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| ILLUSTRATION BY MADDY NYE FOR DESIGNLOVEFEST |
THINKING ABOUT: We'll be headed to Missouri next weekend to visit my in-laws. With the impending road trip approaching, I really need to remember to order a reaching tool of some sort from Amazon. Perhaps this nifty nabber?? Now, I realize this probably sounds bizarre to some of you, but anyone that has traveled with a toddler will understand that the chucking game is VERY real. In fact, I don't know what this next detail says about me, but last year I got a bruise and rubbed the skin of my bicep (if you want to call it that...) raw from all the retrieving of snacks, toys, drinks, etc. Wow, just typing that last sentence makes me feel a teensy bit lame and pathetic, but I'm going to spin it instead and cite it as just another example of how I mom so hard.
THANKFUL FOR: I try to keep the details of parenthood fairly honest on the blog, and while 75% of the time Maxwell is terribly rotten, the remaining 25% of the time he can be incredibly sweet. Please keep in mind the figures above are guesstimated numbers that I believe work in a certain tot's favor. Ha Ha! Anywho, one of the sweet little things M. C. Fine has been doing lately involves hugs. OMGosh, you guys... I'm talking about the kind of genuine embrace you only witness at the arrivals gate at an airport. He begins the loving gesture by letting out a sweet long sigh, tilts his head to the right, and throws his arms out like "Come here, you!" It's enough to make me turn to mush. But in true Max fashion, HE has to be the one to initiate the hugging or you will more than likely be denied. I know this because I swing and I miss all too often. Lucky for me, the half-pint has learned to use this sweet trick to his advantage before bed and I get sucked in every night. It never fails, after hug number SEVEN, I'll catch Flyboy standing at the door and shaking his head because we all know it could go on forever, and I'm being played like a fiddle. Okay, but just one more! If you insist...
DRINKING: Eager to find ways to shake things up in Swell Rio, I headed to Starbucks on Tuesday to give the new Iced Coconut Milk Mocha Macchiato a whirl. I expected to try it once and go back to my dearly beloved, but I was pleasantly surprised by the creamy goodness. I'm already plotting my next outing so I can indulge in the limited-edition beverage again. Have you tried it??
WATCHING: Like many blogs, this space was created with the intention to find beauty and humor in the everyday, but last week I found it hard to keep things light and creative with everything going on in the headlines. I didn't want to turn to blogs or Instagram for the usual pretty escape, but I also didn't know what to say or do myself. I felt speechless and helpless with the desire to learn more. As Kate Arends stated so perfectly, "What we can do when faced with questions without answers is to combat our own fear and judgment with the practice empathy." The notion almost seems too simple, but it's so true. Please, I urge EVERYONE to watch this video by Brené Brown as she discusses the topic. I guarantee you will learn something about yourself and others in the process.
LISTENING TO: It's no secret Max is obsessed with Sesame Street songs, namely Feist's version of 1,2,3,4, so it only made sense for him to start clucking (like the chickens who just came back from the shore) when Billy Joel's A Matter of Trust started blaring in the car. I suppose the "One! Two! One, two, three, four!" at the beginning of the 80s hit set him off, which meant that I'd spend the rest of the drive home blending lyrics into a toddleriffic mashup to appease the child. Whenever Max would look at me in the mirror confused like "THIS ISN'T MY SONG!", I defaulted to clapping because clapping fixes everything.
READING: Gretchen Ruben recently shared a post she wrote several years ago about Julia Child and since I'm totally captivated with the vibrant chef's personality, reading A Happiness Lesson from Julia Child? seemed like a no-brainer to me. After the heavy feelings that came with last week, a splash of joy couldn't hurt. Here's one reminder I treasured most from Ruben's piece:
Enthusiasm is a terrific quality. The more I think about happiness, the more I value enthusiasm. It can seem cooler and smarter to be ironic, detached, or critical, and it’s certainly much easier and safer to adopt that sort of stance. But enthusiasm is more fun. Enthusiasm is generous, positive, energetic, and social. It’s outward-turning and engaged. It’s unselfconscious, warm-hearted, and kind of goofy. Like Julia Child!
LOVING: Whenever I write stuff down, I noticed that I hold myself extra accountable and I get the pleasure of checking items from my list. Because something so simple makes my Type-A heart flutter, I decided to start tracking my workouts and water intake. I jot my list down at the beginning of the week, post it on the fridge where I have to see it several times a day, and every time I down a bottle of water, go on a walk, or finish a spin sesh, I get the privilege of crossing it off m' list. How's that for enthusiasm??
Enough about me. How are you feeling today? What are you up to? Thanks for stopping by!!
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