Life Lately: February 2023 (Yep, it's March!)
With my daughter and sister in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami.
In our home, February is one of the busiest months of the year. Between my birthday, my husband’s birthday, Valentine’s Day, and school vacation week - it is a wild ride, particularly for an already short month. This year was no different. So, on February 28th as I was falling asleep, I sat up in bed, realizing that I hadn’t written my Life Lately post. So while it’s a few days late, I still want to capture the month we just had.
The month started off on a low key note. We had some quality family time that first weekend, and went to a local trampoline park (highly recommend Launch in Westborough if you’re local!). The following weekend was Thomas’ birthday - he brought Adriana and a friend rock-climbing at Central Rock in Worcester, we had a delicious dinner at Fogo de Chao in Boston, and had a game night with family at home.
The following weekend was my birthday - my three best friend’s came for the weekend, and we had an absolute blast. On Friday night, we had thai takeout and played games. We started Saturday at Release Well-Being Center, where we had a half-day Bliss Pass. I haven’t felt so relaxed in a long-time, and cannot wait to get back again (next time, for a yoga class and massage!). We had lunch at the Worcester Public Market, went to the movies, and then spent a night out in Hudson - from Medusa Brewing Company, to Lesser Than Greater Than, and finally Rail Trail - it was perfection. The next day (my birthday!) started with epic homemade breakfast sandwiches, led us to the pediatrician’s office for both kids, and ended with a cozy dinner (and a second trip to Lesser Than Greater Than) with family.
Finally - we spent school vacation week in sunny Florida. We were with my mother-in-law who met us from Brazil, my sister (who lives in Miami), and my mom and step-dad (who were leaving on a cruise, so we overlapped for a day). Traveling with kids is hard, and I think it’s both important and rewarding. As a friend of mine said once, it’s character building. That feels true for all of us. It was a wonderful week, and I’m grateful for it. As someone who has traveled intensely for much of my life, it’s been weird to slow down so much for the past three years. I’m feeling excited to begin exploring the world again, and seeing it through my children’s eyes. So with that, here are a few more highlights of the month:
Watching/Reading/Listening To: For as many books as I read and shows I watched in January, February was the opposite. I read I’m Glad My Mom Died and began a few other books that I’m still working through. We watched The Glass Onion, continued The Last of Us, and (on my girls weekend) binged a few episodes of Perfect Match.
Building Community, Locally: Since moving to our home in MA a couple years ago, I have been really invested in building a local community. The first group I found was Central Mass Mom, and I continue to love being a contributing writer. I recently wrote two articles that I love - one focused on raising bilingual kids, the second on how I stay organized as a working mom. As a facilitator, I also knew that I wanted to create a space for super-local moms to connect on a deeper level; I started a group where I host monthly discussions on topics relating to motherhood. It’s been such a meaningful space, and has led to so many connections and friendships.
Professional Development: I don’t often write about my day job in this space, though I must highlight a recent professional development workshop I went through at work. I joined the day-long workshop at The Together Leader and it was oh-so-powerful. I am obsessed with personal and professional growth, and this workshop took my organizational skills to the next level. 10/10 recommend for anyone who is an organizational leader, teacher or project manager.
101 in 1001: I have made a bit of progress on parts of my goals - from spending time in a new town, to bringing the kids to a new state, to slowly working through organizing my online drives. As I have alluded to on social media, I have something coming up soon that is going to be really challenging - so I’m working to find a balance between wanting to do every one of these goals immediately, and giving myself permission to slow down as I prepare for this hard thing. We’ll see what happens, but being mindful about this has been the most important thing for me to do.
