#beastyfeast

Okay I’m a week late on these, but I’m busy and I’ve been thinking about them everyday!

2016 RESOLUTIONS

my 5th year doing these! Hooray! Here is a list of things I hope to achieve this New Year, last year I was pretty ambitious and had no time at all in the world to do anything, so I’m hoping I can be a bit more realistic this year.

1. LIFE BALANCE

I work a high stress day job, that pays okay, but during my spring deadline season which starts in February, I won’t have much time to myself and I work later hours. I am hoping that after going through this season last spring, I can be better mentally prepared this year. I hope that I can take some time to myself while still remaining organized and on top of things at work.

2. More ART

This past fall I had to take a break from making detailed artwork because I ended up developing Chronic Dry Eye. The underlying cause is still not identified, but I went through a lot of tests to prove that it wasn’t Multiple Sclerosis. However, I now have two different sized pupils, ocular migraines, and temporary blindness when I strain my eyes. I’m on Restasis for this, and trying to control my stress levels helps. I’m feeling a bit better after a few months on this medicine so I really need to get back in to making things.

3. More HEALTH

I did great over the summer, and went to the gym  6 days a week, watched what I ate, and still felt like crap. My current PCOS medication just doesn’t care, and I was at my heaviest over the summer for no reason. Then in July I had an autoimmune sickness that lasted until November (which doctors think triggered the Chronic Dry Eye whatever). So I went through like three rounds of prednisone, some anxiety medication, and I’m done going to that doctor. Just crazy. I hate when the answer is only medication, because its not. I just need to keep up doing my little yoga routine I’ve been doing since 2005 in the mornings, and definitely work my way back into the gym. More lemons, less pasta, balance out my sugar, etc. I’ve been drinking loose tea everyday, and my skin looks pretty good. Fibromyalgia pain is just unavoidable, so I need to make sure the rest of my body is crap so that I can deal with it.

4. Health combo + FOOD

So this one kind of partners with number 4. Yes I bought the Gweneth Paltrow cookbook. Yes she is insane. But she also has the same food allergies I do and a cyst on her ovary (I feel like I read this somewhere). She wrote a cook book with allergy people in mind, and my mom bought it for me as an early Christmas present. I’m going to try and do what she says. The reviews of the book seem promising.

5. KEEP UP HOUSE

Tom and I moved into our first place together, so this one is so important. We need to come together and make sure everything goes according to plan in terms of cleaning, paying bills, and other couple things. We have both lived on our own before but to be honest this is the first time sharing a bedroom with a roommate since Freshman year of college.

6. Clean up Website

I just need to do this. My current site is www.ashleyfontones.com. I no longer code my site from scratch, since I just couldn’t get it compatible with mobile devices; but I truly miss having that control. So I keep trying to make a website that fits my work and myself and its a bit difficult. I also want to embrace this artistic minimalism going on at various illustrator’s websites, but its HARD! I’m insane and my websites usually are too :(

7. Zine it up

I do a zine once a year and sell them or give them out. But I usually half ass them...Maybe this year I can kick my butt and put some effort in. Zines are really cool and fun to hand out and I don’t want mine looking crappy anymore.

8. GO SOMEWHERE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Bringing back my travel resolution. I traveled for work last year to Minneapolis and Philadelphia, and honestly that does NOT count. I’d like to go somewhere for FUN.

9. Build up social media

I want to keep getting followers on my Beasty Feast Instagram! FOLLOW ME @beastyfeast

10. Do something to honor Ella’s memory

I know this sounds crazy, but its important to me. If you guys knew me in real life, you knew my dog Ella. She was my little puggle, and she was my partner in crime. She was like my child. She wore clothes, sat at the table with us, and took care of her things like a person would (she kept her 20 something toys neatly in a basket and never destroyed them, same thing with her blankets and pillows) She passed away unexpectedly at the young age of 4 due to complications with tumors  (we thought we had gotten all of them). So my world does feel a little surreal these days. I took her collar and her newest favorite toy with me to the apartment. I’m not looking to have her remains tattooed into me, or get a stuffed animal of her (like my mother almost got me, dear god I would have killed her), but I want to do something that truly honors what Ella was. Ella should have been a license therapy dog, she was the sweetest thing, and loved everyone. She had a ton of dog friends in our neighborhood, and was very popular. She even got followers on Instagram just for her photos. I want to do something special like maybe donate some art to charity or volunteer at a shelter one weekend or something that I know she would be proud of (if a dog could be proud) Or honestly I want to have a baby and name it Ella but that is a psychotic thing to do and Tom would never go for it. That escalated quickly and now I’m emotional lol.

Okay so only 10 resolutions this year. This year needs to be more peaceful. Last year was supposed to be adventurous, and I suppose the adventure was my new job which has taken me different places, built huge connections, and expanded my graphic design skills (which I needed desperately). A lot happened last year that I wasn’t prepared for emotionally, because I was so focused on work. I think I owe it to the people around me to calm the fuck down.