January 2026
Looking Back
January went by in the blink of an eye. Actually, I’m intentionally trying not to say that this year.
So here goes: January was full of so much fun.
It started with a New Year’s Eve party at our house. We were joined by a smattering of our besties and Charlie’s bestie. We had “the ball drop” at 6:30 pm, and as much as I tried… I did not make it to midnight. Ha!
We had so much fun ringing in the new year as a family of four, and I was so happy to have Tasha join us and stay the night. There’s nothing better than celebrating with your absolute favorite people.
Shortly thereafter, Ronnie rang in his New Year, which I was so excited about because I got him a great gift and a great cake, but unfortunately, he was super sick and had to stay in bed the entire day. A bit of a buzzkill, but on the positive side, I got to enjoy extra time with the girls.
By the time Ronnie was feeling better, I was back to work for the first time since having Margaux, which has been really enjoyable and, at the same time, very hard.
I’ve found it more challenging to get my sea legs back this time than when I just had Charlie, probably a combination of matrescence (new term!), mental load, and getting back into the swing of things. To support myself in this season, I joined a private women’s mastermind for working, ambitious mothers, and it’s been an incredible investment of time, money, and energy.
While the workweeks were a marathon, the weekends were full of fun: Bears playoff games!, Yapping with the girls, having my bestie join me for a workout in our home gym, getting together for a tea party with the Yayas, and celebrating the forthcoming arrival of the newest member of the Yaya Tribe, le Grand Petite #4.
Ronnie and I also implemented a formal, planned date night for the first time in our relationship (wild, since we’ve been together for 15 years!!!) and really enjoyed a weeknight off dinner and bedtime duty. We went to a foot spa followed by dinner at our favorite local spot, and it was quite fabulous (shout out to our neighbors and my parents who got us GCs to the footspa! You guys rock!!!).
Lastly, we stuck with Tuesday nights as our immersive Spanish lesson nights for the girls, a really fun new addition to our weekly routine: We have a Spanish instructor come to the house and spend an hour as a family only communicating in Spanish while doing play and other activities around the house. Think of it as Spanish exposure therapy, laying the foundation for multilingual neural pathways while the girls are young.
As I’m writing this, I’m realizing just how grateful I am for the support we have in our home and with our girls. It’s been really fun (and hard!) stepping into the identity of working mom x 2 and revisiting my systems to help us navigate this time with as much joy and ease as possible, knowing it’s as sweet a season as it is hard. Perhaps I’ll call this the “Hard Candy Season” when I look back on these times.
The mastermind I joined helped me understand why this season is so tough in the most simple terms possible (see below venn diagrams), so if you or anyone else you know is in this season, share this with them, and remind them that they are doing great.
Looking Ahead
Trips and Traditions: As I look ahead, there’s so much to be excited about: Ronnie and I both have celebration trips coming up in March with our companies, we’re headed to Scottsdale with his team at the beginning of the month and Puerto Vallarta with mine at the end. In February, we’re taking a little weekender up to Lake Geneva with the girls over Valentine’s Day weekend. We’re hoping to introduce Charlie to the joy of skiing while also enjoying a fun indoor waterpark adventure. We did this trip last year over the same weekend and loved it so much that it’s back for another round. We also put a deposit down on a place in Tampa for our family vacation this fall, and having that on the books is giving me something to really look forward to at the end of this Hard Candy Season.
Family: I’m also really looking forward to February and March as we introduce foods to Margaux’s diet. This was such a fun part of Charlie’s development, and I can’t wait to see what Margaux thinks of new flavors and textures, and how it unveils a whole new side of her personality and expressions. Charlie is in such a fun stage right now, she loves to sing and dance, she loves to cook, and she loves to help out with Margaux, fetching things from her room and bringing them to mommy. I can’t wait to see how she takes to skiing, and how much fun she has at the waterpark over Valentines Day Weekend.
Creative things: Last but not least, I’m excited to get work back from some of the partners I’ve hired to help in different areas of life:
Right now, I have a partner helping with the design and layout of the cookbook I’m creating for the girls, I can’t wait to share more!!!
I am continuing to work with a professional photographer on my favorite recipes, her work is so fabulous and the combined cookbook design work + these pro photos are making this project feel like… official? :)
We also are in the process of working out the details on a contract with a designer to help us plan a kitchen/first-floor renovation, I promise you I manifested him!!! Some of our neighbors in New Buffalo have used him for years on their home projects, and their most recent home IS IT, so I got in touch with our neighbors and they got me in touch with him! I can’t wait for more to come on this piece too!
One of the things that excites me most about this stage of life is holding creative projects with more patience than ever before… and with a mindset shift from “this is all on me” to “who could help me do this even better, while making the process and outcome more enjoyable?” New mantra unlocked: “Everything I ***could*** do, you can do better.” I’ve written before on the power of outsourcing, but I feel like in this season, where I am the most time poor I’ve ever been, outsourcing is taking on a whole new energy and power in my life! It’s been so much fun hiring for the help I need in areas where I used to default to, “I can do it myself.” And the results I am getting back are 10x better than what I could have done on my own. It’s a great thing!
What are you most excited about right now?
Favs and Finds
Okay onto the ideas, products, and discoveries I’m making in my life, kitchen, and around the house :)
In my ears:
I’m currently listening to I Know How She Does It by Laura Vanderkam a time-management book that uses data from working mothers earning over $100,000 to challenge the "can't have it all" narrative, showing how successful women use the same 168 hours in a week to balance demanding careers, family, and personal time through strategies like split shifts, prioritizing "good enough" housework, and guarding leisure time in small increments.
I also recently really loved this episode of Hot Smart Rich where the founder of The Ring Concierge talks about how she built TRC from the ground up with zero funding, and one key insight: that current experience around shopping for engagement rings sucked and it could be vastly improved. Brilliant!
In my life: In case you missed it (since I’ve been living under a rock)…
Jacksons Chips are at Costco! Three ingredient snackies: Sweet potato, avocado oil, salt! I dare you to find a cleaner, better, more delish salty snack.
Additionally, Solely Fruit Jerky have also entered the Costco group chat, and so this too is our latest obsession. We’re stocking up on both of these like crazy!
Lastly, I’m making Sweet Heat Smoothies everyday right now as I try to get some post-partum inflammation under control, and I am LOVING how clean Malk is, plus so excited that I can buy it at Jewel (unexpected if I am being honest). Also, these Hoka Recovery Slides and On Engineering Shoes are my new indoor shoes to help me with some of the inflammation affecting my feet. Ouch!
Who didn’t tell me about these Owala bottles? Here’s my pitch (thanks, Tasha!)… it’s a chug top and a sip straw all in one. Also… the way that the bottle top opens, covers your face when you sip from the straw on a Zoom call, so you don’t look like a weirdo. Lastly, the top handle makes it easy to carry when you are also lugging a car seat and holding a toddlers hand in a parking lot. I feel like I’m late to the game on this, but honestly… it’s very much worth the money if your top goal this year is hydration.
On my vanity:
I’m currently loving my Merit products I use their whole line, five minute makeup routine that leaves you looking dewy and glowy and gorgeous whether your on Zoom calls or seeing your peeps IRL.
And have been waking up to some great smells by layering my Necessaire Shampoo and Conditioner with a new perfume. The perfume: I hugged my friend Cynthia this month and was blown away by how good she smelled. It literally stopped me in my tracks. I asked her what she was wearing, and now I’m wearing it too: Le Labo Santal 33 perfume. It’s pricey, but it smells phenom.
In my kitchen this month, I cooked my tail off!!! Here are some of the recipes that defined our month:
Key Lime Pie — Ronnie says this is the best Key Lime Pie he’s ever had in his life!
Oysters with Dirty Martinis — New year, same me :)
Sweet Heat Smoothie — Literally making this every day right now with Malk, Vita Coco and Navitas Chia Seeds
Maple Glazed Chicken Thighs — The easiest, yummiest sheet pan recipe for fast weeknight dinners!
Honey Lemon Salmon w Brocc — Okay ditto what I said about the Maple Glazed Chicken Thighs :)
Luis’s Chili — The only recipe you need for Superbowl Sunday
Jennifer Garner’s Cornbread — Jk, add these too and you’ll have the perfect Superbowl Sunday feast-a-roo!
RH Gem Salad — Don’t miss this!!! It’s SO easy and SO good
From My Camera Roll
Becoming a mom x2 in this era of AI everything has really made me think about what memories I am willing to share publicly via social media, and which are really just meant for my family (and maybe our close friends).
As I pull back from sharing my family on social media as much, I’ve been leaning into putting more and more on my private family archival site (like my home videos from our NYE celebrations, and our family singing happy birthday to Ronnie, etc.) where I can easily share with close friends and family, without fearing that I’m putting my family in harm’s way.
