#mommusings

[sankofalady]

My daughter and I went to the early voting precinct today. Everyone was so supportive and encouraging to her as a first time voter! What a cool experience to share. 🥰 #mommusings #earlyvoting (at Orange Park, Florida) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGibvoFl40q/?igshid=1dp7rg1vzacgn

[circaceramics]

|Wednesday|⛅ Mom Musings: Parent-Teacher Conferences today for CPS - 3rd quarter went by so fast! We used to tell seasons & time by our show schedule, and now it's by Ollie's school schedule. First grade is almost over! 😥😢 • • • #mommusings #momsinbusiness #workingmoms #potterystudio #kilnpeek #littledomesofgoodness #magnets #madeinchicago #color #colorful (at Circa Ceramics)

[evolutionvintage]

🎭 There is nothing that lifts me up more than #Art in all of its forms. Fashion is the ultimate art form to me and personal style being an important component of self expression. Musical Theatre is a close second. I so enjoy being a patron but now being a theatre mom, driving my daughter to and from camps for the last 3 weeks. I look forward to helping her pursue her passion for this amazing art form, assisting in elevating her confidence and reassuring her that she CAN do anything she wants to work hard for. I will also be there to support her when she is not cast in the role she wants (or any role at all) and help soothe the sting of perceived rejection and assure her it's another gift. Helping inspire her to love and express herself through art by taking her to museums, performances, crafting, painting and creating is one of my favorite parts of parenting. #MomThoughts #Reflections #SupportTheArts #MusicalTheatre #Theatre #MomMusings #Parenting (at San Luis Obispo Repertory Theatre)

[justsaygo-blog1]

Knick knacks

So I made a short post on another site about people feeling like knick knacks. Ok, so I'm the one who feels like a knick knack. That thing you keep in your corner because it's kind of cute, kind of cool and reminds you of something happy. It's just good enough not to get thrown away, but not important enough to touch or see frequently. I'm the one who sits in the corner, waiting to be dusted off and held for a minute. (The hubs certainly doesn't see or treat me this way, thank all that's holy for that!) What's that? You're detecting some insecurities here? Right-o! Your radar is red hot! Anyway, that's for another post... That was my epiphany for today. I guess I'm introverted enough I'm not quite sure how I feel about this... I guess it's fine until I want to shelf my innie and let my extrovert self out to play for a bit. Now I'm starting to make my own head hurt and I'll be talking in circles soon. I wonder how long it's been since I dusted last?

[bingatamama]

I Have an Oven, and I'm Not Afraid to Use It!

This should really be titled "Things You Appreciate After Living in Japan" because as much as I loved living there with all that delicious food and beer, there was one biiiiig thing that bothered me. We had NO OVEN. For the entire 10 years and 10 months we lived there. The kitchen and all of its appliances are tiny in most Japanese homes, so it certainly took some getting used to. We had to go grocery shopping pretty much every other day, because there was no pantry space and the fridges couldn't hold much either. I've been in kitchen heaven since moving to New Zealand, using my oven to bake and roast and grill. A friend gave me a slow cooker, so I'm very carefully dipping my toe into that slow cooker world and I have to say, I love it. In fact, I've broken my Pinterest standoff just for the slow cooker recipe porn. 

Here I am, Wednesday afternoon, chilling with the kids while my garlic chicken covered in beer slow cooks itself into a frenzy and my ham and cheese muffins are in the oven.  How did I survive all of those years without an oven or slow cooker? There are so many random aspects of living in Japan that you recover from slowly. I'll share more of those along the way. 

[bingatamama]

Beer Queen

At the end of a long day, I like to crack open a beer and chug-a-lug like I'm in one of those gorgeous Japanese beer commercials. It's what I look forward to - nothing excessive, just the one.