Life Update – June 2020

Sale PSA: A black Nanushka midi dress which I’ve been eyeing forever, now 60% off, a gorgeous Ulla Johnson dress, now 55% off (I tried this and if I was even two inches taller I would have kept – the fabric is SO soft and nice), and a simple linen dress from Uniqlo, now under $30.

Also – holy smokes! The Net-A-Porter sale FINALLY started. Some picks: this adorable shirred linen dress from Sleeper, now 30% off, a cotton midi dress from Ulla Johnson, now 40% off, and classic Stan Smiths from adidas, now 50% off.

Hi there –

I thought I’d give an update on what we are doing, about three months into the shutdown in our county and state. When I see people in “real life” this is what we talk about – what we’re doing, how we’re feeling. I’d love to hear how you are all getting along, how you are all feeling too.

Kids: They are both in “preschool,” aka online preschool, which consists of an hour of Zoom classes each morning, split into two half hour long sessions. Honestly, you’d think they’d get tired of this (or that we would) but it helps to have these classes be a consistent part of our schedule each day. Their school is supposed to slowly begin opening up in person classes starting next month, but I’m a bit nervous about sending my daughter to preschool so early. We might keep her out until fall, but then there’s supposed to be a second wave and….ugh. For my son, who is supposed to start Kindergarten, I do feel more of an obligation to send him, for social aspects. We’re waiting for our local schools to issue their guidance on this topic and then we’ll make a choice. Would love to hear from other parents what’re your thinking about this topic! I will say that my husband and I are BURNT OUT on childcare. We’ve been swapping off who takes them/who gets to work in shifts.

Shopping: I’ve been shopping more. It’s just…I miss just seeing/doing anything new. For a long time a package coming with something like clothes, shoes, brought me no happiness but lately I’ve been shopping more. Just some leather sandals here, a dress there, maybe some pants (elastic waisted, of course). On that note – I’ve been wearing makeup approximately once or twice a week, which is way more than I ever did in the months earlier! Just makes me feel better about myself. BUT not wearing mascara most of the time has been great for my lashes!

Food: All I do is eat. Eat eat eat. My snacks of choice at the moment are English toffee and Japanese rice crackers. I usually only choose clothes with pockets in the morning because I like to stick snacks inside which I munch on throughout the day and in the house. I have definitely gained weight. Even some elastic waists can feel tight. In fact, I put on a pair of pants the other day and thought they seemed super comfortable and then realized they were a pair that I had stretched out while pregnant. I would switch to full on loose rompers/jumpsuits but then there’s the whole going to the bathroom issue.

Social distancing: I’m continuing to do this. And I’ve received some nifty new masks in the mail. I have to be honest however, that this week was one of our worst ones in terms of distancing – we had some playdates (outside), we had a picnic, we saw some friends, and we weren’t as careful as we’ve been for months and months. But now given the news of a second wave we’re going back to being extra careful and trying not to see people as much as possible.

The world: Is on fire and terrifying but we have to move on and keep going because we have to have lasting change. I truly believe this! We have to make life better for those who have been hurt and disadvantaged by society. I didn’t post on social media about the Black Lives Matter movement – partially because I find myself not wanting to post much on social media these days, and partially because my largest platform is still this blog, and I feel more comfortable writing about it here, where there is more space, and just donating directly. I have thought a LOT about the kind of life I want to lead. The kind of society I want for myself, for my children, and the individual responsibility I hold towards helping the world move towards that.

And finally…

At risk of sounding like a Pollyanna, I have to say: please be kind to yourselves! I can share that I am dealing with some fairly crazy matters right now and I have the tendency to be like “my God…why is this happening…in the middle of freaking pandemic with no childcare” but a) it is what it is and b) when I talk to other people, it sounds like everyone else is having a really hard time, too. We’re all having a tough go of it all but I truly hope that we can come out of this better, stronger, and healthy. I’m thinking about all of you! Please let me know how you are doing.