I hadn’t been feeling my usual anxiety about summer break (thanks Lexapro!) but we were about 2.5 hours into it, when I remembered why it’s so damn overwhelming. Stevie has what is known as “zero chill”, officially diagnosed by ME. And when his schedule is disrupted (or non-existent) it can be quite the challenge. His typical rotation of activities include iPad time, riding his bike, playing with Hot Wheels, and eating. It’s not enough things to fill a day, so we do them over and over. My little extrovert also does not like being alone, and the demands for me to sit and watch him are frequent and non-flexible. Most other activities and, quite frankly excellent ideas from me are quickly and frequently shot down. Or he’ll agree to them and complain the whole time.

On Friday, with my annual summer eye twitch steadily developing, I took a desperate trip to Target. We ended up getting him a new scooter and slip-n-slide to add into the rotation. Then on Saturday, we set up a freaking pool. Our neighbors recently moved and left it for us, which eased my plastic-guilt just a tad. But pool care and leak-hunting might bring my husband’s annual summer eye twitch on even earlier than usual. The lengths we go to for that extra 10 minutes of entertainment each day never ceases to amaze me. But desperate times, yo.

Yes, Stevie will start in-person summer school in about a week (eep!) and usually my true, deep panic doesn’t set in until that’s over. But after this long year of being together so so so sososoooooooo much, I really crave keeping him busy without a ton of effort on my part. Mama needs a summer break in the worst way too! Love you, Stevie… now go do something!

Going

To celebrate the end of this school year, and acknowledge all Stevie’s hard work, we ran away to Disneyland! Disney can be tough for Stevie, but has been getting easier. 2020 was our first year with annual passes and we all know how that turned out. I had no plans of going back until they announced the new AP program. But I’ll admit I got caught up in the excitement and bought tickets. Whoops! We wanted to take advantage of the limited capacity and I’d heard good things about their safety protocols, so we went for it. It started out rough. Stevie was not impressed with our surprise. But once he got inside and saw Pluto, he came around. It was hot and felt crowded, but overall I’m glad we went. Though I may have set the bar too high for the rest of summer break. Haha!

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Cooking

With our schedule all askew from Disney and school ending, I somehow got out of cooking most nights this week. I think the only memorable thing I made was another gnocchi dish. Up until a couple months ago, I did not like gnocchi — until I discovered you can make it crispy. It completely changed the game for me. Especially because it’s so easy! My favorite way to prep it is a on a sheet pan with lots of olive oil and veggies. This week, I made it on the stovetop with brussels sprouts and broccoli. Stevie didn’t care for the brussels, and honestly they are not my fave either. But put some salt and fresh parm on there and it’ll make pretty much anything better, right?

Remembering

This little visit to Universal City popped up in my memories and made me really grateful that I blogged for so many years. I don’t have this memory readily available in my head. To read it again made me laugh (and cringe) all these years later. Truly, never a dull moment with cute little Stevie P.

Shopping Addiction

Spring has been sort of experimental for me style wise, as I re-evaluate my needs and wants. I have stopped taking gifted items from brands (not that they’re knocking down my door) and I have even stepped back a little bit from ethical fashion, which has had a huge influence on my shopping addiction for the better. Ethical fashion (for lack of a better word) tends to be very expensive. So I had no choice but to slow down. And I think it has been so good for me to learn that I’m capable of that. I also still really care about worker’s rights and I hope that eventually we will be able to vote people into office that can make sweeping changes to reform and regulate the fashion industry.

But the last year or so, I have loosened up on the “rules” because a) my body keeps changing, which feels hard to keep up with, and b) it seems no matter the intentions of a brand, there is always controversy surrounding them being ethical enough or sustainable enough or anti-racist enough. I don’t have the time or energy to be the sustainability police. And I’m just not in love with that style of fashion right now. I bought good brands but also don’t really feel like me, and I’ve struggled with that off and on for a couple years now.

So I will continue to put my efforts into secondhand shopping. But with a renewed focus on buying things that I love to wear. I have some work to do in my closet deciding what stays/goes, and I’m taking it extra slow. With any style shift, it can get confusing. Easy to part with things that don’t bring me immediate excitement, only to regret it later. I also hate summer clothes. I start to feel desperate for new things to fix the icky feelings summer gives me. But as my insta-friend Gretchen pointed out to me, my hatred of summer probably has very little to do with the clothes. I just hate being hot. Period. No outfit will ever fix that. So I might also do a no-shop-summer while I hone in on my favorites… but I have a few more days to decide on that one.

OK, Stevie needs me to watch him swim, so I’m signing off! Hope you enjoy the long weekend.

loves,
jaana