My mom was a product of her era. Coming of age in the 50s and 60s, she was the first in her family to attend college, the only one to leave her small town in upstate NY, and an anomaly of her time who waited until her mid thirties to start having babies. She worked her way up from file clerk to a high-level position at her organization, and even though she passed away when I was just 6 years old, I vividly remember her telling me that I could have it all--marriage, career, kids, house--with hard work and determination.
Twenty-five years later, I'm a wife to an amazing, hardworking man and working mom to a beautiful little girl. My goal in starting this blog is to explore this crazy experience of navigating wifehood (is that a thing?) and motherhood in a city where more is never enough, the parenting philosophies plentiful, and you could spend the rest of your life trying to keep up with the Joneses--except that out here the Joneses are the Beckhams, the Hanks', and the Cruise/Holmes'. I really struggled with this when my daughter was born, but along the way I've discovered shortcuts to upgrade our everyday--whether its make-ahead meal planning, how to eat organic and be green on a tight budget, DIY home decor on the cheap (and in an apartment with limited space and extreme klutziness with tools--good times), or fun things to do with your kids when you can't spend a ton (or anything). See a theme? Yes, we have a budget!!! Yes, we (try to) live within our means! We're not 100% perfect all the time, but I hope to share some of the things that I've learned along the way about giving our family a fabulous life without spending a lot. What I've learned is that my mom was half right--You can have it all, but maybe not all at the same time!
