We look up to women who have changed the world in different ways, but many girls will say that her mom changed her world in the most lasting way. A gift on Mother’s Day is such a small token compared to everything the mothers in our lives have done for us. In honor of these fearless women, we’re recounting the important lessons we’ve learned growing up.
My love of books no doubt stems from my parents. I had my first library card before I started school (my “signature” definitely looks like I had just learned how to write my name). Some of my fondest childhood memories include my mom bringing me to the library and letting me peruse the children’s room for hours. When I started reading more substantial literature, my mom encouraged me to inscribe my name and the date I finished each book on the inside cover. What a charming way to look back years later and consider your “journey” when you first read a novel! Unfortunately, I fell out of this practice once reading for pleasure was a thing of the past (read high school and college required reading lists). I think it’s time to bring it back. Mother’s Day is such a special time to honor the women in your life, and I find there’s no better gift than just the right book. A personalized note is just as extraordinary an inscription… and a beautiful reminder of where the book came from. Here are six of the latest titles to consider for Mother’s Day.
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If you’ve ever watched House of Cards (and let’s be serious, who hasn’t??) then you’ve probably wondered what life is actually like on Capital Hill. Is it all a carefully crafted political chess game like Frank Underwood implies? The Netflix show certainly had us wondering. To get the insider’s scoop I turned to my college girl friend Emily Woods who has lived Washington D.C. since July 2012. This go-getter moved to the city after graduating from the University of Cincinnati with her Masters in Architecture and an MBA (that’s right, this super sista doubled teamed her grad degrees!). Ever since she’s been rocking out life on the east coast as an architect at one of the country’s leading hospitality design firms. I sat down with her to find out what it’s like to be a Single Girl in the city, if politics really ruled all, and what the perfect day looks like in our nation’s capital. Secret- politics may play a crucial role in the conversation but a great glass of wine doesn’t fall far behind : ) Read on to find out more from this D.C-er! (more…)
A friend and I were talking about people’s different thresholds of “busy.” She has a full-time office job and teaches fitness classes 3 to 4 days a week. A colleague of mine has a full-time job, teaches an extracurricular class once a week, oh, and has a husband and four kids to care for. I attest my own desire to fill my days to my early training in elementary school. My mom had my sisters and me in after-school activities galore—from ballet to swimming, speed reading (an excuse for me to spend more time at the library) to student council. Once I left school for the real world, I felt the need to continue being “involved”… I became my high school alumni association’s class representative, joined my sorority’s alumni chapter and took on a leadership role, then found other ways to use my marketing knowledge by joining my sister’s company’s team part time and decided to get back into writing by launching The Single Diaries with Jen.
The only sure thing is that we have 24 hours in a day and, when you have an inflexible office job, you have to wake up at a certain time every morning. For someone like me who can stay up all night, it is a challenge to stay committed to a bedtime when I can find other things I want to do but didn’t have time to earlier in the day (write or edit a post, read a book, watch Melrose Place). There were evenings when after work I thought I could do it all: run off to an early barre class, stop by a book club meeting, then finish editing a post scheduled to go up the next day. Other days I had to make sacrifices. Instead of organizing a boozy brunch (one of my favorite pastimes), I committed to a Saturday work session at a local cafe.
Jen recently wrote about taking up a side hustle, which is great in the years after college when making money needs to be your priority to pay for student loans and to get your feet off the ground. In those years, most of us need to work a traditional full-time job to learn the value of a paycheck and to garner experience to build our resume. A side hustle is a way for you to find your passion and develop the skills you need to make your dreams a reality. But what happens when your full-time job and your side hustle leave you with little to no free time?
I daydream about the day I can stay at four-star hotels, sharing a king bed with only one other person. At this point in our lives, the majority of us packs Vegas hotel rooms to the brim and crashes on our friends’ couches when we visit new cities. We all know how tiring it can be to live in a popular city and entertain out-of-town visitors. Regardless, it can be easy to forget our manners when the tables are turned. Here are some easy ways to be a gracious houseguest and guarantee an invitation to return.