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Sunday, November 12, 2017

Happy Broken Crayons Book Release




Hello you lovely ones.

I'm so sorry to have been such a slacker over here as The Naked Momma. I've been writing over at Chesapeake Family Life Magazine and editing my novel and working on a new proposal and I recently became a real estate agent which is a career that I'm absolutely in love with. Check us out over at The Real Houses of Davidsonville.
Life has been wild and full and constant but with a sweet side of happy.

And I just wrote a book called Happy Broken Crayons that just recently came out and it's an essay and tangent collection and tales from the trenches about motherhood, life and embracing imperfection.

And if anyone happens to be in the Annapolis area this Friday, the 17th of November, I'm doing a book signing at my favorite bookstore The Old Fox Books & Coffeehouse 35 Maryland Ave, Annapolis from 7-9 p.m. if you'd like to swing by, there will be champagne and I'd love to give you a giant hug.

I will also be at Here. A Pop Up Shop at 186 Main Street in Annapolis on Small Business Saturday, the 25th of November from 11-1 signing books and yes, there will be mimosas. 

Thank you for being more than a girl could hope for,
xoxoxo




Saturday, March 4, 2017

37 Things I Have Learned in 37 Years



We get so caught in the weight of the everyday, and we wait for big milestone days to make a change and break the cycle.

We wait for the weekend to have fun, for New Years to make a resolution, for our 30th/40th/50th birthdays to make bolder life choices. I don’t want to wait for my life to begin anymore. We can break the cycle, beginning now, even when we have so much more to learn.

I am 37 years old and here are 37 things that I know right now:
  1. Life is tough. You are tougher.
  2. Being brave and kind cost nothing and can shape everything.
  3. It is never too late.
  4. Hearing a child laugh is the greatest sound in the world.
  5. Chase light. Chase dreams. Chasing people is not what you were born to do.
  6. There is nothing that you cannot accomplish when you put on lip gloss, mascara and a great pair of shoes.
  7. Settling does not look good on anyone.
  8. It is okay to fake it until you make it.
  9. It is okay to be in love with a well-placed swear word.
  10. Some people will drill holes in your life boat. Stop making room for them to stay on board.
  11. Girlfriends are the best therapy.
  12. Learn the power of the word no.
  13. Having to mourn someone who is still alive will be one of the most difficult things that you have to do in this life.
  14. Your gut does not lie. Listen to it.
  15. Linger longer with people who see your worth. The believers and the joy seekers. The people who want to laugh with you at your kitchen table and do not care how dirty the floor is beneath them.
  16. When in doubt, just keep dancing.
  17. Not everyone deserves your time and energy and to be told your best stories. Not everyone deserves a place at your tea party.
  18.  The world does not benefit from you living a life of fear.
  19. Put on your own oxygen mask first.
  20. The body is the house to the soul. Nourish it, protect it, celebrate it.
  21. Stop apologizing for the things that you have had no control over.
  22. Confidence is sexy. Smart wit is sexier.
  23. You can change your life at any given moment. You have options even when you think that you don’t. If you are miserable, that is all the justification that you need to write a new chapter. Stop waiting for external bruises and the perfect season of your life to align to make a change. If you wait, it may never happen. And you will wake up and be 20 years older and every bit as unhappy. Trust yourself. Trust your strength. If people can’t understand that, please see No.10.
  24. Perfection and comparison are overrated, exhausting and are the thieves of joy.
  25. Dress up for yourself. Dress up because it is Tuesday. Show up for your life. Dress for it, even when you don’t want to. Especially when you don’t want to. There is a time for pajamas of course. But the daylight needs your tigress ways.
  26. You have enough time for what matters.
  27. If someone is clawing at the door to get out of your house, do not turn the deadbolt to keep them in. Do not contain them. Turn the handle, love. You have the courage to set them and yourself free.
  28. Embrace your mistakes. They make you beautiful, strong and deliciously human.
  29. Tell the people you love that you love them. Write it down. Repeat.
  30.  Travel. Read more books. Keep your eyes and soul open. Take some risks even if you are a grown up, especially if you are a grown up. You have a pulse, live accordingly.
  31. Whisper. Scream. Roar. Trust your magnificent voice.
  32. Let go of the things not meant for you. This is not limited to, but does include guilt, dear mommas.
  33. Allow yourself three times to complain about something. After that, you either need to make a change or you need to stop complaining. It is as simple and as complicated as that.
  34. Breathe. Unplug. Smile. Be caught being happy, present and awake.
  35. Surround yourself with those who care less about how they show their lives on social media and more about how they show up in their real lives.
  36. Your children need to see you rise. Everyday. You are not their puppet. You are not their best friend. Teach respect and kindness and how to make their own peanut butter and jelly. Show them how to rise even on the dark days. And they will too.
  37. You get one life. That is it. Make yourself proud.



Bonus #38: wine, caffeine and Instagram filters are priceless.


Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Love.

I don't know a lot of things in this life, especially anything having to do with numbers. Or science. Or how to change a tire. I'm a constant procrastinator. Laundry and I are enemies. I forget anything that is not written down. I would literally be lost without my GPS.

I could actually write for days about all of the things I don't know. And I would still be forgetting things (see above). But instead I'll focus on this one thing that I do know a little something about: love. No, no. Not romantic love. I still have much to learn about that one.

I'm talking about the real deal, soul filled, how am I this lucky to have you in life type of love. No romance, no strings, no need for an IOU or you need to pay me back eventually... no. It is the I see you and I hold you in my soul type of sisterhood love. No guilt. No glitz. Just the grit and glory type. That is my favorite type of love.

As many of you know, my husband and I separated a few months ago. Our first date was on the first of July in the year 2000 when we were twenty years old. I am grateful for the life that we have built together, and all that he still does for me and for our children. He is and was the love story of my lifetime.

How we came to this point of our new redefined normal is a story that may or may not be told in due time. Not today. Definitely not today.

Today is the story of how my dear friends and family have shown me an arms wide open type of love in this space of time and healing. I know that I am not the only one going through this space. I also know that you may know someone going through the hard and you don't know what to do. This is what my people have done. They are my village. They are my salvation.

They have poured me red wine, fed me cheese, bought me a machine to make my own espresso, taken me dancing, invited my four children and I into their homes for sleepovers, organized trips out of the category of "someday" and into the "right now."
They have listened without judgement, hugged me without being the first one to let go, made me laugh and reminded me that that counts as an ab workout. They have not only told me that I can stand on my own two heels but they have helped lay out the stepping stones on how I can and will be able to do it. They reminded me that if I need a hand in mine that theirs will be there.

Growing up, I had my father and two older brothers. And then I had Stephen. When you like to think of yourself as an independent woman but you have had a man to depend on for 37 years and you now have four children that you have stayed at home with for twelve years, it can be daunting, challenging, overwhelming at times, to think of turning the page and writing yourself a new chapter.

It is all of those little things of the every day that we question.

What day is trash day? Where are the snow shovels? Why do we live somewhere where it snows? Why are kids sneakers so expensive when their feet are so small? Why do they grow so fast? Why do only the lightbulbs go out that I'm too short to replace? Does that cough sound like croup? How do I get everyone to where they need to be? Are brownies, soup and sandwiches a legit dinner? Why are pickle jars so damn hard to open? What is the Netflix password? Why is a king bed necessary when I am sleeping alone?

And that was just one hour of one day.

My car battery died on the eve of New Years Eve when my family was leaving my house and my newly separated husband's family was on their way, ensuring that 2016 would continue to be a revolving door of every emotion until its final minutes were up. Thankfully, my amazing brother-in-laws arrived and showed me how to jump my battery. Two days later my mom sent me one of the most thoughtful gifts that I have ever received: a device that will jump your car battery without the dependence of another car. Or another human. She said, "I hope that you never need this. But just in case. Now you can do it, without anyone's help." Thank you Mom. Your foundation of roots and wings are boundless. And beautiful.

When you know that there are people in this world that fiercely believe in you, you not only keep stepping one heel in front of the other, but you show them that you can rise. You wake up early, you stay up too late, you work and create in any window of time that you can and you let them see all of your sides, the joy, the vulnerable, the hopeful, the strong.

Sunday is our trash day. The snow shovels are behind the shed. Those kids do grow up so fast. And my 9-year old showed me how to work Netflix and I discovered that my intuition on the kids illnesses is usually right. On Sunday it was twelve degrees and snow and ice encrusted our long driveway, with the exception of the tire tracks I made to avoid using the before mentioned snow shovels. My daughters helped me drag our trashcans to the top of the driveway, small boots followed the path of the tire tracks. We had grilled cheese, campbells and brownies for dinner and no one seemed to mind. The pickles can wait. And my sons did the dishes.

They didn't complain. This day they didn't complain. They have before and I know they will again. But this day, somehow, they didn't.
They showed their grace, even though it is hard.
They see me standing, even though it is hard.
They see me grateful, even though that part is easy.
I see them.
And my arms are open.

In this redefined normal we are not alone. It is okay.
One person is enough to fill a bed.

Thank you village. Thank you.
I see you. Thank you for seeing me.
We are enough.

Here's to the next chapter.
In love and endless gratitude...