The Fabulous Life of Stefanie

You know when you are so busy that your mind just kind of shuts down and goes on autopilot and then a week has passed and you are like "WHAT?! WHO AM I? WHAT DAY IS IT". Yep, that has been my week (or two, oh my gosh what day is it?!), Add in a gnarly head cold and a little person who has been waking up ready to party in the middle of the night for two nights in a row and you have me in a nutshell! Work is INSANELY busy and I left for three days to go hang out in Brooklyn, which meant that my to-do list decided to have little baby tasks and triple in size while I was gone. I imagine little tasks jumping around on my notepad in my office when I am away just multiplying themselves....and no I am not on cold medicine today. I have had this little head/chest cold going on again ; I really cannot believe how sick I have been this winter. Granted, it has been a terrible winter in New England, but I am so much healthier now than any other winter so I really do not get it. I exer...

Hey guys, happy Friday! This week has been a little nutso; I don't even have any pictures to share here (what?!). Lots of things going on in the home buying front that I will be sharing soon, but lets talk about the weekend! Tonight we are running a couple of errands in Harvard Square and then picking up some delicious, Lent-friendly eats at El Pelon to eat at home in our comfy clothes. I am hoping for a relaxing night to start the weekend off right and make up for some of the sleep that I missed out on earlier in the week. I love my Jawbone , but sometimes knowing that I actually only slept four hours instead of the whole five and a half I was in bed is a little depressing... Tomorrow while Matty is at class Maddie and I have her second gymnastics class and then I am going to get her help in making Irish car bomb cupcakes (don't worry, I won't let her lick the Guinness cake batter, unless she refuses her nap). Saturday evening we are going to a play date fundraiser tha...

Giving me her "mad face" this morning. Maddie is at this fantastic stage where she is SO talkative but is actually pretty capable of holding down a solid little chat. As soon as she and her nanny pick me up from work she starts telling me all about their adventures, whether an ever exciting grocery store run or visiting the "dine dines at the science" (dinosaurs at the Museum of Science). She tells me if she went to the "playplace" or "ayebrary" (library) and whether or not she shared (although sometimes she gives herself more sharing credit than her more truthful nanny can attest to). She tells me that she loves me a lot, and it makes my heart swell and burst into a million tiny rainbows each time. Yesterday while picking something up at CVS (which she calls BS, so obviously she knows about their customer service at two years old) she introduced me to the cashier: "this is my Mama" then she said "I love her" and I thoug...

I seem to have fallen into a not-so-awesome pattern where I get everything laid out Sunday night for both going to the gym and getting dressed for work to be out the door early, we get the coffee ready to brew, and get settled in for an early night. Then, I stay up too late, wake up in the middle of the night, and snooze button my way through not just the gym but also that time to get out the door anywhere near the time I want to. Ugh. Me and that snooze button have a very unhealthy, co-dependent relationship. Not that this is news.  I guess I can cut myself a little bit of slack since I did manage to get out for 18 glorious miles of marathon training yesterday, including up and down Heartbreak Hill for my first time. I took it slow because I am getting over a chest cold, but it felt pretty good, and it was one of those runs where I thought to myself "yeah, I can run a marathon...again", which is good because it is only 8 weeks away! The sun was out, Matty was by...

Both of us were not feeling well and it was gross out, but Maddie was loving her little hot "coocoo". I have mentioned this before , but every winter I hit a wall where I absolutely, without argument know that I cannot even think about continuing on with any facet of my life and instead need to move somewhere warmer and start all over. It is usually quite dramatic, more often than not involves tears and is always in the presence of and somewhat directed at my dear husband.  Historically, I hit the wall around February; this year I claimed to have hit it back in January, but apparently that was nothing but a half wall or a pony wall or something because I really, truly hit THE wall yesterday. It was ugly. This week has seen a sick toddler, a sick (AGAIN) mama, continued cold temps, lots of to-do lists at work, very little sleep, too many bills owed and a lot of time needed that does not actually exist due to the ridiculous twenty four hours in a day rule.  So, o...

At St. Peter's Basilica in 2007. Ash Wednesday is here and my fast is off to a sleep deprived start, but happy Lent, y'all! Last year I decided to give up using my iPhone in the evenings in order to better focus on the blessings in my life - my family, my time, my home and my faith. It was a great practice and something that I have tried to continue throughout the year by putting my phone down when I get home and waiting until things have mellowed down and Maddie is watching her nightly pre-bedtime 20 minutes of Thomas before I catch up on all the Facebook that has happened since I left work. I have found that it makes my nights much more relaxing and proven that I will not actually wither and die if I do not know every single last thing that is happening on social media for a few hours. This year I am again focusing on giving up time in the form of reading the Bible and taking some quiet time out of my busy days to read, reflect and pray. I found a great guide for r...

Saturday I had a bit of a nervous breakdown. In the middle of doing a huge pile of dishes I felt myself losing my last thread of sanity for that morning and went ahead and had an ugly cry. Then, I did whatever I do when I am feeling overwhelmed, and cleaned the hell out of the whole house, rearranged some furniture, made a new recipe and asked Madeleine to accompany me in a brass band dance party in the kitchen. I may have also sent a mean text to my husband and taken a xanax. Coping methods, people! They are so varied among us, no? The most ironic thing about all of this is I knew exactly what was wrong before that ugly cry came out. I was feeling overwhelmed and out of control about one aspect of life (our financial situation) so I projected it onto something that I had more control over (the cleanliness of my house). I do this ALL THE TIME. When I am stressed out about the miles ahead of me on a long run, I switch my brain over to my to-do list at work and start meticulousl...