Friday Five: Being Basic + Bedroom Chaos

You don't need to do it ALL.

Welcome to Friday Five - we made it through another wild week! Love writing these and love having you here. Heads up: I’m going to be MIA for the next two Fridays which I’m bummed about. But, with so much travel coming up, I can’t do it all and part of the Mom Flow is knowing you can’t be all things to all people all at once. Co-sign?

☕️ Being Basic

Oh call me the most basic b, or a product of commercialism, but I will ALWAYS get a Starbucks holiday drink on launch day. It’s actually just so nostalgic for me and a testament to the hold that the corporation that is Starbucks can really get on you! I worked there with Roberto in the aughts (it’s where we met), and those Christmas roll outs we did together were epic and just so fun! They do them to like 10% now but we will always love grabbing that Starbucks holiday bev - the Gingerbread Latte is baaaack. I’m going to try adding a pump of white mocha to it, replacing one of the GB pumps, to make it a touch creamier and I’ll keep ya posted!

🎃 Our family costume

When I say that Halloween with a three year old is magical… OMG. I had so so sooo much fun this year doing our very first family costume. Lola wanted to be a pumpkin so we worked around that, landing on Pumpkin Spice Latte (ok, I swear this Friday Fave is not an ode to lattes lol). Uncle Derek was a Barista AKA our maker. I haven’t dressed up for prob over 15 years, and it was FUN. Not huge into overdoing it juuust yet and don’t count me in for anything crafty or homemade, but I can hang with a pretty easy costume and some fun makeup. We always spend Halloween at our close friends place and even though we all have different aged kids, pizza, excitement, and lots of candy is always a good time! I grew up in a Halloween fam - Roberto is NOT a Halloween guy but I think he’s coming around. Can I just say that my heart was the fullest it ever has been getting to make these memories and traditions for Lola and allowing myself to have a slower schedule when needed so I can really participate, feel it, and enjoy it, is just the best gift ever.

📚 The book I’ve been listening to

The Britney book is a must-read for me. It has been the best selling celeb memoir of all-time but I haven’t seen many people talking about it! It was a lot shorter than I expected (Jessica Simpson’s book was 11 hrs, Britney’s only 5 hrs) but there is quite a bit packed into it. Hearing from her POV is very eye opening - I always forget that the media concocts this character out of a little crumb just for their own benefit and that can ruin a person. It’s so freaking toxic. Hearing about how she was treated, as a woman, while it benefited all the men in her life, and what her family did to her - how she was trapped and didn’t want to rock the boat by fighting for her freedom. It happened under our noses and she had no one to count on?! I felt she was very honest and real. It’s such a good reminder that you just do not know what someone is going through and to reach out to your people, especially your strong friends! I always prefer autobiography audio books that are read by the author BUT Michelle Williams sounds so much like her in a weird way, I started forgetting it wasn’t Britney.

🤦🏽‍♀️ The chaos is real

I have always rebelled about having too much stuff. I’m always purging, being super mindful about what we bring into our home, giving away Lola’s things… with a kid, this is even harder. It’s why I have strategies like avoiding buying too many toys, getting rid of things that don’t spark joy, keeping a relatively edited wardrobe. The chaos of too much stuff and overcoming the buy buy buy mentality is something your girl fights hard against. That said, I’ve completely dropped the ball on my closet. I do not have much space (half a sliding door closet and 3 drawers) for my clothes, shoes, undies, socks, bags, hats, misc… I can’t make it work. I have tried turning over my closet each season and putting things in storage. It’s just not working. SO, instead of giving up all together, we are creating more storage. We’ve decided to put a Pax wardrobe into our room, and just give in to having a bit more stuff where it makes sense! I cannot stand a cluttered home and I need my bedroom to be serene, which is why it’s all white. This overflow is killllling me, the stacks, the disorganization - it makes getting dressed stressful. I cannot wait to do a before and after, but this is the before *cringe*. This is your reminder: you have the power to stop procrastinating and do the dang thing!!! P.S: why do I show you this? I bet so many of us beat ourselves up for not being on top of every. single. thing. at. all. times. We are not perfect, nor should we try to be!

👋🏽 What’s new around here

A new mini-roundup series of things I bought, want, or think you might!

Family Christmas Cards - I’m working with Minted again this year for our xmas cards, and we got ours in… omg, cannot waiiit to show you, but in the meantime, I’m giving you a 20% off + free shipping code to get yours if you want to!
Sephora Sale - Not a fan of just buying for the sake of it, buuut if you need some refills, the Sephora sale is happening until 11/6 and code TIMETOSAVE saves10%-20% depending on your status! I really want this little mini set which is a killer deal with the code.

I won’t be here next week for Friday Five because I have a few trips coming up that will only give me the time for client work and I’ll miss you! Have a topic you want me to discuss? Feel free to comment, and would love your clicks on the heart… tells me you read and like the content! xx E