It’s Fri-yay and a perfect time to share a quick recap before I pack my bags and leave again.
I know, I know!
These past two months have been bonkers and I’m so grateful for every minute of it.
If you recall, I was in Pasadena for the Mom 2.0 Summit last week. As always, the conference was an absolute glam-fest and full of incredible speakers. Kristen Bell and Brené Brown were both as fantastic, dynamic, and real as I had hoped they would be. I also walked away with a lot of notes about how to manage this corner of the internet better.
Even after fourteen years, I continue to be a work in progress.
For me, it is all about being with my friends and many, that I had not seen in five years or more (!!!), ended up attending this conference. It was so fun to be reunited again!
Being nominated for an Iris Award for Best Mom Blog was such an honor. Although I did not win, I am proud to have written the content I did and for the community I have worked so hard to cultivate here.
I timed my bathroom break, after the show, perfectly too! Taye Diggs, our host for the evening’s event, happened to be in the lobby while I was walking through. It was such an honor to meet him. I am also happy to report that he was just as I had hoped he would be. He’s got those Midwest manners down and graciously took a picture with me.
How awesome is that?
My frocks were courtesy of Rent the Runway and I only had to stuff two of these in the top to make it work. Hahaha! #bodygoals
By the way, I noticed that RTR is running a special for Memorial Day weekend. Rent 1, Get 2 free for your festivities. A common misconception is that they only offer ballgowns. They actually offer lots of cute everyday dresses and apparel too. If you have anything fun happening that weekend (and haven’t used their services before), here is $30 credit too to put towards your purchase.
Where am I headed next?
My Mother’s Day gift is renting a Lake Michigan home with my childhood bestie for the weekend.
We plan to do NOTHING for ANYONE and we are so excited.
I am a newbie to Costco (tell me your tips!!) and noticed these premade meals would be perfect so neither of us has to cook.
Plans include sitting in a hot tub, moving to the couch, drinking wine, maybe switching couches, sleeping in, and not getting dressed. After that? Maybe move to a chair.
Doesn’t that sound like a great Mother’s Day gift?
I think so.
Here are 3 other things making me happy this week…
I shared with you that I found out I have silent reflux and that has meant modifying my diet a bit. I find that coffee, sadly, has been a big contributor to my symptoms. I really need a pick-me-up in the morning though so I started researching supplement options.
For the last month, I have been using something called Genius Caffeine and I can’t tell you how much it has improved my mental clarity, reduced my caffeine jitters, and even helped me to sleep better than I was before.
Genius Caffeine pills offer the equivalent caffeine of a standard cup of coffee (100 mg. per tablet). Since I was drinking a pot a day, I wondered if I would feel hungover switching to this supplement option. Lo and behold, I had no troubles at all switching and I feel clearer mentally than I have in a long time.
The difference between this and the coffee is that it is an extended release tablet. Basically, I would have that UP and then DOWN and then UP with coffee. That’s why I kept drinking it. I kept craving the UP.
With these, the tablet releases the caffeine slowly so you never have those highs and lows that come with coffee drinking. I’m pretty sure I have ADHD, as it runs in my family, so this has helped me with sustaining focus. I pair it with this supplement to help treat the ADHD symptoms naturally. (PS- if you have a child with ADHD, please read my series on the diagnosis and treatment process we went through with our son- part one, part two, part three)
I can’t say enough good things if you are trying to ditch the coffee-pot-a-day habit too.
Meeting Katherine Center
The book I chose for last week’s flight was, How to Walk Away by Katherine Centers. I devoured the entire book on my flight and just could not put it down. It’s one of those books that you just want to pass on to a girlfriend after you finish it.
In case you missed my April book reviews, I shared that if you are a Me Before You fan, you wouldn’t want to miss this gorgeous summer read.
In this story, you must imagine that you are terrified of flying and, just as you always suspected, you are in a tragic accident. This is exactly what unfolds from the opening chapters of How to Walk Away, and the reader is taken along the journey as Kit’s life, as she knows it, is forever changed.
Also, imagine that the person you love walks away from the experience unscathed.
The book centers around the difficult recovery, the surprises of those who step up in tragedies, the sadness around those that walk away, and how to find love again.
I was so proud of myself that I got these reviews up while I was at the conference and just had jotted down my thoughts about how much I had enjoyed the book. I also shared with my roomie that I thought she should pick up this book for her next trip.
In a funny twist of fate, she came upstairs and said, “I’m pretty sure that the author is downstairs signing books right now.”
I ran downstairs and there was Katherine Center signing books and chatting with the conference attendees.
Can you believe my luck?
I will be shocked if we don’t see this book come to the movie theaters and I also told Katherine that I feel that she has a sequel in this story because I would love to see how Kit’s life continues to unfold. Hey, if Jojo Moyes can do it, why can’t she?
Best of all, Katherine will be joining us for a Sundays With Writers. Now that makes me SUPER happy. Stay tuned!
Did you know that the Smithsonian has a podcast series? Our Florida road trip included A LOT of podcasts and we talked about which were our favorites on our way home. Almost everyone loved episodes from the Sidedoor Podcast the most. The premise is that more than 154 million treasures fill the Smithsonian’s vaults, but where public view ends, Sidedoor begins. With the help of biologists, artists, historians, archaeologists, zookeepers, and astrophysicists, host Tony Cohn sneaks listeners through Smithsonian’s side door to search for stories that can’t be found anywhere else.
We listened to several episodes and two that I found the most fascinating were Murder is Her Hobby and A Crane with a Crush.
I guarantee once you start this podcast, you are going to have a hard time stopping. It’s FASCINATING.
Oh, and a few quick things that I don’t want to forget to tell you-
May is Ehlers-Danlos Awareness Month. There are three out of four people in my family that are dealing with this disease and I shared about my initial diagnosis over here. SO MANY people have this and are never treated. Do you have mystery symptoms that you have never gotten an explanation on? Here is my story.
This is what I gave my moms for Mother’s Day.
I’m working on my capsule and snagged a few things off this list.
Wanna know what I plan to put in my earbuds next? This book.
I bought these because they come in a wide width… and they are ten bucks. SOLD!
Looking to expand your reading wish list? Each week I ask what people are reading and get a couple hundred responses. You can read them too.
Happy Mother’s Day, friends! May you be celebrated in all the ways that your heart desires.
xoxo
*this post may contain affiliate links- I only recommend what I love though. Check out past editions of It’s the 3 Little Things!