Curves and Edges
There I was. Going about my day, taking one kid to camp and the other to his therapy appointments and I stopped for a minute to check my email. And there it was, right in the subject line:
"You're beautiful underneath it all."
Huh?
The email is from Lolë, a Canadian lifestyle company that I quite like and whose products I buy regularly (and therefore why I get their emails). It is an ad for their new "delicate, feminine underpinnings" line of products and I assume they are trying to say that what you wear under your clothes can be beautiful too. The problem is, that is NOT really what they are saying.
They are saying that *YOU* are beautiful underneath *IT* all. And maybe I am overly sensitive to this kind of thinking/speaking/messaging, but then again, maybe I am not.
"There is a skinny person in there just trying to get out."
"You've got lots of muscle tone, it's just covered up with that extra layer."
"Once you lose X amount of weight, you'll look and feel so much better."
These are all things that have been said to me in my lifetime.
Women are bombarded every day with these kinds of messages and with clothing options to cover our flaws, that use "slimming" technologies and push up or pull in various parts of our bodies to fit the styles and trends of the times and the ever present single layer version of beauty. We have to worry about muffin top, back fat, waving underarms, and the dreaded thigh gap. We are told over and over to love ourselves, no matter what size, shape, or colour we are, and then companies fill magazines and commercials and store shelves full of products and messages that are meant to help us change all of those things.
Love your skin, but here, make sure you remove all that hair, cover up/lighten those spots, and please! do something to smooth over all that cellulite.
Love your face, but don't let it get all wrinkly and *gasp* OLD!
Love your hair, but maybe it should be shinier, fuller, longer, and have more volume.
Love your body and go on and wear that bathing suit, but make sure it pushes up the girls, slims out your belly and here's a great video with 77 ways to use a sarong cover up, because really, no one wants to actually see that.
But don't worry, because you are beautiful underneath it all.
And we buy it. I buy it. I wear clothes strategically to cover my "flaws". I have a drawer FULL of anti-aging products to reduce fine lines, not so fine ones and everything in-between. And I have a love/hate... mostly hate relationship with my bathroom scale and what I think it tells me about me and my body.
I love this line from John Legend's song, All of Me.
'Cause all of me Loves all of you Love your curves and all your edges All your perfect imperfections
I realize that this is a love song about and sung to someone else, but sometimes when I am alone in my car and it comes on the radio, I'll turn up the volume really loud and sing it TO MYSELF. To remind myself that I have curves and edges and a lot of perfect imperfections. And that I love ALL of me. That all of me, JUST AS I AM, is worthy of love and happiness and that I am beautiful.
Not underneath anything.
Not despite anything.
Not when I am tucked in, slimmed down, covered up and/or made up.
And the same goes for you too.
You are beautiful. FULL STOP.
XO,
n~
A challenge and change and channelling my anxiety.
Ask me to drink 3 litres of water a day and I'll make it to maybe day four. Ask me to wake up one hour earlier than usual to meditate/workout/write and realistically I'll do it a few times and then be back to hitting the snooze button until small people insist that I wake up to feed them.
But...
Challenge me {for the third year in a row} to write a blog post a day for a month for the 2014 Summer Blog Challenge, and BAM! I am in. Again.
To be honest, I need a kick in the pants to get my writing mojo back. It has been lost for a while now as we were dealing with other life altering events this summer.
Daily blogging definitely is a challenge. And with school starting in a couple of weeks and the regular and some new {our first year with an IPP} challenges that this will bring to my life, will likely make it even more so.
So why do I do this then?
That is a very good question.
Because it is tradition now. Because I like to prove to myself that I can do it. And because every now and then, amongst the silly, last minute, "oh crap, I need to get a post out today" drivel that yes, I fully admit, you will get, sometimes a shot of brilliance will shine through. I'll have an epiphany and some divine power will guide my hand and I'll bang out something fan-freaking-tastic.
Today I spent most of the day cleaning the house and clearing it of the debris of life that has been collecting in unaddressed piles since June. The bags of all of my son's school work that his teacher lovingly packed up for us, the mail that has been sitting on my desk unopened along with all the unfiled bills and papers, the toys and books that have accumulated in all the tiny spaces that they can find to play together just like before. We tackled it all today ,and while it may not have seemed like it for everyone around here (read: there was much whining about when we would be doooooonnnnne), for me, it was a mixture of purging and nesting and wiping the slate clean to ready ourselves for the next chapter in our lives.
I am the most prepared that I have ever been for back to school this year. A couple of new outfits each and all the school supplies have been bought sorted and are ready to go. Every year, the beginning of the school year is like walking into a bit of an unknown (we don't get to find out who the kid's teachers are until that first day), but this year it feels even more so. Most people know that C was very sick and in the hospital, but few know the full extend of his illness or about his stroke/brain injury. He has expressed his concern to his therapists and to me about going back to school and having people ask him all about what happened and what he will say to them and he now has a list of answers that they came up with together and wrote down. I think I may have to follow suit as I am realizing that I too am feeling quite anxious about this as well. And when I get anxious about events or situations that are outside of my realm of control, I re-organize. I control my immediate environment and make it orderly and pretty.
Seriously people, my closet and my office have never looked better.
All ready to welcome back both me and my mojo!
So.... Here we go!
Subscribe to my RSS feed, sign up to get my posts delivered directly in your email every day (see box over there on your right), or find me on Facebook or Instagram (and maybe Twitter too, although my presence there has been sporadic lately - more on that in another post) because you never know which one of these posts is going to be the brilliant one!
XO,
n~
P.S. There are quite a few bloggers from all walks of life participating in the #SummerBlogChallenge. On social media we usually hashtag it as such or #SBC2014 or just #SBC. I'll have the full list of participants for you tomorrow if you'd like to check out some of their writing as well.
It's just a little spilled pickle juice
Silly title I know, but it is what it is and since I don't want to go to bed both mad and without writing something tonight... Here is a short list of things I am grateful for today.
1. My little girl and her two favourite friends having a tea party and two almost 6-year olds who needed the door closed so that they could play big boy imagination games.
2. Spinilates. It does a body good.
3. The lovely eye-candy that is the sweaty, shirtless men, working hard to give me a back yard. I know, so sexist of me, but WHATEVS...
4. Two-step oatmeal muffins that the kids can essentially make themselves and the ensuing house that smells like fresh baking.
5. Day Three of Natural Zen Mama. No yelling, no screaming, actively listening and stopping the busy-ness to just play.
6. Being photographed and photo-bombed by our children!
I need to get to bed before midnight. My mind and my body both need rest.
Goodnight all,
natasha~
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This is Day 21 of the Summer Blog Challenge!
10 Days left!
Go see what everyone else has been up to today.
Zita at The Dulock Diaries.
Meaghan at MagzD Life
April at This Mom’s Got Something to Say
Aramelle at One Wheeler’s World
Jessica at 2plus2X2
and Liam at In the Now
18 things that I think about EVERY Day
Since I can't remember the awesome blog post idea that I had only hour ago is, I am taking a page from @Schmutzie's playbook today and I am going to give you a list! So here ,in no particular order, is a list of 18 things that cross my mind daily...
1. Why is there not a specialty coffee delivery service/van/company? Seriously, someone please get on that!
2. Why is it that my kids can remember EVERY SINGLE bad word I say, but can't remember where they put the toy they were playing with not 10 minutes ago?
3. Did anyone else secretly wish that Victor Newman was their long lost father when they were growing up?
4. Why are there so many damn spiders in my NEW house!!??
5. I really need a pedicure and a massage. At least bi-weekly.
6. How exactly does one know if the hundreds of dollars spent on anti-aging products are actually working?
7. What the heck is for dinner tonight?
8. I really wish I could remember where I put those fancy new hair twisty clips/bobby pin things that cost me twenty bucks!
9. How on earth did I get a bruise THERE?
10. Should I cut my hair REALLY, REALLY short?
11. Crap, I forgot to take my meds again.
12. I really hate our dining room light. I must get to the lighting store this week to find a new one.
13. I should really just bite the bullet and register for that creative writing class and commit to this THING!
14. What is it about setting goals that scares the shit out of me?
15. Nope, there is absolutely NO chocolate in this house. Don't even think about going to look for any!
16. I wish I could speak Mandarin.
17. Please God, don't let me screw up too badly as a parent and mess them up too much! Just enough to not be boring human beings.
18. (And this one I am adding because it is ALL I am thinking about now!) I am going to go to Costco and buy a VERY LARGE supply of post-its so that I never forget a great post idea ever again. {Thanks to @MrLady for the suggestion. I predict a very colourful computer screen/desk/kitchen counter/bedside table from now on!}
Now, carry on with your day.
Hugs and kisses,
Natasha~
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This is Day 18 of the Summer Blog Challenge.
{And in the spirit of full disclosure, this is post #17 for me. I promise, I WILL catch up.}
Check out what is going on with our other fine bloggers.
Zita at The Dulock Diaries.
Meaghan at MagzD Life
April at This Mom’s Got Something to Say
Aramelle at One Wheeler’s World
Jessica at 2plus2X2
and Liam at In the Now
Tired and dirty
I am so tired. Ridiculous, can't keep my eyes open, can't think straight tired.
And I am not the only one.
Little C woke up at 7:30 AM, went back to bed, woke up an hour later and is now back in bed sleeping again.
Looks like some kind of bug may be hitting our house or maybe our long days in the sun are catching up to us.
Either way, today is turning out to be a stay at home, watch movies and maybe bake something kind of day.
It is also the day that landscaping starts at the Natural Urban Home and I have been jokingly refering to my street at #hysterialane on Twitter because of all the cutie patootie young men who are topless and working up a nice sweat in my yard and will be doing so for the next few weeks!
If anyone wants to bring over a thermos of sangria and help me 'supervise' from the deck, just let me know.
Cheers,
Natasha~
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This is technically yesterday's post. Day 16 of the Summer Blog Challenge. I was just too damn tired to post it last night.
Please visit the healthier and less dirty old lady posts from the other challenge participants!
Zita at The Dulock Diaries.
Meaghan at MagzD Life
April at This Mom’s Got Something to Say
Aramelle at One Wheeler’s World
Jessica at 2plus2X2
and Liam at In the Now
LOTS of Words Wednesday: A Vlog Post.
It was a gorgeous morning. I found a shady spot at the park and then I recorded this.
Enjoy!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwQzkUsodKw[/youtube]
Mwah!
Natasha~
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This is the Day 8 post for the Summer Blog Challenge and look how EARLY I am posting it! Woohooo me!!
These are the links I was talking about. Click, read, comment, subscribe and join in on all our fun, fun, fun!
Zita at The Dulock Diaries.
Meaghan at MagzD Life
April at This Mom’s Got Something to Say
Aramelle at One Wheeler’s World
Jessica at 2plus2X2
and Liam at In the Now
Wordless Wednesday...as in I did not type much for this post!
PHEW!! I did it (again)! It is the end of the Summer Blog Challenge. And so here you go... My very first Vlog Post!!
{please be kind!}
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT4IRvgLowE[/youtube]
♥♥♥
Natasha~
{literally} made for me....
In case you haven't quite figured it out...I have a slight addiction.
And no, it is not Twitter!
Hello, My name is Natasha and I am addicted to Babywearing.
And baby carriers. Lots and lots of baby carriers!
And lately, my addiction is all about woven wrap baby carriers
So when I got a call a few weeks ago from a mama offering to MAKE me a woven wrap in my Natural Urban Mamas colors, I JUMPED at it!
And not only was it going to be made just for me, this magical wrap weaving just happens to be going on right here in my very own backyard in central Alberta!! More reasons to be super thrilled about this! The fabulous mama duo who are making these amazing baby carriers one by one do it so that each one is made "with the wisdom of motherhood woven into every thread"!
Becky, the owner of Uppymama, had to special order one of the green threads in to match the carrier to my logo and I told her to surprise me with the design. She sent me this picture while the wrap was still on the loom! How cool is that!!
I picked up my Uppymama carrier last week and I was not disappointed in the least. It IS so awesome!! (Yes, I am having a total babywearing geek-out!)
The colors are PERFECT!!
I can't believe how soft it is too! I spent the first night wearing it as a shawl while I was curled up on the couch watching TV!
I tried each of the kids in it for a few minutes around the house and this past weekend we took it for the ultimate 'test drive', a two-hour walk with a 32 pound toddler on my back to and from the off-leash dog park by our house.
And it was amazing!
Sturdy, supportive, and with just the right amount of slip for easy wrapping. No pressure points anywhere on me or on the kids and just so damn soft!! This is definitely a thicker wrap than what I am used to (my lovely Dolcino Bali and beautiful Chimparoo Sol), but I really like it and I know I will appreciate the thickness more as the weather starts to turn more fall-like around here.
Natural Urban Dad even had to get in on the custom wrap action (mostly because the Princess insisted on going on Daddy's back!) and seriously people... My man can rock a wrap like no ones business!!
Our lovely Uppymama custom wrap is going into our demo carrier rotation and will mostly be used as a teaching wrap during our workshops and consultations. It is perfect for this for a few reasons. The ladies designed it so that each rail (edge) of the wrap is a different color and therefore easy to keep track of when wrapping. And I beleive the thickness will really help with getting people to understand the importance and get the right amount of tightness when wrapping and tying a woven wrap.
If you are interested in getting your own custom wrap from Uppymama, you can definitely do so, just be prepared for a wait! Their customs list is backed up into late October! And please remember to tell them that I sent you!!
Happy Babywearing Everyone!
Natasha~