blog design (4x over lmfao)
• Reached 187 on GFC and 184 on Bloglovin
• Reached 400 Twitter Followers
• Reached 2,256 on Instagram
• Read 85 books and liked a lot of them
• Finished and analyzed The Odyssey!
• Went to the Strand Bookstore in Manhattan 
• Got a job :D

* Starting my Youtube channel was one of the most bittersweet and amazing experiences of this year. I will never forget putting this into action and being brave enough to just shut down my self consciousness for once and sit in front of a camera. I will never forget all the people I've met through Youtube and how happy making videos make me feel! 

What I Hope to Accomplish

• Host blogger collabs (already one in the making and if you'd like to participate, shoot me an email :D)
• YOUTUBE VIDEO COLLABS
• Read 120 books
• Get the Canon EOS Rebel t5i
• Get new bookshelves
• Meet even more friends, authors, bloggers, Youtubers, people on twitter, book-lovers in general!
• Read more contemporary and historical fiction
• Post on my channel 2x a week and on my blog 
• BUY MORE BOOKS

This year wouldn't have been possible without you book-lovers. There isn't enough time in the world for me to thank you and just sit down and talk to some of you about how you've always made my day. 2016 is going to be a great year! I can already feel it inside my bones and for any of you that are hesitant about entering the new year just remember, YOUR FUTURE IS UNLIMITED (bonus points for anyone who knows where that line is from)! I love you all and thanks for joining me in 2014 and '15. I will also give a great big hug to any newcomers who join in 2016! Goodbye for now and can't wait to start of the New Year with my bookish awards of 2015. Stay tuned!

THAT'S A WRAP!

My 2016 New Year's Resolutions

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all! The end of the year is approaching and with it, the time to set new goals and milestones for the new year. I have a ton of things I want to get to in 2016 but these are mostly book-related and some pertain to my lifestyle. I want to hear your goals for the new year so link up those New Year resolution posts! Happy holidays and enjoy your breaks!

New Bookshelves for my babies. It's almost normal for book-lovers to accumulate books on a weekly basis (daily for the lucky ones). At the moment, I have two bookshelves - one that is mounted on my wall and a pretty small bookcase in the corner of my room. I was originally planning on getting a camera with Christmas money, but there's no way I'm going to be able to save that much. It's just not possible. I've always wanted the Billy Bookcases from Ikea so I'm making it a resolution to get those before the year ends (preferably before the next month ends lol). In the event that I do get new bookshelves before the end of January, I'm going to post a bookshelf organization and tour on my Youtube channel. 

Have my eyes set on these babies (IKEA Billy Bookcase)

Become a Regular Youtuber. Youtube is something I've been wanting to do ever since I started blogging. Even before that, I was so obsessed with the fact that there was this entire online community beyond what I knew. The Booktube community is so incredible and heartwarming. I promise when you upload your first video, it's such a bittersweet and beautiful feeling. At first you're super scared about how people might judge you, but you're also excited because you're doing something others are too afraid to do, which is show themselves to the world. I already have a channel but I'm not uploading videos until I get the new camera I've been wanting to get for a while. Youtube has taught me to be open about my opinions and has finally brought me out of my tiny shell. I've gained self-confidence and a light in myself I'd never seen before. I'm going to make a consistent schedule for myself and stick to it, for the sake of my fellow book-lovers! If you aren't already subscribed to my channel, go check it out for yourself and tell me what you think. I love feedback from fellow Youtubers and entertainers.

Read 120 books. When 2015 ends, I'll have finished 90 books. Keeping a Goodreads Reading challenge counter is a great way to make sure you finish a certain number of books in a year. It's more effective than just any old counter on the side of your screen. I get all giddy inside every time I finish a book on my list and post its review. It also tells you if you're behind or ahead in your challenge which will eliminate that part of you that wants to procrastinate. Setting a reasonable goal is also a must. You can always change the number as the year takes its toll, however, I don't think you'd feel too good if by the end of the year you didn't finish your challenge. If you'd like to check out my challenge status as of now, click here! You can see all the books that I've read and how many more books I need to read in order to prevail! When I'm looking at my friend's challenges, they always have super hard goals but they always accomplish them. Props to them for having so much free time to read. It's really unbelievable when you see someone has read 150 books in a year!

Build up my book club. Whenever I talk about the book club, I get super excited. Okay, let me calm down. A couple of weeks ago a couple of bookstagrammers and I came together and created a book club, The Readers of the Round Table. At the end of every month we're going to have a poll for the book pick of the next month. January's theme is all things fantasy and among our choices for books are Truthwitch by Susan Dennard, Passenger by Alexandra Bracken, Uprooted by Naomi Novak, and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Every month we'll also have trivia questions pertaining to the genre. These trivia threads give you the chance to show off how much you know about YA and beat other readers to get the prize. Some months there will be prizes and others won't (because we're broke book readers). I hope you decide to join us for our January read-along. I already voted. And you should to! To vote and join the Goodreads group, click here! I also recommend following us on Instagram (@readersoftheroundtable) to get the latest news and updates.
More book events. BEA and Bookcon 2016 is in Chicago, which leaves no hope of me going since I live in NY. Why do most book events have to be during school days? It's so torturing to see a bunch of photos on Instagram while I'm in school. I'm crossing my fingers this year for YALLfest and Geekycon-- two events that I'm willing to skip school for. There's a long list of authors I want to meet and bloggers I've been communicating with online for months that I want to meet in person. Ughhh the struggles of being a full-time student and book-lover. Usually with book events that aren't near my location, I have to rent a hotel and do the whole tourist attraction thing before I go to the event. I just wish most of the events were in hotels.

Post twice a week, at least. As some of you may have noticed, I haven't been blogging as frequent as I did during the summer or even last year. It's not that I've lost interest, that's definitely not the case. I get discouraged by so many things and sometimes I feel like no one's reading. But I still like talking and typing, even if it's to myself. I want to start posting two times a week and maybe even three, if I'm having a good day. I really love reading everyone's comments and blog hopping on my free time. I would say that I spend more time blog hopping than I do writing my posts.

Buy a new camera. When I started Youtube, I bought a really crappy camera at the time and told my parents it was a good one because it was cheap, and I was desperately in need of one. That was one of the dumbest decisions I've ever made. I should've have been more patient and waited to buy a better model. Now I'm saving up for a Canon Rebel T5i, which is like $700. Yes, it's a pretty far-fetched goal considering I don't have a 'real' job and my mom refuses to buy me a new one because she's afraid I'm making the same mistake as I did with the old camera. I've watched an abundant amount of reviews for this camera and people say it's good for entertainers. If you have something else in mind that would appease my entertaining needs, then I'm open to all options and suggestions!

Get a job. I don't have a job, and I really want one. I NEED ONE to keep up with my book-buying habits and (pay for the camera, xD). It's fun to rely on your parents for a while for cash but then it gets kind of annoying and, not to mention, it makes you feel like such an idiot because you can't make your own money. I'm not old enough to have an official job yet so I do volunteer somewhere at the moment that pays a fairly generous stipend at the end of the program. My goal this year is to get a job I want since I'm about to reach the age minimum.