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I Vaccinate to Protect My School-Aged Kids

I’ve partnered with I Vaccinate to share my story and this content is sponsored by I Vaccinate.

This fall marked a momentous occasion in the Pohl house: our youngest started kindergarten. We officially made it to the full-day school stage, a milestone I remember dreaming about on days where the hours felt like they dragged on and yet dreaded as the big day approached.

I became a stay-at-home mom after she was born, and while her big sister was at school, we had a lot of time together. Her world was relatively small. And as the baby of the family, her firsts were the last firsts.

While the moment of dropping both girls off at school together had the celebration and bittersweetness I anticipated, it was also marked with a particular sense of worry. After a couple of years of virtual learning, reduced school hours, exposure scares, and plenty of at-home nasal swabs, the road to get to this big milestone was especially bumpy. Well, if that isn’t the understatement of the world. 

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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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I love Paris: Hiring a professional photographer to capture our trip

Just a few days ago, we returned home from our 10th wedding anniversary trip to Paris. After months of Googling, planning, organizing, and dreaming about this amazing vacation, it is now the stuff of wonderful memories.

In addition to getting reacclimated to Eastern Standard Time and preparing for our daughter’s first week of school, my mind has been swimming with how I can and should document our Paris trip for this blog. Daily recaps, categories, photo posts? I feel like I have so much to share, tips and anecdotes and hand-me-down recommendations from friends and family that turned out to be golden.

I wasn’t sure where to start, but this seems like a good way to do it. I want to write about how hiring a professional photographer to capture our trip was one of the best things we’ve ever done.

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A most precious and sentimental Christmas gift

Some Christmas gifts strike us to the core, whether it’s due to the excitement, the thoughtfulness, or the emotion. There are years where I can look back and remember opening certain gifts so distinctly, and the feeling I felt when I opened them.

I remember the year in elementary school when I asked my mom to get me a leather hat like the one Alyssa from “All That” on Nickelodeon wore in the opening credits, and she actually found one just like it! I wore it all of Christmas Day and in the months after.

I remember the year in high school when my friend Andrea made me a poetry writing notebook just like one of her own, with a paperclip chain along the spiral and photos of The Beatles and old library book pages pasted on the cover and insides. After admiring her notebooks for so long, it meant so much to have one made just for me.

I remember just a few years ago, before getting pregnant with Margot, when Zack surprised me with a weekend trip to Boston, planning only the flights and hotel because he knows how much I love planning restaurant reservations and excursions down to the hour. I spent our Christmas Day commute to my parents’ house securing our dinners and getting tickets to see Guster at the Boston House of Blues.

And I will always remember this Christmas as the year I received a gift so unexpected, so sentimental and precious, that it caused me to break down in tears at the sight of it.

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Favorite Costco finds in January

Costco is a magical place. For years, Zack and I have had a membership, but our visits were limited to the location near my parents’ house. Despite great reviews about their freshly prepped foods and prices on staples like eggs and milk, we often stuck with frozen foods and paper products due to the distance from home. That, and treating ourselves to the $1.50 hot dog combo, obviously.

That is, until this past year.

Finally, the Lansing area was blessed with a Costco this past fall, and we’ve been able to enjoy frequent visits ever since. While weekends are very busy, I’ve enjoyed a couple of low-key visits with Margot on weekday afternoons, and it is eerily quiet in there. Margot also doesn’t have to throw elbows when it comes to grabbing samples, so that’s a plus.

Our proximity to the new Costco has opened up a world of possibilities as far as trying out fresh food products, and even venturing into the center aisles of clothing items. Wow there’s a whole new world in there.

Here are some of my favorite Costco finds from this month, including a ready-to-make meat Korean BBQ dish that I’ve turned a few friends onto the last couple of weeks.

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DIY: Costume jewelry home decor

It’s been a few months since I made my friend Jen’s brooch bouquet for her wedding, and there are many things I loved about the project. There was the fun of figuring out how to make it all happen, finding and collecting the materials, and most importantly, creating a special item inspired by her personality and style.

I had a really good time hunting for jewelry at consignment stores, thrift stores, and even in my own stash. The phrase “the thrill of the hunt” truly applies to the process.

Recently, my friend Mary posted a photo of a framed Christmas tree made out of costume jewelry, and a light bulb went off. Here was another way to repurpose baubles to create something new and beautiful! I could make things for myself, but with Christmas around the corner, I could also make some really fun presents.

In the last couple of days, I’ve made trips to Hobby Lobby for supplies and Kellie’s Consignments for jeweled treasures.

In order to figure out the best way to make these, I did some Googling and found a great blog post from Retro Revival. She makes it incredibly simple!

I will plan on sharing more photos next month, because right now I am hoping and planning to give some of the creations as gifts.

For now, here is a wreath design I made for my friend Linda:

When we were celebrating our friend Erin’s birthday Monday night, I shared photos of a tree I was working on with my friends, and Linda fell for this bow brooch. She asked if I could create a wreath design that wasn’t too Christmasy, so that she could have it in her home year-round, with a distressed white frame.

This wreath was created with pins (some new, some vintage) and earrings. I’ve actually found that old clip-ons and stud earrings are my favorite things to work with for this type of project. The backs can be broken off easily, you get a pair of them to work with, and they’re often much less expensive than a jeweled pin. Many of the earrings I bought at Kellie’s Consignments were $3 and $4, but then marked down 60-80%.

I hope this inspires my fellow crafty friends and family to make some fun creations this holiday season or any time of year.

Happy Holi-DIYs!

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Ooh La La Land: A review of ‘An American in Paris’

Before our daughter Margot was born on New Year’s Day, we snuck in one last movie at the theater: “La La Land.” So it seems only fitting that the first Broadway Series show at the Wharton Center I have had the opportunity to see this year was “An American in Paris,” which opened Tuesday evening and continues through Sunday, November 19.

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In mommyhood, the only constant is change

A couple of weeks ago, I was wondering to myself, when did Stella grow up? At almost five years old, it feels that the changes in her are always happening, yet subtle. That’s why I was so amazed by how grown up she seemed in her school photos. It all just snuck up on me.

But when it comes to the little one, these changes keep smacking me in the face each and every day. There’s nothing subtle about Margot.

The time between seven and eight months old brought a lot of major milestones, such as sitting up on her own, saying Mama and Dada, and clapping her hands.

Margot turned 10 months old on November 1st, and for the last week it feels like her development has hit another gear. First, the little gal starting pulling herself up onto her knees in her crib and at the edge of the couch. Then in the last day, she has pulled herself up to standing in her play yard and her crib.

SLOW DOWN, girlfriend! In the last few weeks, crawling finally clicked for her. It never occurred to me that standing and (eek) cruising could be so close behind. Was it like this with Stella? I honestly can’t remember.

Also this past Saturday, Margot finally started to cut her first tooth. It always feels like the appearance of those first few teeth starts the transition from baby to soon-to-be toddler. Pretty soon, she won’t have that cute gummy smile anymore.

This past week has me amazed at how much can change in such a short amount of time. It’s a lesson I learned when Stella was little, but clearly forgot as she got older.

Each month of their first year was an opportunity to pause, reflect on the previous weeks, and make note of all of the changes. But I’ll admit that I’m not always very good as recording these things. The last few months in Margot’s baby book haven’t been filled in, and eventually I’ll refer to her monthly photos on my Instagram to fill in the blanks.

Life’s moving crazy fast lately. I can’t believe I was already thinking of invitations for Margot’s first birthday. Sometimes I try to imagine what she’ll be like when she turns one. Will (more) teeth finally come in? Will she be walking? What new words will she know?

But really, I need to slow down my brain and take it all one day at a time. She’s growing up fast enough as it is.

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Sneak peek: The making of Tamatoa


In the months after seeing “Moana,” my daughter Stella has been telling me that she wanted to dress up at Tamatoa for Halloween. Although he’s a pretty minor character in the scheme of things, he has one of the best songs in the movie. I also kind of loved the fact that Stella wanted to be a character like that instead of the traditional Disney princess.

Earlier this year, Stella began to waiver slightly, talking about dressing up as Elsa instead. But as we talked about all of the fun things we could do to make her into a big purple crab with a sparkly gold shell, she gave me the green light to start getting the components together for a Tamatoa costume.

Side note: Word Press/my computer keep wanting to change Tamatoa to Tomato, which could be an equally great costume.

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