Working Mama: One Year In

Four months ago (!!! Edit: more like six at this point), I promised an entry on working full-time as a new mom. Well, the baby turns one next month and I’ve just gotten around to updating the blog again, so that should tell you what my life’s been like. In a word: chaos. In two words: loving chaos.

How NOT to make a frittata

Disclaimer: I do realize this is my first post in over four months. I just don't have time at this particular moment to explain and apologize, and I'm feeling inspired by events that transpired in my kitchen approximately five minutes ago. Suffice it to say that working full-time with a new baby is as hard as everyone says, and this blog is not abandoned.

This is not my usual type of recipe. This, dear reader, is a brief recipe for confusion, slight embarrassment, and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Read on for my guide to making dinner when you're living in the point where laziness, tiredness, and incompetence intersect.

How not to make a frittata:

Life Update: She's Here!

For those of you who've seen any of my recent Insta posts, this post will be old news. But in case anyone was wondering what happened to my lovely, predictable three-times-per-week update schedule, here's your answer: it's gone the way of every other schedule and routine in my life, because our baby is here!

My first postpartum blog shoot took three minutes flat.

Life Update: Very Pregnant

Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend! I've spent the past four days in an absolute whirlwind of activity: shopping for baby things, organizing her room, doing a ridiculous amount of laundry, and even sneaking in a bit of fun with my mom here and there. She heads home tomorrow and I'm already sad about it. (Jeff has stocked up on tissues in anticipation.)

You Matter.

Today's post is a bit of an anomaly for me. Rather than my usual vintage-inspired outfit/meandering narrative fare, I've decided it's time for a brief PSA. The topic: you, your mental health, and your importance to the people in your life.

So as to not bury the lede, let me start with my key point: no matter who you are, you are vitally important and deserve to feel ok. I don't know who's reading these words right now, but I'm as certain about this as I've ever been about anything in my entire life. No matter what your circumstances in life at this moment, you matter to somebody.

On Haters, Again

Every so often, I see posts on Facebook or Instagram that make me sad. Apparently, some people cannot go out in the world wearing whatever strikes their fancy without being inundated by obnoxious, judgmental, and downright rude comments from coworkers, 'friends'/relatives, and perfect strangers. And it sort of baffles me that so many people apparently never learned that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. It's not exactly rocket science, is it?

What I've Learned From My Parents

One thing you might not know about me is that I'm quite close with my dad. I've written quite a bit about the women in my family before, but recently I realized that surprisingly, I haven't really shared too much about my dad.

Weekend Update

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you might've noticed that updates have been a bit thin on the ground for the past couple of weeks. What can I say? Life comes at you pretty fast sometimes, and truthfully, it's been a little hard to sit down and write a post about style when it feels like the entire planet is imploding.

Since I haven't wanted this blog to be a giant Debbie Downer, this means I have loads of half-written screeds against the Muslim Ban/non-intersectional feminism/anti-science people sitting on my computer, waiting till I find a way to frame them constructively. (I'm also sitting on one very silly story that feels a little too out-of-touch with reality to post, but I'm hoping I get there soon!).

So, rather than forcing myself to write something that doesn't feel right, I thought I'd give you a little update on what I've been doing since the New Year started.

2016 in Review

2016 is generally regarded as a pretty crap year, bordering on cursed. (Possibly.) And while I'm a pretty optimistic person, I'd say that this bad reputation is well earned. From the rise of actually terrifying far-right politics worldwide to the election of a president who seems more likely to start a nuclear war with each passing day, 2016 hasn't given me all that much to applaud on the current-events front. But as I said, I'm a naturally sunny person, so I'll look for the silver linings wherever I can, and draw strength from the good things to keep fighting for a better world in 2017.

In that spirit, I present my own personal highlights reel for 2016:

Weekend Warrior

After getting home from my recent trip to England, the past week or so has been a total whirlwind. Between going straight back to work the next day and having an amazing weekend of celebrating Jeff's birthday and shooting with the wonderful Devinne of Mox and Socks, it's been a little hard to find the time to write up a post or two about my Cambridge adventure. I had such an incredible time visiting England for the first time that I want these posts to be perfect, which (for me) makes it harder to get started.