Friday Five: BIG Changes + Self Evolution

PLUS: how I got rid of breakouts

Happy Friday! This week was a crazy whirlwind, including something HUGE we didn’t know was even coming… when the stars align, it’s pretty special.

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

👀 Allowing evolution

I was driving around this week and thinking about how things have changed in our life. It’s really been such a 180 degree shift in our life moving from the core of the city, with all its, honestly, chaos, to living in a calm neighbourhood, a community, and all that comes with it. For 20 years, I lived downtown, and when you’ve been doing something for so long, you start to see yourself a certain way. It’s what you identify as, and sometimes a change to the fabric of who you are can almost feel like you’re turning your back on who you (were). Allowing yourself to evolve can feel tricky. What you value, how you want to spend your time, what makes you feel full… that shift is really interesting. I don’t have anything to tie this up in a bow with, but just more of a stream of thoughts.

🌟 Lola’s preschool start

Speaking of change, we have a BIG one that honestly, came out of nowhere. It’s SO exciting… Lola is going to pre-K! I didn’t have plans to put her into pre-K really - she is happy at her daycare, and was just going to go straight to kindergarten. We have a school in mind for her and I didn’t think that pre-K registration was still open, so I didn’t even try. Well, my gf took the reins (shoutout to your type-a buds, they rule the world) and since her daughter goes to the school, she chatted with them, brought me an application, and before I knew it I was chatting with the teachers (who OMG are just sooo wonderful!) and filling out all her intake forms! This happened in a matter of two days and we just told Lola today. I 100% didn’t think there was space as from what I heard, it’s very hard to get into these programs (much like daycare where folks are on the list for ages…Vancouver life). This changes her schedule and means she will be at pre-K Mon/Tues/Wed half days, then daycare full days Thurs/Fri. Mon/Tues was always dad’s days with her, so now those will be halved, and Wed she will either be either me or grandparents. It’s going to be so amazing for her to be with other kids her age, make new friends, and just integrate into school life. So many mom emotions around this whole thing too - what a wild ride this mom life is!

🍂 Fall fun to come

For the very first time since I was a kid, I didn’t want summer to end. It was just such a fantastic summer, with the Euro six week trip, Lola having a backyard, entertaining our friends, exploring parks and new things for Lola’s age. Oh, and air conditioning, as my BFF pointed out. That said, I’m a fall girlie, so slowly sliding into fall, and Halloween is my faaaave day of the year with Lola - we already went shopping for her costume and she picked it out herself. She wants to be a vampire and your girl doesn’t have it in her to do a fam costume this year. I’m thinking like maybe some fangs and I’m done? Last year’s fam costume was so fun (here it is ICYMI). We have a front door now, so I guess I have to get some sort of decor?! I suppose that’s my next project! I’ve planned an apple picking day here and a pumpkin patch day here. I’ll say it again… one of the hardest parts of mom life is constantly staying ahead of it all, phewwwwww.

🍿 Girl date

I’ve talked about it many times here with you, but it’s so important to me to connect with friends and while it feels easier to just stay in our bubble, going from thing to thing, pouring into relationships and just chatting IRL makes a huge difference to my emotional health. I was planning to go to a movie alone, but decided to reach out to a friend I hadn’t seen in awhile to come along! It was so great to break up the week and take in a Tuesday night movie - it was a little further away which gave us a good chance to catch up on the drive back and forth. Plus, seeing a movie with a gf is such a throwback for me… I missed it to much. The little things really are the big things.

Things I’m loving right now:

I’ve linked all my fall fashion purchases/wishlist for Lola and I here!

I was dealing with some pretty annoying break outs after my six week Europe trip and I went straight to my ride or die One Clinic (Dr. J has been doing my Botox for many years!) to get some recommendations and my skin is looking sooo good after just a few weeks. I used this retinol, these pads, and this exfoliator. I’ve used these brands for years, and medical grade skincare is always so so effective. I have 15% off for you with ERIN15

That’s it for this week. If you like this content, don’t forget to show up for me with a like or comment. Huge thank you to Kimberley, Jackie, Janeisie, Carolyn, Whitney, Reagan, Reta and Sydney for the comments on my last post.

xx, Erin

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