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With the current state of things it may seem difficult to celebrate in the ways we are used to. Brunch, pedicures, spa treatments, day trips… These all seem to be hindered by current restraints, regulations, and closings. Fear not, there are still plenty of ways to celebrate Mother’s Day for yourself and the special women in your life. 

First, take a deep breath and remember that different is just that … different, it doesn’t have to be synonymous with bad. There is still much to celebrate and still much joy to be found. This year is different but different can be wonderfully memorable. Some resources are local to the Annapolis Md area, but many can be altered or adjusted regardless of location.

Below are some great ways to make this Mother’s Day the best one yet. 

Jewelry Making: Local Shops like The Twisted Bead are offering contactless shopping. Order beads and jewelry making supplies online or from local retailers or get creative with items you have in your own home (clay, pasta, old or broken jewelry, craft materials) come up with one of a kind wearable creations that will forever be a reminder that love is unstoppable. 

DIY Sip and Paint Experience: Youtube offers a wide range of guided painting videos that are perfect for any experience or ability level. Grab your favorite bottle of wine and create a new piece of art to treasure. My eight year old daughter and I enjoy the Art Sherpa videos on Youtube which are always vibrant in color and easy and enjoyable for adults and children. 

Enjoy a living room concert: Create a playlist of your favorite artists and enjoy an array of snacks while you get lost in the music that speaks to your soul. Each member of the family can create their own playlist and share why it is meaningful or maybe even share songs they would dedicate to each other. 

Virtual Tours and Vacations: Where is some place you would absolutely love to travel to? What destination is on your bucket list? Enjoy online tours of these exotic destinations (google, youtube, travel blogs…) or better yet have your family put together a slideshow of your dream vacation and enjoy a front row seat to daydreaming while snacking on themed food and drink options. Sometimes when the real thing just isn’t an option, a mindful experience can be the next best thing and lead to fun dreams and planning for future adventures. 

Organize Family Photos and Create Custom Albums Together: How many photos do we all have stored on our phones and computers? Sometimes just looking at these photos and reliving the memories together can brighten our mood and remind us just how much good there is in life. Work together to relive these memories and organize them into keepsake albums. Use sites like shutterfly to design your custom albums.

At home spa days: DIY spa days can be as luxurious as you want them to be. Dim the lights, play soothing music, and order your favorite spa products online or create DIY salt scrubs, sugar scrubs, and facemasks. Seek out local moms who may have inventory for Mary Kay, Avon, or Arbonne and see if they can help put together an at home spa package. Sip on lemon water or iced tea, and relax with a good book, a hot bath, or an indulgent podcast. 

Family Fashion Shows and Photo Shoots: Make the most of your time together and create lasting memories and laughs by doing a themed fashion show and photo shoot. High fashion, evening wear, color coordinated, movie characters, halloween, or any theme you desire. 

Family Bake Off: Who’s the best baker in the house? Have everyone pick a recipe and let the competition begin. Friendly competition is made even more fun by getting to enjoy homemade treats when its time to judge the final products. 

Illustrate and Share a Favorite Family Memory: Have every member of the family come up with their favorite memory or two. Have them write about why it is so meaningful or illustrate the memory and create a keepsake book of family favorites. 

 To-Go Goodies: Brunch or lunch to go and socially distant picnics can be a great way to indulge in fine foods and spend time with those you love. Some of my local favorites are wine pairings to go from Luna Blue, the Mother’s Day Tea menu from Reynolds Tavern, and the ever delicious to go brunch boxes from Cafe Mezzanote. If possible enjoy a social distance picnic from a safe distance with the special women in your life, or utilize services like zoom for a virtual celebration. 

No matter how you choose to celebrate this year, remember you are loved and we are all in this together.

During this time of separation many of us are feeling the emotional impact. Join me for uplifting meditations every night. New meditations are uploaded around 9:00 pm every evening but all meditations can be accessed anytime on the Mindful Minutes Playlist.

I am tired. Now this may seem like an odd reflection because thus far we have been focusing on positives but positivity comes down to perception and why should being tired be seen as anything other than a completely human response to an excess of stimuli and mental or physical exertion? I am well, I am still going, but truthfully I am tired. Being tired is not a weakness, being tired does not mean we are giving up, being tired does not mean we are not enough, being tired means we are human. When we are mentally spent, when we are emotionally on empty, when physically we can take no more, let us tell ourselves “my love you are weary, my darling you need rest, but my beautiful spirit you are far from done.”

Breathe compassion over your tired state, cover yourself in Grace filled understanding and then remind yourself of all you have to fight for, to live for, to work for…Give yourself a moment, a week, a month. Afford yourself the opportunities needed to pause and refuel your mind and body, take a rest, cry it out, call of friend, take a bath… whatever it is show yourself some love. Then, when you are ready, resume your duties knowing that one day you will again find yourself weary and in need of rest but this is all part of the process.

I am well, I am still going, but yes I am tired, but that is OK. I am OK.

Love you all my sweet friends. #StrongerTogether

My sisters …. you are so loved, so strong, and so worthy.

Happy women’s day to all of my unstoppable sisters.

How many times have you been called a ‘good girl’? How many times have you been told to ‘be good’? If you are anything like me, you have been hearing words like these almost your entire life. Societally speaking, females should strive to be good, be kind, be pretty, and be pleasant. But as Laurel Thatcher Ulrich once stated “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” Now before we start talking about the incredible power and strength each of us empowered women harness within the very fibers of our being, let’s clarify that we don’t have to ‘go rogue’ to be taken seriously. We don’t have to abandon femininity and trample on our inherent gentleness. These things can go hand in hand. Goodness does not exclude strength, and a fierce sense of power does not negate a kind heart or a gentle soul. Respect and power go hand in hand. ‘Good girls’ can also be fierce warriors for themselves and those they love. As females, we have a gentle kind of power. Our gentleness is part of our strength and only half of our power. We have the power to soothe souls with our actions and heal hearts with our words. We are compassionate creatures with a unique ability to bring about change and understanding through dignity and grace. But our gentle nature is balanced by our fierce desire for righteousness, respect, and equality. We have a gift of great power. We have the power to create. The power to influence. And the power to defend. We will not stand idly by while a sister is wronged. We stand up for others in their time of need because we know when our time of weakness comes, we too will be supported by a sisterhood ready for battle. We demand respect but we strive to do so first with gentleness and grace rather than force and coercion. If however our gentleness and grace are disregarded, we harness that internal fire and we unleash the true potential of the fierce warrior housed within our hearts.

Be kind, be strong, be loved, be well, be you.

My daughter woke up at 8:00 am this morning and strolled sleepily into the kitchen. “Good morning love!” I said to her which was met with a head butt to the chest (her early morning attempt at a hug 😂)

She stayed planted to my chest for a moment and then stared blearily up at the clock her eyes got wide and she said “oh no! I have to be to school in five minutes!”

I said don’t worry about that right now, how are you feeling (she had gone to bed super tired with a bit of a headache the night before.) I had let her sleep in, which happens maybe a couple times a year to make sure she was feeling ok.

She said she still had a slight headache and was super tired but was worried about being late for school.

I told her to relax with a nice warm shower and then have some breakfast,. I told her not to worry about being a little late but to instead give her body the care it needed this morning. I said you can’t expect to have a great day if you don’t give yourself time to start it right. ♥️

This goes for all of us. Don’t push yourself if your body is saying “I need a little extra time”. Give yourself space and grace. Listen to the cues your body is giving you and then do something gentle about them.

Occasionally being a little late because that’s what your body needed is nothing to feel stressed or shamed about. Show yourself compassion and gentility.

The most beautiful declaration of love is for someone to simply let you know that you are seen …..

Tonight as I was putting the kids to bed our daughter started to get a slight attitude and said something unkind to her brother. When I asked if she would like to reconsider her word choice she said “I’m tired…. I’m not nice when I’m tired.”

I gently reminded her that while being tired may be a reason that we react in a certain way, it is not meant to be used as an excuse for poor choices. Apologies were made and attitudes were adjusted and bedtime carried on without incident.

Now I’m exhausted too, my husband had been gone all day and he will be gone tomorrow as well but as I made my way to my much anticipated bath, he grabbed my shoulder as I passed and said “that was a great way to handle that. You’re an amazingly patient mom”

That right there meant more to me than any other gesture of love … that right there showed me that he saw me in a moment where I too was tired but reacted with love.

To every incredible woman reading this, I want you to know that I see you, I admire you, and I love you for who you are. I see you trying to make the necessary changes for yourself and your family so you can live your best life, I see you battling hardships and moving mountains, I see you practicing endless amounts of kindness, empathy, patience, and forgiveness, I see you never giving up, I see you…., you are loved.

I Love all children … but let me tell you there is a special place in my heart for teens. They are so vibrant, so ambitious, so creative, but yet so vulnerable. At my daughter’s dance class there was a beautiful group of teenage dancers. Lively, gorgeous, laughter bubbling over …. but I overheard them comparing themselves to someone else “look at her body” “I want that body” “ I wish I looked like that “ does she not eat” “ugh I need to stop eating”

Now I am not saying that these girls are starving themselves, but these kinds of thoughts can spiral so quickly. I have dealt with bulimia and it is hell… no one should ever feel like their beautiful body is not worth love and adoration.

I got up and walked over to them and I said “ hi loves, I’m going to be the weird random total mom right now and just tell you all that you are beautiful and perfect just the way you are and I hope you never forget that!”

If you have teens in your life please take a moment to remind them of how wonderfully unique they are. ♥️🙏 it’s an easy thing for any one of us to forget and it’s a simple thing to remind others

Mental Health is IMPORTANT!

Mental Health IN NOT SHAMEFUL!

You DESERVE to feel your BEST!

The other day my daughter told a family member about our new “family coach” I was then asked by said family member “aren’t you worried what people will think if they find out she is seeing someone for anxiety?” And “you know she has anxiety because she gets her lack of coping skills and lack of confidence from you.”

I am going to say two thing LOUD and CLEAR

1) who cares what other people think. If there is a need that needs to be met for your child or yourself ….. you meet it! Anxiety (depression too) is nothing to be ashamed of, and perhaps if it were more acceptable to talk about, people would realize Hey! I’m not alone!

2) if your child (or you) struggle(s) with anxiety, it doesn’t mean you are to blame! My coping skills are stellar compared to when I was a teenager and ya know what! coping skills take time to learn and my child will get there too. And as for confidence …. don’t let anyone ever tell you that you are not confident! They can’t be the judge of that…. that is something that comes from within!