This week’s revelation: I like working from home. This sounds silly. Who wouldn’t? Well for this workaholic mom, after weeks of feeling anxiety about not being in the office, I have come to a place where I am enjoying being at home every day, and I also do not feel especially compelled to be at the office. This transition has taken several weeks, a few months really, of feeling daily guilt about my absence from work. No doubt this is why it feels like a revelation. Chalk it up to maternal instinct, but suddenly nothing is as important as being with little Eva. Beyond that, I am thoroughly enjoying being able to multi-task my work to-do list and my home to-do list throughout the day. You know I’m not happy unless I have a full task list!

Typically coming home from the office was met with the exhaustion of immediately needing to jump from work mode to domestic mode, looking after our two boys, not to mention trying to address things that need attention on our fixer upper New England home. My work is never done! But being home the past several weeks has given me the opportunity to put our house on the to-do list, and multi-task to tackle some much-needed updates and repairs. Bringing our garden to life, throwing some paint up, reorganizing our living spaces are just a few things that my husband and I have been able to devote time to between feedings and Skyping. Making such regular progress in this area of our life has been really cathartic–especially now that the kitchen is done, and small jobs seem all the more manageable!

That said, Pearse Street is (as always) my other “baby,” and I am bugging my staff with questions and updates just as frequently if not more than I usually do. But so long as things are running smoothly, I don’t feel that I need to be in-office, in the flesh, when I can be occupying dual roles, at home and at work. The irony is that when I started the business 5 years ago, this is precisely what I had mind, until our business grew so quickly that my level of involvement was no longer open for negotiation.

This could all be a phase. As Eva grows and starts to be able to hold her own with her rambunctious brothers a little better, I will no doubt feel more compelled to return to my daily office regime once again. For the time however, I am glad to be able to take this reprieve and the opportunity to re-prioritize and take care of some long-neglected home matters, bettering our personal lives and my overall peace of mind!

So I took the weekend off.

I still checked my email and Facebook a few times a day, but made a point to not aimlessly surf or brainstorm new concepts. I cooked some decent meals, cleaned my house, played with the kids, tackled a few small home projects and hosted two poker tournaments with our friends. Productive, good fun, exhausting.

Sunday nights are usually my pre-game into the work week so that when I get to work on Monday morning to a pile of work, I don’t feel too overwhelmed. But this past week was a mix of loving work and hating work, so I am wondering how to emotionally prepare for the next five days.

It was actually a pretty good week overall. I connected with two Inc. columnists this week. Meg Hirshberg, writes regularly on the juggling act of balancing life and career. As a mother of three, she sympathized with my current “condition” (as I’m calling it these days) and the challenge of maintaining clarity through the nonstop chatter and activity of a two-year-old and a four-year-old at home. It’s always encouraging to connect with someone who has been there, especially someone who’s writing about it. I read another post by a fellow Smith College alum and new mom whose maternity leave has expired. She mentioned her surprise appreciation for having emerged from the “pregnancy fog” at work. I had forgotten all about this and was momentarily excited about when that day will come for me too. After seven months, the fog begins to feel permanent.

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Valentine’s Day conjures a lot of different feelings for different people, from love to resentment to indifference. This year, happily married, I find that it means more to me than simply having a significant other versus being alone, or even getting the usual trinkets, chocolates, flowers, etc. This year Valentine’s day is a celebration of the many amazing relationships that I have in my life. I am partial to my husband of course… I did get some beautiful flowers and a brand new kitchen after all! I’m sure I get some points from him too, for bearing his children and what not.

We spent this weekend with our family, as we often do. Today I was again reminded of how lucky I am to be a part of my husband’s especially large and welcoming family, who I hope I will never take for granted. We spent the morning with “Mamama & Papapa,” my husband’s grandparents. Even at their advanced age, you can find moments of intimacy between them. A hug they thought we didn’t see, or the silent understanding between them as they go about their morning. This all exists between the hearing-challenged bickering of course, which I cannot help but find cute. As we left, both gave me a big hug and kiss and told me that they loved me. I know they say it not out of habit or obligation, but because they mean it.

And of course there are our parents, cousins and siblings, who since our move from Florida have become so integral to our daily lives. I’ve maintained friendships from across the globe, having moved so frequently, but having a tight-knit community and our best friends essentially in our backyard is priceless. They care about our children, our successes and supporting each other when we need it most. You know you’re in the “crew” if you have low ball glasses dedicated to you in our liquor cabinet. (more…)

I can’t bring myself to draw parallels between home renovation and entrepreneurship, though I feel certain it’s possible. The reality is that I am deeply in love with my new kitchen…

Several weeks ago, my husband announced that he was pregnant with a ktichen. And as much as I’d like to school him on the realities of this experience, I have to give him credit where credit is due. For the past thirteen weeks (yes, I’ve been counting), we have been living our lives under construction. Being pregnant (me, not him), mothering a four-year-old and a two-year-old, and living day to day with the center of my house completed gutted, you can imagine what a wild woman I have been. Threats, many emotional breakdowns, and a never ending trail of receipts and contractor expenses, at one point I said I’d actually rather give birth two or three times more than have to go through this again.

There is a convenient amnesia associated with labor and delivery, however. After all that anticipation and hard work is over, and you’re staring your new baby in the eyes for the first time, every minute of discomfort and stress and worry becomes worth it. It would be worth doubling in fact, to have this moment.

Right now, I’m staring at my brand new baby kitchen, and she’s beautiful. It’s hard to believe what the space was like before now, and in another couple months I’ll have almost forgotten the hell that was this arduous journey. (more…)

I’ll kick this off by saying that it has literally been years since I’ve legitimately blogged. While this is certainly not for lack of internal commentary– which makes its way to bite-size Facebook updates multiple times a day–the long silence is primarily a result of two time-consuming factors in my life: motherhood and entrepreneurship. In seven years of business, I will have become a mother thrice! This March Pearse Street will celebrate with some childish delight it’s turning 7, and all things as they should be, I will celebrate the arrival of our third child (a girl, FINALLY!) a few short months later.

Why, you might ask, would I suddenly have time for blogging? Thankfully 2009 ended with progress, positive transitions and a long overdue wave of stability that has allowed me just a wee bit more spare time. This means I might get to take more than 2 weeks maternity leave this time! And if I can stick to it, I hope to also blog here more regularly on topics ranging from social media news and projects to mommy-preneurship. I welcome questions and comments, as that will no doubt motivate my maintenance of the site with the hope that some of these random ramblings are helpful or informative to others.

Thank you, and good night!