Unlike much of our life right now, Mother’s Day won’t look much different for me this year, which is a good thing! My favorite Mother’s Day celebrations have been low-key affairs at home, with breakfast in bed from my kids and a little free time to relax. My mom lives 5 hours away so we’ll Facetime with her, but other than that, no social obligations (obviously).
My favorite Mother’s Day recipes are ones that don’t take many ingredients or require much clean-up in the kitchen. Who wants to spend Mother’s Day looking at extra dirty dishes!? I want some fresh fruit, a carbs, a little protein, and coffee.
My kids are still pretty young, so my favorite cheat is to make part of my breakfast-in-bed ahead of time. I make strawberry shortcake for dessert the day before, and leave out a few extras that my kids can add strawberries and whipped cream to and still feel like they “made” breakfast. For older kids, I think they could make these from scratch, and they only take 15 minutes to bake.
I use this recipe because it's easy enough for kids (or dads?) to follow and doesn’t require a lot of ingredients or steps. I used heavy cream instead of buttermilk and they were delicious.
Happy Mother's Day!
]]>My kids are still young enough (10, 6 & 4) that celebrating Valentine’s Day with them is sweet and uncomplicated. This year, I’m making yummy strawberry smoothies with an over-the-top sweet surprise for an easy, quick Valentine breakfast. And our Spotted table cover makes an easy backdrop for Valentine's decorations.
Sugar and Valentine’s Day are mandatory in my kids’ eyes, and even without the crazy swizzle stick of macarons, cotton candy, and donuts, this smoothie is sweet and fruity. I snuck in spinach, almond milk, and protein powder to the smoothie to make it a little more healthy and filling.
Happy Valentine's!
]]>I vaguely remember turning 30. I had a brand-new baby boy and had no idea what I was doing as a mom. I had just gone back to work at a job I didn’t feel good at, and commuted an hour each way. I was excited about celebrating my birthday (I’m a Leo, after all) but had zero bandwidth to plan anything. None of my clothes fit and I didn’t have the time, motivation, or money to spend on shopping for anything cute. And we were new to the neighborhood after living in Seattle for years and hadn’t made any local friends. Things weren’t bad -- especially in the grand scheme of things -- but I just remember feeling down in the dumps about turning 30.
My husband was a super-star and threw me a great surprise party at a restaurant in Seattle. A bunch of friends and former co-workers came and it was lovely. It was one of the first times I’d been out since my son was born and I had so much fun.
And now 40…
I am truly excited for my 40s. I’ve heard from so many people that their 40s are/were amazing and a great balance of feeling secure in who they were and yet still healthy enough to enjoy their kids and be physically active. I feel so lucky that I can agree with that sentiment and that I feel both comfortable with where I’m at and grateful for my and my family’s health.
As someone who runs a business centered on celebrating every birthday, especially big milestones like 40, I feel a lot of pressure to REALLY make a big deal about my 40th (self-imposed pressure, naturally). I kind of made things difficult because I waited till the last minute to make plans, which, if you have an August birthday in the Pacific Northwest means everyone already has plans for every August weekend (you’ve got to take advantage of the weather!). So, my husband and I planned a quick getaway to Walla Walla wine country on my actual birthday, and a later-in-September weekend celebration with friends.
Both were magical, and I definitely felt spoiled. I'm a firm believer that happiness is celebrating life with the people you love, no matter what age you are. And the best part of getting older is having people I love in my life for 5, 10, and 20 years. It's truly the best.
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