Bring the good times with you everywhere you go. When you’re on the town, at your place, in the bedroom, and on your own, make your life more fun this year. It’s your no-resolutions necessary, live-better-because-you-freaking-deserve-it list.
1. Get Down, Go Out, Live a Little!
Measure your success by how much fun you’re having, says happiness expert Gabrielle Bernstein. When you’re having fun, you’re more productive, and people will be drawn to you. (Plus, it makes life easier.)
2. Make Happy Hour Happier and Hunkier
Your mission this year: Find. Hotties. Why shouldn’t every night out have bachelorette-party-level fun? Gather your girls, and find a bar that promises lots of eye candy. There’s nothing wrong with looking…we do it at Cosmo, and can tell you it does wonders for morale.
3. Make Somebody Else’s Life a Party
How To Have The Most Amazing Life!How To Have The Most Amazing Life!
Do something nice for someone else. Whether it’s getting your best friend that pretty necklace she’s been eyeing or doing some volunteer work, it actually ends up making you feel better about yourself.
4. Say Yes!
Don’t feel like you have to be every where. Just say yes a little more than before.
5. Go Somewhere
Anticipating a trip does tonnes to boost your mood-and those good feelings last longer than the high you get after you come back. Make planning the trip easier by letting travel sites like TripAdvisor choose your vacation for you. Enter a destination (Paris!) or experience (beaches!) and the sites will provide options.
6. Bring the Party Home: Freshen Up Your Drinks
Incorporate fruits- and even veggies!-into your cocktail repertoire. They’re refreshing to drink and like sunshine to look at.
How To Have The Most Amazing Life!How To Have The Most Amazing Life!
7. Bone Up Your Cooking Chops
Download the How to Cook Everything app. It’s a fully loaded cookbook with ridiculously simple recipes and essential cooking tips that will teach you how to work magic in the kitchen.
8. Go Big
How To Have The Most Amazing Life!How To Have The Most Amazing Life!
Go for broke and throw a dinner party. Overthink everything, get way too ambitious, and be a hot stress mess. It’s okay! Everyone goes through this rite of passage. The battle scars give you character. But just in case you want to try to keep your cool, here are some tips:
. Be super organised. Map everything out, and cook some stuff in advance.
. Pick recipes that can be prepped ahead so that you’re not freaking out as your guests arrive.
. Have drinks in hand when guests walk through the door.
. Make introductions and help get conversations going.
9. Expand Your Horizons With New Flavours
Be an explorer from the comfort of your kitchen. Try something different-it makes you interesting, and that makes you sexy!
Massaged Kale Salad
1 bunch kale leaves, roughly torn; 1� tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice; 2 tbsp extravirgin olive oil; 1/4 tsp salt; 1 pear, cut into a medium dice; � cup goat cheese In a large bowl, mix kale, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt, and massage with your fingers until the kale is slightly wilted. Add chopped pear and cheese. Dress salad lightly with pomegranate vinaigrette. Finish with freshly ground black pepper and pomegranate.
Red Bell Pepper Tacos
How To Have The Most Amazing Life!How To Have The Most Amazing Life!
6 hard taco shells; 3 red bell peppers, cut into thin strips; 1 can black beans (rinsed); shredded cheddar cheese; 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 cup salsa and jalapeños Saute the red bell pepper strips until soft and slightly charred in spots. Heat the beans in a small sauce pan. Add chili seasoning to taste. Warm the taco shells in the oven on 350 degrees for 3-4 minutes. Layer beans, then bell pepper strips then cheese into taco shell. Top with sour cream,
salsa and jalapeños.
Vietnamese Spring Rolls
How To Have The Most Amazing Life!How To Have The Most Amazing Life!
8 rice wrappers (8�-inch diameter); 8 large shrimps, peeled, cooked, and halved; 50gms cooked rice vermicelli; 1tbsp chopped fresh Thai basil; 3tbsp chopped fresh mint; 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro; 2 lettuce leaves, chopped Fill a large bowl with warm water. Briefly dip wrappers in water to soften. Lay each wrapper flat, and place two shrimp halves, a handful of vermicelli, and greens across the center, leaving 2 inches uncovered on each side. Fold the wrapper inward on both sides, then tightly roll it. Serve with dipping sauces.
10. Live Sexy 24/7: Get Under the Covers
How To Have The Most Amazing Life!How To Have The Most Amazing Life!
Spritz perfume or linen spray onto your sheets before making the bed (a baseline must for feeling sexy at home). The fragrance will be re-released when you pull back the covers to hop into them-for snoozing, snuggling, or other, racier activities.
11. Post Happy Things
Have you heard of the #100DaysOfHappiness challenge? Take to your Instagram or Twitter account and post a picture of something, anything, that makes you smile. Recent research in positive psychology shows that the brain craves challenges and tasks-and this will be the perfect reminder of the things that make you glad!
12. Be Touchable
Swap moisturiser for dry body oil and you’ll glisten like a swimsuit model, your skin will be the softest it’s ever been, and massaging it in will feel amazing.
13. Make It Last Forever
You’re creating awesome memories; now you need to remember them. Keep a written diary, or upload a picture a day to an album of your year.
14. Learn Something New
How To Have The Most Amazing Life!How To Have The Most Amazing Life!
Always wanted to learn to skateboard or speak Italian? Do it-for yourself. Cultivating new skills and passions opens you up to more experiences and people.
15. Stay Inside and Snuggle All Day Long
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Got someone you like? No reason to go out when there’s so much, uh, fun to be had indoors.
16. Pencil Things Into Your Cal (for Real!)
So many calendars everywhere, and we’re still forgetting where we’re supposed to be. Try a desk calendar. It’s prettier, and putting a pen to paper helps lock your appointments into memory. Organisation and decor in one.
