Life Lately
On My Mind This Week, 1.24.2022
It’s a new (big) week. The snow is falling and I’m working in the office with Conor. We had a slow weekend at home (where else would we be?). I cleaned and organized, baked with Margot, played with the girls, rented Sing 2 again, and Margot took her first nap in maybe 4-6 months! Still can’t believe that happened. Here’s what’s on my mind on this snowy Monday.
On My Mind This Week, 1.24.2022
Thinking about the future
With the end of treatment months away (180 days to be exact), we’ve been talking about what we want our lives to look like. A cancer diagnosis forces you to really realize that time is not infinite, and that the time to live is now. Except there’s a pandemic and we can’t travel or see anyone. Living in the moment when the moment you’re in is hard is…hard. We want to enjoy the girls in these very sweet stages that I know we’ll miss someday, but at the same time, are waiting for what’s next. The end of treatment, warmer weather, time with friends, to be able to travel, and to experience life with our girls.
We have been talking about what we want for our lives. Where we want to live, the places we want to visit, and what we hope to do both personally and professionally once we’re able to do things again. It’s so crazy to me that for years I longed for freedom and felt sort of chained to a computer and messenger for work, and once I finally freed myself of that, I couldn’t leave the house or see anyone. I know it’s coming and that I’ll appreciate it when it does, but this got me thinking about other times in my life where I was waiting for something.
The lesson? Making the most out of where we are now. Enjoying the girls. Doing work I love, cleaning and organizing, and prioritizing self-care.
I have a newsletter!
My friend Rebecca talked me into starting a newsletter last week and I signed up for flodesk at her recommendation. It is a lot more affordable than Mailchimp and much easier to use. So why a newsletter? About 60% of my traffic comes from social media but only 25% of my followers see each instagram story where I share my content. I personally want to be on social less and don’t want people to feel like they have to be tuned in to know what’s going on, and this feels like the way to do just that.
My newsletter will recap what’s new each week, latest finds, what we’re cooking, our daily activities with the girls, and I’m sure I’ll share some new (original) content or thoughts that I don’t want to share here or on social.
You can sign up for my newsletter here.
Self-care for the week
I started 2022 off in such a good place – eating healthier and getting into a groove with my workouts. The week before Margot’s spinal and steroids I wasn’t in a great place and kept it up with eating healthy, but stopped working out. Why is that always the first thing to go when it’s so good for us? Ugh. Anyway, I haven’t worked out since, but I am committed to making time for me, so that’s what I’m doing this week. I am committed to getting at least 4 workouts in, but really want to start scheduling it in and making it a part of my daily routine.
Again, it’s such a struggle since I love studio classes and can’t safely do that right now.
I did some pre-spring cleaning this weekend
My goal is to deep clean every room in our home over the coming weeks and last weekend, I organized my closet and deep-cleaned the playroom. I picked every toy (basket) up off the floor, swept and steamed the floor, and wiped down all the baseboards and shelves. I even cleaned all the balls in the ball pit and washed the cover.
Tomorrow marks one year since we finished frontline treatment
Frontline treatment feels like a horrible, foggy memory that I haven’t come to terms with and probably never will. Margot was diagnosed in May 2020 and was in aggressive treatment (called frontline) for 254 days. Our lives felt over at diagnosis and I suppose the life I knew and the innocence we had as parents did come to an end. I honestly never thought we’d get through it, so to be one year out and to see how far she’s come is both heartbreaking and incredible. At this point one year ago, we had raised $85,000. Today, we’ve raised $275,000 to make things better for other kids.
This video gives you a closer look at what we went through – to what I went through as a mom. Watching the spinal tap hit hard because I’ve been there for 14 of those. 💔 It’s treatable but traumatic and the fact that this is “best case” feels like such a mind f*ck. You’re in this place of just trying to survive so you almost don’t realize what’s happening or how sick your baby looks, and it hits hard looking back. She’s doing so well, has come so far, and I’m so proud of her and of us, too.
Over the course of 3 days, Americans spend on coffee what the government spends on childhood cancer each year, yet an average of 43 children are diagnosed every single day. Please consider making a donation to help us make things better for other children.
My Chappywrap collection launches tomorrow
It’s kind of incredible that our collaboration launches one day after our end of frontline anniversary. 30% of each purchase goes toward our Alex’s Lemonade fundraiser, which funds research for new, life-saving treatment, and helps families going through treatment.
I added some new items to my shop!
Hope everyone has a good week!
