expectations of growing up

Now that I’m officially in my late twenties, it’s been hilarious to reflect on expectations I had to life as I know it now.  My girlfriends will often share articles re: you know you’re in your late twenties when…  or you’re a child of the 80’s if you can remember…or articles such as this post: early twenties vs late twenties

ETC.

So I thought I’d jog my memory as to my expectations looking back to where I’d be today (just for fun).

Going back to my five year old self, if anyone would have asked me what I would be doing by the time I was 26, my response would go something like this:

I’ll be married with at least 2 kids (twin girls, because ya know – you can plan your kids however you want when you’re five).  I’d be a teacher in the rain forest (that was my dream job for the longest time).  I’ll have two Dalmatian’s (yes, in the rain forest with us).  I’ll be really happy.

Going back to my ten year old self, my response would be:

I’ll be married with 3 kids (twin girls and a boy).  I’ll be a veterinarian (to jungle animals).  My husband is a doctor and my kids will come to work with us and I’ll be happy. (I’m adding in the “I’ll be happy” because I always pictured my family in the picture-perfect framed photo on the wall – so we must be happy, right?)

Going back to my sixteen year old self, my response would be:

I’ll be married with maybe two kids (at this point, one seemed like a handful when I’d babysit).  I’ll be surrounded with lots of close friends.  I’ll do happy hours often with my girlfriends and going on glamorous vacations with my husband.  We’ll spend our nights sitting in a coffee shop like they do on friends.   No thought of career, necessarily. —  Hello oblivion.

Going back to my twenty year old self, my response would be:

I’ll be married with one child – one on the way (a little more realistic).  I’m a recreation coordinator who plans lots of fun outdoor recreational activities.  My husband likes to kayak, travel and hike.  We’ll take our kids wherever we go and we’ll most likely live abroad somewhere warm.  (….getting closer).

Going not so far back to my twenty- four year old self, my response would be:

If Sam and I are not married in two years, that’s it! (ha!) If we are married with one on the way, I’ll be happy.  I’ll be a successful recreational professional and Sam will be in school.  We’ll focus on travel and happy hours with friends.  We’ll take weekend trips, go hiking, camping and jet set back and forth between pdx>msp and pdx>bwi.  We’ll live downtown in Portland and always be on the go.

At 26, it’s fun to look back and see how my life expectations changed during different parts of my life.  Having a family was always the forefront of my expectations in growing up.  Next was career and then as I entered my early twenties, my social life became a large priority.   For whatever reason, 25-26 was always my mental milestone for becoming a true grown up.  I knew that by 25-26, I wanted to be married without a doubt.  I knew that I should or would want to have started a family by then as well.   While I am so incredibly happy with where my life has taken me (happily married with a gorgeous little 7 month old), I wish someone would have slowed my expectations of needing to be married with at least one child by the time of 25-26 down a bit and said, “HEY, your twenties are for exploring, adventure, finding yourself, freedom!”  What’s the rush?  My ovaries will not disintegrate at age 30 so why the urgent need to feel like I should have 3 kids by 28?

Sam and I were very fortunate to have traveled abroad to New Zealand and Australia together for three months early on in our relationship.  We were also very fortunate to have done many of the things I had expected: lived downtown, developed a strong social group with weekend trips, day trips, happy hours, hiking, camping, etc.  He focused on school while I focused on my dream of a recreation coordinator.  We were engaged when I was 24. Picture perfect and pretty much right on the mark for my expectation’s.  25-26 is when I sped up the list full speed to married, daughter, house, career in one year.  WHOA – slow down, Weinstocks.  However, many of the things on the late twenties check list are so true: l love naps, happy hours are more for the food than alcohol, a vacation is a babysitter for two hours so we can clean the house, excitement is the purchase of a ceiling fan versus a new purse and sleeping in is now 8 a.m. if we’re lucky.

I feel like now that I’ve hit the 26 year old mark, it’d be fun to predict where we’ll be at 30.  Within the next four years, I hope that:

• Evelyn will have at least one sibling (Sam wants 2, I want 3 … for now 😉 )
• Wyatt will have another puppy sibling
• I’ll still be a technical writer but will volunteer for the Local Park & Rec while also teaching a few adjunct courses somewhere.
• Sam will either be an apple genius, a history teacher or a coffee shop owner
• I’ll have run at least one half marathon
• We’ll be debt free (HA!)
• We’ll spend at least one week in Wisconsin and one week in Portland every year.

These may seem like funny “goals” or predictions but hey – I use to believe I’d live in the rainforest and be able to take my kids to work with me every day.  I guess I’ve always had a glamorous depiction of where life will take me but it can’t get any more glamorous than my sweet Evelyn’s smile.  Life has been great to us so far, and I’m looking forward to four years from now and reflecting back on this leg of the journey.  It doesn’t matter if only one of the predictions above happens between 26 and 30, the ride will be sweet, the lessons will be impactful and the memories will be cherished.

Just to prove (even further) that we’ve entered the late twenties- our choices for this weekend would be the Irish Festival (beer, food, party) in Annapolis or the Tomato Fest (salsa, spaghetti, farming) in Richmond, VA — guess which one we’re doing? (…visiting our friend could have a little something to do with this, but still – HELLO TOMATOES!)

 

‘lil e’s room

Since our close date of May 9th – we’ve been busy busy piecing together each room.  We are far from finished but focused on Evy’s room due to the fact that when she naps, we work on the rest of the house so having her room done and checked off the list first, seemed to make the most sense.  I have to admit, while I love it – I wish I would’ve slowed myself down a bit and incorporated the stripes from her room in Portland.

Regardless, her room has a calming feel which is great for the early mornings snuggling her.  My camera = my phone, hence the quality.  Her wall color is Benjamin Moore, Soft Iris.

Her room gets the perfect amount of natural light during the day and luckily, there’s a window directly on the other side of the house from hers so the cross breeze during the day is nice.  We’re debating putting up a shade as well so that she’ll hopefully sleep a bit longer without being interrupted by sunrise but for now, we’re enjoying the natural light.  The light fixture that currently exists gives off a very yellow light so we rely on the natural light with the little lamp on the table. It makes for a cozy, natural, calming atmosphere.

While the space is small, it fits together fairly well.  When we’re ready to upgrade her to a big girl bed, taking out the chair and the changing table will give her more space.  On the wall, the canvas reads a quote from one of my favorite childhood books, I’ll love you forever by Robert Munsch so it reads, “I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, As long as I’m living, My baby you’ll be.”

We’re pleased with the look and feel of miss e’s room.  We hope she enjoys it once she’s old enough to have a little bit of style all her own.  For now, all she cares about is the music flowing, the breeze, bright colors of her moving mobile and something she can put in her mouth and she’s a happy baby.

More pictures of the rest of the house to come soon.  It’s sloooowwwwllyyy coming together.

For info on any of the room décor, feel free to shoot me a message.  Happy to replicate any of the décor pieces for your child’s room as well!

a perfect weekend for a perfect dad

Our first father’s day weekend was a complete success. We literally had the best time. Our best friend, Eme came into town and we jam packed it with day trips, live music, great food and quality family time. It was much needed and the perfect way to honor the fantastic father Sam is to our sweet Evelyn.

 I got to work super early on Friday morning so that I could take off early and pick Em up from the airport. While waiting for her to get her bags, we decided a spontaneous jaunt to Annapolis was needed. It was a beautiful day so grabbing some lunch, waterfront sounded perfect. I won’t mention where we ate at because honestly, the view and the company were the only two things worth mentioning. We walked around a bit and then headed back to Baltimore to freshen up for our evening plans.

A local market near our new home sets up a mini-festival with live music every Friday night during the summer. This was our first time checking it out and the genre was jazz. It was a blast. This market closed off its parking lot and opened it up to a sea of lawn chairs (which you could rent for free with your id), food vendors, dancing kids and long lines for the booze. We had a great time.
Saturday was spent picnicking in Chesapeake City where there was a little bluegrass festival going on. Sam got up early to take the dog for some exercise and to get some fresh veggies for lunch. He grilled veggies, made an orzo salad and packed up the fixin’s for an awesome lunch. We enjoyed veggie, feta sandwiches, orzo salad and ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookies on our picnic lunch. It was great. Something about the sun, live music and a relaxing summer drive wore us out and we spent the night in watching Sam’s all-time favorite movie, Swingers.
Sunday, father’s day, was my turn to wake up early and prepare food. I made pancakes with either chocolate chips or sprinkles, and egg sandwiches with avocado and bacon. I cut up fresh strawberries and kept a stream of coffee brewing. We had a fairly relaxing morning before making plans with family to check out the zoo. We were there with 5 adults and 4 kids and surprising, EVERYONE behaved. We were at the zoo for about 3.5 hours and enjoyed every minute of it. We would have even stayed longer had the zoo not closed. The Maryland Zoo isn’t the fanciest of zoos but it has a nice layout, beautiful landscape and the animals, of course, are adorable and so much fun to chat with. As our nieces kept calling out, “HEY ELEPHANTS!”… or when they recognized characters from their favorite Madagascar movies, “HEY MELVIN!” It was adorable. I can’t wait for Evy to get to that stage (although we’re thoroughly enjoying where she’s at currently).
Speaking of little miss e, we’re about to have our hands full. She is just on the verge of crawling. It’s so fun to see her slowly put the movement and the coordination together. She’s not there yet, but it’s going to be any day now. We’ve also started her on a few solid foods and it’s going great. She’s eaten avocado, sweet potatoes, and green beans. So much fun and I have to admit, I like to do the airplane when feeding her and I’m fairly certain it makes me more excited than her. She gives me this look that says, “come on mom, just feed me already.” Moments like these are priceless and I can tell they are escaping far too fast.
Sam, along with other stay at home parents, have their work cut out for them – no doubt about that – but they also get to experience all of those moments without missing a beat. I envy their time together but more so, I am so thankful that Evy has such a solid, loving, involved dad who never takes those moments for granted. She will know the love and unconditional support in her father which is all I could have ever hoped for when dreaming of building a family. Sam is unquestionably, the greatest father I have ever witnessed and I am so thankful my child gets to experience that love. So to father’s, happy belated father’s day & I hope you enjoyed family, friends & a fresh breath of rejuvenation (whatever that means to you).
We sure did. We’re a pretty lucky bunch of happy Weinstocks.

little miss e

Being a parent is the world’s greatest gift.  As much as other parents can forecast how life changing it will be for a new parent, you won’t know just how awesome it is until you actually meet your child for the first time and feel the crazy intense, -their-life-is-in-our-hands-, love at first sight, pull at your heart strings.  We were told many things before Evelyn’s arrival: sleep when the baby sleeps, stock up on diapers, get in as many date nights as you can pre-baby, life will never be the same, ask for help when she comes, take photos and record everything because time goes by so fast.

Well, four months in – I can’t imagine/remember life without her.  It’s crazy how much Sam and I thought we’d miss our casual happy hours or movie outings, yet now that we’re surrounded by family with the opportunity to venture out occasionally – we cringe at the thought of leaving her.  Lack of sleep (while the bags under my eyes may claim otherwise) is totally worth it for the midnight cuddle sessions or staying awake to hear her random sighs, coo’s and grunts.  I live for the picture and video updates that arrive on my phone during the workday from my thoughtful husband.  I even enjoyed yesterday’s video which solely consisted of Sam listening to Evy screaming over the baby monitor as she tried to calm herself for a nap.

Honestly, time is flying faster than it ever has.  Maybe it’s easier to measure the time by comparing photos that we took just last week to current photos and seeing just how much change and growth has taken place in the short amount of time.  It’s measured in each new sound (yes, including her new fake scream/cry). new hip movements, her ability to grab EVERYTHING within arms reach and put it into her mouth- each new “happening” is now a milestone and monumental victory in her development.  Sam and I are celebrating each of these moments.

Whether we thought we were grown ups already, having Evelyn has changed the definition of our life as adults.  From using our wedding gift cards to buy her a new bouncy seat, to the first question we ask when buying a car is no longer re: mpg but rather, “what is the safety crash rating and what are the installation options for a car seat?” to the simple fact that life is just simply all about her; and our lives are all the better for it. We love being parents.

While I’m the first to admit, I’m an avid worried-google-advice-seeking-parent, my only advice to new parents would be that you’ll learn as you go, be confident in your gut reaction and enjoy!  I love sharing stories with other mommy friends and sharing what works/doesn’t for each of us which has taught me that each child is unique, on their own pace and comes with fantastic stories and victories all their own.  No one will know or be able to care for your child like you will so take pride, have fun and take photos!!

Happy 4 months, baby girl – xo

Can I get a HECK YES?!

First off, it’s only appropriate to finally be able to say,

it’s lovely to see you!

To prove to you just how lovely it is here in Baltimore—-> 

The first HECK YES is to the gorgeous weather.  If only I had access to my large supply of flip flops, sundresses and shorts.  We’ll soon have all of our very greatly missed belongings because our second HECK YES is that our offer in the adorable Rodgers Forge townhouse was accepted so we get to unpack – HALLELUJAH!  We are so excited.  Everything is still pending on the inspections going well so keep your fingers crossed for us. It’s hard to not jump into paint colors, rug designs and placement of all of our treasures in storage.  We simply had a perfect weekend so, HECK YES.

Yesterday we enjoyed a beautiful wedding at the historic savage mill.  We had a great time but really, any time we get to dress Evy up in a cute little dress is bound to be memorable.  The setting was lovely.  Natural light, simple table settings that complemented the venue’s open areas, elegance and great energy filled the ballroom. It was the perfect end to our weekend.               

Wherever you are, I hope you get to enjoy a bit of sunshine & I hope your weekend was as great as ours was!  Make sure to do something special for yourself today whether it’s eating well, going for a run or jammin’ out to the backstreet boys, we don’t judge.

Oh, and we also recently got our wedding photos back so stay tuned for wedding decorating tips & photos of our crazy wedding party.

Practicing Gratitude

Sam and I are very fortunate to be surrounded by such loving and supportive friends and most importantly, family.  Our decision to move across the country was a very fast, impulse move.  We hadn’t given too much thought to what our living situation would be.  We assumed we’d find a rental within the first few weeks and that’d be that.  Upon arriving in Baltimore, we were shocked to see how high rental prices were (largely due to proximity to Aberdeen Proving Grounds, APG).  We decided our money would be best spent on purchasing a home, building equity and committing to our move whole heartedly.  With that, we moved in with Sam’s uncle and aunt and their three energetic and adorable kids while we began our house hunt – very thankful.

Not only are my new relatives housing us – but they are feeding us, helping out with our dog, helping out with Evy and ultimately, saving our sanity – very thankful.  I have to keep reflecting on where we’d be without their help & generosity.  If we hadn’t been offered their basement suite, we would most likely have rushed into a rental, been stuck in a contract for months which wouldn’t allow us the freedom to look at the housing market and it could have been a rude awakening for Sam’s first week as a stay at home dad.  I think just knowing that his aunt was there was a huge relief and still is.  Needless to say, Sam’s got the whole parenting thing down to a science and is loving it- but breaks are always helpful during trying days.  His family always jumps in to help in any of these situations – very thankful.

Reflecting on this makes me motivated to two things : 1) Pay it forward.  Who else can I share this extreme generosity with and in what capacity?  Yesterday, I gave my co-worker an egg of his favorite jellybeans but rightfully so, that doesn’t even make it on the radar of this amount of awesome generosity bestowed to us.  This will be something I will need to really think about but for an immediate duty, I’ll continue with small acts of thoughtfulness/kindness whenever I can.  2) It motivates me to chill out.  Every day since we’ve been in Maryland, I have been frantic about something.  Whether it was wedding planning, finalizing moving expenses, traveling, and now house hunting – there’s always something on my mind that seems pressing.  Being with Sam’s aunt and uncle provides a reassuring feeling that, “it’ll all be okay.”  While I’d like to move soon for a few reasons (give them their “new” home back!, start our married life off right, provide Evelyn stability and her own space/routine, really start our life here), at least they make us feel welcomed and wanted – very thankful.

My family has also been reminding me to be patient and reassuring our parenting skills are sound as we doubt them with every interrupted nap time for a house showing, or new place for her to take her nap/go to bed, or new face, place, scent we introduce her to – NOTHING has been consistent for her besides Sam and I.  They remind us that life happens, stay strong, have faith, be patient: it’ll all work out.

I need this reminder more than ever today.  My plan is to practice many of the things from Tuesday’s post – focusing on: drinking tea (Bungalow; Steven Smith), listening to tunes (today’s pick is Love Today by Mika), practice gratitude (very thankful for all mentioned above + my sweet Evelyn’s smile + loving husbands patience with me), our semi-routine family walk/run after work (come on spring, warm it up!) and to hopefully limit media consumption today by being in our moment rather than someone else’s.

What are you grateful for and how do you show it??

xo,

Cort

Let’s get happy!

With all of the changes that have been taking place in our lives recently, it’s no wonder that Sam and I are feeling a bit “blah.”  Sure, everything is very exciting but the main thing we have been slacking on in all of the chaos is focusing on things that are simple and make us “happy.”  The other day, I was thinking about this and because I am also married to my to-do list, I decided to make a little sheet on simple things “to-do” to keep our sanity & happiness in check.

Soon after I made this little reminder, I came across an article on yahoo about 7 ways to feel happier.  Now normally, I find many of these types of articles to be superficial, no-brainer, who really needs this type of advice and I often bypass them but turns out – I am one of those people currently who need these types of reminders so I read it.

Their 7 suggestions were simple:

1. Get some sun – I’m looking quite ghostly so I’m thinking that’s a good idea.
2. Exercise – haven’t done a thing since Evy was born and I’m feeling sluggish.
3. Meditate – who has time for that?  Looks like I need to make time.
4. Pay it forward – definitely need to practice this more – they suggest once a day.
5. See your friends regularly – I’m going to refer to this as keep in touch since I have only two friends so far in the Baltimore area.
6. Get a massage – YES, PLEASE!
7. Be intimate with your man – hey honey 😉

I’m loving the idea of taking time out of each day to practice many of these things.  Currently, I’m listening to Justin Timberlake’s new cd (reaffirmed my 7th grade obsession) and drinking a cup of Steven Smith Tea – perfect start to my Tuesday morning. The beauty of a blog is to share these little realizations and moments of failure/triumph with whomever is out in the blogosphere so I intend to start working on these suggestions right away and will keep you posted. So to my friends, expect more emails; to mr. wyatt, expect more runs; to my husband, expect more date nights and to myself, expect more happiness.

Here we go!

why hello, there

hi friends,

we’re starting to get “settled” in on the east coast. And by settled, I mean we have no plans to leave the state (for trips) any time soon, so we are forcing ourselves to get familiar with things like: the grocery, gas stations, possible neighborhoods to live in, target, etc. We’re still living out of the one suitcase we packed with us back in January and are constantly lugging, Evy (4 months) and Wyatt (furry child -almost 2) back and forth between Harford County & Baltimore County. Is it is exhausting? yes. Will we look back at this time and smile thinking, how did we make it through? yes. The beauty of it all is that Sam and I are finding our sanity through daily check-in’s – being constantly open to each others concerns/wants/suggestions – yet forcing ourselves to find time for “us.” We’ve been doing the majority of that through our family walks. Now, if only we could afford the houses we see on our family walks – we’d be set.

Our expectation in moving to the east coast on such a short whim was that we’d likely rent and figure it out from there. Upon moving, we somehow fell into the, “we are sick of paying for someone else’s mortgage- we’re buying.” And that was that. All of the sudden, we are in the market to buy with absolutely zero saved, two weeks into a new job, a fresh decision that Sam would not be returning to apple and a brand spankin’ new babe. aye-ye-ye. For those who know Sam and I – this is our nature of business. Dangerous, but very exciting. So, where we’re at – we went from looking at single family homes in Bel Air, MD so that I could have a closer commute and be in a great school district to switching things up and looking in Baltimore County so that we can enjoy our personal style a bit more. It adds 15 minutes to my commute but when I get home, we feel like we will actually be able to go out and enjoy what Baltimore has to offer. Who knew that every freakin’ property would be SO OLD! We’re running into lead paint, floral wall paper, pink carpeting original vents in the walls for the stoves, windows back from the 1950’s – all & all – everything we’ve seen needs lots of tlc. In a recent viewing, my shoes literally were stuck to a bathroom floor- instant goosebumps. Later we realized we were surrounded with lead based paint, asbestos in the tile, recent termite extermination, among many other “first time homebuyer nightmare inflicting hee-bee-gee-bee’s.” No matter how many episodes of HGTV we watch, there’s no miracle big enough to help us conquer those issues on our budget.

Our hope is that we’ll be flooded with new properties over the next few weeks as the selling season opens up. As for now, we’re debating of buying a town house in Rodger’s Forge.

xo,

Cort