TV Timeout

It's Thursday and this is my first blog post this week. I say I'm a 'lifestyle blogger' and while most of my posts are about 'style' today's is about LIFE. This week I had to take a TV timeout (what I call a small break) from my intense blogging schedule for several reasons that I want to share with y'all.

When It Rains It Pours

Last week was a really hard, intense week for our family. Harlow started running a high fever on Mother's Day which stuck a pin in our celebrations and ultimately landed us in the ER with a meningitis scare. No, she doesn't have meningitis, not even close. I knew that just looking at her but long story short, she'd slept on a pillow the wrong way in our bed and woke up complaining about a stiff neck. Fever + neck pain in today's world means a five-alarm possible meningitis situation. I could go off on a rant about how modern medicine has turned us into educated neurotics and I probably will at some point, but that's for another time.

So if you're the counting type, that's twice in three months we've been to the ER. Just not good on several levels.

Harlow's health was up and down for most of the week, all eventually chalked up to a random virus with really no other symptoms than a fever. She was FINALLY back to normal by Friday....then that afternoon she tripped and fell smack into the corner of a wall. It cut a quarter-sized hole in her forehead that we had to have glued shut at her pediatrician's office.

Now. I'd survived sleepless nights nursing her through the virus. I ran on adrenaline and stayed on top of my schedule and met deadlines without a word of complaint. I even woke up at 3AM on Friday morning to appear on WLOS to talk royal wedding fashion (you can see a clip HERE). But after days of pushing through, not sleeping, and witnessing my daughter go through so much trauma to her little body, MY body, heart, and mind waved their white flags and said 'enough.'

And just to add a little context, our AC went out three weeks ago and took that long to get fixed. It was a whole-home replacement that required writing a BIG fat check to cover....and meant putting our summer home projects (landscaping, screening in our downstairs patio) on hold once again, not to mention other fun-money things. I nursed my sick baby with a high fever in a hot house, abandoning ship during the day to my mom's house for a few hours. Other things like my old dog's failing bowels, getting attacked by baby ants, and busting the zipper in my new jumpsuit on my first wear just added extra layers of fly frosting to my shit cake. Not terrible on their own, but just more flies in the ointment during a challenging time.

Listening To My Body

SO. This is already running longer than I intended but it feels good to get it out. All of this is to say I need a break. I need to give my body, heart, and mind the chance to heal from the worry, exhaustion, and intense emotion they've endured. The older I get, the more I believe in listening to my body when it's telling me something. We can think of a million reasons to ignore it -- kids, jobs, commitments -- but that just leads to a bigger backfire in the end. I went through adrenal fatigue last fall and I'm NOT letting that happen again. I could feel the imbalance of adrenaline coursing through my body over the last week so I've intentionally throttled back to let it even out.

And that's meant not getting up at 6AM to finish blog posts, meticulously following a posting schedule, or plotting out my Instagram days in advance. I KNOW those are all best-practices but damn, if being self-employed doesn't mean giving yourself a break when you desperately need it than what's the point??

BUT I have still done some pretty cool things this week. (Not including the totally unnecessary fasting I had to do Monday morning.)

Discovering A New Local Boutique

On Tuesday I drove to South Slope in downtown Asheville to meet Heather and Leeann, the owners of upcoming boutique blu29. It's going to be a mix of home decor (lead by Leeann and her years of interior design experience) and denim and elevated basics (driven by Heather's many years of working in New York City). Their shop, located at the base of Church St. right next to Banks Ave where you've got Buxton Hall, Catawba Brewery, and Vortex Doughnuts, has its own dedicated parking spots and even a cool outside patio area. I'm SO excited for them to open because locals and tourists alike are really going to love what they have to offer.

Heather's going to carry upscale brands that you know and love as well as some you might not know yet. Her denim lines include J. Brand, One Teaspoon, and AMO. I tried on a couple pairs of AMO jeans and I couldn't believe how incredibly comfortable and flattering they were! The skinnies and the relaxed straight legs were both that way. And the brands of tees and sweaters will include Monrow, Enzo Costa, and many more I'm excited to try.

I snapped these photos during my visit on Tuesday. Go ahead and mark June 14th from 6-9PM on your calendar for their grand opening party!

Summer Break

Now we find ourselves one day into summer break and I finally get it. What all the moms and dads have complained about on social media for years. Trying to find temporary child care and/or entertainment for the next several months is a doozie of a humdinger. Luckily I have something worked out but my schedule is definitely going to shift. Sometimes I do well with that and others it takes me some getting used to before I get back into the swing of things. We'll see -- it is what it is right? And I want to use the time to get to know other mom friends in my neighborhood so...silver lining and all that!

And really, could I ever be upset about seeing this adorable face smiling up at me everyday? Harlow is just SUCH a happy kid. I watched her play with some older kids and I caught myself tearing up -- she has such a happy, pure spirit and I just don't want to see it get crushed by mean, bullying kids. She's confident and wants to meet new friends and try new things. I hope that stays with her even through the inevitable tough times. I'm so blessed to be her mommy. I mean look at her, she tucked herself into her chair with a blanket and a book before nap time.

Well, that's by far enough for now. Tomorrow kicks off Memorial Day Weekend which I hope you and your families all enjoy! I'm going to give myself some time to enjoy it, too, though I may try to jump on here tomorrow to point out some of the best pieces in the good sales happening right now and throughout the long weekend. I know I want to take advantage while the gettings good!

Wishing you all a blessed day and a peaceful heart,

xxBrooke