Hello fraaaaands! Let me begin by saying thank you to every one of you who commented, called or texted after Tuesday morning. The good news is: I not only survived the day but also thrived during that bad boy! When I got to work, the mishaps disappeared and I can’t help but think my shift in perspective (and all your caring messages) had something to do with it.

Since today is Thursday, I would normally think out loud and share a bunch of random thoughts swirling around in my head, however, in addition to random thoughts, I’ve been purposefully thinking about how I’m tracking against the goals I set for myself, so I figured I’d do a recap and then share what I’d like to achieve this month. I mean, this is a path, right?

Let’s start with how I did against my January goals. Last month, I said I would…

Unpack my life here in SF. I’m going to grade myself as a B+. I received 27 boxes in this apartment. I unpacked 21 of them in the first two days. I’ve also hung curtains, got my bathroom in order, and bought, received and set up a ton of items that I needed like an area rug, a large mirror and a trunk chest. I have 6 smaller boxes left to unpack and the only reason I haven’t unpacked them yet is because I am/I was waiting for some furniture to arrive. And with the furniture that has arrived, I have become Bob-ina the Builder. You’d be proud, trust. I hope that once my nightstands arrive, I can unpack and ditch the remaining boxes.

Develop a new monthly budget. Big fat F. I did nothing.

Pay off two of my graduate student loans. A+! Oh hey now, look who paid off two (of the smallest) student loans? Reduced my monthly payments by $30. Only a gazillion more to go. Small, but hey, I gotta start somewhere.

Attend three fitness classes here in the Bay. So…B-? I attended more than three fitness classes but if I’m being honest, I really wanted to try three different types of workouts and I actually did a lot of the same thing. So…yea, I need to diversify.

Make two new friends. A+++++. CRUSHED. THIS. I’m fortunate to have a strong network of business school peeps here, but I also wanted to make sure I stretched myself to get to know other people outside of what feels comfortable. I’m proud to say I’m doing this.

Update my dating profiles. A+. I’ve not only updated my profiles but also sent some messages (wink, wink).

Identify someone to redesign my blog. Let’s meet somewhere in the middle on this one and say…C. After completing this blogger project I was doing, I realize I have a LOT to do here. I’ve made huge strides already but I still have a lot of work left. As for the redesign, I have a few people in mind but I haven’t done any outreach. In the meantime, I have a new theme (some of you long-time readers probably noticed) and as I mentioned last week, I’ve been making some changes in the “back of the house” (e.g. changing my blog host), so it’s chugging along.

In addition to achieving these goals, I sat still for more than 30 days (which is amazing because normally, I’m flying all over the place), had several fun nights out with friends, traveled to the East Bay twice, learned a lot more about the transportation here, went to two different Soul locations, found a decent nail place (regular mani lasts 7-9 days AND they serve mimosas) and I found a brunch crew. All things that are helping me feel more like I live here.

On the blog I had 13 posts, switched my host, changed my theme, hosted my first giveaway (congratulations, Amy!), started Thinking Out Loud and sharing my Friday Favorites. All while moving/settling in, working a FT j-o-b and watching 7,429 hours of TV. <— I am who I am. Can’t change me.

Not too shabby. But…how can I continue this high into February? I know we’re already four days in but bear with me.

February goals include:

Find a hair place. Y’all this will be a toughie. I don’t just let any ‘ole body handle this mane.

Develop a new monthly budget. For real this time.

Schedule a chat with Josh, my financial advisor. I have a great financial advisor who I connect with at least 3-4x’s a year and it’s just about that time.

Attend a barre class. I love barre. I miss barre. Barre is my friend.

Finish unpacking. I’m so close but the remaining six boxes have got. to. go.

Go to wine country. Given my love of the grapes, I can not beLIEVE I wasn’t on the first thing smoking up to Marin County. Where have my priorities been?

Do my taxes. “I want money, lots and lots of money, honey…I want it high in skyyyyy…” Anybody remember that song?

Sign up for a spring race. Presidio 10 I’m looking at you.

Share my blogging roots. This blog developed from an offline “journal” if you will called the Cleansing. I’ll be adding the Cleansing (or at least pieces of it) to the blog and would like to get on that. Oh, and I’d like to write at least 10x’s this month. Two posts down, 8 posts to go. 😉

Tell me: Do you keep a budget? Any recommendations on a good online budget tracking tool?