Today’s Tip: Celebrate Success

We work hard at everything we do – parenting, growing our businesses, serving our clients, managing our households.

Therefore, the Mom With Money Tip for the Day on How to Make More, Be More and Do More is:

Take time to celebrate success.

If the preschool teacher says Haley was nice to the new girl in class, I push back my afternoon and take her to IHOP for pancakes in the middle of the day (I swear I offered her ice cream and she picked pancakes!).

We work so hard every day that it’s easy to overlook the accomplishments and worry just about where we need to be next. Where’s the fun in that? If we don’t take time to enjoy the life we’ve created, it’s no life at all.

Yesterday, we were celebrating my success. In the fifth year of my business, I hit a few big milestones in terms of income and yesterday was a REALLY big milestone. (The internet usage of the term “six-figure mom” seems incredibly underwhelming at this point in my career….. must think of a better term… “quarter of a mil mom?”).

So, we had dinner with friends at Craft. But not just any dinner. It was a dinner we were passionate about attending – the Farm Makers Dinner. In the private dining room, at oval tables of 8, we enjoyed 8 courses (each one by itself would be made for a memorable meal) and 8 wine pairings. And we did this right alongside the farmer who grew all of the produce. We talked to the chef, who gave us a tour of the kitchen, and it was truly a celebration.

I’m really into the idea of eating local, organic produce. The irony here was that we drove from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles, only to enjoy produce grown right here in Santa Barbara (and a Santa Barbara wine was among those served). It was a four hour dinner we will never forget. Of course, we got home at 1 a.m., only to be woken at 5 a.m. by the kids (an event we were not celebrating) but it felt so special to take time on a weeknight and enjoy each other, good friends, and a passion that we share.

Even though I have work to do today to make up for taking yesterday off, I know I will get through it. And today I am motivated by remembering why I work so hard in the first place.

Turkey Shopping

I’m in the mood for a local, organic turkey for Thanksgiving. I’ve made big efforts this year to switch from grocery store fare to local organic produce. I haven’t gone gung-ho on the proteins in this regard, but since I’ve been so influenced by Barbara Kingsolver’s adventures in turkey breeding (reading Animal Vegetable Miracle changed the way I feed my family) I think it’s time to change how we do Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday (and remains so even though I married my first husband on Thanksgiving – but that’s a whole different story). My husband – who will be referred to as “B” from here on out – makes Thanksgiving. He really makes the entire dinner! He spends days planning the menu, and he and his dad grocery shop and then B takes two days off from work to cook. And he makes like 22 dishes and we have as many people over – sometimes more depending on how many of my cousins decide to vacation in Santa Barbara that weekend.

But, B likes Thanksgiving the way he likes it. He has put up with my weekly deliveries of organic local produce and my strict recycling habits. Will he go for the Organic, Free Range, Pastured, Grass Fed, Cage Free, Heritage Turkey currently living only 122 miles from our home? If so, Local Harvest is ready to sell it to me.

I’ll let you know how this conversation goes over the wonderful fajita dinner my mother in law brought over since I’m so overworked that I shouldn’t have time to start this blog….

The Dangers of Jogging

I got this idea during a jog one drizzly Sunday morning. My husband (we’ll call him ‘B’ here) could see the stress overwhelming me and encouraged me to escape the craziness caused by our two preschool-aged daughters.

BTW, I call it a ‘jog’ because I am not one of those runner women. No half marathons, no ripped abs, no energy drinks for me. I just feel a little skinnier after 10 minutes of sweating.

That Sunday, it only took 10 minutes because an idea hit me: Here I am, balancing everything a woman in her 30s-40s is supposed to want to balance, and perhaps my thoughts, ideas, and coping strategies would be motivating to others.

So, here I am. The Danger of Jogging is that I made the decision to add something to my already filled plate.

I hope to address all of the aspects of my life that -in combination- make me so happy and feeling fulfilled and energetic everyday including:

• appreciating every possible moment with my young daughters
• enjoying a partnership, friendship and romance with my husband
• making a quarter of a million dollars a year working from home, on my own schedule
• serving as board chair of a non profit organization that fills my intellectual and political passions
• supportive and unconditional friendships and an active social life
• frivolity, including shopping and time for my favorite guilty pleasure TV shows and movies
• maintaining a healthy lifestyle emphasizing local organic produce and exercise
• cooking for my family at least 3-4 times a week (from scratch! Trader Joe’s does not count!)
• indulging in my knitting habit and lust for reading

So, what does all of this promise for our future together?

Recipes, book reviews, accounts of frustrated mommy moments, how to manage everything with a sense of humor and without getting frazzled, how you can contribute financially to your family while taking care of everyone’s every need AND taking care of yourself…..

So, I’ve titled this blog Mom with Money, and the point of starting it is to help you

MAKE MORE, BE MORE & DO MORE.

And it’s copyrighted so don’t even try to steal it….