Maximizing an Apartment Entry Way/ Foyer

 I strive to be a super-organized mama. It is important for me to have designated places for everything, reminders, systems, or what-have-you in order to A. keep sane, B. actually keep up with a busy life, C. to feel peaceful, and D. to amp up productivity (a word that is rarely used during the summer months). I love homes that are streamlined and get goose-bumps over clever methods to make managing life smooth. Some may not see life as something that needs to be 'managed' and "summer Jenn" loves to rebel and live like a total bohemian....so that Type A Jenn can take over for most of the school year. Now that I have a child I feel it is even more important to SIMPLIFY and keep up with organizational systems or anything that can make life easier and neat so that I can be present as much as possible.

A little vignette of my entry display shelf. I made the drawing a few years
back and the oil burner is an oldie from The Body Shop.

I am a believer in the whole concept that the state of your home is a reflection of the state of your mind (or inner self). If my house is a mess my mind is a mess and vice versa.  Often some time and forethought is needed to establish home systems that work for you, but I find projects fun, especially when they are finished! Here is a look at how I maximized the efficiency and also personalized the little entryway of my apartment (which will likely evolve as Addison gets older).

I would love more color in the entry but as a renter 

there are times that I need to weigh out how 

in
depth I want a project to be, so I easily settle with 'near' perfect.

I love coming home to inspiration and personal trinket as
much as I like a streamlined functional space.

DIY Dry Erase Boards! I used glass frames from Ikea with patterned scrapbook paper. One is for Daily/Weekly(ish) Checklists and another to randomly write down reminders and things I remember to buy. They make me happy.

A message by the door. My first attempt at cross-stitch.

What are some techniques you use to make life more organized?

Words to your Pre-Baby Self

I have been loving NPR's Baby Project and wish I had discovered it during my pregnancy. Those days were hectic, hard, and ultimately triumphant, but I secretly wish I could have spent more time basking in the pregnant experience and writing for something along the lines of what NPR has put together. A friend of mine (the talented Annemarie) shared this link on facebook and I became a tad emotional watching the video. Did anyone else find this moving or are hormones sifting back to me?

Some of my personal favorites: "Forgive yourself"; "This too shall pass" 

(heck I have that tattooed on me!); "Trust your instincts"; "You are the expert"

I intended on creating this blog even before I had Addison, and for various reasons didn't launch here until she was five months old. My original focus was to write out the things no one told me before I had a baby, or more fittingly--the things you can't really prepare yourself for. I have a huge list that if I wasn't so wrapped up in life as a mama I could use for daily blog posts from now until December. Yet, I want to share so much more about the experience of parenthood and the interesting split that occurs when one is 'born' into a mother. I also want to pass on the myriad resources and inspirations I have found in my intense 'research' (or internet addiction) in hopes of helping others along the way. For me, the hardest part about transitioning into being a mother has been the identity crisis that came with it--particularly since I found myself entering the realm of single-parenting to boot. I still struggle with forgiveness in one shape or form, being kind to myself, and also coping with the fact that I am still essentially who I was before baby. There is quite a lot I wish I could tell my pregnant self, and so much wisdom given by others that I hold close to me still, but as the article details, you can't really know until you get there. I have narrowed my sentiments to the two posted here because they are pertinent to me and I think can transcend to any other mama out there.

What would your sign say?

Awesomely Obscure Children's Books

Obscure Children's Books by Adult Authors

From Mark Twain's: "Advice to Little Girls"

Need I say anything more? Wow.

(I especially covet the Wilde one!!)

First Post, Pressure, Identity, and an Orange.

The hardest part about starting a new blog is deciding what to publish for the FIRST post. There is so much pressure behind firsts, that sometimes people (like myself naturally) avoid the potential at all costs. I find myself scribing in my mind and tossing ideas because nothing seems proper until the FIRST post is written. Questions mount: Who do I want to present myself as? Do I want to introduce myself first? Do I want a clever tagline? Do I want a perfectly designed page first? Do I have a clear idea or niche?  I hear one of my dearest writing professors (the prolific and influential Sarah Schulman) repeating rules I often break like: “Show, don’t tell” and I consider the magnitude of her body of work. Alas. Self-doubt mounts. The larger-than-wise Lao Tzu imparted: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step” but no one told me how steep that step might be.

In the past I started blogs with rambling posts avoiding the creation of an identity, sort of an in media res stream of consciousness that suited my need to tell stories and share, but gave no focus or tone to my blog (other than some Freudian web-trip). I am also hyper-aware of the itch to tell-all-at-once-right-now, and have learned ‘if you build it they will come’ is the approach to the blogging world as well. When I became pregnant (a story which will take many installments) I took a hiatus from my personal blog (in need of a revamp) and started to reconsider my blog identity. I became insecure. Was I worth listening to? Are the things I share defined by the number of hits my blog gets? Should I build my proverbial ‘field of dreams’ even though there are tons of others blogs in my so-called niche? I knew the direction I wanted to go in but lacked the impetus, energy, and largely the self-esteem. The main deterrent, as for most of us, was/is fear. I know one way I have dealt with fear is through the ‘power in numbers’ concept—if I have support, or others who have ‘been there’ with me, I have a greater shot at moving forward. Thus the reason I so often turn to blogs (and Google as a whole).

Many steps led me to this moment, many of which I am quite conscious of, but the most compelling for me has to be Leo Babauta’s post “How to Start”. I imagined his first post experience and the many baby steps he took along the way. Then I had a Proustian moment that turned into a zen state of awe. I was peeling an orange while my baby nursed, and I experienced the story of how I got to that present. A series of epiphanies immersed in a breath of consciousness. I mindfully ate my orange, took in the essence of my baby girl and said to myself: “Today I will start.” My story begins here: in the place I fill with the never-ending IT.

So there you have it. A first post. A self-reflective mama. An internet addict. A sharer. A relatively literate, meditative, sometimes verbose storyteller, life experiencer, and a slew of other things I hope to show you along the way!