Going into 2023 with Grace, Grit and Gratitude

New year but the same ol’ me

I am not one who loves to make New Year’s resolutions. I’ve done so in the past and when I have failed at them, I feel like I let myself and possibly others down. Why set myself up for failure, right? 

Word of the year

For the last couple of years, I have chosen a word for the year. This year it is fete! If your new around here, you might not have heard the word fete but it means celebration in French. My business name, Hill Country Bon Vivant, was an homage to where I live and my inspiration, Julia Child. My attraction to all things francophile, especially that describe my business, is my little wink to her and what she means to me.

Why fete? I believe that every day is worth celebrating. Even on my worst days there is one or two tiny little glimmers of sunshine that is worth celebrating. A lot of people have china or crystal that they only use for special occasions. I say break that out and use it every day!  Do you have a beautiful dress, but you only wear it on special occasions? I challenge you to wear it for no special reason at all.

To paraphrase Diane Keaton from the the movie “Somethings Gotta Give” – “what on earth are you waiting for”? Celebrate. I dare you.

What is with this grace, grit & gratitude, anyway?

If you’ve been following me for a while, you have heard my mantra in life – grace, grit and gratitude.

I have always tried to be a person that offers grace and considered myself someone with grit. Gratitude was the hardest one for me. While I was grateful in life for the longest time I felt a little bit sorry for myself for things that were out of my control and didn’t really express proper gratitude. Not only to God but to friends, family and myself. 

In 2018, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. I was nervous, of course, but I had an overwhelming sense of calm about the whole thing. One morning I woke up and thought, this is my opportunity to start looking at things differently. Extend more grace to others and myself, dig deep in that grit and show gratitude, especially that the cancer was caught early.

I decided to put my money where my mouth was. I asked Lacey, @ponderosa_and_plaid on Instagram, to design a logo for me. My daughter and I were going to get this mantra tattooed on our wrists as a sign of better things to come. 

Unfortunately, my doctor suggested that I do not get a tattoo while I was dealing with cancer so that was put on the back burner even though she loved the sentiment. So I did the second best thing and made this my mantra and now it is my mission statement.

Graceful intentions

I have a lot of intentions for 2023, both professionally and personally. My professional ones this is the first full year that I will be on my own. In the past when I had a W-2 job, I was used to sitting down with my peers, completing a Plus/Delta analysis for the previous year and strategic planning for the next year and sometimes even 2 years in the future.

Over my 30 years as a caterer, the majority of the time I also had either a part-time or full-time job, and it was something that I did on the side. It was nothing that I intended on growing, I did not advertise as most of my business, or repeat customers, or word-of-mouth. So this was all new to me.

Since this is my first full year of being an entrepreneur, I’m going to give myself some grace if all of these things don’t come to fruition. Again, my goal is to accomplish all of these intentions, but we will see what happens.

My Intentions

Now that it’s just me, at first I felt like I was floundering a bit on my goals. I started working with a social platforms coach a few months ago to help me better understand my data. 

One of the things that come out of the data review is my online community is a bit older demographic, yeah us, and we prefer static posts on Instagram and use Pinterest. Therefore, my first intention for 2023 is to create more content on Instagram and Pinterest in static posts vs. videos. I will do some reels, but will no longer make myself feel like I need to be a content monster.

My next professional intention is to transition from weekly emails, announcing things like a blog post is posted to a monthly newsletter format. The newsletter will be called, The Revue! My goal is to share highlights, lessons, learned, and upcoming events. Interested in receiving my newsletter? Sign up here!

I really enjoy pairing wine with food. In 2022, I had the opportunity to work with a winery and demonstrate how to make quick appetizers for a cocktail party. I received a lot of really good feedback about that class so that’s some thing that I would like to grow moving into the new year. Also, doing cooking classes in different locations is also on the horizon.

Traveling is a on the agenda for me in 2023. My intention is to continue to share these adventures with you and become a resource in inspiration for your travel adventures.

Finally, my cookbook! I can’t share too much yet but it is in the works and I am so excited to eventually share it with you all! 

My definition of grit

When I say grit, I am referring to courage or resolve. Moving forward with the intentions above, and my personal ones is going to take a lot of grit. Facing things I’ve never faced before, and being a sole entrepreneur has its ups and downs, but I am convinced that I have the grit to do so. I am banking on me for 2023.

Heart if overflowing with gratitude

Gratitude! I am so grateful for you my Internet community. I’ve had so many deep and meaningful conversations with many of you about all sorts of things. My gratitude runs deep and will continue to grow as Hill Country Bon Vivant, and Every Day Fete continue to grow. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Cheers to 2023! 

With grace, grit and gratitude,

xx JeriLynne