Major Life Update! (+ answer your questions)

Hello! Trying to figure out where to start…if you subscribe to my newsletter, you’ve probably seen some of my mini life updates, but it’s been a minute! I’m writing this article, sitting among our new members (so it happened!). I’m writing a blog post about it, but as always I’m obsessed with all the little details and it’s taken me way too long to share this damn space.

We are officially working full time in Vermont. It feels weird to say that. We still have our house in Rhode Island, currently rented out for the winter, summer to be determined. We have a Vermont driver’s license and a Vermont license plate, which is all very official. I love living here. I love our neighbors, our friends, our lives. Don’t get me wrong, I miss some things about Rhode Island (family, beaches, great places to get manicures/pedicures lol). But overall, I’m really happy that Vermont is back home.

Marin is 3 years old. I don’t know three years have passed. I don’t miss infancy at all. I feel like I’m finally breaking out of the new motherhood fog. Toddler is also a total $hit$how, but in a different way.but I enjoy There is so much more to motherhood now than I used to do. I feel like I’m rediscovering myself and finally dealing with all the damn things that have happened since pregnancy. Between hyperemesis, postpartum hemorrhage, D-Mer, having a baby before the pandemic, etc., I’ve honestly been in survival mode and haven’t been able to process all the stuff I’ve buried deep down until now. being a mother is hard, honestly, WTF? ! But it’s also really great and I absolutely love my baby and all her fun little quirks.

On the work side, everything is fine. Just as I rediscovered myself post-baby, I was reevaluating my business vision. Trying to do this has been a challenge when parenting a toddler who is often home sick from daycare, but it’s a work in progress. My time away from Instagram has been instructive, if perhaps not as shocking as I thought it would be. I don’t miss Instagram at all, and I guess the most amazing thing is how much I can get done without it. I’ve read almost 9 books so far this year! IG and TikTok are where most brands want to spend their money, so not putting them first can be financially challenging, but I’m figuring it out and I don’t regret doing what’s right for me.

I’ve been focusing on blogging and getting back to the stuff I love to write about, capsule wardrobes, home improvement/decoration, books, TV, podcasts, beauty, etc. The blog is doing better than ever (traffic has been going up) which is really good.i like to have Written by my friend Kelley for the blog (Will have a proper introduction and Q&A with her shortly). Community Also really great. I love that it also allows other people to interact with each other and helps me feel connected since I no longer read IG comments or DMs.

I have so much fun to share over the next few months, more home reno projects, a capsule wardrobe, another clothing collaboration, and an upcoming blog design update. There were a lot of questions, so I’ve combined them and answered some below. Thank you so much for being here. Most of all, I am so grateful for this incredible community. I’m grateful to you!

How has your day away from Instagram been?

Great, anti-climate. I guess I was waiting for some big revelation, but that didn’t really happen. Maybe it’s also because I’m still creating content for IG, even though I’m not personally involved in it, so I don’t feel completely disconnected.Ultimately I decided to keep my account active for business and there is lauren run my account for me.I feel really lucky to have someone I trust and who else understands me and what I stand for is huge Lauren help me manage it.

I think one of the things that I felt was missing was the political content. I’m still thinking about what I want to share and how, but I want to make it part of my IG content because I do think it’s really important, now more than ever. In fact, some people will only follow me on IG, and I’ve accepted that. I can’t force people to read blogs or newsletters, it’s ultimately my responsibility to reach my audience, who love to consume content (to an extent). At the end of the day, I have to separate me (personal Jess) from me (business Jess), which is hard because me (personal Jess) is also a big part of me (business Jess). Am I confused? One of the hardest parts of this business for me is drawing the line between privacy and my personal life. I’m still figuring it out, but for now I’ll continue to use IG as a business tool, who knows what the future holds.

what about pets

Animals are nice (lots of questions about animals lol). i still miss nora. I always will. Peppers are nuts.I will never have a puppy again, but we worked so hard for her She is a very nice dog. She actually reminds me of Nora, which is kind of crazy because they’re so different and yet so similar. The dynamic between Fuji and Pepper is very similar to Fuji and Nora. They took a little longer to come together, but they’re now as thick as a thief.Fuji is real Be nice to her. Hunter is great. He’s 12 or 13 now. He had to have all his teeth pulled (common for older cats I guess) but it totally changed his personality for the better. He’s playing again, hanging out a lot. He likes to wrestle with Pepper, which pisses me off. Having three animals and a toddler is ridiculous, but Marlin is obsessed with them, and they’re fun together.

Are you happy working full time in Vermont?

Yes! I love Vermont. I really never saw myself living anywhere other than Rhode Island as an adult. We moved back to Rhode Island in 2013 because we felt like it was home. Of course, things changed, lives changed, and 10 years later we found ourselves in Vermont. There is so much to love about living here, believe me it’s not all sunshine and roses, but overall I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

Is it hard being away from your family?

Yes. We have a great community and great friends in Vermont, but sometimes I really miss having family around, especially when we just want to be alone or need a break from being parents. Nanny can be hard to come by and the convenience and comfort of having family to help is definitely something I miss here.

How is the home update going?

They are leaving! It feels like we built this house from the ground up. Added (I promise the post will be up soon). basement mud room Already done. We renovated the hallway bathroom and kitchen. The next project is to convert the garage into our bedroom/bathroom and then our bedroom into Marin’s room. We also had to inhabit the entire house, build/close a small entrance, replace all the windows, build a patio in the back, and a bunch of landscaping projects and other bits and pieces. So yes, there is no end in sight here.

Do you have any design collaborations this year?

Yes! I’m designing another fall collection with ABLE. It will be very small, maybe 3-4 items at most, I can’t give many details, but I hope it will be a sweater or two, a shirt jacket and a shirt.

Any advice for first-time parents feeling overwhelmed?

I don’t want to leave this question out because I can understand it. I have a lot to say about my first experience as a mom, but looking back, my main piece of advice is, take it easy. Like a lot of Slack. As parents, we are very fixated on doing the “right” thing (especially the first time). I can tell you now, You did very well. seriously. It’s so hard, like no one can put it into words. It’s exhausting. It’s okay if your house is a mess, with dishes in the sink or laundry piling up. Just do whatever you need to do. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Take time for yourself, alone if you can (this is important). Find your mom’s friend. Those are your people, and they will help you through this. Take it one day at a time and don’t worry about absorbing every precious moment or any other sanctimonious bull run. read this article If you haven’t already. hold onto.