life

Woman in blue and pink floral bikini pulling wagon with beach items on sandy beach

Summer Musts

Posted by

0

I lived in New York City for 4 years, and most of those were spent nannying for a wonderful family. One summer, they booked a house on Fire Island, and I got to go too. This was very exciting for me and I looked forward to a summer that I envisioned similar to what Elin Hildebrand often describes in her novels: a little rugged and endlessly blissful. We got to the island and right away realized there wasn’t air conditioning. Hmmm. Even 20 years later, that makes me shudder a little thinking about it. Ok, but we were still on an ISLAND. The first morning, as soon as the sun arose, what I would describe as bombs, starting dropping. Realizing that this could not be the case, we went to the roof to see what on earth was attacking us. Seagulls. Seagulls were attacking us. It was simultaneously cool and creepy, but every morning, seagulls would swoop up giant crabs and drop them on the flat roof of the house to crack them so they could eat them. We had fun rescuing the ones that weren’t murdered by bird, but the war raged on every morning at first sun. These moments stick out in my mind, but the one that still burns brightly in my memory was my first fashion choice on the island.

Now, I assume anyone reading this is not Gen Z. If you are Gen Z, we didn’t have fashion blogs or street style to scroll. We had US Magazine for my demographic and Vogue if you were wise beyond your years. I was not. Anyhow, I decided to put away my fear of bathing suits and go with an island beach feel. Our first day, I just wore my bikini and sandals to start the day. I grabbed the wagon for the precious one I nannied, and he, his mama and I left to explore. We hit the town….I was the only one only wearing a swimsuit. Let’s say it again. We are walking around an island town and everyone but me was dressed. I tried not to care, but I was more Botticelli than sprite (note to self: you will embrace your body type by age 40) and I sort of wanted to die. The precious one’s mama quietly bought me a sarong and I will forever be grateful to her for that.

These days, you can find everything online to perfect your summer, but isn’t it better if there’s a personal recommendation attached? Here are a few things I am loving as we enter summer and would highly recommend for a comfortable and luxurious summer, filled with air conditioning.

This dress….I work for the company, and I have never ever received more compliments while wearing a dress. I am stopped by strangers and asked where I got it regularly. If you are traveling, it doesn’t wrinkle in a suitcase. Use the code welcome20 for 20% off your order.

I am sort of over wearing leggings to work out. I woke up one day and it just felt dated. I bought these pants and LOVE them. They have the hand of a legging, but way cooler, in my opinion. Unlike a bikini, you can wear them everywhere throughout your day.

I know jellies are all the rage, but I just can’t. I am afraid of sliding around in them if they get wet. I’m also afraid of slurping sounds with them. Eek. I love gold sandals. I need a shoe that looks stylish but allows me to work on my feet, and I got these and LOVE them. They don’t look like they would be comfortable for a long period, but they are. I also really love these for a flat sandal. I would ironically wear them with the above pants. It’s fun when things don’t quite work together.

Because it’s hot and sweaty out, deodorant is a must, but make it fun. This brand is fantastic and keeps you smelling like neroli, or basil, or bergamot…I actually look forward to this mundane step in grooming when this is on hand. Shockingly, my favorite is the saffron and cedar scent, which is a ringer for MFK’s Baccarat Rouge 540, but all of the scents are beautiful and it works!

My youngest child goes through shower gel like he’s been climbing through muddy trenches, and I had to tell him to keep his little hands off this, because it is precious stuff! Oh my, it smells so heavenly and the formula feels dreamy in the shower. I do not like their deodorant, at all, but the shower gel is amazing. I bought a travel size to take for work trips and I get so excited to put it in the hotel showers.

I love that I work in an industry that wants you to know about great products. A woman I really admired at work introduced me to this multi use product, and it is the best. You look summery and glowy, without being too glowy. A little goes a long way and the big tub will last years. If you look on Tik Tok, they have the minis on sale usually. Dusty Rose is by far my favorite. Note, some of them have glitter in the formula. Look for “sheer” in the product description to avoid unwanted sparkles.

What is summer without a great book? I haven’t been reading as much as I should, but my mom sent me “Theo of Golden” and I loved it with all my heart.

Let me know what your summer must haves are!

Why I Changed My Mind

Posted by

3

IMG_3612

I take videos of Teeny all day long. When he naps, I watch them. After he goes to bed, I watch them again. I email them to my mother and father and expect responses so I can revel in his wonderfulness over and over.  There is probably not a full 60 seconds that I do not think about him. He is 16.5 months and I still cry once per day thinking about how much I love him.

This is not an activism post, but something I have been thinking about for a while and simply wanted to say aloud. I am generally socially liberal, and I used to be pro-choice. I do not like government butting into peoples’ lives and this seemed more of a personal matter than governmental. I believe in the right for all humans to be able to marry and I believe in kindness for animals raised for food consumption, but I no longer believe in the idea of pro-choice. I remember discussing this with my best friend’s husband saying, “Who am I to tell someone else what they can do with their body?” Do you know what changed this? I could not have a baby.

If you know me or have read my blog, you know that we could not have a baby naturally. Every step we took up that giant mountain of infertility treatments changed my opinion. If one woman who was not ready to have her child would just let me have that baby….  Rational or irrational, suddenly all potential babies seemed like my potential child and the idea of someone not wanting that child, not knowing that I would travel and do anything to have that child was unbearable to think about.

We finally did get pregnant, and pregnancy through in vitro fertilization is a very different process than regular pregnancy.  Everything is monitored from the moment the embryo is placed in your body. When we lost one of the embryos, we did an ultrasound at 6 weeks. Guess what, we saw a little fighter with a strong heartbeat.  The doctor did not think he would make it, but he fought. I was barely pregnant in terms of time, but I was already a mother. That little heartbeat in a yolk sac has grown into my entire world. It is an unrealistic fantasy, but I would like a whole brood of them running around (provided they all slept at night.) I can think of nothing better than just being at home with a whole team of tiny Szurpickis; breaking things, running experiments in my brand new bathroom, locking each other out of the house.  These small people are so much fun! Seeing him at 6 weeks, intent on making it to full life solidified my earlier belief that I am 100% pro-baby growth.  Pro-life is a rotten term.  We are all pro-life.

This change in mindset came from my own experience.  It is just personal.  This is my general opinion, knowing that each situation is different and shouldn’t be judged.  It is simply something to think about.