Since the start of the year*, I have been participating in a Fashion Fast. I’ve posted a little bit about it on Facebook and Instagram and wow people have questions. It’s been neat because a handful of friends have joined me. But, I thought I’d start talking long form about why. In short, there are 1,000 reasons and no reasons. But there are some core reasons why it started. Probably the snowball started.. Read More

Country Mama, I don’t think we could have made it through 4 years at American without a penchant for politics. So, it’s only natural that when a question regarding how to engage your child in activism was posted to a private Facebook parent group we participate in we were both quick to respond. Growing up, we watched the news as a family every morning and every night. This lead to early exposure to.. Read More

I can’t believe it’s December. This year has been a whirlwind like no other. Eric and I were crying with laughter after dropping the kids off at daycare this morning. Instead of Christmas music, we heard Thriller on the radio and it felt way more appropriate to us (also, we still have some Halloween décor sprinkled about our Christmas decorations because that is how I roll these days). Multiple times each day multiple.. Read More

Blogging has been hard for me this year. It’s been hard to talk about craft projects, baby milestones and home décor (and there’s been a lot of it) when I felt that basic human rights and our environment have been threatened. Coupled with a time when I wanted to slow down, savor and soak in all of the time with a baby we know will be our last, it felt like the right decision.. Read More

Let’s talk about baby naming. It’s hard! Harder than I thought. I know I’ve written before about how, as a little girl, I never envisioned my wedding but I definitely day dreamed about being a mom. I have thought about baby names my entire life. So it should have been easy enough to stop the buck and decide names for these little dudes. However, both pregnancies the process of finalizing our names was.. Read More

On Sunday, November 13th, Eric and I went to the hospital for our scheduled induction. The next day, Sean Philip Astor was born. At our 36 week appointment with the doctor, an ultrasound showed that our baby was quite large. Our doctor was concerned that he may get stuck in the birth canal, or that we would be facing an emergency C-section if we waited for my labor to progress on its own… Read More

It’s fall again and every year I complain about the heat. This year, being gigantically pregnant, I am whining even more so. I miss crisp fall days that smell like woodstove and decomposing leaves. Fall in LA means we get desert winds — Santa Anas — they drive up the heat, cause messy windstorms and we run the risk of wildfires. There’s nothing quite like picking out a pumpkin in a tank top.. Read More

We did a quicky craft project in our house recently for someone we love a ton who is having a hard time. Sending toddler hugs across the miles along with some special treats was really easy and Luke got a kick out of looking at pictures of the project before we tackled it on our own. I highly recommend it!  

There is nothing like nesting in a new-ish home. We have been knocking out home projects left and right and I’m excited to say that some parts of our casa are really starting to take shape and feel like it’s our space and not just a VRBO that we’ve squatted in. Much to my delight, my thoughtful husband recently asked if there were projects we could or should prioritize in advance of the.. Read More

T-minus seven weeks until we meet the newest member of our family. And, it may come to pass that we’re destined to be an all boy blog. Or maybe, we’ll find out that we get a new set of chromosomes in the mix to talk about. Not knowing the sex of this baby has been less of a tease than I expected. It’s also made it feel like we were still early along.. Read More