May is here and it’s real. The weather hasn’t been very May-y, but we’ve had enough good days to do some outdoor adventuring. Julien and I have taken a good amount of nature walks around the local college campus when it isn’t completely rainy out.
May has been very colorful. Last week I went to a crafty/makey morning at Calliope, a tiny card shop in Natick. For two hours, we each worked on our own projects, and talked crafting and small business. It was a fun time to just chill and get some fun projects done! Also last week, I did a colorful photo shoot with my friend Jen and her daughter at a GORGEOUS new mural on Concord Street in Framingham. It awesome! Definitely stop to take a look if you are in the area. And finally, I’m finalizing my new brand for my photo business and I’m super excited about it! It’s so happy!
I recently saw Ben Platt (at the most beautiful theater in Boston, the Wang) and let me tell you, that man is an aaaaaalien. I’ve never heard a better male vocalist. He isn’t real. But he actually is. And amazing. And my jaw was on the floor the whole time with the amount of impeccable runs he blessed us with. Also, his dance moves must also be praised.
IT’S LILAC SEASON – A few lilac bushes line my driveway and I was inspired to start an embroidery hoop dedicated to my favorite flower!! This wonky embroidery definitely doesn’t do the flower justice, but I’m trying :O
In OTHER NEWS I am reopening my ETSY SHOP!! June 10th!! I’m excited! And have so much to do! AH!
I recently watched a new Netflix movie called “The Unicorn Store”, starring Brie Larson. The description told me it was about a whimsical art school dropout who dreams of adopting a unicorn. My thought process was this: I went to art school. I love colorful things. I like Brie Larsen. Let’s do this.
I knew this movie would be relevant as soon as the first scene started. Brie (her character’s name is Kit) is passionately creating a bright, abstract painting and gets a disapproving head shake from her professor. I’ve felt that. I’ve experienced that. -_- Throughout the movie, I could relate to a lot of her same creative/career/future feels. Obviously I’ve never experienced a unicorn IRL, but never say never amiright 😉
I really appreciated the spotlight this movie put on the colorful, artsy, big idea lifestyle. Yeah, there was a deeper meaning of the movie – being your own unicorn, working toward your goals, ect. But I don’t usually see that kinda of free, wide, open creativity on screen, and honestly, it made me feel seen and affirmed. It came at a oddly (and almost creepily) perfect time, because I’ve been thinking about the topic of expressing yourself a lot lately.
I realized I have been ‘toning it down’ for the last few years – in both my personal style and my business. Neutrals in my personal style, dark and ‘professional’ in my business style. If there is any color, it only should be in pops. Not a lot, and definitely not everywhere.
But in the months after having a baby, I was in such a deep, dark hole mentally, that seeing and being surrounded by color was one thing that actually made me a little bit happier. I have always loved lots of color and unique things and creating unique things, so this connection made a lot of sense.
So I started brightening up my wardrobe and adding simple things like throw rugs and kitchen towels to bring more color to our home. I’m also currently in the works of a pretty substantial rebrand of my business, and as you can guess, it’s colorful. I was feeling OK, but halfway, about all these things until I watched this movie. And now I am ALL IN. Give me the weird stuff. The big ideas. The colors and the creative mess. I want it!
Sure there is always room for neutrals in life, and black will always be a classic. But for the most part, I’m tired of boring stuff. Thanks, Unicorn Store, for being my colorful wakeup call to re-embrace the joy and fun and happiness of a colorful lifestyle.
Ben Platt’s Sing To Me Instead album: I can’t stop listening to Ben’s emotional words, sweeping melodies and incredible perfect VOICE. He possesses a level of talent that no human should have, except Ben does, so it’s ok. LISTEN TO THIS!!
Abstract Embroidery: What is art? What is embroidery? What are the rules? Are there rules? Why follow the rules? These are the things I think about as I’m tying knots and weaving and layering thread and yarn and string together in ways that seem really cool to me. But probably weird.
Functional Embroidery: Art that is functional, and using art to make functional things special. Prettier. A Statement. Your own! I’ve only gotten as far as hats and a jean jacket, but there are more projects in the works!
SPRINGTIME, OBVIOUSLY. THIS SHOULD BE ON EVERYONE’S LISTS.
San Pellegrino Blood Orange: I’m not a fancy seltzer person, in fact, I’ve tried a few fancies and they all kinda taste like the not-fancy ones. But this stuff is GOOD! And fancy! But not too fancy! Because Market Basket carries it! 😉
I saw that a few people I follow on Instagram joined maker Elise Joy‘s 100 day challenge and when I checked it out, I liked it. The challenge is to do something everyday for 100 days. It’s open-ended; everyone picks their own project or idea. It can be creative, health-based, things you’ve been meaning to do, learning something new, ect. I love a good challenge, so I thought about it for a few days and figured out what I needed.
100 days of back to me.
“Where did you go that you now have to get back?”
I became a mom. And I was not expecting or prepared for the loss+confusion of my well-established personal identity pretty soon after my baby was born. I was an artist. A business owner. An athlete. I was a spontaneous. Adventurous. I loved the woods. The water. The outdoors. I was, overall, pretty happy.
“But you can still be/do all those things, even with a kid.”
That’s what I thought, too. But it hasn’t been that easy for me. Being a mom is the most unnatural role I’ve ever been in. The most awkward identity transition. My biggest learning curve ever. Being so deep in all that unknown (and struggling with postpartum depression) has made it pretty much impossible for me to be and do the things I AM good at. The things that make me ME. I don’t even know me anymore. 6+ months is a long time to not know who you are.
I love and know my kid. But I really need to love and know me again. Lately, thankfully, my head is above water (on most days) and we have a way more doable (dare I say enjoyable?) daily schedule. So when I saw the idea for this 100 day challenge, I thought, why not now?
The challenge: Intentionally choose to do one thing a day that helps me get back to feeling like myself.
The days: 100 of them! I started on April 1st, so that means this will go through July 10th.
The end goal: By day 100, I’m hoping that all the little, daily things I chose to do will have accumulated into knowing and feeling like myself again.
The things: – Time with nature (woods, kayaking, hiking, sunshine, taking care of my plants) – Big ideas (for my business, for my life, planning a trip, planning for the future, ect) – Big creativity (specifically with painting, but will add embroidery and photography in here, too) – Moving my body regularly (walking, running, lifting, swimming) – Home cooked meals (I miss being creative in the kitchen) – Adventuring (seeing new places, trying new food, exploring new trails)
(It sounds like a lot altogether, but it’s only one thing a day.)
Some days I’ve already planned out, and some days the only plan is to let life help me figure it out. A lot of the first days of this challenge have been about getting outside. I think that’s what my heart was really missing the most and I’m so thankful for spring sunshine.
I shared the challenge with my close friends and a few of them have hopped on board with their own ideas. One is cooking through a few specific cookbooks. One is going on 100 walks. One hasn’t decided yet, but plans to join us in May! I’m glad to have them to stay accountable with.
I haven’t decided how much to share about each day of the challenge. I guess I might share the occasional photo on Instagram stories and will probably do a recap here? We’ll see. Anyways, thanks for reading, and let me know if you start your own 100 day challenge.
YALL. This ain’t a mommy blog, promise. But I need to share about a random assortment of baby gear that I had NO IDEA would become some of our most-used items during for these first 6 months of parenthood. I say random because they aren’t your usual “must have” baby gear items that people/blogs/the internet might tell you about. I didn’t read about many of these things while I was putting together a registry. But somehow, and thankfully, we acquired them (aka: I refused to put anything more than basics on my registry, but our seasoned parent friends + fam saw right through that and gave us the good stuff.)
Things that I’m not sure I could do parenthood without:
A vertical bottle dryer rack– VERTICAL is the important part. We have limited counter space, so the small footprint is super helpful while still getting the drying job done. I didn’t realize how much we would use this!
Bottom-up zip jammies – (forever) – I don’t know if I’m explaining this right… The ones that zip up from the foot! Making diaper changes 100% easier since whenever they were invented.
Velcro Swaddles – (1 – 4 months) – There are a few brands out there, we used the SwaddleMe ones. Julien was a tiny ninja and would never stay in a normal swaddle and hated the zip swaddles. These velcro ones helped us all get (a little bit) more sleep 🙂
Textured teething toys – (starting at 3 months) – We have the Itzy Ritzy brand pineapple and cactus, and these things go eveeeeerywhere with us. And get chewed constantly. Julien started teething just before 4 months, but didn’t have a visible tooth until the day he turned 6 months old. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s too early to stock up on the teething toys!
Portable bottle cooler – We have the SkipHop one, and it fits like 3 bottles, plus a small ice pack. I couldn’t travel without this!
A backpack diaper bag!! – At first I had a stylish, cute, over the shoulder diaper bag, but it was more annoying than helpful. I switched to a backpack diaper bag and it is SO much easier. Definitely a must-have if you are out and about a lot. (or if you would rather carry a coffee than a diaper bag in your free hand 😉 )
Things that aren’t must-haves, but definitely useful TO have:
A small car seat blanket – Easy to grab, and small enough that it doesn’t drag on the ground or get caught in the carseat crevices. The size also makes it easy to tuck in around baby! The 3 we have are all handmade. They range from 10×10 to 16×16 inches, and all are made from different material – fleece, flannel, & knit . PRO TIP: If a grandma or best friend offers to make a blanket, say yes and mention needing a small one!
A musical stuffed animal toy – (1-3 months) – Someone got us the freaking most annoying octopus plush toy that plays high pitched classical tunes and recites colors. It’s so annoying. But it’s the ONLY thing that would catch and keep Julien’s attention during those early weeks of tummy time. He’d scream, we’d push play on this toy, and he’d stop crying. For like 5 minutes. But in the early days, 5 minutes at a time is all you need.
Doorway jumper – (starting at 4 months) – Julien goes NUTS in this. OMG it’s the funniest thing. We put him in this while we eat dinner, and just laugh at how serious and dedicated our baby is at jumping as hard as he possibly can. Also great for tiring him out before bedtime 😉
Very small stuffed animal that Baby can fit in one hand– (4 -6 months) – Again, someone got us this toy and I’m so glad. It’s a yellow elephant, probably only 6 inches, that has become my go-to to give him in when we’re in the car or visiting places. It keeps him entertained with no noise, and small enough to pack easily into the diaper bag.
Keep your pregnancy pillow! – You can use the c-shaped ones to make a little cozy ring for when you teach your baby how to sit up. Curl it up like a cocoon and plop him right in the middle. Supervise always, obviously.
Image By Amy Emily Photography
Let me know if you have any questions or additional slightly random gear advice for all the new moms out there! -s
