I don't normally post on Saturday, but after reading Lauren's post, who got this great idea from
Amanda (Whom's blog I have never read before, but it's fab!) I wanted to post an ABC's of Summer because this is going to be a new experience with me having an infant.

Alcohol. I just had a baby in April which means this mamma is gonna make all those fun summer cocktails we see all over Instagram, blogs, and magazines. (And this basically means, I will have one a week, because baby and breastfeeding, duh.)

Blankets. I plan to spend as much time outside with my little dude, which will require lots of blankets. Think things like star gazing and picnics.

Corn on the cob. I love fresh sweet corn on the grill. It's a summer staple around here. 

Drive in. Probably the only way I am seeing movies this summer since we can bring bloob.

Exercise. I am going to be getting outside as much as possible to get those workouts in. Most of these will require me to either wear little man in a carrier or a stroller. Bring it on!

Fireworks. You can usually find fireworks somewhere in the summer. Fourth of July will be a first for us with baby bloob, so we will see how that goes. He needs a pair of noise headphones to protect his little ears!

Garden. We will spend a lot of time home this Summer, so our garden will be a priority.

Host get togethers. It is easier for us to have our friends and family over then travelling with the little one. 

Ice cream.. I mean is there any other option?

June and July. We get long days and shorter nights. The weather is warm and the festivities are aplenty. 

Kite flying. I haven't flown a kite since I was a kid. This will be something fun for little man to look at. 

Leisurely evening walks with the baby. 

Meteor showers. Summer is always a great time to look up at the sky. Introducing this to little one will hopefully be soothing for him.

New adventures. New baby means new things. 

Open windows. Warm days means windows are down in the evening to cool off the house. 

Parks. Time to explore some new parks this year. We got a NY State park pass and we plan to utilize it as much as possible. Whether we are just chilling out or hiking. 

Quick meals. Always on the go, plus who wants to cook a full on dinner when its hot outside?

Road trips. These will consist of day trips until bloob does better for longer periods of times in his car seat.

Swimming. Gotta get the baby in the pool! 

Try a new restaurant. So many in this town and we haven't even scratched the surface. Also need to become familiar with the family friendly spots who wouldn't mind a crying baby once in awhile.

Unplug. It's time to live in the moment so I don't miss any sweet moments with my little man. 

Vacation. I'm ready for one! Maternity leave did not count!

Watermelon. We are growing them in our garden! Can't wait to have some to eat!

X marks the spot. Not sure what X is right yet, but I'll let you know when I find it. 

Yoga. It's time. I need to get back to it for my sanity and to get my body feeling good again.

Zoo. We have been meaning to go visit April the Giraffe and her baby Tajiri.

Happy Friday! We made it!  Time to share all the things. Ya know from this week? Let me jump right in. So much to share.

1. Back to work

I had to go back to work this week. Not cool! I was not mentally ready to be back to work on so little sleep with my little screaming baby in the background. In case you didn't know, I work from home. I dont get to go back into the world while little bloob goes off to daycare.

Nope. I get to pray to the man above all morning that he doesn't scream in the middle of a phone call. I get to stress eat that he won't be cranky when I get up every morning.

Yes, I know it sounds like a dream not to have to send little man to daycare while I work, but the reality is, my job is phone heavy. I can't have my 8 week old screaming in the background because he's hungry or needs a diaper change.

I had to hire a sitter for the afternoons to keep him fed, changed, and happy. Im grateful he's in the house with me all day, but man does it make for a stressful day.

Have mercy on this mamma!

2. 100 Dreams Project - 11-20


Today I am sharing dreams 11- 20 from my 100 Dreams Project.  Take a look at my first 10 dreams to keep up with the project! You can also follow along and make your own list! It is very interesting to see what comes up!

11. Attend a fancy gala
12. Take a train trip on all 7 continents
13. Celebrate New Years Eve (my birthday) in every time zone (Think all the big cities)
14. Take a solo trip to a place I have never been for at least a week.
15. Run a 5K
16. See the northern light in Iceland
17. Make an appointment at a famous salon with no plan. Be surprised with new hair
18. Drive the Pacific Coast Highway (I have done this as a small child, want to do it as an adult)
19. Buy my first home with my husband
20. Write a book

3. FabFitFun



I got my first FabFitFun box! I was so excited when this box showed up at my door. It was so bright and cheery. I needed that pick me up after a dreary week or rain and clouds. I plan to do a review of the box for next week. Stay tuned for that.

4. Mental Health

Another life gone too soon. By now you have probably heard that Kate Spade took her own life. After I wrote this up, I was sad to learn that we have also lost Anthony Bourdain. This is such an unfortunate situation. It adds to the ever growing list of precious lives taken due to depression. As someone who suffers from depression, I know how hard it can be to get the help you need when you are at your worst.

It is not an easy thing to navigate in the world we live in today. No one wants to come out and admit they are depressed. I had a hard time this week admitting to my doctor at my postpartum appointment that I have had some low moments since giving birth. We are scared of being judged.

Please know that no matter what tricks your depression plays on you, there is always help available. You are worth it.

Call the suicide hotline if you need someone to talk to. Please. The life you save could be your own.

1 800-273-8255

5. June Goals and Mantras

My mantra for June is:

"Whatever it takes."

Goals

• Read one book. Yes its been rough to sit down and get through a book. 1 would be a win. 
• Get out of the house at least once a week by myself. 
• Self care: Get a massage.

Happy Weekend!

I suppose when you aren't blogging regularly, you also don't keep up with taking photos of your Stitch Fix boxes every month. Woops. Looks like the last post I did was at the end of August for a transition to fall post. This was also the post where I promised to post my first 5/5 box. Dang. Woops. Oops?

Okay I totally thought about photographing everything I kept since then, but in reality, I don't have the time or energy with the baby to do that. I am lucky I have time to go to the bathroom these days. Since my last Stich Fix post I was invited into the Style Pass so I have been getting fixes every 3 weeks or so.



Today I am showing you fix # 16. I just got #17 the other day so I will be posting that one as well shortly. This fix is my first postpartum fix and I am 6 weeks postpartum in these photos. I have a lot of work to do!

So here we go..

For those of you unfamiliar with Stitch Fix, it is a monthly clothing subscription where you get a personal stylist to send you 5 pieces according to your profile. You have the opportunity to write your stylist a note each month further customizing your fix. You pay a $20 styling fee each month to receive the fix, which is then deducted from the cost of anything you keep from your fix. If you keep all 5 items you also receive a 25% discount. Pretty great right? If you have interest in trying out the fix, I would appreciate it greatly if you used my affiliate link.

For this fix I asked for comfy nursing friendly clothes. I feel like my stylist got it partway right. 

Gaiam Astana Performance Knit Top

This first top was really cute and I would have kept it had it not been so complicated to wear. It had all kinds of things going on that made it difficult to get it on and off. Right now I don't have time in my life for difficult anything. It had a cool looking back, so this is all I am showing. Returned.




I had this romper pinned. I am still on the fence about this one. I requested a different size and I am not 100% sure I am happy with it. It is very soft and I like the wrap detail, but again, I am just body conscious right now. What do you all think?


Stay tuned for my review on Fix # 17. It will be up next week!

Now that I am officially a mom, I need to extra remind myself how important self care is. I am going to be honest here, working from home for the past 15 months and getting pregnant really put a damper on focusing on taking care of me. I mention self care a lot on this blog. You would think by now I would have it down pat.. wrong..

Basic things like getting changed out of my pajamas and washing my face regularly before bed weren't happening. I know it sounds like a dream to work in pjs everyday, but for me it made me less motivated.

Someone once said just putting on a pair of shoes can make the difference, which turns out is true, but I even failed to do that every day.

So back to self care. I need to get back to yoga and exercise in general. Winter is *hopefully* done and I have no excuse to not go outside. I can even take the baby on walks.

I need to find time to have alone time.. to journal... to meditate... to think... you know all the things we need to be sane.

I want to get back to the gym more consistently and get my body feeling good again. Lose the extra baby weight plus the weight I should of lost before getting pregnant. Thankfully we have a 24 hour gym so I can really go at anytime when R is home and after I've pumped and all that fun stuff.

I finally pulled out all  of my essential oils. I used a few through pregnancy but stayed on the cautious side when using more than just the lavender and peppermints of the oil world. I  have been gradually using some for different nursing ailments as well as diffusing to get my relaxation on when I have a minute or 2.

I have been trying to pause and remind myself to breathe and get a little meditation in. It has never been easy for me, and it certainly isn't coming easy with a newborn, but I do notice it is working.

The one thing I have never really been able to make consistent is journaling. I know it is supposed to be very helpful, but I just forget to do it. I want to document things these days though. I want to remember how I felt. What made me tick. What made me happy. Those types of things. I am going to attempt it again. See where it leads me.

What do you do for self care when life gets crazy? Share in the comments!

My last Friday of freedom (oh no!) and the first day of the second half of 2018!

Next week I will be going back to work after 8 glorious weeks of maternity leave. I mean I wasn't getting any sleep or traveling, but it was nice to only have one focus really. My little baby boy.

So not much happened this week as far as life stuff but I do have quite a few things I want to add to my 5 things on this first Friday of June.

First off, I feel like the first part of this year sailed by with very little motivation or accomplishment. I mean I did have a baby in April and that was one pretty big accomplishment, but as far as some of my goals and specifically this blog I didn't accomplish much. That's where my 5 things come in..

1. 100 Dreams Project


Today I am starting my 100 Dreams project with my first 10 dreams. This project will run for 10 weeks as I will write about 10 dreams a week until I reach 100. You can read more about the project and how you can participate on my Intro to The 100 Dream Project post.

1. Believe in myself.
2. Find internal peace (Master meditation).
3. Become my own boss and be successful.
4. Create a successful subscription box.
5. Raise my son to be a good honest man.
6. Make an income from my blog.
7. Own a pair of Tieks and not faint at the price
8. Go on 1 girls trip a year and not worry about a budget.
9. Hire a housekeeper to clean once a month.
10. Attend afternoon tea at a tea house in London.

2. I like lists, but I can't seem to use planners

Every year it seems I spend money on some form of nice planner and I never, ever use it. It collects dust. It's pretty to look at, but is completely empty inside. I have probably spent hundreds of dollars over the years on planners that I never use. Because today is the first day of the second half of the year, I figured I'd challenge myself to use the planner I purchased back in January. Turn over a new leaf so to say.

3. When your blog gets negative "press"

I logged into my blogging dashboard the other day and noticed quite a bit of traffic on an old post. Every so often that happens, but when I looked at the last entry points, it came from a Reddit thread. My first thought was "that can't be good".

As suspected it wasn't exactly the best reason to have a link posted on another page. Basically a post I wrote about events leading up to my wedding sparked some negative comments on the particular thread. It was a thread about disliking MLM companies, especially if they are promoting their businesses at a wedding. The post in question had nothing to do with an MLM that I sell. It did discuss items from an MLM but not me personally trying to promote anything.

It was weird to me. Being mean to other people on the internet just because you assume something isn't exactly the best thing. I am not going to let it get to me or dwell on it, but it does amaze me how these things come to be. I guess all I can say is, "thanks for the traffic!".

4. Glossies Made Me Do It!


Last weekend I went through a large stack of magazines (glossies!) that were taking over my living room book shelf. Lauren from Shooting Stars Mag reached out and told me about a link up she co-hosts call Glossies Made Me Do It. Sounded like fun so why not?! I was reading all of the Real Simple magazines dated back to September.


I got up to February and what I did was take an article from January 2018 about not knowing what I want as a passion and used it to influence my 100 Dreams Project mentioned above. It basically encourages you to start doing things that make you happy. See where it takes you. For me it has been writing. Writing all of these dreams down is already inspiring me more and more every day.

5. Gratitude

Another week has come and gone and I am always reminded of all of the things I am grateful for. On Wednesday a good friend of mine pulled some oracle cards for me which lead to a Reiki session. All of the pulls were pointing to change and the ending of a cycle. My body has been under a lot of stress between being pregnant and not knowing what is going to happen once I go back to work.


Nicole from Reiki Panda was able to help my body relax and to remind me that I can only do one thing at a time. My mind was so full of chatter she described it as the snow on TV when cable is out. It is pretty accurate. I have so many thoughts going on at once, it's no wonder I don't know what I'm doing half the time.

I am so grateful for the time she spent with me to help me clear some things up. I feel more at ease today and I slept well even with an infant in the house. I would recommend her a million times over if you are seeking answers to your life.

If you are not familiar with Reiki it is "a healing technique based on the principle that the therapist can channel energy into the patient by means of touch, to activate the natural healing processes of the patient's body and restore physical and emotional well-being."

Distant Reiki can be done, which is what I had done. You do not have to be local to her for this to work. If you decide to get in touch, let her know I sent you! She's a dear friend and I always want to support the people I love.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Namaste.