No. 6
Where I’ve been
Well hello. My dedication to writing daily fell off the wagon. The past couple of months have been busy and forced me to take a mental break. The shootings in Uvalde rocked me and enraged me. The juggle of motherhood, making time for myself and working a full-time job has left me feeling fragmented.
What I am reading
Reading has been my outlet and break from reality. Some books I have enjoyed have been The Club by Ellery Lloyd, Every Summer After by Carley Fortune, They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman, and The Cave Dwellers by Christina McDowell. I’m currently reading I’ll Show Myself Out by Jessi Klein. I have some of my reviews up on Goodreads, I’m trying to make more of an effort on writing my reviews than just letting them live up in my head.
What I am loving
I’ve probably spent a little too much time scrolling instagram, but I recently found Ashley Kane and I have loved looking at her dreamy posts from Northern California. About 6 years ago I went to Sonoma County for a weekend and couldn’t get over how beautiful everything was there. The temperature was perfect and there were flowers everywhere. It was impossible to not fantasize about what life would look like for me if I just up and moved. To be honest, I still think about living somewhere that isn’t Texas. It’s going to be 107 today so that dream is itching to become a reality.
I’ve been thinking what it would mean to live a life of less. Since the housing market is insane and inflation is increasing daily, my dream of buying a house this year is probably going on the back burner for now. This leaves me with a lot of anxiety in our current living situation. We have a 900 sq foot home that has to house 3 people daily and sometimes 5 when we have Cameron’s other two boys. When there are 5 of us, I become a little claustrophobic since I have no escape. There’s a kid in every room or Cameron, and when you compound that with all of our stuff, there is very little living space. My goal this summer is to pare down stuff. Mostly mine because I’m the one that moved from a 700 sq ft apartment into this situation. I’m also trying to figure out what my style is now that I have my new “mom bod”.
I went to my storage unit yesterday to look for bathing suits from last year when I realized that a lot of what I packed up, I’m not really in love with anymore. It was a really weird feeling to see pieces that I loved and would wear over and over again kind of leave me feeling unsatisfied. I don’t have a “style” yet, but I have been more and more attracted to the simple uniform of a button up and some jeans…I guess the Coastal Grandmother look? I work for a corporation that is leaning more towards a casual place, but my manager is more old school and prefers if we look more professional than that, so I’m kind of stuck. I don’t really want to invest in clothes that are deemed only for work, but I also don’t want to be seen as too casual.
I think if I start buying some key, well-made basics that can be dressed up for work or dressed down for crawling on the floor with Wilder that might be a good start. I keep looking at Jenni Kayne sweaters which is so dumb since its so hot here, but I am wishful thinking of winter because Texas doesn’t have a fall. I also want a simple linen shift dress that can be layered with one of my beloved button ups or a cardigan for work. I guess I’m leaning towards a capsule wardrobe? TBD…first I need to create a poshmark account to sell some of my old items.