Because of you, I’m a mama.

Because of you, I have a more intense understanding of my own mama’s role in my life.

Because of you, I am now who I am.

For many of the past days, I’ve wished I could work a 24-hour day without interruption. I guess that’s the glory of finding something you’re passionate about. But then I feel a tug on my pant leg, and the sweetest little 3-year-old voice says, “That’s enough work, mama. Can we play now?” And how can you turn down that request?

I’ve jumped right in to being part of Jeffrey’s company in any and all ways I can. For a couple years, I took a nice little break from being directly involved to have time to be with Gabrielle. To be a mama. And I loved every minute of it. But in recent months, I felt a calling. That the business needed me – and maybe I needed the business.

So now I go to bed at night, and wake up in the morning, thinking about 401ks and payroll and accounts payable and accounts receivable and business banking and the needs of employees – you know, all the fun stuff that somehow wasn’t part of my 8-year-old entrepreneurial venture of a snack shop in the neighborhood selling bulk items my mom picked up at Costco. But I love it!

The learning opportunity is off the chart. I love learning. And with the internet, you can learn and discover (pretty much) anything you’re interested in – in a matter of seconds – if you know how to search well.

Really getting a grasp on how the business works has made me more grateful for my upbringing. That my mom taught me how to be what I call a process thinker – where you immediately see how something could flow better – and she encouraged organization by her example. She was (and is) a hard worker. She knows how to roll up her sleeves and do the dirty work, but she also knows the meaning of elegance and poise. On a daily basis, I internally draw from her precedent. My dad was (and is) a brilliant businessman and thinker. I wish I could have worked in his presence – to have had the opportunity to truly witness him in action. I love seeing my dad, now retired, still put his wisdom to work – and also use the resources of the internet to find new knowledge. I now fully understand why it was so important to my dad that my siblings and I played sports, and got up early on the weekends to help with yard work. And I’m so grateful.

And then there was the five years I spent traveling and working with Jeffrey – 24/7 by his side. Exposed to his work ethic, his thoughts, and his ideas – as well as his interactions at all levels, with all kinds of people – from CEOs of some of the world’s largest companies to store clerks. Every conversation, I’ve listened and I’ve learned and I’ve stored the info to come back to for reference. We always joke that I have a Gitomer MBA. But it’s no joke. I learned more in those five years – both from travel and everything our work entailed – than lots of people learn in a lifetime.

When I moved to Charlotte seven years ago, I really had no idea what I was getting into. Jeffrey asked me to come work for his company – and I thought it was the most magnificent opportunity. Not only did I find love in arriving here, I found the best mental challenge and an opportunity to really discover my capabilities in an environment that was willing to accept them and embrace them.

Cheers to sweet dreams of all things business!

(a field of surprises at Chicago's Lincoln Park)

There are many things in life that delight me. Seeing a field of (what our family refers to as) “surprises” this weekend during our stay in Chicago tops the list! (As an added delight, Jeffrey and I saw these while reconnecting with our childhood on a biking adventure!) Gabrielle has been in love with these since the first moment she saw what happens when you blow them. She is back home in Charlotte with Grandma and Grandpa for the weekend – and I just wanted to pick all of them and bring them home to her!

Not many days go by without Gabrielle asking, “Can we bake something?” She’s discovered that tasting as the baking process progresses is a big highlight! I let her pour the measured ingredients into the bowls and do some of the stirring. She really wants to do the eggs all by herself, so we’re working on mastery of the crack. The apron she’s wearing in this picture was a little apron my mom saved – one that I wore when I was a little girl. Gabrielle loves the cupcake and foods apps on the iPhone – and from those she’s learned many of the common baking ingredients. So cool how technology can teach.

I’ve long admired the cute little cake pop creations of Bakerella. So when I saw the Nordic Ware Cake Pop Pan in the Sur la Table catalog recently, I decided it was time to try making some. I used the recipe for Fudgy Cake Pops that was on the cake pop pan wrapper.

Fudgy Cake Pops

¾ semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ cup butter

¾ cup sugar

3 Tbsp cocoa

2 eggs

¾ cup flour

¼ tsp salt

24 lollipop sticks

12 oz. chocolate bark coating

Heat oven to 325F. Grease and flour pan. In medium saucepan, over low heat, melt chocolate chips and butter together. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat and pour into medium bowl. Add sugar and cocoa. Mix until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add flour and salt. Stir until blended. Spoon batter into bottom half of pan (without holes) filling each well so it mounds over the top of the pan. (I used my Norpro 1tbsp scoop for this step. Worked perfect.) Place top half of pan on top and secure with keys. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out almost clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan, then remove cake pops from pan to cool completely. Melt chocolate bark according to package directions. Dip lollipop stick into melted chocolate and insert into cake. Repeat with all cakes. Allow chocolate to cool to secure stick in place. Dip cake pop in melted chocolate, spinning to let excess chocolate drip off. Decorate with sprinkles as desired. Place on parchment paper to set. Makes about 24 cake pops.

The only cake pops I’ve tasted are the ones at Starbucks, which I wasn’t impressed with taste or texture-wise. These are dense and rich. I used mint chocolate for the outside coating. I like them better after they had a day to “set.” The chocolate coating has a thin crunch and the inside is moist but not overly fudgy. Can’t wait to try some other flavors!

Compliments to little chef!

We have a tendency of frequenting the same core of about ten restaurants here in Charlotte, North Carolina. But I love to try new food. Especially fresh and natural! I picked up this goodness from Maki Taco, a Charlotte food truck with a Pan Asian influence. (You can follow them on Facebook to see their current location.) I like the “build your own tacos” concept. They also have several taco specials to choose from. I ordered the chicken veggie tacos (three come in an order) – the chicken has cabbage mixed in – with cucumber, avocado, and scallions – with peanut sauce on the side. Delicious!

I also love their super simple logo – and all-white food truck. I’ll definitely be finding them again!

The better part of nearly three years of Gabrielle’s sartorial existence is headed out the door today. I’m trying a consignment sale for the first time – and I’m excited to see what the outcome of my preservation of these items will be.

I’m taking them to The Posh Closet sale in hopes that some other sweet child will be able to enjoy them in a similar manner to how we have! Whatever doesn’t sell at the sale (and the remainder of the baby stuff that we are done with) will go to the Covenant Presbyterian Church consignment sale to benefit Gabrielle’s playschool.

Wow, there are so many wonderful memories attached to all these sweet little garments. The best times of my life. I’ve loved dressing Gabrielle. I know it will be soon that she will be picking out her own clothes – and I’m excited for that as well – but oh how I’ve loved the chance to do it for her!

In sorting and pricing and tagging and getting all the items ready (with the help of my organizing soul sister, Elizabeth, who has done wonders in our home), I’ve learned quite a bit about abundance and overabundance – and that it’s hard to know what you need as a first-time parent – and especially as an apparel-loving first-time parent!

I like the feeling of release that comes along with clearing out clutter. And I like that it helps to make room for a more refined, inspired purchasing process in the future. One with a more defined focus on what I need in life to be happy. And at the end of the day, it’s my family and my friendships and my life experiences that mean the most to me.

I’ve always been attracted to the color grey. Saw and loved this concrete detail while walking yesterday along what will soon be the completed and new Little Sugar Creek Greenway in Charlotte.

 {images from Bill Diodato and Ubique Chic}

Grey is one of my favorite go-to colors. It’s what I often pick for Gabrielle’s outfits, too. I love how many wearable variations of the shade there are – and that you can put them all together for an all-grey ensemble that can be super casual or more elegant. I’m especially drawn to a great marly or heathered grey.

I picked out Valspar’s Laura Ashley Chimney Sweep for a grey accent wall in Gabrielle’s new bedroom. I’m working with black, white, and a hint of pink to give her a new little haven for rest when she turns three on March 18th.

If you want to know why French Women Don’t Get Fat and use some of that knowledge in your own quest for great health, my suggestion is to forgo reading the book, and spend a little time in France!

Here are a few things I discovered they do there that I wish we did (or did more of) here in America…

1. Walk everywhere. And don’t complain about it. My most favorite part about our time in Paris was all the walking. Wake up – and walk. It keeps you healthy and gives you awareness of the world.

2. Portion sizes are realistic (AKA small and reasonable). Not because you’re dieting, because that’s your lifestyle. I get so frustrated at restaurants when they serve huge, could-feed-a-whole-family meals.

3. Buy just what you need to consume. Do you really need the 48 pack of granola bars from Costco? How much do you throw away because you couldn’t consume it before it went bad? The French shop daily. Their food has less preservatives – and therefore tastes better! You buy what you’re going to eat that day.

4. Mini Coca-Colas. The perfect example. Just the right amount to have a taste and feel the delight! And in Europe the sodas are made with real sugar, not corn syrup. At our local grocery store, you pay MORE for the smaller cans. What’s that about?!

5. Enjoy the experience of dining. Eat on the run – grab a quick bite. That’s American. And it takes away from the experience and pleasure of eating. (Although maybe it was designed that way so you don’t slow down enough to realize what you’re putting into your body when you eat fast food!)

I can feel a distinct difference within my body when I eat smaller meals that contain healthy, fresh foods, when I take the time to savor what I eat, and when I give my body the exercise it needs to give me strength and energy back.

Cheers!

Long before there was Pinterest, I was posting my style inspirations on my old blog site in a gallary type format that I could always refer back to. I’m working on moving a lot of that content over to this blog site, and love seeing all the beauty and ideas.

I hate that I don’t have links to where I found these. (The gallery platform I had before didn’t have an option for that). That’s something new I’m planning to do as I add to my style inspiration board – to provide links to where you can find what I post.

And even before I was blogging, I had (and still archive) a physical “Pinterest” of all kinds of magazine clippings and tear sheets. (That’s where many of the above images came from.)

Three cheers for all the inspiration in the world!

I love packing Gabrielle’s lunch.

It’s especially fun and easy with her PlanetBox lunchbox. I tried a couple other bento-style lunchboxes before this one – and have found this one to be the best. It is dishwasher safe and comes out perfect after each wash – without any rust areas or color change to the stainless steel. It also comes with little extra containers (like the one the blueberries are in above) to maximize what you can put into the compartments, and magnets that you can use to decorate the outside. It’s on my to-do list to make some photo magnets for the outside to customize it just for Gabrielle.

My goal is always to include as many colors of food as possible. (There are lots of good bento ideas at Another Lunch.)  Sometimes I’ll add in something new to see if she likes it. Today’s new item is the little pieces of whole wheat bread cut into flower shapes using the mini cookie cutters. Gabrielle closes up her lunchbox at school when she’s done with lunch (doesn’t throw anything out), so she always brings home what she didn’t eat (which I like being able to see) and she has it as a snack later in the day. The only waste from her lunch is the napkin (which I’m going to try using a washable cloth napkin), the white Wilton paper treat cups I use to divide up the large section (I’d love to find a silicone version in that exact size!), and the removable stickers I add to the inside and outside from my favorite sticker books.

I couldn’t find an ice pack that I liked – so I decided to create my own using a “You are my sunshine” zipper pouch. (Oooh, this Dick and Jane one would be perfect too!) I fill it with two sheets of these flexi freeze sheets that I cut to fit perfectly inside the pouch. I just set the pouch on top of the box inside Gabrielle’s backpack and they sit together in her cubby until lunchtime.

I keep all the lunchbox supplies – including the lunchbox itself – stored on the kitchen counter in Polder’s retro bread box. It’s got just the right amount of space inside. It’s magnetic. And it looks simple and clean on the counter.