A big catchup from the past few months.

How is it December? Big things, little things, work-life balance and embracing the holiday spirit.

Hi! How are you?? Anyone feel like the past few months have been a complete blur? Like all of a sudden we have our Christmas tree up but dare I say I’m still not over fall?

By the way, I always get asked about these little fall baking molds? Also have and love these Christmas ones!

I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it is December 4th! Wasn’t it just October? It feels like we’ve done the most and I feel paralyzed worrying we did nothing at all. Something I’ve learned since becoming a mom is that you can try to hold on to time but year after year the months continue to fly by. I caught myself staring at Charlie’s kindergarten photo that is framed in our living room and kissing it with the guttural feeling of “time, please slow down.” Something I’ve learned in therapy over the years is that there is no use in holding on to moments you can’t get back. The best we can do is focus on today (not even the future, don’t go there yet!). So that’s what I’m trying to do, one foot in front of the other.

I feel like a lot has been happening in my life that doesn’t show up in my work world. One major thing being my parents selling my childhood home (which I’ve discussed briefly in past stacks). It’s been harder than I thought. Mostly worrying about my parent’s emotions during the transition. Next week is their official move out date and I get sad thinking about their final moments in the home that framed our entire childhood. The hardest part of these big life transitions is saying goodbye to a season of life that meant so much to you. It’s how I felt when we sold our home of 4 years, I can’t imagine how they feel selling our home of 30 years. The anticipation of closing this chapter of life feels harder than the physical closing of the door. I know the other side will be beautiful but the entire thing is another reminder that life moves so fast. Sometimes I feel like I can’t hold on hard enough.

I was talking to a girlfriend yesterday about gratitude. When it’s lacking, situations feel so heavy. For example, with my parents selling their home. If I really think about it, how lucky am I to experience these emotions! To have had the most wonderful childhood in the most beautiful, warm hug of a home. It is a moment in time that truly shaped my entire life. It taught me the importance of home and family and the best way to recreate that feeling for my own children. What a gift!! As my dad told us (again, grateful for this cheesy, simple quote) - “don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” If only I could remember this in all of life’s big changes.

November was a complete blur. Without knowing it, I did a doozy on my body and mental health. I put my head down and worked really hard. But I didn’t come up for air, didn’t exercise consistently, didn’t drink enough water and probably drank too much wine. When we traveled for Thanksgiving last week my body completely shut down. I experienced the worst vertigo (possibly because I had been attached to my screens for 3 weeks straight) + a pinched nerve in my neck. I’m a big believer that our bodies are constantly trying to tell us to SLOW DOWN, so I’m working hard this month to listen. It is a full time job trying to better yourself, don’t you agree? Something I’m so looking forward to at the end of this month is deleting social media for 2 weeks. It’s something that I do every year. I put up an “out of office” on the 20th and I commit to being present with my family. It is like breath of fresh air and I always dive into January feeling so refreshed. Highly recommend.

2025 is the year I maintain a better balance in work and life (not to get ahead on new year goals, I’m not really a “goal” gal). I used to be a very Type A person and motherhood/maintaining a home/working from home has completely derailed me. I am determined even to just keep a planner or to-do list going for more than a day. I need to get my priorities in check! I wake up with “big ideas” and want them all executed immediately. I’ve learned that this mindset isn’t great for prioritizing, delegating or finding support for my brand. A lot of wheels churning inside without the organization or follow through. But hey, the first step is acknowledging and the next step is getting more systems in place and recruiting the right people to help. That being said, we have something really exciting coming to Substack in the new year. A little hint here. ;)

Never want to forget George’s obsession with our Halloween skeletons.

I just shared 20 photos from the past few months on Instagram. A reminder of how many beautiful days we shared in October and November. And the best days most likely weren’t photographed at all. Dave grew a beard which was hot (while it lasted) until we would make out and my chin would be raw and red for an hour.

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Do you have a themed tree or a collected tree? We are collected all the way. Our tree is sort of crooked this year and I love her.

And now, here we are! December! It is freezing in Charleston which I appreciate this time of year. My Midwest blood craves a chill in the air. I’m trying to pull out all the holiday magic for my kids but also make room for my own holiday nostalgia. I remember last year going so hard into making the holidays special for my boys and I never really felt the holiday spirit myself. SLOWING DOWN seems to be the best way to achieve that. Making room for the cheesy holiday movies, drinking champagne in the kitchen with my favorite Christmas music, driving through the holiday lights, extra indulgent hot chocolate and honestly just saying fuck it and giving myself approval to do whatever feels right in the moment. We made it through another year, we deserve it!

Hope you’re doing good and feeling good! Thanks, as always, for reading. xoxo

Liz