Last day of school!

 

Today was my daughter's last day of first grade! I actually got a bit emotional while dropping her off at school and think some other parents did, too! I do love her elementary school and teachers. It's a nice community.

I ran the kids to school and preschool in our Burley trailer/jogging stroller today and stopped at the grocery store for some milk and fruit on the way back. It was maybe a 2.5-mile roundtrip? The distance on my Apple Watch isn't very accurate when the phone is in the Burley because it sometimes "thinks" that I'm driving. Very slowly, I guess. Anyway, I'm not sure how long I'll be able to do this Burley/stroller jog with both kids. My almost-7-year-old is essentially sitting in a stroller next to her brother when I do this, even if it doesn't look exactly like a stroller. That said, why is sitting in car any better than sitting in a stroller?

The rest of the day, I worked, threw in some laundry, went for a walk outdoors. It was a nice warm day, though the afternoon is still windy, as per usual here. Work was fine, except I don't like the feeling of never being on top of all my tasks and requests. There's ALWAYS more I could do, and there are always requests coming out of the woodwork - like a project that just landed on my plate from some other group within marketing, even though my plate is already more than full. I know I have it so much easier than people toiling in coal mines or factories or even knowledge workers who are in jobs they hate. My work is fun, I work with nice people and have a lot of flexibility...and yet, it could be better.

Anyway, tonight we're going to have an easy dinner (couscous, raw vegetables, fruit), do the whole bedtime routine, and then my husband is taking a red-eye to Philly for his cousin's wedding. The wedding doesn't allow kids, so I'm staying home with the kiddos. Which is fine.

Tomorrow, I will take the kids to our gym in the morning - I hope to take advantage of the on-site childcare for an hour or so while I do some work and life admin. Then we'll go to a birthday party in the neighborhood, after which my daughter has her annual ballet performance. Last night and this morning, she suddenly became terrified of the performance. We were able to mollify her by promising a "Squishmallow art set" after the performance (decided that this is an appropriate situation for bribery). She seemed to feel much better after that, but we'll see how it goes tonight tomorrow. Thankfully, my dad is going to come and help out with the 3-year-old so that I can focus on getting M to and through the performance.

O just went to pick up the kids from school - I'm going to wrap up the workday, make this couscous, and get ready for the weekend.

Office day + outfit

On Tuesday, I went to the office because some of my management was in town and we had a team lunch. I work in a VERY casual environment, so this was my outfit: Mother jeans, Jenni Kayne cropped cashmere cocoon cardigan, Quince scoop neck tee, and Nordstrom Carolina sandals. 

Was it the most creative and fashionable outfit ever? No. Was it comfortable, reasonably put-together and very "me"? Yes, it was, and so I figured it's worth sharing. 

Going to the office was nice. I'm still extremely thankful that I'm mostly a remote employee because the commute is at least 50 minutes each way door-to-door, more with the (very likely) traffic. The office is nice, and it's always fun and valuable to see my colleagues. I keep saying I'll make it a point to go in more frequently, but, in reality, I need a compelling event - like managers visiting from out of town. Maybe this quarter I'll make it in more!

 

Memorial Day weekend

We had an active weekend, even though it was relatively cold and pretty windy. Low 50s on Saturday and low 60s Sunday and Monday. 

On Saturday, we drove to Berkeley to visit my husband's and my alma mater. We also both got our Master's degrees from there, I'm not sure what the term for that is. I think alma mater just applies to undergrad.

Anyway, we started at the Downtown Berkeley farmers' market, which was a weird as I remember it. This surprised me because Berkeley has become more and more "upscale" in the last 10-20 years. Perhaps this is because the school year is over, summer school hasn't started yet, and many of the wealthier residents were out of town for the long weekend. In any case, we bought a couple of pastries (which the kids rejected), and Y became obsessed with getting cherries (which we didn't buy because we didn't want to carry them around, and we need to pit cherries before giving them to the kids).

We walked through the campus to the Campanile, the big tower in the middle, and even got to go to the top. The kids rode their scooters, even uphill, and I was impressed with Y's stamina. Then we went back down and had lunch at Triple Rock Brewery, which I visited many times in college and after without realizing it was apparently only the 5th brewpub in all of the U.S.! I'm not sure what defines a "brewpub", perhaps I will research that another day.

On Sunday, I took the kids to Sports Basement to find wetsuits. Not for surfing, but for swimming in the cold pools around where we live. We live in a very windy area, and the afternoons often aren't warm until August or even September/October. And the pools are heated, but a couple fewer degrees than I would like. 

To take advantage of the pool at our gym and the pool where the kids take lessons, I decided to buy them short wetsuits. Unfortunately, SB only had the full-length versions, but I at least tried them on for size and then ordered online. But the kiddos looked adorable, and we bought some crocs and water/outdoor toys. So the trip wasn't for nothing. Then we went to the pool at our gym, which was actually not too cold that day, and in the afternoon an adorable friend of Y's came over for a playdate. 

On Monday, Memorial Day, we went to our gym pool again and met u with friends. M swam very well, she's 95% to being water safe at this point, I would say, but she got really cold. The pic is of her in my old high school swim parka, warming up. The kids ran around with friends and had a lot of fun. 

Here's a random photo of O and Y doing stretching or push-ups or something like that. I think that's from Monday morning. I ran on Saturday and did stationary cycling with Bakari on Sunday and Monday. And like 10 minutes of upper body strength, but that's a lot better than nothing!

 

Friday off: spinning, errands and lunch date

                                                   

 My company had the day off for the long weekend. I was woken up at 6:20am by my 6-year-old daughter, who needed urgent help with assembling a parting gift for her favorite teacher in her aftercare program (who I had never heard mentioned before, by the way). Apparently, today was this teacher's last day. Because I didn't want M to make a ton of noise and wake up her brother, I immediately proceeded to wrap up the following: a kids' sleep mask (which appears to fit me), a small cute Rifle Paper notebook, and a couple of tsotchkes, one random, the other handmade by M. There was also talk of giving her a used folder (which I may have owned since college!) and some random sticker, but I said no more. 

After that, I did a 30-minute stationary bike workout on our patio with my favorite Apple Fitness trainer, Bakari Williams. I also like his HIIT workouts. 

After that, I helped get the kids off to school, got ready, puttered around the house organizing things, had coffee/breakfast and wrote in my journal. Then I did a bit of work-related reading - something that I don't have time to do during regular workweeks, and that can make me a lot more effective, since I still have a LOT to learn about the domain (IT service and operations software) that I'm marketing. 

Then, I got ready to run some errands and meet a friend for lunch. 

         

I wore my Mother jeans, my Adidas samba sneakers, and a random fuzzy zip-up that I bought from a thrift store back in January. 

I returned almost $1,000 of clothes to Nordstrom, dropped off some things at Goodwill (felt so good!) and ate a delicious Poke bowl.

Then I came home and did some random research of running vacations (maybe for next year, we'll see). And some more puttering and tidying. Also sent out some birthday invitations for the kids' upcoming parties. 

Now it's almost 5, and it's time to take M to her last ballet class of the season!

Likes and dislikes: 19-year-old journal, kiddos, and new shoes

 

My mom brought over my journal from 2005, I have no idea where it was tucked away. I have accumulated many old journals over the years, decades, and am storing most of them in a box. I have contemplated burning them or shredding them because there's just so much angsty garbage on those pages, and I really don't want anybody to read that stuff. Even I don't want to read most of it. And yet - some entries are fun to read, like this one from a spontaneous trip to Puerto Vallarta with one of my best friends!

One of the fun things about reading these entries is reliving the memories, of course. But the other is that, while I have certainly changed and grown as a human, my lifestyle and many habits are pretty different - my essence is still the same. In particular, I still like and dislike the same things. This reminds me of one of Gretchen Rubin's Secrets of Adulthood: "You can choose what you do; you can't choose what you LIKE to do."

Speaking of things I like and dislike, I went through a coaching exercise to write down what lights me up and makes my heart sing. Most of the things on the list had nothing to do with parenting, other than the totality of being a mother, but even that is a lot more complicated than "lighting me up". What I mean is that a lot of aspects of parenting activities are so complicated - they are very nurturing and very tough at the same time. That said, one particular thing about my kids that gives me pure joy is seeing them interact and play together. I had no idea how much joy that would bring me when we decided to have two kids. They do fight, of course, but watching them be best buddies warms my heart with love and gratitude.

This is them waving "bye" to their grandma as she drove away after a visit.

Moving on to things I dislike: shopping for shoes. I wear size 10.5, which poses a lot of problems. Many brands do not make sizes above 10, and the ones that do often skip 10.5 and go straight from 10 to 11. In addition, my feet are wide AND I have bunions. Finally, I am 5'9" and don't love towering over people, though I'm still working on embracing that and wearing more heels, anyway. Because I just love how they look. BONUS: I stubbed my pinky toe several weeks ago, and it still hasn't healed. Maybe because I keep walking and running on it. This one is temporary, hopefully. 

Anyway, this lovely pair arrived earlier this week, and I really like them. They are quite comfortable (even wearable with my pained toe right now), a good height. and the insole is LEATHER! Which makes your feet a lot less sweaty and more comfortable in warm/hot weather. I'm no foot model, but these are quite flattering!

I am contemplating buying one of the other colors either instead of or in addition to the black. They seem to be pretty good quality. They do make a bit of a sound when I walk and when my heel lifts of the sole, but I'm hoping that will go away. In any case, I can only spend so much of my limited time searching for shoes. Beggars with 10.5-size wide feet can't be choosers.

 

Microblading

 

I got my eyebrows done last week. The process was technically called "Microshading", and I actually originally received the procedure in February, but the result was pretty bad - one of the eyebrows was great, but the other was very angled, weirdly shaped, and didn't match at all. I finally went to a different salon and a more experienced provider. Who also charges twice the price of my original one, but I should've just done it right the first time! Note to self and others who are ever considering.

It's been almost a week, they are still healing, but I'm happy with the result. The right eyebrow still looks more arched, but I have a follow-up appointment with the microblading provider (basically, a specialized tattoo artist) in a few weeks and hope to even them out even more then.

I don't have any photos of the "before", but it was a sad situation. Both eyebrows were barely hanging on, the left eyebrow had no tail - I over-plucked it in my teens or 20s - and I was to tired of drawing them on every day and having to touch up later. Once this process is complete, I hope it will take one annoying task off my to-do list. 

Week off

 I have the week off from work, and I really, really need this. I was so exhausted and still sick from last week's cold and massive conference. Today is Wednesday, and I'm finally feeling closer to my normal self, whatever that is. 

I went swimming at the gym on Monday and today, went for a run yesterday. I'm also thinking of trying hot yoga nearby again this week. It's a bit of a commitment, but I've never gone enough to feel any difference in my physical and mental well-being. And maybe I want to try?

I also "ran into" Target this morning, ostensibly to pick up an online order. And ended up with probably more than $100 of stuff - mostly food I can't get at Trader Joe's, as well as a couple of small gifts and supplies for the kids' birthdays. I didn't even look at the clothes or the shoes, thankfully!

Outfits from yesterday:

My colorful running outfit. Is this "dopamine dressing"?

Amour Vert faux wrap dress from Stitch Fix. I'm still not sure if I love it, it's a little large on top, but it feels very nice on and is just so easy to wear. I missed the return window while debating, so I kept it. The material feels nice, we'll see how well it will wash!

                                                        

Recent work and casual outfits

I went to a conference last week and had to wear professional clothes. Gasp! And by professional, I mean business casual that leans more casual than business. While I probably still prefer this to all-suits-and-heels-all-the-time, it's not always easy. Are sneakers OK? (yes, in tech they are) But do they need to be super clean and white? (probably!) Another rule of thumb - blazers are highly recommended, and they do seem to dress up a lot of other things, so I found them useful. 

A couple of other constraints that I faced:

1) I was required to wear black pants or a black skirt every day for at least half the day because I was staffing the trade shoe/Expo floor, and our uniform was black bottoms + a polo branded with our company's logo. 

2) I had a broken pinky toe (from several weeks ago, healing, but very slowly), which severely constrained my shoe choices. Thankfully, soft sneakers worked well, as did some open-toed sandals (which were not ergonomic, though). 

3) Not necessarily a constraint, but I was sick (with a cold), overstimulated and felt like garbage half the time. I don't do uncomfortable clothes anymore, and especially not in this state.

That said, here are some of the things I packed, wore, AND bought at the nearby mall (because even when I'm sick, I'll take advantage of a walking-distance Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus).

This is the "Going Out Blazer" from Crew, size 6 Tall. I'm 5'9", and the Regular was OK, but tall was better. This blazer is well-constructed and comfortable because it's stretchy. It's 100% polyester, which I do not like, but I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a wool blazer that I would only wear occasionally. Note that the sleeves are not full-length, but I think that's by design.

The pink blazer is a Club Monaco blazer that I rented from Rent the Runway and decided to keep because it was only $30. And it's got a significant wool composition, mixed with a synthetic, though the lining is polyester. It's stretchy and very comfortable. other than the polyester bit. 

This is one of my MVP tops. I got it from Stitch Fix several years ago - it's the 41 Hawthorn "Juanis" top, and I love how it looks and fits. Stitch Fix doesn't carry it anymore, but it's available used on Postmark and other sites. I wish it was silk and not 100% polyester, so if I ever find something similar in a natural fabric one day, it will be the perfect top. 

This simple gray shirt from Quince - it's their modal scoop neck top. I have the medium. Just a good basic shirt for casual wear. It does get pretty wrinkled, so I would have had to iron it or steam it to wear it under the blazer, which I never did on this trip. Under it is an amazing layering tee from Loft, which they don't seem to carry anymore - I would buy more if they did!

These are the Horton pants from M.M.LaFleur. They are wool AND they are lined. They are great because I'm tall, but they are too tight in the waist for me! I have size 8, maybe I should have gone up to a 10. Or I'll need to get the waist widened somehow at the tailor. I have worn them once before and haven't wanted to wear them again, including at the conference. 

This is an old dress I got from a rental service called LeTote. It went out of business. I used to love this dress, but I'm over it now. It's polyester, and the floral print looks kind of tired to me now. I still brought it with me and wore it because it fits well and looks decent. I could use a couple more casual dresses. 

Another polyester top that I got a while ago from Nordstrom. It's cute, I have to wear it over a cotton tank since I don't like how polyester feels against my skin, but I wore it under the JCrew "Going Out" blazer and it worked well. I like the scalloped neckline. The color in this photo is off, it's more of a Barbie pink.

And here are a few photos of me actually wearing the items!

This is the JCrew "Going Out" blazer and the pink scallop-edged top, worn with Good American flare jeans (which I ended up returning because I wasn't sure that I'd get enough wear out of them to justify the purchase) and my Adidas Sambas. The Sambas were a little too dirty to be professional, but I still wore them because they were comfortable.

Above is my "Expo uniform" one of the days - the pants are amazingly comfortable, look great, and I got them from Nordstrom while on the trip. They are the Good American Scuba Crop, and they are a little shiny in bright light, but not under normal indoor lighting, or at least I didn't think so. The material is similar to wetsuit material - hence the Scuba - but they feel SO comfortable. I wore them one of the days for work and also traveled back in them, and I just love them. They do present some VPL issues, so make sure your underwear is appropriate. 

Oh- and the cute white sneakers here are the Tory Burch Howell sneakers in 10.5. I loved the look and they were reasonably comfortable, but I also read lots of reviews about hthe leather creasing super quickly, and I don't like that for almost $200. They are also not as comfortable as my Adidas Sambas. I dunno, I may ended up getting the Tory Burch ones again, but may first try these Ecco sneakers. Why the mens'? I have tried the Women's, the they felt too narrow for me. 

  

I also bought new jeans - yay! See below. All the jeans I have are either too big or too small or too dark or not in great shape. Ugh. These are the Mother Hustler ankle fray jeans in the "Healing Jar" wash. I got them in Size 30 - had to swallow my pride because I have thought of myself as a 28-29 for many years, but I think I also had a lot of digestive issues because my jeans' waistlines were digging in too much. No more, especially not with these high rises! The photo below is in the Neiman Marcus fitting room, and the other one is in the hotel bathroom (which has ridiculously flattering mirrors and lighting, BTW). The white sandals are the Nordstrom Carolina slides, which I love, as do many people, apparently, because they are sold out in my size (11). Otherwise I would get them in at least one more color. I wouldn't recommend walking miles in them if you are over 35 and/or have ever had knee/back/foot problems. Though I did exactly that one of the conference days, and it was doable and not painful, but not ergonomic at all.

Note that the other washes of the Mother Hustler jeans don't looks the same or as good, at least not on me. Above is the Heirloom wash, the fabric composition is different, and they are just not as flattering. Maybe It would be better on somebody with skinnier legs. 

Hope this is helpful in some way if you come across this post!