Friday Five: Bad Mom + First Sleepover

PLUS: a recipe I've made four times in two weeks

Welcome to Friday Five, where I share five things that are on my mind in the hopes of helping you connect to your Mom Flow. We took a break last week, but I’m baaack and excited to get into it.

P.S: don’t forget to listen to this like a podcast using the article voiceover feature at the top of this post.

🏠 Real estate update

We’ve been deep into the prep to… drumroll… list our place! Dipping our toe in escalated quickly and the last week has been dedicated to getting our place decluttered to photograph for the listing. I didn’t know it was so much work, and we’re just getting started. We spent two days this week (OK, Roberto spent two, I spent one) going through everything to make it look like no one lives here. Fun times with a toddler. No, we have not found a place, but in the crazy market that is in Vancouver, we are selling before buying. This already has felt like a pretty draining and emotional experience and balancing it on top of everything else has been a lot and I feel like it’s just getting started. So, photos and videos happen this week, and then listing happens next week. I’ll keep you updated!

😴 Lola’s first sleepover

IT HAPPENED. Lola had her first sleepover at her grandparents! I feel like our world just opened up? In the almost four years since she’s been born, if we are home for the night, so is she. In other words, we’ve never had a night at home without her. It happened out of the blue and with zero prep, which did freak me out, but I just rolled with it. They were watching her for the day and said they wanted to have her sleepover… so, ok! I was 100% expecting a frantic 9pm call that we needed to come get her, but she was super chill and had a great time. We’re pretty pumped to make this something more regular.

👩‍🍳 Current hyper-fixation meal (with the guess-ipe!)

I’m very into hyper-fixation meals - the meals I make over and over and then ditch for a bit. It’s a Greek Bowl and ticks a lot of my boxes bc it feels fresh healthy. I like that it uses the same ingredients for most of the components.

There are four components to it, but I can whip it up in 30 mins + cooking time.

Here’s how I make it, this is a guess-ipe, not a recipe i.e. these are all to taste:

Greek meatballs: ground chicken, garlic, dill and/or mint, salt, Greek seasoning. I don’t even bother forming proper balls, favouring a raggedy ball-like shape that I drop into the frying pan, because, lazy AF.
Greek potatoes: Unpeeled potatoes, cut into small-ish chunks or wedges, Greek seasoning, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, dijon. Bake at 400 until crispy.
Greek sauce: kind of like tzatziki but not. Yogurt, lemon juice, mint and/or dill, onion powder, garlic powder, honey, s&p.
Greek salad: tomatoes, cucumber, olives, feta, lemon juice, olive oil, salt.

It’s soooo good. I pile it into a bowl, drizzle with my sauce, and dive in. You could serve with pita, but we don’t. Make lots and have leftovers - I always make the salad portion fresh bc I need crisp edges on my veg, I am who I am. Notice how I always mention salt in my recipes? I feel like the correct amount of salt takes something from drab to hey, I’m a pretty good cook, so always keep that in mind.

👀 Am I a… bad mom?

I have a confession. There are some days I feel like a bad mom. I fight it and know in my heart it’s not true, but when I have hard days, you know, the days where you are impatient, lack empathy, have some crappy inner thoughts, I wonder if I am the best mom for Lola and think she deserves better. Whenever I feel this way, it 100% drags down my confidence in all areas. I feel like a fraud, and the thoughts can get dark. What’s good about this is that the next day, I feel like the best mom ever, and while it can be a rollercoaster, I love knowing that it’s a temporary feeling. To be honest, I’m not sure if I’m alone in this which is why I want to say the quiet part out loud - in case you see yourself in this.

😍 A few things you might like

The Sephora sale starts today for the Rouge members (um, me, I clearly buy too much from Sephora) and these are the things I’m perhaps going to restock on and/or try!

Concealer - The brand sent it for me to try and the hype is real, it’s SO good!
Blush - I don’t need anymore blush buuut I really want to try this brand new one.
Skin Tint - 100% my fave and it has skin care + spf, makes me look glowy, I just haaate the price and always get a new one when the sale is on.
Lip Balm - I always have a few of these on the go, and I will grab a few more for sure.

That’s it for this week. If you like this content, please tap the heart or leave a comment. Maybe even consider forwarding it to a friend who would love this content. Thanks Harp, Jeanice, Jen, Bethany, Reagen, Carolyn and Ashlee for the comments last week! You make my day.

xx, Erin

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