A New Year, A New Me

I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions. Never have been. Perhaps it’s for the same reason I don’t partake in Lent (other than that little fact that I’m not actually Catholic): I march to the beat of my own drum, I fly by the seat of my pants, *insert appropriate cliché here* – or maybe I am just ever so lazy. Whatever the case may be, I abhor the January issues of nearly every magazine published, you know the ones I’m talking about, where the slugs read “What to Eat to Watch the Pounds Melt Away,” “Fight the Fat,” “Be Your Best Ever,” “Lose 10 Pounds in 10 Days.” If it were that easy, wouldn’t I have done it already? And every time I’ve actually announced a New Year’s resolution, come to think of it, it’s always been something I’m omitting, not something I’m resolving per se: No more eating after 9pm, no chocolate on the weekdays, no impulse buying plane tickets at 3am after a night of heavy drinking – a lot of no, no, no’s.

But this year I am actually resolving to change, believe it or not. Ready for it? No, really. Brace yourself. I’m running a marathon. Those of you who knew me in college might not find this so unbelievable; those of you who have only befriended me in more recent years might find it absurd. Back in my athletic days, running seven or eight miles a day after hours of tennis training and a power yoga session was no big deal. But since moving to NYC, then back to Europe for a year, then back to NYC in summer 2006, I’ve fallen off the workout bandwagon – I’ve fallen off so far, in fact, that the bandwagon has run me over, twice, both coming and going.

After proclaiming my new destiny, someone back in Tennessee responded, “You know, Kristin, most people who wanted to get back in shape would just decide to do a 5 ot 10k. Why do you need to go and run a full marathon?” Good question. I don’t actually like running, of course. In fact, I’d much prefer getting a daily Brazilian and eating only tofu every meal for the rest of my life (ew) to the thought of getting back in good enough shape to knock out 26.2 miles all in a day’s work. But I work much better with big dreams and an end point in sight, and for now, this is what I will be doing. (Well, starting Feb. 5, that is, when I am living in California with all the time in the world on my hands. For the next 34 days, you can find me livin’ it up in Manhattan “as if every day were Shark Week.”)

And to make sure I do follow through with it all, I’ve already signed up for the Nashville half marathon in April with my dear little sis and the San Francisco marathon in August, which my friend Holly has said she’ll run with me. The more motivation, the better. So why am I telling you all of this, o Internets? Well, chances are you couldn’t care less, but at least now you can hold me accountable and maybe talk me out of that second strawberry-frosted donut with sprinkles next time you run into me at the Dunk. (And also tell me where I can buy cute running clothes, because the best thing about committing to something big like this is the perks like a brand new workout wardrobe.)

And now a look back at 2007:
Favorite Film: Juno
Favorite Song: Umbrella by Rihanna (because in all actuality I’m so far behind in music that what was popular this time last year is just beginning to make an appearance on my radar – just ask Kari if you don’t believe me)
Favorite Book: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, (Shameless Plug Alert!) MTV Spain of course
Favorite Newcomer(s): Ellen Page, Taylor Swift
Favorite New TV Show(s): How I Met Your Mother (props to Liz), 30 Rock (again, thanks Liz), Friday Night Lights (Lemon, again), Heroes, Lost (I realize I’m three years behind on this one, but hey, it’s new to me!)
Favorite Reality TV Host/Girl Crush: Heidi Klum (sorry, Tyra)
Favorite Trend(s): Leggings! Leggings! Leggings! Even though they’ve been on my must-list since 2004, they will continue to be until Anna Wintour shows up at my modest apartment, declares them a major faux pas and raids my closet of all 47 multicolored pairs. Also, after three years of resisting, I finally succumbed to the boots-over-jeans trend, much to Scott’s dismay
Favorite Country Visited: Maldives
Favorite Day: April 9, the date Scott asked me to move in with him over dinner at Union Square Cafe

Photo credits: SVV