DIARY

Anxiety

Someone With Problems

October 10, 2014

I wrote a few weeks ago how, in the days following Goldie's birth - when I feared a relapse of the postpartum depression that I'd suffered from after Indy arrived - I was prescribed a low-dose medication to combat the chronic insomnia and anxiety that I've been dealing with for a good decade (and hopefully make PPD more unlikely). It's been two months, and I figure now is as good of a time as any to write about how it's been going.

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Growing up, my parents taught me that no one would handle my problems for me; it was on me to face them, and then fix them. If I had an issue with a teacher, a fight with a friend, an essay that I just couldn't seem to get right, they were there to listen and offer suggestions, of course, but they were not going to storm the gates and take over; finding a solution was my job. And I'm grateful for that.

SNAPSHOTS

Robin Hood’s Oil

October 7, 2014

I've always had this very romanticized idea about fragrance - that you should have "your" scent, one that people associate with you and you alone, and ideally one so totally obscure and unique that when asked "What are you wearing?" your response is something along the lines of "oh, just an essential oil hand-crafted by an artisan selling his wares off the coast of Malta; it was a gift from my great-great-aunt who traveled through Europe with a rogue band of gypsies, and I've worn it ever since I was two years old." Or something.

Anyway, what I've actually worn for years is Bond No. 9's Nuit de Noho, which semi-fulfills my obscurity requirement, as not that many people outside of New York (where Bond No. 9 is fairly well-known, being as each of their scents is named after a part of the greater New York City area: Shelter Island, Hamptons, Union Square, et cetera) have heard of it. But lately I've been wanting something lighter, fresher. Maybe a little floral. Slightly sexy would be nice.

Baby

Baby Brain Freeze

October 7, 2014

Before my daughter was born, I had a mental blip that made me think that a baby born in mid-August would require an enormous wardrobe of gauzy little sundresses and gingham jumpers and such, forgetting that oh right: babies don't tend to take a ton of trips to the seashore when they are a week old. And then it was fall, and too cold for gauzy little sundresses and gingham jumpers, and Gap doesn't let you return items that are more than 60 days old for the original purchase price and et cetera et cetera sigh. At least I have a pair of tiny silver huarache sandals for her to wear in February, when they will finally fit her (brain freeze, what can I say?).

So anyway, I went shopping for autumnal infant clothing yesterday. Which is basically the most fun thing in the world, especially when you stumble upon things like leopard jeans and little sweatshirts with heart pockets (if you have a little girl - or a little boy with a penchant for heart pockets - I insist that you buy that sweatshirt up there; it is so cute).

We do need to talk about that tulle overall thing for a moment. I didn't actually buy it not because it is not the platonic ideal of baby girl clothing (because it is), but rather because I am so excited about it that I need to wait until Goldie is just a tiny bit bigger and will be able to wear it more. Like every day maybe.

SNAPSHOTS

Outdoors In The Autumn

October 6, 2014

Since we basically skipped out on summer-in-our-backyard this year, I'm trying to get in as much outdoors time as possible before we get our first three-foot snowfall (arrrrr; not looking forward to a repeat of last year at all).

What this means: s'mores. Lots and lots of s'mores. And cozy sweaters. And Duraflame logs.

My personal outdoors-in-the-autumn essentials, above.