The hats I used to wear before the pandemic

I’ve been feeling a general sense of malaise lately. Haven’t we all?

It might be because of last week’s cold weather, those days of oppressive snowfall and gray. It might be because our oldest daughter is facing the fact that we’ll be ringing in her eighth birthday in the same subdued way we ended up celebrating in March 2020; her birthday party was one of our first planned events canceled due to COVID concerns.

Maybe it’s the fact that we are almost approaching the one-year mark of this pandemic we all trying to cope with. Even with the onset of warmer weather and in-person instruction on the horizon (any change to our routine or opportunity for new activity outside of our home is a welcomed one), I can tell this year is really, really wearing on us around here.

I told a friend that I’ve been feeling rudderless. It’s a feeling that used to creep in when I left my job at MSU and was deeply into the stay-at-home mom life: who am I beyond a mom? What parts of my life are just about me?

It felt like I was getting back into a groove the last couple of years, with different writing opportunities and both girls attending school. I had time to myself, however brief, to recharge at least a few times a week. It felt like I was keeping my foot inside the door of a place I’d be getting back to one day.

COVID changed all of that; feeling rudderless in this storm of a year has been overwhelming.

As I shared with my friends Momfaming in their Moming through the Pandemic series, my job has been to keep us all going during this time. Holding down the fort, I often say. I’ve learned to understand and appreciate the fact that I’m the glue holding things together around here, and that it’s enough.

But this week I realized something that’s been missing. I’ve been wearing my mom hat and wife hat for such a sustained amount of time, and the opportunities to swap in my other hats are few and far between. In some ways, for right now, non-existent. But last night I got a glimmer of the person I used to be, or still am, I guess.

Let me explain.

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Hitting 500 classes with The Barre Code during a pandemic

Today I took my 500th class with The Barre Code, a 6am barre that was equally challenging and celebratory. Our East Lansing studio just reopened this past weekend after the pause on group fitness activities was lifted, making it quite the perfect timing. I was in a place with friends from inside and outside the studio, under the blue lights, and beyond wearing a mask, it felt like old times. My friends Ellen and Linda surprised me with a 500 balloon banner (and a cutout of Linda’s face so she could be there) to make it even more special.

It was just over a year ago that I hit 300 classes surrounded by friends at the end of 2019, a triumphant and exciting end to a really great year. At that time, I set my sights on getting to my 500th class milestone by September 2020 — in time for my 35th birthday.

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Crafty in quarantine: Learning how to cross stitch

In the late fall, we had a parent-teacher conference with our daughter’s wonderful art teacher. Stella loves everything about art, and we wanted to get ideas for crafts that could be done safely in person or right here at home. Because we already have just about every Crayola product under the sun and an arsenal of paper, her teacher recommended trying crafts that were more tactile, such as weaving, knitting, or cross stitch.

We decided to give cross stitch a try.

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DIY: Branch from “Trolls” Halloween costume

I’ve always loved, loved, loved Halloween, especially planning out my costumes and every detail surrounding the day(s) of celebrating. It’s partly why some friends affectionately refer to me as the Mayor from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” That enthusiasm must be genetic, because our girls are just as into figuring out their Halloween costumes, even going as far as saying “for nextyear I want to be…” when the current Halloween hasn’t even happened yet.

It’s been beyond a strange, scary, and disappointing year with COVID, so I was game for doing WHATEVER our girls wanted to do in terms of their costumes. Even though I’ve had a blast making costumes for my girls in the past (especially Stella’s Dani from “Hocus Pocus” costume and Tamatoa from “Moana”), I’ve succumbed to the fact that sometimes, picking out a complete costume at the store is more exciting for them and easier for me. 

Stella wanted to be Mal from Descendants this year, and considering she won’t be able to celebrate Halloween in her classroom with all of her friends this year or go trick-or-treating, I was fine with getting her the coolest Mal ensemble from the Disney store online.

Margot decided she wanted to be Branch from “Trolls,” but when we looked at the costumes at Target, I knew I could do a DIY version that would be brighter and a lot more fun than the costume they had. So began my quest to create the Branch of her dreams!

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Coping with COVID: My favorite masks for all tasks

Hello! It’s me, your delinquent blogger. My last post was in the springtime, and since then I’ve completely fallen off the writing wagon. In some ways it feels like I’ve had all of the time in the world and no time at all, or maybe no bandwidth to think about sitting down and writing. Maybe it has felt like anything I could write about is supremely trivial compared to the hellscape we’re all experiencing in 2020.

Either way, with an encouraging push from my favorite Whitmer comms team women, here I am. I’m going to have to skip past the post I planned to write over the summer about our long weekend away to the west side of Michigan and why it was the best staycation we could have asked for, because that’s a post for another day. Instead, I’m going to focus on a topic that I feel I’ve become pretty well-versed in over the course of 2020 COVID times: MASKS.

Masks are so important to our own safety and the safety of our friends, family, and local community. Unfortunately they’ve become a source of debate and frustration. There’s the battle to get people to wear them in the first place. The next part is getting people to wear them properly (OVER THE NOSE AND MOUTH PLEASE AND THANK YOU).

Back in March, my in-laws gave us each a disposable mask to have on hand, just in case. That fact feels sort of quaint now. I also ordered a few handmade masks from our friend Shana for myself and the girls, so we’d have another option. Who could have anticipated that months later, I’d have stacks of different kinds and brands of masks at home. It’s been a lot of trial and error, figuring out which masks work best for which tasks. There’s the additional challenge of finding masks my kids will wear without complaining. I honestly wish there could be a safe way of trying on masks before buying them.

Still, it’s worth it to me to have a stockpile of masks, particularly as we are all accepting the fact that we will be masking up in public for the foreseeable future.

Here are some of the favorite, tried-and-true face masks I’ve bought this year.

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The middle of my Invisalign journey

Greetings from quarantine! This past week I switched into my 10th set of Invisalign retainers out of 15 sets created for my case. It’s wild to think that I’m about two-thirds of the way through this process (unless there are trays added for refinements), particularly when it has felt like time is dragging on lately.

Truthfully though, this hasn’t been the worst time in the world to go through Invisalign. I even chuckled to myself when I watched Busy Philipps lament that she hadn’t started an Invisalign treatment during quarantine. Considering that we can’t go out to bars and restaurants or to others’ houses, the whole routine of bringing a toothbrush and floss everywhere I go, discreetly taking out my trays, brushing after eating, isn’t even necessary anymore. Feeling self conscious about smiling in photos during all of the events we had planned for these past few months? Not a worry now.
One of the biggest lifestyle changes of Invisalign has been the reduction of mindless snacking and drinking. That certainly made a difference pre-quarantine, but it has made a big difference while we’re stuck at home. I imagine that I would be snacking non-stop at home if I could, but it’s just not worth taking out the trays and brushing/flossing my teeth every time I’m craving a pretzel or a second cup of coffee. Just kidding, that second cup of coffee has usually been worth it.
The only concern I had early on in quarantine was whether or not I’d be able to get the second half of my trays from my dentist’s office. Ideally, I’d be going in every eight weeks to have my progress checked and pick up the next few sets of aligners. Thankfully, when it was clear that the office would need to remain closed, I emailed my dentist and she kindly shipped me all the rest of my trays.
As far as my progress goes, it’s pretty wild to compare early photos to now. My case wasn’t a severe one, but even so I can see a dramatic difference in my teeth, particularly on the bottom row. The lateral incisors that were creeping over the canines have been pulled back, while the lateral incisors on the top row are tilting back into their proper position.
Here are some before and during photos, along with a few things I’ve learned or realized during this process with Invisalign.

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Quarantine Eats: Favorite takeout options and recipes I’ve tried at home

It’s been weeks since I updated my blog, and the last post was pre-quarantine times. So much has changed in all of our lives in the last month. I’ve wanted to blog about how we’re handling things, my fears and worries, etc., but in some ways I’ve had all of the time in the world and not a free moment.

For awhile I was thinking I’d just post a quarantine scrapbook of sorts, with a collection of photos of how we’ve adjusted our lives, passed the time, handled grocery shopping, and kept the girls occupied. But for the sake of having something with a bit of a theme to it, I wanted to focus on one major thing: food!

We’ve been very fortunate that we are still able to access the grocery supplies we want and need, while also being able to support our favorite local businesses providing carryout options. If anything, this whole scenario has made me much more aware of our consumption as a family, not letting things go to waste, making detailed lists for grocery runs, and trying new recipes.

Here are some of my favorite local takeout options (maybe you’ll get some good ideas as we continue to stay home and stay safe over the coming weeks) and also some recipes I’ve been making!

this way to food

Spending 29 hours in beautiful Key West, Florida

This is a blog post that I’ve been meaning to write for months. My only excuses are pretty good ones, I’d say. Between the Christmas holiday, our daughters’ birthdays, bringing home a new puppy, and taking on more freelance writing work, it’s been a whirlwind. Anyone else still shocked that we’re already on our way to St. Patrick’s Day and Easter? BUT I’d be remiss to not do my best to recall what were an incredibly fun, key lime pie-filled 29 hours in Key West, Florida last December.

As a lifelong Parrothead, a trip to Key West has felt like a necessary bucket list item. Yet the logistics can be a little tough, and trips just for me and my husband are rare. That’s why when we planned to spend a week in Naples, Florida with my parents after Thanksgiving, it felt like the perfect opportunity to sneak away for a quick Key West visit and let the girls have some extra grandparent time.

Thanks to the Key West Express out of Ft. Myers, we could leave at 8:00am and get to Key West in about four hours by boat, which is much faster than driving. Based on the ferry schedule and our trip dates, we decided to travel down to the Keys on a Thursday morning and return the following evening. Thanks to the late departure time coming back, we’d have 29 hours to enjoy all that we could before heading back.

While that doesn’t seem like nearly enough time, we had guidance from friends and family about their favorite places, and also had our own can’t-miss spots. We managed to cover a lot of ground. Not to mention, a lot of key lime pie. Here’s what we did!

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Visiting the Air Zoo in Portage, Michigan

This Presidents Day weekend, we had the opportunity to spend a lot of time together as a family and enjoy the places that our state has to offer. Michigan winters can be long and brutal, and the feelings of cabin fever are very real. I’m a homebody as much as the next person, but there are only so many times you can watch “Frozen 2” (we’ve been averaging 1.5 times a day since buying it last week), break up arguments between two sisters, and keep a new puppy from chewing up the house or your hands.

Having plans outside of the house helps break up that routine, and until the weather warms up and sun starts to shine with some regularity, indoor activities are essential for survival.

On Monday, we made the drive to Portage, Michigan to visit the Air Zoo for the very first time. I’ve seen photos from friends’ visits there, and it’s even mentioned in our girls’ Goodnight Michigan board book. But truthfully, I had no idea what it was all about.

Earlier in the weekend, we had visited Impression 5 Science Center in Lansing, a favorite spot of ours for exploring and getting some energy out. I still remember going there when Margot was a week old because we had been spending weeks in the house celebrating the holidays and waiting for her arrival that we needed to get. Out. Of. The. Damn. House. We love Impression 5 for visits, summer camps, you name it. We bought a family membership during that visit, and used it quite often with family and friends. After that year, we ended up letting the membership lapse with Stella starting full-day school.

We decided to renew our I5 membership on Saturday’s visit. At $75, it’s a really great deal for our family to visit the museum throughout the year, and it also gives us a discount on summer camps. On top of that, my friend Brittany alerted me to the fact that an Impression 5 membership means free admission to the Air Zoo for the month of February. What a deal!

General admission to the Air Zoo for adults is $15.95, $14.95 for kids 5-18, and free for 4 and under. That means we saved almost $50! Beyond the free admission, our visit to the Air Zoo was well worth the drive toward Kalamazoo.

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Interview: Life on the road with Anne Brummel of “My Fair Lady”

Wharton Center for the Performing Arts is continuing its 2019-20 Broadway season later this month with one of the most beloved musicals in history. The Lincoln Center Theater production of “My Fair Lady” is making its way to Wharton Center February 26th-March 1st.

Anne Brummel

I had the opportunity to interview Anne Brummel, who is currently performing in the Ensemble and as the understudy for Mrs. Pearce. Brummel is touring the country with her young son Harlen and husband Michael Williams, who is also a part of the “My Fair Lady” cast. I spoke with her about working and traveling with family, always being prepared as an understudy, and why “My Fair Lady” is an enduring favorite.

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