It’s time for our annual goal-setting—nothing motivates like a public declaration. Let’s get to it.
Goal #1: Embrace the Crazy (Be Flexible): After five years of blogging and more than two years doing it full time, we’ve learned that no two days are alike. The coming year will be busier than ever: a book release on November 6, a 15+ city book tour, and some secret side projects we can’t wait to share (no, Mom, that’s not a pregnancy hint). With so much change ahead, our aim is to stay flexible and let go of the urge to cling to a fixed “normal.” The less we fight it, the more we’ll enjoy the ride—and we’ll share all the craziness with you as it unfolds.
Goal #2: Smorgasbord It Up: Looking back through our archives—especially in this morning’s retrospective—we noticed our content used to be more varied. Type A tendencies pushed us into routines, and we want to bring back more of the spontaneous mix that made the blog feel like real life. Along with our regular projects, giveaways, and reader redesigns, we plan to add more of these elements to the YHL mix:
- House crashings
- Window shopping
- Budget-friendly blooms
- Fast and free upgrades
- Advice-seeking (from you for us or for other readers)
- Table setting ideas
- Holiday decorating
- Mood boards
- Using and tweaking what we already have
- Round-ups and top-ten lists
- Road trips and travel adventures
- Random off-topic chitchat (those often become favorites)
Sharing two or three projects a week has always been a sustainable pace for us—it prevents burnout and keeps spending in check—so we’ll keep that cadence while sprinkling in more variety. We’re recommitting to bringing back old favorites, trying new things, and generally mixing it up more often.
Goal #3: Less Typey-Typey, More Lifey-Lifey: Finding balance and trimming long posts go hand in hand. While we’ll still work evenings and weekends and ramble from time to time, some of our favorite posts are short and sweet. Many blogs we admire are less long-winded, and we want to practice being concise more often. This is our commitment to keep improving—short and punchy alongside the longer, juicy posts you’re used to.
Goal #4: More of You: We want to include more readers in the blog—whether it’s crashing your houses, sharing how you live in your space, or building a warmer community here. Our casa is su casa: come in, get cozy, and be part of what we do. We hope to feature more of you throughout the year.
Those are our four goals for year six of blogging—ambitious, imperfect, and worth trying for. Each year we revisit the previous year’s goals to check progress. Here’s a quick summary of last year’s goals and how we did:
Last Year’s Goal #1: Find Balance: We wanted to avoid pouring all our time, money, and energy into projects at the expense of life and simple pleasures. The internet is 24/7, so stepping away is still a work in progress. We did take our first-ever break from blogging this year, though, so there has been improvement. Verdict: still a work in progress, but getting better.
Last Year’s Goal #2: Don’t Drone On: Shorter, more focused posts help with balance and clarity. Verdict: we’re still working on it, but it’s a priority this year as well.
Last Year’s Goal #3: Bring Back Before & After Inspiration: We missed sharing reader redesigns and triumphant makeovers, so we brought them back because those transformations inspire everyone. Verdict: mission accomplished—so glad these are back.
Last Year’s Goal #4: Be Secure in Our Bloghood: We resolved to be confident in our choices, knowing not every post will be loved by everyone. Over time we’ve settled into a genuine groove and blog more fearlessly. Verdict: we’re finally comfortable doing our thing.
Last Year’s Goal #5: Be Grateful: When stress hits, we wanted to pause and remember this is a dream job. Verdict: we practiced gratitude and took breaths during overwhelming moments—life is good, even in chaos.
Last Year’s Goal #6: Try New Things: We aimed to stay open to spontaneous ideas and new adventures, like writing a book. Verdict: we experimented more, shot book photos at home, and embraced spontaneity—more to come.
We appreciate you more than we can say. Your support makes this work possible and joyful. We’ll be announcing book tour dates soon and hope to meet some of you in person. You make our days brighter—thank you for being here.
Psst—first image source credited where shown. And we announced this week’s giveaway winner—check the blog to see if it’s you.