Goals for 2014

Happy New Year's, wonderful readers! As 2013 comes to a close, I just wanted to say thank you to those of you who stuck with me this year. This year for ATV has been so enlightening as the blog (and I) finally found its niche, it's been very challenging (check out my Mandy's Note from earlier this month if you need reminding lol) but it's been so much fun for me. I thank you for sticking by me with my wonk templates and pictures and too-infrequent updates on things I had started (see the "From The.....Files, which to this date only has one entry lol). I don't often make resolutions anymore, but I do have some goals that I'd like to accomplish throughout the course of the year. 
1. I would like to resume posting on a normal basis and not be so overwhelmed by posts.  I think if I had a more rigid posting structure and reliable Internet, I could accomplish this goal much easier. There are a lot of recurring posts that I'd like to get to on a regular basis, but I don't allot the time necessary to do any research or grab links, and my Internet usually won't hold up long enough for me to do so anyway. Speaking of a schedule, I am getting really busy in my personal life and am not going to be at home to post all day anymore, which brings me to #2. 
2. I would like to establish and maintain a schedule for everything, including posts.  Getting a schedule would probably suit me better than posting when I have the energy to do so, because truth be told because of some of my health issues I've gotten rather lazy and keeping a schedule will help me to get out of that and make my posts. I still see this as a hobby so I'm not going to try to go overboard with it but I'm not really showing consistent dedication to it either and that's my fault. When I do feel overwhelmed I don't mind taking a step back, but I shouldn't be posting so infrequently that nobody notices when I'm gone anyway. I run 3 blogs, and I do have a personal life that needs my attention so my focus isn't on being on the Internet all day anymore. I need a schedule that accommodates everything in my life and gives them the attention that they need. 
3. Finally get a design that fits the theme of the blog as well as its author. This one is by far the most important to me. There will be small changes, bit by bit as I'm new to the world of HTML, here and there (for example, the snazzy signature you'll be seeing at the conclusion of this post) but by the end of the year, I would love to be completely done with ATV's design and be able to focus my attention solely on my posts. I was doing a number of things this summer but I was also trying to come up with a blog design from scratch and didn't really know what I was doing; didn't even know what I wanted the blog to look like. So in addition to the actual creation of all of the design elements, I had to figure out what I even wanted the blog to look like, figure out how to design it, research how to do everything, then find out how to put them on the blog. I had to go three steps backward just to find out how to do step one. I'd like to finally nail down a visual representation of the blog that feels right to me and get it out of my hair; it'd certainly free up a lot of my time. 
4. Include more personal photos of theme-appropriate experiences and outfits. As I've mentioned before, one of the major thorns in my bony side is that I'm not good at thrifting, so I end up bypassing items that other more popular bloggers probably see as great finds. I've only recently become good at thrifting books; for the longest time I thought the thrift stores were the lamest places for books because they were old. Then I actually started reading them and fell in love. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm still not good when it comes to clothes, though. So I don't get to practice any vintage-styled dressing in my personal life, excluding the occasional hairstyle. My city also doesn't have a very large vintage following; other than the typical 'pin-ups' there isn't much attention to vintage lifestyle here. I would like to partake in these things a little more though so I can include more personal photos and experiences.  5. Finish the multiple posts I've got in draft.
Yet another of the many reasons I took a hiatus was because of all the unfinished posts I had in draft that I got too overwhelmed to complete. I'm going to estimate that there are at least 20, operative phrase being "at least." In case you can't tell by the number of drafts as well as the length of all of my posts, clearly my problem isn't writer's block. :-) I have too much to say sometimes, or I'll have a good idea and won't be able to finish it, or but more commonly I just lose the energy...or patience...or time...or patience... to complete the post. I'd like to cut that out this year and get my drafted posts down to 0. 6. Learn how to shorten some of those posts!
I read up sometimes on how to get more readers to a blog and most of them seem to agree that shorter, more to-the-point posts get more readers. I'm sorry, but that's just not me. Which is pretty sad, because when I read posts that read more like novel chapters I too grow disinterested sometimes. I realize that I tend to ramble and my posts can be quite long. I'm sorry about that. But I like to talk. I like to explain the things that I post. That probably won't change, so if I never get any readers I guess that's too bad. Hashtag ohwells. LOL But I do think learning how to condense my thoughts and feelings and still say what I want to say wouldn't be such a bad idea. 
Well, that about sums everything I've got on the brain to accomplish for this blog by this time next year. I fully intend to resume posting my wardrobe posts, my link bombs, and continue my "From the ....Files" series once I'm back on a regular posting schedule. I also decided to go ahead and start that field trip series about finding the different vintage clothing stores in the area. Now that I have a slightly better camera (slightly), I feel a little better about visually documenting where I go. I probably won't be starting it in January, but I will be starting it within the next few months. 
I really just wanted to come say thank you for sticking by me this year. It's been a wonk year for ATV, but I finally figured out what I want this blog to say and be about and learned some valuable lessons about myself and the world of blogging in the process. Now let's see if I can show that I was listening to these lessons. My Internet's already on the outs so hopefully I'll be able to come back later today so I can give you our first TNT Preview of 2014. In case I don't make it back though, I hope all of you have a wonderful, happy, stylish (preferably '30s-'50s LOL) and safe New Year's!!