2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 4,600 times in 2010. That’s about 11 full 747s.

 

In 2010, there were 97 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 106 posts. There were 190 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 398mb. That’s about 4 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was March 11th with 475 views. The most popular post that day was The MBTA #9 Bus is Not Your Private Town Car.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were universalhub.com, twitter.com, facebook.com, WordPress Dashboard, and otherpiecesofme.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for herb garden, 2 sisters 2 cities, poco proof press for sale, hobby letterpress, and poco proof press.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

The MBTA #9 Bus is Not Your Private Town Car March 2010
4 comments

2

About 2sisters December 2009
2 comments

3

My new hobby- letterpress December 2009

4

5 Fun Bridal Shower Gift Tips March 2010
1 comment

5

Quinoa with Roasted Garlic, Tomatoes, and Spinach July 2010

2010 Goals Status

Since I am officially turning the big 3-0 this weekend, I wanted to follow-up on my goals for the year before I embark on the next decade of my life:

M’s 2010 Goals:
1.  Start letterpress printing! This involves getting my new poco press cleaned up and ready to go.  I need to make a trip out to Chicopee, MA to a warehouse called Letterpress Things to stock up on tools, inks, and cleaners.  I also need to buy a base and determine what software I need on my computer to start designing plates- Done, I did everything here and just need to start designing some plates, ordering them, and then start printing!
2. Try yoga again – Took one beginner class.  Purchased a series of 10 classes off of Gilt for Exhale Spa…just need to actually use them now.
3.  Cook more meals and do more prep on the weekend– Kind of…I’ve been cooking a lot, but not necessarily doing more prep on the weekend.
4. Organize my kitchen -Done, bought a ton of wooden crates (maybe too many) off E-Bay.  Found  kitchen cabinet hooks at the Home Depot and installed them this weekend.
5.  Read more books off the NY Times Best Seller list– Done…new book review of past 5 books coming soon.  I have about 30 books on hold at the library as well.
6.  Spend less money on clothes– Done…haven’t really been in much of a shopping mood for clothes at all lately.  This probably has more to do with the fact that all the stores are showing spring clothes, none of which will be wearable in Boston until about June.
7. Take more classes at the Boston Center for Adult Education. I am currently thinking about taking a digital photography class and an Adobe design class- Done…took Adobe Illustrator class, signed up for digital photography and 2 other classes.
8. Buy a headboard for our master bedroom- Still working on this.
9. Finish painting our master bathroom or hire someone to finish it.– Decided to install crown molding instead…still need to find a contractor to do this.
10. Post on a regular basis to this new blog! – Getting better at it…definitely room for improvement on content and frequency!

-m

M’s 2010 Goals

It’s that time of year again!  I have been noticing on my Google Reader that other bloggers have started posting their 2010 goals.  This has gotten me thinking and I am going to start a list of my own.  Rather than making the single sweeping resolution such as lose weight or work out more, I am going to make a list of 10 fun goals I hope to achieve.  I have also seen a number of lists on the blog-o-sphere on things to finish before turning 30…that’s coming up in 2 months so I better get going!

M’s 2010 Goals:
1.  Start letterpress printing! This involves getting my new poco press cleaned up and ready to go.  I need to make a trip out to Chicopee, MA to a warehouse called Letterpress Things to stock up on tools, inks, and cleaners.  I also need to buy a base and determine what software I need on my computer to start designing plates.
2. Try yoga again. I tried this a few years ago at my gym in CT, but I didn’t really enjoy it very much.  If I can find the time to work-out, I have the notion that I really need to work up a good sweat in order for it to be worth it.  But at this point in my life, yoga may be what I am looking for as I’m just looking to gain strength and be more relaxed in general.  I have started looking around and there appears to be a number of yoga studios in the Boston area which have good beginner packages.
3.  Cook more meals and do more prep on the weekend. The past month, I’ve often resorted to take-out or going out to eat after work because I’ve had no motivation to cook after work.  After watching Julie & Julia, reading “The Sharper the Knife, The Less You Cry,” and receiving a few new cookbooks for Christmas, I am definitely inspired to cook up a storm in the kitchen.
4. Organize my kitchen. Living in a small space in the city, it’s important to utilize every possible square inch.  I saw a post on Apartment Therapy that got me thinking about the space above my kitchen cupboards.  In the post, a woman had used large containers for extra storage.  I looked at a few websites for similar containers, but then I thought a better look might be wooden wine crates.  I have two right now, but I am going to look for 3 or 4 more to use as storage.  I am going to store things like my wedding china, roasting pans, ice buckets, and other kitchen items that I do not use on a daily basis.  In addition, I need to get small hooks to put up additional shelving in my cupboards.  They came with extra pieces of wood that are cut to the exact proportion of the cupboards, but I just realized it a few months ago (the extra pieces of wood lay flat on the bottom of the cupboard and I never realized that they popped out.)
5.  Read more books off the NY Times Best Seller list. I love to log onto the Boston Public Library website and put books on hold.  It’s such a great way to save money and you don’t have to worry about storing yet another book on a bookshelf afterward.
6.  Spend less money on clothes. My office building is located in the heart of Boston’s retail shopping district so this is a difficult thing to avoid during lunch hour.  New lunch mantra:  Must go to yoga class instead!
7. Take more classes at the Boston Center for Adult Education. I am currently thinking about taking a digital photography class and an Adobe design class.
8. Buy a headboard for our master bedroom. I had purchased one a couple of years ago, but it was too large to fit up our condo’s stairs.  I need to look into having a custom-one made or finding a smaller one that will fit.
9. Finish painting our master bathroom or hire someone to finish it. It’s about 95% done, but the last 5% is the most difficult (reaching really high in awkward corners to clean up the paint marks on the ceiling).
10. Post on a regular basis to this new blog! I’ve wanted to start a blog for years, but I wasn’t sure if I could generate enough content on my own to make it worth it.  Joining forces with sister K, this goal seems much easier to achieve.

What are your goals/resolutions for the new year?  Share  your top 10 in the comments section!

-M