January isn’t even over yet and I’m totally rocking my ‘non’ resolutions. {Watch out 2017!} I spent this past weekend out in L.A. on a ‘just for fun trip’ and it’s been so. great.

I was kind of waffling about whether to go or not when I ended up reconnecting with an old friend from my very first adult job after grad school. I haven’t seen her for almost ten years {also, wow, I’m old}. So I pushed through my weird indecision and hesitation and booked it! Plus I still hadn’t officially done anything to celebrate getting my license so what was I waiting for anyway?! I purposefully didn’t ‘plan’ very much into my trip, I just wanted to have space to explore, and also enjoy my super sweet Airbnb and just enjoy the different energy of California. And also sunlight, because we have none in Chicago all winter.

I did lots of fun, totally L.A. things – spending tons of time in traffic {I ended up driving to my place from the airport in the middle of rush hour, which I thought was kind of perfect in a way, lol!}, went to a super cute ‘palm springs in L.A.’ spot {designed by a super kick ass design firm. I can’t wait to see more of their spaces in person} for an obligatory overpriced $12 smoothie, everywhere I went was 20 minutes away from every other thing, and we went hiking in some beautiful mountains with a completely breathtaking view of the ocean, I loved every minute of it.

But the funny thing is that I’ve always been in 100% judgement about L.A.. I had this picture that it was just one big horrible sprawling suburb and standstill traffic all day every day, but I ended up really liking it… and for what is actually a big sprawling suburb {the 20 minutes in between everything wasn’t a joke, and it wasn’t my favorite part to be honest, lol}, there are some pretty spectacular views… I wouldn’t mind having a house nestled into the hills or even just a glimpse of a view into the ocean!

How many things in life have we made up our minds about, when we’ve never even tried it, or experienced it? hmmm….. I was wrong about L.A., but what else might I be missing out on because I’ve already made up my mind, or choose something more familiar because it’s well, more familiar, and I already know I like it, or at least I don’t hate it.

This trip was a great reminder to get outside of my comfort zone to be able to have more in life. The comfort zone is well… comfy, but not a lot of new things happen there. Yeah, it’s safe, but the best things happen outside of that comfy familiar safe space. And venturing into the unfamiliar doesn’t have to be uncomfortable or scary in a bad way {which I think has become it’s reputation – fear! danger! messiness! things can go wrong!}, it can be new and exciting and inspiring, which was my reminder this past weekend. Even just walking around different parts of the city I found so much inspiration in nature and colors and different architectural styles… amazing people watching, and new foods, reconnecting with my friend and even a surprise dinner with some amazing women who I never would have met if I hadn’t taken this trip.

I realized just how much in my day to day life I just stay right there in my regular familiar routine, rushing around in my regular groove, not trying a ton of new things even though I live in a huge city with so many things to discover I would never run out of something new to do! So I think I’m officially adding ‘venture outside the comfort zone’ to my list of 2017 ‘non’ resolutions, as a conscious activity. It’s a sure fire way to increase your ‘havingness’ in life, so you really can’t go wrong. Getting your mind and body and creativity uncomfortable to get inspired, waking up to everything new, and making room for some magic to come in!

Here are some of my favorite moments from my trip, what are you going to do this year to venture a little outside of your comfort zone?!