My ‘Not So Glamorous’ Return To Work

5 / 24 / 1611 / 24 / 16

Well it happened, I returned to work last week at the law firm after a year of maternity leave. I guess I knew all along that this day would come, but I didn’t think it would be as difficult and as emotionally challenging as it has been.

I was chatting with my best girlfriend today and after telling her what a hell of a week I had, she told me that I should totally blog about it… ya, I guess I should. The thought of blogging lately seems so unachievable as I try to juggle home and work but, as Kennedy naps and Madison is watching a movie, the time is now.

Mother’s Day marked my last day of maternity leave. It ended on such a high note after morning of brekky at home, lunch at Quail’s Gate (which was to DIE FOR BTW). Chase doesn’t know it yet but I booked us an anniversary reservation for August because I need to experience the restaurant again as soon as possible! I had Bubbly to start from Blue Mountain Winery in OK Falls – YUM, followed by the Farm Crest Chicken for lunch which had a crispy, seasoned skin and to finish was an OH.SO.DELICIOUS. Lemon Tart with a Lavender Sorbet – like shut the front door it was so good I could have out right licked the plate!

The evening ended with a family dinner at my sister in laws. I was feeling so peaceful and motivated to start the morning off bright and early and get all dressed up and ready to kill it the next morning. I set my alarm for 5:30 AM so I would have tons of time to get all snazzed up for work the next morning and leave the house with the kiddos at 7:30 AM. Well…. I woke up at 7:15 AM (I must have hit snooze) and yelled “HOLY [email protected]%!” You can guess…

So much for getting ready. I put a blazer on over my pajama shirt, threw on some black slacks and brushed my teeth. Fluffed my Mother’s Day hair up (which was greasy as all hell) and asked Chase (who had Monday off) to help with the kids. Thankfully I had prepared all of the kids meals the night before. I overheard Chase at one point telling Madison to give me a moment so I could get ready. I think he probably feared for all of their lives as I ripped around here like a bat outta hell!

I flew out of this house in the worst mood EVER! I forgot to eat my brekkie or grab lunch for myself. I wore these cute pumps but they weren’t practical to walk downtown on my lunch break to grab lunch so I didn’t eat at all. I stayed and worked through lunch on setting up my work computer and completing my ‘I’m back at work’ paperwork. BAD IDEA – the headache set in… Daycare called at around 2 to say that Kennedy wasn’t napping very long and Chase had to go get her. I began to feel extremely overwhelmed and like I was forcing it. I cried.

That evening, I cried even more. My neighbour knew I was having a terrible day and had dropped of a bottle of wine with Chase for me. Little did she know, I would later be asking her for contact solution at 8 PM and confessing my doubts while she hugged me as I cried uncontrollably. Poor Emily (and thank you) – she doesn’t know me all that well, but good enough. I felt terrible but I could not control this overwhelming feeling that this was the wrong choice. I went to bed that evening defeated. So exhausted, wondering how the hell I managed this long with keeping a house AND blogging 4 years ago until now.

Well, 2 AM Tuesday morning rolled around and Kennedy woke me up crying. I tried to open my eyes but they were closed shut – PINK EYE. Are you kidding me?! Let’s throw in the towel right now lol. I cleaned up my eyes, grabbed drops from the cupboard and hoped to hell that it would magically clear up by the time my alarm went off. Wishful thinking… by then all of my fake eyelashes have ripped out and I look like I have been up crying all night (I guess I had been). I HAD to go to work, so I did. Sanitizing every five minutes so no one at the office would get it. Kennedy made it until about 3 PM that day but she was SO tired and screamed all through dinner. She was in bed for the night by 5:30 PM. As the kids adjusted to our new schedule, I found that they were up once or twice a night. Which sucked for me!

By Wednesday I was still feeling overwhelmed. The lunches, cooking, cleaning, dishes… kids and WORK – I found being a homemaker much easier than juggling these two lives. I looked rough. Pink eye- bloodshot eyes. I couldn’t wear any makeup and just my glasses for a week. I joked with my girlfriend that people must have been like ‘OH jeez (sour looking face)… what’s up with her?!’ LOL. By evening, I put the kids down and crawled straight into bed for the night at 7 PM with my makeup and work clothes on. I was DONE.

Thursdays are my day off so that was nice. I could breath. I could think. I knew it wasn’t the job itself. I love working at this firm and it’s been the best firm I’ve ever worked at. Everyone is so nice and they were all being so understanding as I tried to pull myself together this week. Flowers, treats, lunches, you name it.

By Friday morning I was feeling alive again. It was jean day so I rocked it and by 4:30 I stopped by Beaumont Winery to buy myself some bubbly to celebrate the fact that I had made it through my first week. I celebrated a little too much that night – hehe.

We enjoyed a busy but awesome weekend. We participated in the Walk For MS downtown at Stuart Park. We walked in memory of my Mom who passed in 2009 and my sister who has been affected by the disease. Our team name was ‘Hillbilly Deluxe’. I had no camo, so I rocked a beer hat – haha.

As I entered week two of work I tried to be positive – ‘I’ve got this!’

I woke up Monday morning with………. double PINK EYE! Seriously?! I had sanitized and washed the entire house three times over. Can I not catch a break?! I skipped the morning at work and went straight to the doctor. I was over this! Turned out that I had a sinus infection and not pink eye. Over $75 in prescriptions and a new attitude, I was able to make it through week two with better looking eyes.

Needless to say, my return to work as definitely NOT as I had planned. I’m such a type A control freak, so it was super annoying that I couldn’t control what was going on around me (the joys of parenting lol). I’m still feeling very overwhelmed with juggling my work and home life (and finding ‘me’ time).

When I returned to work the first time I didn’t even look back (not to say that I didn’t miss Madison) but I was eager to get back into the work force. This time, I went back too soon and I should have pushed it until Kennedy was well over a year and a bit.

I guess only time till tell.

Credits – First MS Walk Photo courtesy of KelownaNow

Beauty Talk: 6 Products Worth Buying

4 / 8 / 1611 / 24 / 16

Last week on my Snapchat (@thesocialgal) I shared a before and after (I forgot to save the before with no makeup to share on my blog – of course – next time!) snap of my everyday makeup . Who would have known that this would trigger so many follow up questions about how I got that glow or what I used on my brows to create the transformation (if you saw the before pic with my uneven skin tone then you know exactly what I’m taking about!).

^^Robe: Plum Pretty Sugar

I’m welcoming a new series – Beauty Talk. This series will showcase beauty products that are worthy of your hard earned dollars. Any product shown will be a product that I love, use often and think is worth being shared with you. This series will also answer beauty questions from readers and include tips and tricks for your everyday beauty regiment.

Here are 6 products that get my seal of approval (clockwise from left to right)

Jane Iredale’s Eye Steppes in shade ‘GoWarm’ $61: An all in one compact with a mirror that has 5 colours – 5 colours to last you all year round! They seriously all look SO good on! I use the lighter shades for day and the darker shades for an evening out or a smokey eye. This compact is great for someone looking to simplify or anyone who gets overwhelmed with what colours to buy that would look good on them – they’re all here. My compact has lasted me almost two years now and is still going strong. The colours are pigmented and will last all day. They are build-able and aren’t too shimmery which I like. There’s nothing worse than looking like you’re hitting the disco at noon! I can’t say enough good things about this compact – It’s $61.00 but worth every penny and will last you years.

Eminence Mineral Illuminator in shade ‘Chai Berry’ $36: This product is hands down a HAVE.TO.HAVE item! Not only does it give me a sun kissed glow when I sweep it on my cheekbones (see my Snapchat images above) but it also doubles as my eyeshadow. I also use the excess from my powder brush and apply it to my neck and chest and anywhere the sun would hit. This products is cruelty free, natural, vegan, soy free, nut free and gluten free (the list goes on). It’s a great natural skincare solution that works incredibly well. This product is sold through their online authorized dealer Eminenstore and you can also purchase it on Amazon.

MAC Eyebrow Pencil in shade ‘Fling’ $20: I’ve been using this pencil for over 4 years now and I have to say that I have no idea how my eyebrows survived without it before that! Well I do actually… very poor looking that’s for sure. This pencil has an eyeshadow like texture. It’s more chalky vs. gel if that makes any sense so it blends really nicely and creates the illusion of hairs where there are none. This pencil will last me about six weeks with one application daily (keep in mind I barely have any eyebrows so I need quite a bit!). I return my empties directly to the MAC store as part of their Back-to-M·A·C Program which gives me a free lipstick of my choice for every 6 empty containers I return.

I am currently in the process of researching eyebrow microblading for this Fall but the studio in Vancouver is very sought after and almost impossible to get in. I promise that I will share a full process video when I get in the chair to do it! In the meantime, this is the all time pencil for anyone who doesn’t want to commit to microbladed eyebrows.

MAC 187 Duo Fibre Face Brush $58: As soon as the gals at MAC applied their product on my face with this brush I was SOLD! It is SO soft! I use it to apply my powder and set my foundation. It gives a lightweight application and blends very nicely. It is pricey but I take really good care of my brushes so it will last me years and years.

Gerard Cosmetics Lipstick in shade ‘1995’ $10: I was introduced to this line of lipsticks on Instagram. After reading numerous reviews I pulled the trigger. I am really impressed with their shade choices and they are super creamy and long wearing. Lipsticks have become so overpriced so it’s really nice to find a brand that doesn’t compromise quality and variety but it’s a more reasonable price range. You can purchase a 4 pack of these beauties for $33 or use code ‘Gerard35’ to get 35% off your order. There’s free shipping on all international orders right now.

Tory Burch Eau de Parfum $28: This perfume has a nice clean, crisp and feminine scent with strong citrus undertones. I really enjoy grapefruit undertones so this was a great fit for me. Sephora offers free samples of any of their scents so be sure to ask for a tester next time you are in if this sounds like a scent you would want to try!

I hope you enjoyed this weeks products! I have had requests on sharing an eyebrow tutorial on how I do my brows so I promise to work on sharing that really soon on my Snapchat (@thesocialgal). If there’s anything else you would like to see or know, be sure to share you requests in the comments below. Have and awesome week and will see you all when we get back from Mexico. XO

Coat With Shoulder Detail

3 / 12 / 163 / 31 / 16

Coat: Mayd Collective Tank: Jockey

Jeans: Old Navy (obsessed with this sculpt dark denim pair)

Boots: Aldo (old) similar, also need, want, must have

My girlfriend Ahndea May just recently launched her newest venture, Mayd Collective. It’s a new concept of style. You handle the basics and she scouts out the on trend, statement pieces that you can add to your wardrobe. Ahndea and I met a couple years ago in cyber space and we TOTALLY hit it off! Her pieces have been part of my wardrobe for quite some time now – shoulder detailed top (which btw is coming to Mexico with me next month) and of course this bad ass shoulder detail vest.

This Mama is seriously killin’ it! I swear every time we speak, I end up asking her how she seems to have to time to juggle her home life (mother of 5 including twins!! – I know right?!) and her bad ass career. She’s a stylist to the stars and the only person that I know that would be lucky enough to run into Usher while out for lunch! So when her first pieces arrived on Instagram, including this shoulder detail coat with shoulder detail, I had to have it! You definitely have to check her out on Instagram and reach out to her if you are looking for a show stopper piece – she even takes custom orders!