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Thursday Thoughts

Happy Thursday. It’s been a while since I shared some random thoughts with you all, but today seems like a perfect opportunity.  I’m currently squeezed between two people on a cross country flight from San Francisco to New York City. I’ve spent the last five hours knocking things off my work to-do list and catching up on emails, but now it’s time to relax and catch up with you all.

  • Today we received the pictures from our holiday photo shoot and I am so thrilled with how they turned out. In the moment, the photo shoot was pure chaos. We drove to Brooklyn Heights for the photo shoot and then couldn’t find parking when we reached the location. It was really windy so within seconds my hair turned into a hot mess and we instantly regretted not getting Katie a haircut before the shoot. But, when I saw the final images, I smiled because they are real. They capture our love for Katie and each other as well as her personality and energy. Her traditional, smocked jumper highlights our Southern roots and the smiles on each of our faces embody the love that we have for our family of three and this chapter of life.
  • At least once a day, someone sends me a message on Instagram asking when I’ll return to a regular blogging schedule. The answer is, I have no clue if or when I’ll return to a regular blogging schedule. During any season of life, there are only so many things that someone can balance. Right now, it is taking all of my energy and more to focus on being the best mother, wife, employee, daughter, sister and friend possible. I will continue to share my life with you all via the blog and social media as I have time. I have drastically reduced the number of sponsored partnerships I accept as I want the interaction to be organic versus forced.
  • I’ve been traveling for business 10 of the past 14 days. This is not the new normal, instead it is a combination of taking advantage of an incredible opportunity to go to China and year-end-planning with the customer. While it hasn’t been ideal, I’m so appreciative of the village who has made it all possible as well as being blessed with smooth flights to both San Francisco and China. Moving forward, I’m hoping to stick with my goal of traveling an average of 2-3 nights per month. I know I have to be flexible and realize that due to schedules, sometimes that will mean I travel five days in a month but none the next.
  • As you all know, I’ve made the switch to a more natural beauty routine over the past two years but this week, I purchased Chanel foundation for the first time and was pleasantly surprised and impressed. When I walked into the bathroom at JFK to apply makeup before my cross country flight, I realized that I left my favorite Beautycounter foundation at home. Since I knew that my sleep deprived skin couldn’t go without foundation, I quickly dashed into a duty free shop. The woman who helped me immediately recommended a few different hydrating foundations before we landed on Chanel Vitalumiere. I’ve never worn Chanel makeup before but was so impressed with the way it blended with ease, provided full coverage without looking cakey and truly left my face looking more hydrated and fresher.
  • While Bo and I have tremendous help and support from our families, I have a strong desire to create a deeper bond and community with neighborhood friends. I’ve read a few different times about the fact that our generation is living in more isolation for a number of reasons. While social media keeps us more connected than ever before, I yearn to create a deeper connection with those people who live right around the corner or that play at the same parks and are also struggling to find community in the chaos of New York.  Tomorrow night Bo and I are hosting a small dinner party for two neighborhood couples we’ve become close with over the past year. It’s actually the first time we’re hanging out without the children! In addition, I’ve started to create a wonderful bond with the women in the Brooklyn Moms running group. Most weeks I run with them once or twice, spending the forty-five minutes laughing about our children’s recent antics, venting about life or brainstorming recipes. If you’ve created bonds with some of your neighborhood friends, I’d love any ideas.
  • While I haven’t stood on a scale recently, I’ve gone down a size in the past few months. Most of my clothing from last year is now at least one to two sizes too large which has been frustrating but also a great feeling. The other day I took advantage of Jcrew’s 50% off sale and ordered a few new pants, dresses and tops. While I considered altering my clothes from last year, I realize that there is a good chance I’ll need them again in a few years if and when Bo and I are able to have a second child.  I find it humorous that right now, when I’ve focused on my weight the least, it has fallen off without effort. I believe there are a few reasons why I’m suddenly a few pounds lighter and leaner than I was months ago – happiness, an active toddler and moderation. Many days, I eat breakfast standing up while also feeding Katie breakfast and getting us out the door. On weekends, we eat our meals together and most meals I’m too busy focusing on Katie to focus on my own food. Last Saturday Bo and I laughed when we realized that I had half my meal left on my plate since I’d spent most of the meal talking with him and entertaining/feeding Katie. Even though I am busier than ever, I am truly happy. I absolutely love my job and a year into it, I feel like I’m finally finding my groove. In regards to moderation, I’m working out when I can but I’m focusing on drinking plenty of water and eating whole foods whenever possible.
  • Somehow, Christmas is in 12 days. Am I the only one who is in shock when reading that fact? Part of me is extremely excited as we fly home to Savannah next Saturday. The other part of me is stressed out about the fact that I have so much work to do between now and then and I still have a few very important people to find the perfect Christmas gift for before we open presents. Some years, our time in Savannah hasn’t been as relaxing as we’ve hoped and a lot of that has been due to me. I have a history of adding unnecessary stress by trying to micromanage and control everything. This year, I’m really trying to mitigate stress. First and foremost, Bo and I had a long conversation about how we’d like to relax during this vacation. We both have different things we enjoy  doing so we’re going to do our best to allow each other the time to do that. In addition, since Bo has been father of the year recently due to my travel schedule, I’m hoping he’ll take time to enjoy some workouts or solo time to relax. We have no plans for our time home other than a combined Christmas Eve celebration with Bo’s parents and my family. Other than that, I’m really just hoping to enjoy quality time with family. This is our first trip home in a while that doesn’t have a lot associated with it – there isn’t family coming from out of town and there isn’t a wedding or other large family event.
  • I finally realize what people said about toddlers. Katie turns 18-months old next week and she is definitely in the full-blown toddler tornado stage. Keeping up with her is exhausting but I love every second of the craziness. She seems so grown up recently – dashing down the sidewalk unassisted, making her opinion known, sitting in her chair “reading” and blowing kisses. I’m so excited to continue experiencing these milestones and progressions with her.
  • Speaking of Katie, many people have asked us about a second child. Many of the moms who I was on maternity leave with have recently announced their second pregnancies. It is no secret that Bo and I are not ready. We’ve always hoped that we could have three to four years between our first and second child. My brother and I are three years apart and Bo and his sister are six years apart. We both have heard about the many benefits of the spread from our parents and have always wanted to be able to fully enjoy and embrace this time with our first child before adding to the craziness. While I look forward to meeting our friends’ new additions, right now we just aren’t ready, and that’s okay!

 

 

 

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Thursday Thoughts

flowers

August. I am having a hard time comprehending that it is the eight month of the year and more than halfway through Summer. I thought it would be fun today to share a peak into what’s been going through my mind this week as I’ve kicked off the month.

  • For some reason, even though we have more than 20 flowering plants in our backyard, I never thought to cut any of the flowers and bring them inside. A few weeks ago Bo’s mom reminded me last week that flowers are to be enjoyed, and when left outside they aren’t enjoyed nearly as much as they would be inside our home. Since then I’ve been putting a fresh bouquet on our kitchen island every few days.
  • When I started blogging, there were two primary platforms I managed – Twitter and my blog. These days there are countless platforms and each week I feel as if another layer is added leaving me feeling more and more behind. I know I can’t do it all so for now, I am doing my best to interact with you all on both Snapchat and Instagram Stories until I figure out which platform I prefer. I love that I am able to see more followers and friends on Instagram Stories since I wasn’t following them or they weren’t active on Snapchat but I also find that I’m not going through the traditional Instagram content in the same way I was before.  What are your thoughts so far?
  • In an effort to enjoy the gorgeous August weather we are experiencing, I am filling my schedule in the best way possible with outdoor activities. Last night Bo and I saw The Lumineers live in Prospect Park and I have added Yoga in Prospect Park to the calendar for August 25th.
  • Speaking of The Lumineers, I have been listening to them on Spotify non-stop this week and love this Lumineers radio station on Spotify for a mellow work playlist.  Though I love their hits Stubborn Love and Ho Hey, since last night my new favorite is Ophelia, one of the songs on their new album, Cleopatra.
  • I have been working from a local coffee shop this week for a change of pace and have found that getting out of the house has really helped my productivity and mood. My perfect coffee shop combination is strong coffee, a delicious lunch menu, fast wi-fi and a cute atmosphere. So far my favorite Brooklyn spots are Swallow Cafe and Tekoa. Any Manhattan or BK suggestions? 
  • I am considering dropping down from the half marathon distance to the 10k distance for the Rock’n’Roll Montreal race. Bo and I are both really enjoying doing the workouts we crave versus the structure of required running and while I know I could finish the half marathon course, I think we’d both enjoy a 10k more at this point. Since this race isn’t sold out yet, Bo and I are going to wait until closer to the race to make a final decision.
  • Don’t worry – I am still ready for a training plan I just want to make sure I am building a quality training plan which provides enough time to get back in half marathon shape. Luckily, I already have plans to join my friends on their training runs this week and next week meaning that I’ll have a quality 7 and 8 mile long run done before vacation as well as shorter, faster runs. Thank you Zoe, Katie and Theodora for motivating me!
  • It hasn’t been easy but somehow I’ve avoided shopping the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale this year. While there were more than 20 things in my shopping care at certain points, this year Bo and I have decided to focus our Summer spending on our trip to Canada. If you shopped the Nordstrom sale, what was your best investment? 
  • Mornings that we don’t go into the city together for workouts, Bo and I have a new morning routine that has really helped me start each day in a wonderful mood. We take 15-20 minutes to sit together in our kitchen while sipping coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, reading the newspaper and eating freshly sliced fruit together before he heads to work.
  • As I think about our upcoming vacation, I continue to go back and forth on whether I want to blog during our trip or fully disconnect. The more I think about it, the more I think I want to focus on being present in the trip and limiting my time on a computer. During the week of August 12th-20th you can expect 1-2 pre-written posts on the blog (Friday Favorites and a few recipes) in addition to lots of gorgeous images capturing our adventures in Banff and Jasper.
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Thursday Thoughts

Hey guys! How is your week going? Things over here are going well. My work week is very much what I call a “catch-up” week as I don’t have client meetings but I have a lots of things on my to do list that I’m trying to get done as well as cleaning out and organizing my entire Outlook inbox.

I have a number of posts ready for next week including some fun announcements, but today I thought it’d be fun to share some random musings with you guys as we wind down the week.

Royal Palms shuffleboard

Tuesday night I headed to Royal Palms Shuffleboard for an evening of beers, laughs and shuffleboard with fifteen other local P&G employees. It was a great place to sit back, relax, catch up and talk about everything except work. If you haven’t ventured out to Royal Palms yet, I highly recommend it. They have a great beer selection, plenty of booths for catching up over drinks, ten shuffle board courts and a food truck serving an assortment of Greek food. You can walk-in or you can make a reservation in advance, which costs $40 for an hour court time. Don’t worry if you’ve never played before – they provide a complimentary lesson!

brick nyc

My goal half marathon, the NYC Half, is in five weeks and I’m excited and nervous at the same time. My training has been very different this time around with only three runs per week but my cross training has me feeling stronger than ever. During yesterday’s B/X class at Brick Grand Central via ClassPass (<–get $25 off your first month) I could feel the difference that the mix of cross training is making. My legs, arms and abs felt strong as we pushed through the multiple five minute AMRAP sessions including wall balls, rowing, push presses and jump squats. I am going to use this week’s eight mile long run as a diagnostic to assess any changes I need to make in the coming weeks. 

Speaking of running and training, I wish I had a crystal ball to know how much longer winter was going to last. I am tempted to invest in a few more pieces of warm weather running gear like better gloves and a wind-proof vest. Since I’m running outside at least two days a week now, having the right gear is a must. Tonight’s forecast already has me feeling cold – 25 degrees and 20 mile per hour wind gusts! If I was to order new gear today, I’d buy these Asics wind-proof gloves, this Nike vest and this Nike Dry-Fit wool top.

Until reading her post today, I’d never heard of the “Jesus year” but if anyone is making it happen it’s Theodora. She has shown so much strength this year and is truly making 2016 her best year yet! Today is her birthday so be sure to hop over to Preppy Runner and show her some love!

After a number of emails back and forth, my best friend Amy and I finally booked a long-awaited girls vacation for the end of April! We are going to spend four sunshine and blue water filled days enjoying cocktails, massages and relaxing at the adults only Iberostar Grand Hotel at Rose Hall. I’ve been craving a warm, sunny, beach-filled vacation for a while and I was elated when Amy said she was happy to join in the fun. Years ago we planned to plan a similar trip for our 30th birthdays but due to living abroad, babies and life it never happened.  I’ve never been to Montego Bay, Jamaica but considering that our goal is to read, relax, swim and enjoy drinks poolside, this all-inclusive resort fit the bill perfectly!

As you guys know, this weekend is Valentine’s Day. Similar to New Year’s Eve, this is one of those holidays that I feel is over hyped and way too commercial. Instead of going out to an over priced dinner where we’re forced to order from a special pre-fixe menu, Bo and I are doing something a bit more fun AND inexpensive.  We each are choosing a favorite workout, favorite food and favorite activity to enjoy together on Sunday and Monday. I think mine is going to be enjoying a homemade cheese plate, going to hot yoga at Tangerine and going to see a movie at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) which is supposed to be a gorgeous venue.

So, I’m craving a change in the hair department. My hair is the longest it’s ever been and while I love it, some days I go to Pinterest and search “lob hairstyles for thick hair.” I mean how cute are these styles?  But then I think, “Ashley who are you kidding, you don’t know how to blow dry your hair like that or use a curling iron to get those tousled waves.”

I think part of this haircut inspiration is due to the fact that the amazing hair stylist who I loved when we moved to Carroll Gardens didn’t in fact move to South America like the salon told me! It turns out she’s working a few blocks over at Sara June, a small, boutique salon near Park Slope.

Your turn: What’s on your mind today?

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