Thursday, March 28, 2013

Success

The universe rewards action. Successful people take action towards a known outcome. You can't think about it. You have to do it—and you don't do it for a week or a month. You do it until.  Until you get what you want. ”
— Dr. Phil McGraw
 
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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

On Marriage Equality

As the Supreme Court weighs the issue of Gay Marriage, I was tempted to bypass the topic here entirely.  Honestly, the issue is such a no brainer for me, such an absolute, that it almost seems absurd that we still even need to discuss it.  The opposition to gay marriage seems to insist that it is about protecting the "sanctity" of marriage.  However, the sanctity of marriage has perhaps never been as lost as it is now. Almost daily, we watch politicians, ministers, athletes, and celebrities openly confess their extramarital affairs, have widely extravagant weddings and divorce weeks later, marry 3,4,5 different times.   We do not take away their right to marry because they have essentially laughed in the face of the sanctity of it.  

Piers Morgan said it quite well last night.  He didn't drone on about why this change needs to happen.  Instead he simply said that opposing gay marriage is not fair, not tolerant, and not American.   Well said. 


Tuesday, March 26, 2013

This week's goal...

Other than walking with friends at the mall, there has been virtually no exercise since J arrived.  I did some yoga while I was home on maternity leave to get the cobwebs off, but nothing strenuous.  I had some post-partum physical complications (in addition to my c-section), which made the recovery process a little longer than anticipated and quite frankly, my maternity leave was so relaxed and enjoyable I just allowed myself to revel in it. 

Now that I've been back to work for almost a month (how the heck is that possible??!! TIME FLIES!) and I've gotten back into my routine here, I'm thinking of how to reincorporate some exercise into my life.   I want to keep my expectations reasonable and attainable.  I'm going to start this week with a simple goal - exercise 3 days.  I'm not labeling what I need to do --- I just want to change into workout clothes and move, whatever that may be.  Hopefully writing it here will make me a bit more accountable.

You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day - unless you're too busy;
then you should sit for an hour.
~ Old Zen adage

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Easter Style

I love Ascot Friday's cool, effortless style for both her and her little guys.  Loads of baby boy inspiration over there...

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Friday, March 22, 2013

Caroline Myss II

Caroline Myss via the Daily Love

"Developing self-esteem requires an act of revolution, or several mini-revolutions, in which we begin to separate from group thought and establish our own sense of authority. We may suddenly; realize we hold an opinion different from our family or our peers, but in either case we will have difficulty freeing ourselves from the group's energy, whose strength depends upon numbers and opposition to most expressions of individuality The act of finding our own voice, even in mini-revolutions, is spiritually significant. Spiritual maturity is measured not by the sophistication of a person's opinions, but by their genuineness and the courage necessary to express and maintain them. By courage, I do not mean the intractable stubbornness of two people locking horns, Spiritual maturity in contrast, is the capacity to stand one's ground as a reflection of a genuine inner belief."

- Caroline Myss

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Time...

“Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can't make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you'll never get back. Your time is your life." - Rick Warren, the Purpose Driven Life.
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Monday, March 18, 2013

If I could...

New England is a place of extreme weather.  The winter's can be a bit brutal with temps in the single digits and frequent snow storms.  The summer's get hot, humid and uncomfortable.   It's easy to complain about the weather here...today my car thermometer read 21 degrees (ouch!) but there's no amount of complaining that will ever change it.  So I try to keep my expectations reasonable.  Yes it's March, no that does not mean winter is over.   Anyways, I like boot season... 

But if I could, I would hop on a flight down to New Orleans.  Some warm sunshine, a spicy bloody Mary and some of the absolute best food in the country. We were there last year at this time.  What a difference a year makes...

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Thursday, March 14, 2013

On Commuting...

Interesting.  I wholeheartedly concur with this study.  I will sacrifice a larger home for a shorter commute, in a heartbeat.   

  • Buying time. This raises the question: If more money won't make us much happier, what will? Here are four pointers.  Keep your commute short. Tempted to use your latest pay raise to buy a big house in a distant suburb? Don't do it.  While we often adjust amazingly well to life's hardships, commuting is an exception. "You can't adapt to commuting, because it's entirely unpredictable," says Daniel Gilbert, author of "Stumbling on Happiness" and a psychology professor at Harvard University. "Driving in traffic is a different kind of hell every day."
The complete article is here.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Kate's Creative Space - does it again!

I think this woman is one of the craftiest ladies on the internet.  I posted about her play-kitchen before and now check out this "Hardware Store" also made from a repurposed book shelf.  Maybe one day I can try to do something similar for our little one.  Just awesome!! 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Toni Morrison on Love

“Don’t ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn’t fall in love, I rose in it. I saw you and made up my mind.” -- Jazz. Toni Morrison


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Monday, March 11, 2013

The weekend

I worried that once I started working again my weekends would be a blur of errand-running and boring chores.   However, after surviving work week #1 with better than anticipated results, I also survived my first weekend post-work.   It was nice!   A perfect combination of some errands --- the groceries just have to be done and there is simply no other time to do them --- with a fun visit with friends, some cooking, some alone time with my husband and plenty of giggles and smiles and fun with Baby J.   We woke early and resumed our maternity leave ritual of mama enjoying her coffee and J enjoying his swing-time.  On Saturday morning, I glanced over and saw him "find his hand".  He was staring at it in pure awe...turning it all around.  It was such a precious moment.  It reminded me that this is all new to him.  Every sight, smell, sound...and we, his parents, get to witness the world reveal itself to him.  What a gift. 

Friday, March 8, 2013

Sam Edelman Aster Cap

I bought these Sam Edelman flats to spruce up my spring work wardrobe.  Paired with a skinny ankle pant, I like the classic, yet modern, look.  However, what REALLY shocked me was how comfortable they are.   They are super padded on the inside and very, very easy on the feet.  Comfort & style --- yes, definitely speaking this working mama's language.

Happy Friday, friends!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

3.5 months

Baby J, you are growing like a little weed.  You are already 3.5 months and you're outgrowing your clothes faster than we can even keep up.   Your legs have perfect little chubby rolls on them and your smile gets bigger by the day.  Any moment now you're going to have your first laugh attack.... we're all on the edge of our seats waiting for that! 

You continue to be the happiest guy, a wonderful bright star full of good energy.  You have beautiful deep brown eyes and of course, your signature head of hair.  But mama's favorite is your smile. Your entire face lights up.  I just count my blessings everyday for being entrusted with raising you.  You are a wonderful little soul. 

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Back at it

There's so much I want to say here about my maternity leave.  I've only been back to work for a day and a half and my leave is already feeling like a distant memory.   I'm promising myself to make a post reflecting on the time I got to spend home with Baby J before my recollection of it fades too much.

In the meantime, there's also so many little tidbits that I've been meaning to post here.  As I say all the time, I do this site for me.  It's a great way to keep track of my life, favorite articles, nice quotes, inspiring photos etc.   So here's something that seemed especially relevent yesterday, my first day back (quoted and paraphrased from this article via Cup of Jo)

---- It should go without saying, but somehow it doesn’t in our media culture: Raising children is highly personal. It’s the nexus of everything unique about your life: Your goals, your relationship with your spouse, your child’s needs, and even your religious beliefs.

….Some women have very engaged husbands, some have husbands who are never alone with their kids. Some women’s careers — even if demanding — can be location-flexible; others cannot. Some require travel, and some women can travel well pregnant, and others have harder pregnancies. Some women are lucky enough to have easy children, some have children who don’t sleep and scream all night. If you don’t think these little realities of life are very real factors in achieving work-life balance, what is?
Beyond that, everyone’s definition of “having it all” varies. For me, it’s building a company, being there for my employees, having a healthy relationship with my husband, and raising my kids. That’s pretty much it. It’ll take me a long time to lose baby weight, because my schedule doesn’t give me much time to work out. I don’t take vacations. I don’t have a group of tight girlfriends, or really many friends that I see regularly at all. My kids will not go to the most exclusive private school, because we can’t afford it.
Quitting my job to work at a startup meant almost no disposable income and even less time.  Those are all trade-offs I gladly and willingly made before starting my company. But to another woman “having it all” might include a 9,000 square foot house and a designer closet. To another woman, “having it all” might include never missing a child’s haircut. To me, it does not.
Are we all supposed to be the same person just because we are the same gender?
When people have asked how I’ve balanced starting a company with being pregnant and having a one-year-old, I’m happy to share my experience. But I always couch that the reasons it works for me are highly specific to who I am, who my husband is, and what we both do for a living. To a large degree, we’ve shaped the world around the lives we want to have. We weren’t able to do that because we’re rich (as a writer and a photographer, we’re as solidly California middle-class as you can get). We did it because we prioritized what really mattered to us and didn’t accept people like Slaughter telling us what we couldn’t do.
making that work in practice is a crazy quilt of a million little learned tricks and uniquenesses to my particular situation, my personality, my job, and my marriage. It’s not meant as a blueprint for anyone but me.