Another year comes to a close! 2025 was a busy one for me: I got married, celebrated one year at my job, and dove into so many new experiences that were not on my bingo card for this year. I don't feel quite ready yet to let go of 2025, but let's jump into what worked and didn't work for me resolution-wise this year!
(What I did and didn't accomplish)
⚠️ A work in progress
⭕ Success!
❌ Fail
⭕Digitize my wardrobe
Marking this resolution as a success because I managed to add my entire wardrobe to the OpenWardrobe app—but ultimately a fail in terms of usage because… well, let’s take a look at an outfit the app generated for me a few days ago:
As you can see, I look like I’m about to star in a Shake It Up episode—minus the tiny scarf and arm warmers. The outfits fluctuate between pretty okay and a crime against humanity, so despite reaching for this app several times throughout the year for outfit inspiration, it didn’t actually help me make better use of my closet.
I’m still hopeful that this can become a good tool, especially if I use it while shopping to see what I already own, but I didn’t get as much from this resolution as I expected. Regardless, if you’d like to try doing what I did, I recommend OpenWardrobe. You can catalogue a massive list of closet items for free (many other apps cap you at 50–80 pieces of clothing) so this is a great alternative if you’re not in a position to take on another monthly subscription.
⭕Pay off my wedding
Success! Without depleting my entire bank account, I saved up a good cushion of money so that the amount Guillaume and I needed for the wedding wouldn’t rob me blind when it was withdrawn. As you may have read in my previous blog post, the wedding was the most magical day of our lives, so it was worth every penny.
⭕Learn to do my own nails
Last winter, I was spending $70 every two and a half weeks to get my nails done at a salon, and while the results were cute, they were absolutely not worth the amount of coin I was laying out. I decided I wanted to start doing my own nails, practicing with a gel nail kit I got on Amazon.
They looked a little ugly at the beginning, and it’s definitely an art to getting them to look as lovely as they do in the salon, but at this point I’m very happy with my own nails. I now switch between doing gel sets for myself and using (affordable!) press-ons whenever I feel lazy. When I do my own nails, they tend to last about 2.5 weeks; press-ons usually last around two weeks depending on the quality. Some last less time because they’re cheaper (think $2 or so), but I just carry glue with me at all times to pop them back on.
It takes me about two and a half hours to do my own nails from start to finish. Here’s a compilation of nails I had this year (a little over half of them are press-ons!).
(I really like that purple sweater, huh?)
⭕Write 50,000 words
This is the goal I worked hardest on this year—and the one that makes me the most proud. I not only surpassed my writing goal, but I also finished the story I started drafting in Bermuda, making it a completed 16-chapter work. The amount of love and feedback I’ve received on that story has truly floored me.
In total, I wrote 75,455 words in 2025. I learned a lot about writing, editing, and what works for me when it comes to creating stories. I’m so excited to continue in 2026. I already have another story idea that I’m currently mapping out, with about nine chapters planned so far. This time, I’m working with a friend who’s become a sort of beta reader/editor for me, and I’m incredibly grateful for the help and support.
2026 Goals and Resolutions:
Get my drivers license
I cannot describe how many years I’ve been putting this off, but the time has finally come. I need to learn to drive. It’s gotten to a point where it’s mildly annoying not being able to, and when I look toward the future, I’ve always said that I don’t want to be carrying a baby stroller onto the 4 train. So there's no time like the present!
This year, I’m making it my goal to get my license. As freaked out as I am about driving, how hard can it be? Millions of people do it every day, so I should be able to too! (That’s the mindset I’m using to trick myself—do I sound convincing?)
No more (English) doomscrolling
This is a unique social media addition for this year, but like most people in their 20s, I suffer from wasting time on social media. These are supposed to be the years when I’m out having fun and tearing up the town, and instead I’m on my phone reading pointless Twitter threads that I’m not going to remember an hour later.
So I’ve decided to call off doomscrolling, but something tells me it’s not going to be that easy. Thus, an idea was born: what if I only allow myself to “doomscroll” in my target languages (either Japanese or French)?
Earlier this year, I created a private, Japanese-language-only Instagram account, and I found myself scrolling on it every so often—but not nearly as much as my English one. If I can turn doomscrolling into a language acquisition activity, I can reduce my screen time and increase my exposure to my target languages.
The one caveat to this resolution is that if a friend sends me a reel and it’s not in French or Japanese, I will still watch it. But that’s not scrolling, so it’s okay. :)
Cook 12 new recipes
So this year, I’m challenging myself to cook 12 new recipes from either Instagram or a few of the cookbooks I already own. I tried this earlier with some recipes from my Japanese Instagram (simple, diet-friendly desserts), but they were heartbreakingly mid. Even so, there has to be some winners hiding in my saved reels folder, so I’m excited to take on this challenge.
Read 5 books/manga in Japanese
Last year, I didn't include a language learning goal in my resolution list. I still studied on and off throughout the year but I want to target my weak spots, and reading is absolutely one of them. I don't like reading in Japanese, I never have. I get tripped up over one Kanji I can't read and I physically feel my motivation pour out of me.
However, it's impossible to get better without pushing through and reading, so I've decided to implement a challenge where I read 5 volumes of either manga or a regular novel in Japanese. A few years ago I did a similar challenge with French that I found very helpful, so hopefully I get a lot out of this!
Side note: I didn’t include a fitness-themed resolution for 2025 and ultimately assumed it would be another inactive year for me. However, in November I decided to take on a challenge called 75 Soft. For those who haven’t heard of it, it’s a variation of a challenge called 75 Hard, which basically pushes your body to the limits both physically and mentally. I found that challenge to be fairly extreme, so I created a modified version for myself to still have something difficult, but still attainable.
Here are my rules:
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5–7 cups of water a day
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30 minutes of exercise, no rest days
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30 minutes of studying or reading
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7 hours of sleep
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Maintain my maintenance calories
Today is Day 50, and I’m proud to say I’ve been consistent throughout the entire challenge—even on days when finding time to exercise has been tough. On Thanksgiving morning, I dragged myself out of bed and went on the elliptical for 30 minutes!
The hardest part of the challenge has actually been getting enough sleep, and it’s really opened my eyes to how little I was sleeping before starting 75 Soft. In 2026, I’d like to level this up and create a 75 Medium set of rules, but I’m not adding it to my resolutions just yet. I want to test the waters first and see how I'm feeling, how my body reacts, etc.
In any case, do not be mistaken: I am NOT a fitness person, and this challenge has been hard for me, but I’m really glad I started it. 75 Soft will end on January 18th, and I’ll probably write a post detailing my experience at the end of next month.
Thank you for reading and I hope you have a wonderful 2026! See you soon :)
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