Friday Five: How I Built My Confidence + New Fave Meal

PLUS: letting Lola get bored

Happy Friday, flow-ers! Who else has a ‘stole my kids candy’ hangover?! Next time we chat (next Friday!), The Mom Flow event will have happened, and I can’t wait to meet you!!! The event is sold out, and I couldn’t be more excited.

P.S: don’t forget to listen to this like a podcast using the article voiceover feature at the top of this post (I read it to you with extra commentary!)

🌟 Talking about feelings

The other day Roberto and I were watching TV and he said to me “every time I see an ad for this TV show, it reminds me of your mom because I know she would have loved it”. My mom was diagnosed with Alzheimers 6 years ago, and it has thrown our world into sadness ever since. It taught me that two things can exist at once, pure joy and the profound sadness of losing the person who loved you the absolute most. The deep despair that can creep in to my day when I think about how much I miss her, how she would have wanted to participate in our life and would have been so damn good at it, and how much, at 43, I still need my mom, but moreover, want to know her as a person now that I’m a mom myself. The moment Roberto said it, I felt such a relief, the relief that came with the topic being brought up, and me being able to talk about my mom openly, letting my feelings creep out to the surface. I know that I can talk to Roberto about it anytime, but it’s a hard thing to talk about, and it makes me so deeply sad, that I find I avoid it. I also don’t like to ‘burden’ others with that sadness. Him recognizing my mom in a seemingly mundane moment made me feel like my mom mattered and the knowing of her struck my right to the core. I sent him a text when I went to bed: “Thanks for mentioning my mom and letting me talk about her. It’s really hard holding it in all the time”.

He responded with: “Babe. I think about your mom all the time. All the times I had with her and sadly all the times I haven’t had with her. I’m always here to talk about your mom. I know how hard it is for you to share because it makes you want to scream and cry and stay in bed doubled over in grief. I’m here always”.

It all made me realize how much I hold in about how I feel losing my mom - I allow myself to cry and feel alone, but doing it with my husband felt very cathartic. It was such an important reminder to speak your feelings out loud because it helps, a LOT.

🍚 Current hyper fixation meal

I found a new fun and quick meal that I want to share because it’s gonna be in regular rotation! It’s a crispy rice tuna bowl that is so filling.

CRISPY RICE TUNA BOWL

Cooked rice (season with soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar)
Tuna salad (mix canned tuna with mayo, dijon, herbs of choice, veggies like peppers)
Avocado

Press rice mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet you’ve drizzled with avo or olive oil and bake at 400 degrees until bottom is golden and crispy

Add to bowl, top with your tuna mixture and avocado. I add hot sauce to mine!

Make extra for leftovers because you’ll be glad you did.

💪🏽 Confidence boosting tips

“Confidence is not something you feel, it’s something you build by taking action despite fear or uncertainty.” - Mel Robbins

I recently read this quote and it kinda kit that spot. I’ve been popping my toes out of my comfort zone in 2024 with so many things in both my personal and professional life. Stepping into some main character energy and I have to say, I highly recommend. Between buying a new home (OMG when I say I have no idea how we freaking did that), new ventures like the very first Mom Flow Event, and speaking engagements that scared me, I feel this quote hard, and defo see the truth in it. I feel a self-confidence boost for sure and also a sense of pride in not letting myself get stagnant. I have also learned that there is a timing to our life and we do have different seasons. At the beginning of 2024, I felt out of balance and intentionally slowed down to work on me, give myself some space I needed to just come back to myself… sounds a bit hokey sure, but I swear it set the tone for the year. Scaling back on work and pouring into my cup felt amazing. At the same time, gosh, it felt scary and uncertain. Embracing the seasons as they come is my new vibe.

😊 Space to be bored

Lola can get pretty creative if I let her just get a tad bored. It’s so tempting to constantly fill her time for her, but on a pretty mundane stretch of several days at home recovering from the stomach flu (oh the joys), I decided to test where she takes it. Instead of offering up time fillers, I watched as she played on her own, making up new things to do, and creating her own little world! It was so fun to see what she came up with and how long she kept herself busy with her imagination. Anyone else sometimes feel guilt about not constantly having something for their kids to do? Well, little change of thought process over here, bc I think this is so good for her, and reminded me that my mom certainly didn’t entertain me 24/7 and I turned out ok (haha ok ok that’s the oldest one in the book and jury is out on how I turned out ;) All jokes aside, I do think it’s healthy to give her some time and space to play and be! As I was writing this it dawned on me that this can absolutely apply to us also. Ding ding ding!

✨ Things I’m loving right now

Every year I work with Minted for our holiday cards and if you’re planning yours, make sure to use my code to save 20% and free shipping ERINHOLIDAY2024

This is very exciting… Fable is offering 35% off Stemware until Nov 7 and you get a free gift with purchase of a Glass Carafe when you use my code ERINSOUSA. Love this bc you can gift it as a hostess gift!

And just like that, it’s sequin season… these skirts always go FAST!

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 Mal, Whitney and Karlen for the comments on my last post.

xx, Erin

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