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Category: Lifestyle
The East coast of NC has been in a tizzy this week preparing for Hurricane Florence. While I could care less about the food I might lose if the power is out for days, I care a whole heck of a alot about the breast milk that could thaw and keeping my six year old entertained. Here is my list of how I’m getting through the storm with my children. A hurricane with a breastfeeding baby While there’s a plus side to having a breastfed baby in a natural disaster (boobs will always be there!), there…
Things to do during the holidays instead of the Pullen Park’s Holiday Express Did you miss out on Pullen Park’s Holiday Express tickets this morning? While I was able to snag some, that isn’t the case for a lot of moms this morning. While the tickets sold out in record time, I can assure you there are still plenty of magical activities to do with your children this holiday season. Your children will love this list of things to do during the holidays with your little ones. Some notable activities include: Meadow Lights Includes…
I’ve been thinking about what I would say in this post all morning. I’ve always been better about writing my feelings than actually saying them. But some things are just hard, plain and simple. Some days are exhausting. There’s a perfect trifecta in my life now. It’s like the Bermuda triangle for my happiness. First, Mother’s day. Then your birthday. Then, finally, when I finally start to feel a little okay again, there’s the day you left us. Three dates following each other, only a couple of weeks…
How to capture your children’s milestones with photography… I have always been a strong advocate for getting pictures made, especially of my children. While I’m not huge into the posed newborn shots, especially since mama likes her sleep and I don’t want to deal with spending hours possibly making my new baby upset – I just use my SLR to take some shots and call it a day… I AM big on capturing all the rest. When Jude was 6 months old, we took family pictures for our Christmas cards. As he…
Raising a daughter without your mom… An essay about raising a daughter without your mom. I roamed the streets of Dublin in a haze that shifted from confused to mad to heartbroken with every step. When I saw a small bookstore with signs in the window advertising a going-out-of-business sale, everything only 5 euros, I went inside, leaving my emotions on the street. They didn’t belong in such a sacred space. I found a book smeared in shades of lavender, a color my mom painted our downstairs bathroom. It was called “Love’s Last Gift…
Grief is the devil. He’s been around a lot lately, more so than I care to let on. In the shower. On the closet floor when I’m organizing my socks. On the drive to work. In bed late at night. When I spill something. When my son gives me an attitude. When my daughter won’t stop crying. When a thought pops into my head of something I need to ask or tell my mother. Grief is all consuming in the darkness. Grief is a never ending ladder in the light, one I keep climbing…
Grieving the loss of my mom It’s been a little over two months since I lost my mom to cancer. Dealing with my mom dying has been the hardest task I’ve ever faced. When I say the words “I lost my mom” out loud, they don’t seem right, because a lost sock can be found again. This isn’t just a missing sock. This is a huge hole in my gut, which will never, ever go away. Losing a parent means you’ve joined a club with people who understand that just walking out the front…
I remember it like it was yesterday. I was working for the travel agency at the time and I got a phone call from the urgent care I’d seen just two days prior. “Ms Karambelas, we got your test results back and you don’t have a kidney infection.” I was confused. This felt the same as the last kidney infection I had had a few months prior. They already put me on a medication to treat the infection before even getting the results of the urine culture because they were so certain I…
Somewhere down Schwedenplatz, there is a Mcdonalds that breaks up the clothing shops and the historic buildings. Actually, there’s two. The golden arches beckon tourists inside, into the comfort of Big Macs and French fries. But this isn’t where you find the magic of Vienna. You have to put your pink headphones in, your sunglasses on, and keep walking. You have to travel between shadowed alleyways that lead into the back of restaurants or small courtyards with fountains and benches. You have to wander into markets and buy what you think is beer, only to pay and realize…
I can’t believe I bought my first home, y’all!! I did a really cool thing this past week – I bought my first home! When my mom and dad sat me down a couple years ago and told me that they wanted to sell me their house, I was stunned. I remembered back to the day we drove around in the van going to house after house with our real estate agent. We didn’t intend to tour what later became our home, but I was looking out the window as we drove by and screamed…
