We have reached the halfway point of 2009. Can you believe it? Back in January, Amelia, Simcha, and I posted our New Year’s resolutions on The Frisky. How are we doing? Let’s check in.

It’s already two weeks into the New Year, and people are still being all motivated and productive and infuriatingly resolved. One friend is detoxing with her boyfriend, while another is spending five hours a week volunteering for Unicef. Another is playing the piano at his local nursing home, and yet another has upped her hours at work, in an attempt to snag a promotion. And then there’s your co-worker, who has stopped using credit cards, and can therefore no longer accompany you to Banana Republic after work. How insufferable! At a time when everyone is toiling and laboring and spending 40 minutes a day on the elliptical machine, isn’t it time you made a promise to yourself to be…unproductive? More after the jump…

Okay, real talk.  This isn’t exactly the happy-ending story I’d like it to be, but I’ve got to share with you the details of my recent fantasy crush cum real mini-relationship, if only to encourage everyone to buck up and make some moves in the new year. 

Have you ever seen a guy working in a store you frequent, and developed a massive crush on him?  Er…I have!  For the past eight months, I’ve been completely smitten with a guy who works at my local bookstore.  I’ll admit the crush had become a bit extreme; I’d spent over a hundred bucks on books and befriended the entire security staff in an effort to work up the nerve to talk to this dude.  Why?  Because he was, hands-down, the hottest guy I’d ever seen.  Also, anytime we’d spoken, (i.e. “Did you find everything, okay?”) I thought it was obvious that we’d have a real connection.  Clearly, things were getting serious. I’d even started setting aside Chris Brown during my sexytime fantasies, and thinking of bookstore boy.  So, eight months after the inception of the mega-crush, I introduced myself. 

Supposedly, if I were to cut out soda from my diet, I would lose 15 lbs. But I don’t want to lose 15 lbs. and especially not at the expense of my Diet Coke addiction—Current’s Sarah Haskins feels my pain. In her first 2009 installment of “Target Women,” she takes New Year’s diet resolutions to task. Like swapping your favorite unhealthy snacks for healthier options—like a fifth of whiskey instead of a sick pack of beer! Her new fad diet proposal at the end is hilarious—but could get you an ear infection. Whatever it takes to be skinny!

Picture this: You’re single, you’re 42, and you’re determined to get a husband this year. But just how far would you go to meet your soul mate? Would you let the whole world know you are actively seeking out a life-long mate? That’s what 42-year-old Neenah Pickett is doing. She publicly announced she was looking for a man to put a ring on it, by creating a website called 52Weeks2FindHim.com. The site is completely devoted to her conquest to find a husband before the end of 2009. Pickett blogs daily, pondering about having children and reminding herself how amazing she is. She describes herself as a media consultant from New Jersey who’s religious and has an adventurous spirit. In order to find Mr. Right, Pickett plans to go on as many dates as possible. Even though we’re only a few days into 2009, she already has dates lined up, having received more than 100 emails from guys since the site launched. 

If you’re already struggling with your New Year’s resolutions on this second day of the year, you’re not alone. Need a few suggestions to stay on track? “It’s exceptionally hard to make life changes,” says Alan Deutschman, author of Change or Die. According to Deutschman, even though most people have the ability to change, they rarely do, “and our efforts are usually doomed to failure when we try to do it on our own.” After the jump, four strategies to avoid failure and increase positive results in change regimens.

We’ve already read about the real resolutions celebrities have made for 2009, but we can think of more than a few who need some suggestions. After the jump, New Year’s resolutions 12 celebrities SHOULD be making.

This week, The Frisky will be revealing their oh-so-ambitious resolutions for 2009. We encourage you to submit yours in the comments—maybe you’ll inspire others to adapt the same resolutions and at the very least you’ll get some support. Especially for your resolution to eat more donuts this year. That’s something we can all get behind. Take it away, Annika…

1. Get a driver’s license: I put this on my resolutions list last year, but only achieved part of it. I was born and raised in NYC, so having a car is more of a luxury than a necessity. But now that I’m getting older I want to add a license to my list of accomplishments.
2. Go to Europe: I haven’t been to Europe since I was a little babe. My plan is to reconnect with my cousin in London or my friend in Slovakia, so I can’t use not having a travel companion as an excuse. I also plan to adapt my style to where ever I’m going, so I don’t stick out like a tourist.
3. Pay off my credit card: I’m sick and tired of my credit card debt. And this year, I’ll actually have the means to pay it off in one fell swoop. So I will ignore whatever heels or boots that catch my eye until I’ve paid my debt.

Every year, the majority of us—stemming from the most noble of intentions, or the most nauseating of eggnog overindulgence—declare our desire to start anew and totally revise our lives. For most of us, though, Groundhog Day brings not just an excuse to settle in with a Bill Murray movie, but the milestone of having let ourselves down once more. And yet by the time the ball drops anew in Times Square ten months later, we’re happily preparing to drop our own ball all over again.

What would it take to make our resolutions stick? Psychological research on goal-setting and achievement has a lot to teach us: they need be the right balance of realistic and challenging, and we need to have clear, specific pathways to reach them. We also are better off focusing on only one or two resolutions rather than attempting the equivalent of a floor-to-ceiling structural renovation of our inner selves. Sound too complicated? Here’s how to give the most common resolutions a psychological makeover, after the jump…

This week, The Frisky will be revealing their oh-so-ambitious resolutions for 2009. We encourage you to submit yours in the comments—maybe you’ll inspire others to adapt the same resolutions and at the very least you’ll get some support. Especially for your resolution to eat more donuts this year. That’s something we can all get behind. Here’s Simcha’s…

1. Learn How To Do A Banana Split:  I used to take gymnastics classes as a kid and I could slide into one like it wasn’t no thang. While it was an impressive skill to show off in 1st grade, I have a feeling now a split will earn me extra sexy time brownie points. As a freelance writer who types all day on my cushy-tushy, this is a stretch for a goal. But I fully intend to do it, or injure myself trying!

This week, The Frisky will be revealing their oh-so-ambitious resolutions for 2009. We encourage you to submit yours in the comments—maybe you’ll inspire others to adapt the same resolutions and at the very least you’ll get some support. Especially for your resolution to eat more donuts this year. That’s something we can all get behind. Catherine is up next…

1. Learn how to cook at least one new dish every month: I eat the same stuff all the freaking time, mostly because I am a picky eater, but also because I know how to make about three dishes. I really need to enhance my repertoire—at least until I can afford to have a personal chef.
2. Learn how to edit video: I don’t want to become the next Sofia Coppola or anything, just be able to clip together little videos of my dog in iMovie. (Confession: This was a resolution for 2008 I never accomplished.)
3. Do some sort of good in the world: I want to start volunteering. If you have suggestions, let me know.
4. Write letters to my grandmother at least once a month: Phone calls are nice, but they just don’t compare to handwritten letters. My grandma has been sick lately, and I want to send her special somethings in the mail so she knows I’m thinking of her.

This week, The Frisky will be revealing their oh-so-ambitious resolutions for 2009. We encourage you to submit yours in the comments—maybe you’ll inspire others to adapt the same resolutions and at the very least you’ll get some support. Especially for your resolution to eat more donuts this year. That’s something we can all get behind. Amelia will start…

1. Commit to going to yoga three times a week: And at the very least, getting into headstand. Forearm stand, I will tackle you in 2010. Handstand, see you in 2011.
2. Introduce myself to new music: And go to see more bands play live. I used to love doing this, but have stopped going on a regular basis. And I need some Ladyhawke and Little Joy to balance out all the Beyonce and Britney.
3. Curb bad behaviors: My bad behaviors are drinking too much wine and then eating copious amounts of mac ‘n’ cheese while sending regrettable Facebook messages. Must stop this in 2009.

The great thing about a new year? You get to make a fresh start. And once the champagne has been finished and the confetti has fallen, it’s time to put those resolutions into action—well, at least for a week or two. We mere mortals aren’t the only ones resolving to hit the gym more frequently, call Granny more often and save more of that paycheck. Celebrities from Britney Spears to a duchess (and we don’t mean Fergie) are vowing to make some ch-ch-changes. Here’s who’s doing what and why…

Britney Spears
After a helluva year, the pop tart has amazingly landed on her dancing feet, but she says there’s still work to be done. “I would like to stop worrying so much [in 2009],” she told Glamour, “because I worry all the time. And to learn how to be happier, just in general. I have to learn to take things not so seriously. And to stop biting my nails!”

I don’t have any men in my life who need presents—except for my dog, of course—but making a trip to the men’s department is going to make these last few days of frantic shopping bearable. Why? Because there are handsome things to take in, and I’m not talking about what’s for sale. Just look at this model on Steven Alan’s website. After seeing his cute, scruffy face, I feel so much better about having not bought a single present.

If you’re a working girl, you have a certain number of days you can take off for vacation, illness, etc., and at a lot of companies, these days off don’t carry over into the next year. Make sure to use as many of your days as possible before the year ends—just don’t so much that your boss realizes you’re dispensable.

See all the ways to make the most of the last 31 days of 2008 here.

I bought a lamp at a thrift store for $1.95 over the summer. It’s a beautiful thing—white porcelain with tiny gold stars along its edges. The only problem was that it didn’t turn on when I plugged it in. The lamp sat at home, useless, until I finally got fed up and went to Home Depot. A nice older man taught me about rewiring, and I even learned how to do an underwriters knot! Take the next couple weeks to complete the project you’ve had on hold for ages. Just do it, okay? 

See all the ways to make the most of the last 31 days of 2008 here.

Some catalogs are worth their weight in paper, others are a waste. I get an average of two L.L. Bean catalogs a month, and while I adore them and the fact that they sell plaid duct tape (amazing, right?!), I really don’t need to see the same sweaters, duck boots, and alarm clocks multiple times each month. Just think of those poor trees that were cut down to make all those L.L. Bean catalogs! So, I am going to call up my favorite purveyor of monogrammed tote bags and tell them to stop sending me glossy books every month. You should do the same—or go to Catalog Choice and communicate with companies about what catalogs you no longer wish to receive.

See all the ways to make the most of the last 31 days of 2008 here.

Dental hygiene is important, people. If you don’t wash your face for a while, you might sprout a few zits. Those go away in time. If you stop brushing your teeth, they might fall out. Tooth loss is forever. Use the next 21 days to develop a habit that will keep your chompers in business. If you’re lazy like me, try dental flossers, which even come in the shape of dinosaurs! Plaque is not sexy. Floss.