The Fabulous Life of Stefanie

October first is here, so I think it is safe to say that the summer of 2020 has come to an end. The leaves are changing colors, sweatshirts are making their way out of drawers, pumpkin is being consumed in every way possible and Halloween costumes are a regular topic of dinner conversation. For us, our children are also back in school, but for all of us, a pandemic rages on, leaving sickness and sorrow in its path. A mixed bag, if there ever was one. I love, love, love the fall in New England, but it continues to be hard to enjoy it, or anything, to the fullest in a world full of so much anxiety, the unknown, constantly in the back of my mind. We had a really lovely summer. It makes me feel guilty to say, and I am fully aware that this summer's joy was not there for many others. Working from home gave us a flexibility we have never had as a family, we could meet our work obligations from anywhere, so we did. Cape Cod, Maine, New Hampshire - New England was our oyster and our bubble...

How are we already at the end of the year? This year has been so good - miles travelled, miles run, kiddos growing, goals met, getting to do it all with the very best husband and friends and dog while working in the best job. Here is a little recap with just a sliver of it all! Geaux Saints! Repping in NOLA over a po' boy. January: Rang in 2019 with champagne, friends and leggings. Watched my favorite dude crush my favorite marathon and then spent an amazing night in my favorite city of New Orleans watching the Saints, then the Pats, and somehow managed to make our 5am flight.  11 years and I could not love him more. February: Celebrated 11 years since the most handsome, wonderful human being in the world asked to buy me a beer over a super fancy dinner. Watched the Pats win yet anooooother Superbowl with my favorite cheer squad. Survived winter in Boston, again.  Parade squad! Mama had car bombs for brekkie! March: Reached my goal of doing a hal...

Ahhh the time of year when I have no idea what day it is, where I am supposed to be or how these cookies got in my mouth. I took down some of our Christmas decor today, but I am still loving quiet, dark mornings with coffee and my beautiful tree, so up it stays. The Christmas season is one of my favorite times of the year thanks mostly to all the fun ways that our little family celebrates. Visits with Santa, Christmas light peeping, meals with friends and all that togetherness that comes with the season. The rest of my love is from the ways in which our community comes together to make the season brighter for everyone else, including our annual road race and the toy drive that is hosted the same day. This year my Mom was with us for a week and we got to include her in what have now become our traditions - Boston Ballet's Nutcracker, dinner at Legal Seafood overlooking the Aquarium, new cookie recipes and watching Home Alone on repeat. Watching Maddie sing "I'm Gettin...

Yesterday marked 8 years since we stood in front of everyone that matters to us, during a full mass that I insisted upon, and vowed to do this thing forever. Forever is hard; it isn't what it used to be, they say. But with you, it's easy, seamless even. Forever is not long enough because of the way that you make me laugh, the way you make me think and the way that you love and support me in an unconditional way I had never known could exist between two people. I didn't think it would end up like this for me. A girl from Nevada with a wild streak that tangled around a domestic streak with no real idea of how two people go about making a marriage not just last but flourish . But it did happen. We made it happen. We are doing it everyday of our lives together. Is it all fireworks and passion? Nope . Sometimes the only alone time we get is a quick two minute conversation running down everything that needs to be done and juggled and figured out that day to make all of our li...

Self care has become a sort of battle cry of this generation, a reminder that we have to take care of ourselves in the midst of it all lest we collapse in a ball of exhaustion. We are a busy  people living in a busy world. We work, we parent, we volunteer, we engage our community, we social media and on and on and on.  We also very oftentimes forget to take care of ourselves, and thus this idea of self care as a way to keep ourselves able to fulfill all those other roles. As an on-paper sociologist (read: my degrees in psych and criminal justice and also my total nosy-nelly status) I am interested to know ways that we take keep ourselves from burning out, so I thought I could share some of my own methods because maybe they will spark ideas in your brain as others have in mine. I have to add that my dear husband is in Ireland this week on business, the first time he has ever gone out of state (or country) without us and the first time I have been home alone with the pack (two...

Well, this has been a heck of a year, huh? I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I will be glad to put some of the events behind me, but looking forward to keeping the motivation that those shitty things have given me to keep up the good fight in 2018. So here is what I am up to as we tick down to the final hours of the year. Reading My Goodreads app tells me I am 7 books ahead of my 2017 reading challenge with 24 books read so far this year. Considering that I only get to read when I am commuting to/from/during work on the train or sitting on the beach without the kids needing me (so, 5 minutes each summer), I am pretty pleased! I have read some really good books this year, and am currently on my second biography about North Korean defectors, titled A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea . It was one of the monthly free books available from Amazon Prime that I randomly downloaded onto my Kindle (which I rarely use) while I was awaiting my library ...

Something you may not know about me is that I love to take surveys; I take them online for reward points to get magazines and Starbucks cards, but even if someone calls my "unlisted" number for a survey I will sure as shit talk to them. Maybe because it was my first job (telesurveyor - not to be confused with those terrible telemarketers), or maybe it is the sociologist in me who loves to gather data. Anyways, the point is, for most surveys I am now entering another age range to click. That's right, no longer will I be lumped in with people in their twenties, I am now thrown in the back of those in their forties. Yikes! But hey, such is life, that whole getting older thing, and I really. truly believe that a woman in her thirties is a hell of a lot more content than one in her twenties, so I assume it just keeps getting better. I feel so much more confident in my skin, with my voice, in my talents and even in my shortcomings. Although I still feel devastated when people...

Hello! Hello? Is that an echo I hear? The sound of months gone by neglecting this space of mine? It happens, it does, but it makes me sad every time it does, so let's just cut to the chase and get right to it! Just a few things going on around here: I ran the Boston Marathon, again. I did not PR, again. It was hot, it was sunny, and it just was not meant to be what I wanted it to be, which is a bummer but also, a lesson. I never shed those extra pounds I gained after the last marathon and I never ran in anything that wasn't totally cold, so now I know to fix those things next time. However, I cross trained a lot for the first time in my life, which meant that when I tried to pick it up and fly those last 5 miles, which I have never, ever been able to do, I did. I flew (well, as much as one does after 21 hard as hell miles). Keeping it in the tank was not in my ability range, but I guess it is now, and I am going to keep at that. What did not change was many, many hours a...

I think I might be a little busy over the next couple of days, so just wanted to pop in and say Merry Christmas (!!!) and put some thoughts down around this little season of life. This year is SO MUCH FUN with Maddie; 5 is a golden age where she is so excited about everything that matters - our time together looking at the lights in the neighborhood, reading The Grinch every night before bed, singing along to her curated Christmas playlist (thanks, Amazon music!) and counting down the days until Santa swings by. She is excited for gifts, of course, but is way more focused on all that other good stuff, which I am going to relish for as long as it lasts. I have been making sure we get all the Christmas cheer in that we can fit while also taking time to just enjoy these little humans (and that older, handsome one that lives in our house too). I transitioned into a new job a month ago and it has made a huge difference in my work life balance. I didn't even realize how much I was c...