Hey gorgeous!

It’s been a minute since I did a life update. This weekend we have lots of plans with family for Christmas, which feels so nice. If you have the opportunity to be with loved ones this year… soak it all in!

Isabelle has been in and out of pre-school the last month or so… between catching all the colds every other week and COVID cases spreading like crazy (we’ve thankfully steered clear), it’s been a whirlwind. Anyone else’s kids sick all the time now? Poor girl has caught intense colds, HFMD, ear infections, fevers, and has had all sorts of things going on. I think because she was out of school for so long that her immune system is down. It’s a rarity that she sleeps through the night too, so we’re doing the best we can at home keeping her healthy… and staying energized ourselves! I’m seeing double as I type this * reaches for more espresso *

All in all, we’re grateful that we’re healthy and together. We’re sending you lots of love, especially this week and through New Years. Here are a few highlights over the past few weeks!

SCOTTSDALE FESTIVITIES

We had a blast at the Fairmont Princess Christmas Carnival! If you’re in AZ, this is a must-visit holiday activity with the fam! There were bigger rides, but we stayed kid friendly. 🙂 It’s a great date night too if you want to go drink wine and walk around!

SI SWIMSUIT ROTY

I’ll do an entire post on this… but I am still blown away. Sports Illustrated announced me as this year’s Rookie Of The Year… thank you SI fam. 🥺 It’s such an honor and I’m speechless. I hope to represent all the mamas out there, the IVF warriors, and the 38 year olds and women that may think ‘it’s too late for my dreams‘… it’s not too late for you!

It’s been such a transformational year— the biggest thing that I’ve learned is that when you surround yourself with people who believe in you, encourage you with kindness, respect you, communicate with love and tenderness, and just want to see you genuinely happy… then you all rise and succeed together. The love goes around.

SI- Thank you for believing in me when I doubted myself the most… you took me under your wing and gave me the courage to fly. 💫 @mj_day @jo.giunta @ja_neyney @margotzamet @sevaneveritt @hillarydrezner_siswim @maramilam @yutsai88 and the entire @si_swimsuit family.

PS- The brilliant team at SI swim just launched a networking app called Swimfluence where you can submit a video to try out for the 2022 issue of Sports Illustrated! Check it out HERE! You can also share all about you, your personal brand and projects, and submit your photos and videos for SI!

Here’s a little video

I’ve been too shy to share these pics over the last year, but no better time than now to share 🙂

WORK LIFE

Lately, I’ve been doing the best I can with work. I think in my 20s and early 30s, I put too much pressure on myself and didn’t have great balance with my personal life… but now it’s so clear to me as a mom what truly matters. I’m able to shut my phone and computer off at night and be present for dinner and unwind with Brian. It doesn’t sound that crazy, but it’s a big deal for me to ‘log off’ for the night. My perspective is shifting these days. I shared this post yesterday on how to have better balance with work and life, especially during the holidays. I hope you all read it and that it helps you. I consider myself a full-time mom (we don’t have a nanny- which was a big question during last week’s Q&A). I squeeze in what I can during pre-school hours, which are far and few. Some days I get a lot accomplished and some days I’m still in my PJs at 8p and just crash as soon as Isabelle goes down. I think the days of ‘hustle hard’ and ‘boss up’ are behind all of us, and it feels really good actually. Anyone else feel that shift?

That being said, I have some amazing episodes of the Podcast in the queue, but I’ll be waiting till the New Year once Isabelle is back in school so I can properly launch them. There are so many exciting things coming for you!