Simple Things #7

Here are 5 magically mundane things I noticed this week.

Is it just me or do weeks pass more quickly when the weather starts to warm? I feel like we’ve been much busier than usual and that everything around us is ‘waking up’ after winter.

Last Wednesday, I woke up at 4am with one mission: purchase Florida resident annual passes to Disney World. It took 6 1/2 hours, but I finally secured the bag. We live 7 hours away and to my British husband, that’s a massive drive, but to this American, it’s just a regular day. I love that we can just drive down on a whim now and visit the parks.

We wanted to have passes this year for many reasons, but one of the main reasons is that Maverick is getting to that perfect Disney age, and this is the last year we won’t have to pay for a pass for her. I grew up in South Florida, living less than 2 hours away from the parks, and have such fond memories of my parents taking my sister and me. I naturally want to create those same kinds of memories with Maverick. I know Disney isn’t perfect, and there are a lot of consumerist and negative aspects involved in it, but I believe it was a huge catalyst for my creativity, teaching me how to dream, and inspiring me to make up my own world in my head and live from that space of inspiration. I want to give Maverick that same opportunity.

So last Friday, off we went on a whim to Disney World and our first trip as a family of three. I think even amidst the busier seasons of life, it’s so important to take that time to embrace the spontaneity of life. For you, it could be as big as a trip to somewhere new or as simple as a walk to the creek near your house, but as long as we’re escaping the typical tasks to find the quiet moments of joy, can we experience a blissful existence even when we feel like we don’t have time. I hope you’ve been able to find those tiny pockets of magic moments too. Now, on to this week’s simple things…

1. I love learning, researching, and exploring new ideas. I think it’s the homeschool kid in me, but I am not someone who has super strong opinions on everything. I’m much more open to different ways of thinking. With that being said, I’ve been exploring metabolic health for the last six months and have really enjoyed learning about it. Coming from a ‘vegan is best’ background, this way of eating has opened my eyes to a lot of different thoughts with the main one being, no one diet or way of life works for everyone. It’s about tuning into your own body and finding what works best for you. The main person I’ve been learning about metabolic health from is Kori Meloy. Her Instagram is full of content, she has an incredible podcast, and I bought her course, Freely Rooted. She re-launched her course two days ago and it’s been so fun going through it again and diving deep into the content she teaches. I can’t recommend it enough if you’ve been interested in the pro-metabolic lifestyle at all, if just for the access to the Facebook group alone. I will say that a lot of people in that space have a Christian point of view, and I am not religious at all so I just kind of take those viewpoints with a grain of salt. But overall, it’s been a great learning experience and I’ve gotten a lot out of it.

2. By now, you probably know how obsessed I am with manifestation. While on our long drive this past weekend, I listened to this podcast episode on The Mother Daze podcast with Teresa Palmer and Sarah Wright Olsen. I read their book The Zen Mama when I was pregnant and absolutely loved it. So, I was super excited to find out they have a podcast. In this episode, they interviewed another favorite of mine, Lacy Phillips, on manifestation. It’s a great intro to manifesting and Lacy’s way of teaching it through her business, To Be Magnetic. I loved what they discussed about parenthood too. Definitely a must-listen!

3. Whenever I’m out of town, the thing I miss the most (other than our pup, of course!) is my tea. I drink Williamson Earl Grey tea every day with honey and oat milk. It’s so delicious, and is my little comfort drink I reheat multiple times while chasing around the toddler. I found it first in England, but now just order it on Amazon in bulk every few months. What’s your favorite type of tea?

4. I’ve been an avid jeans and t-shirt daily uniform wearer for years, but now that I’m spending more time outside and running around with the previously mentioned toddler, I’ve been trying to get into wearing more dresses and skirts to keep cool, especially as summer nears. Christy Dawn has long been my favorite shop for sustainable dresses, and they just released their spring line. I’ve been eyeing this dress for a while. The materials are such high quality and everything I have from them has lasted for years, with most being bought off Poshmark secondhand. It’s a great brand with great ethics and I love supporting them.

5. Since this letter is all about the simple things I’ve noticed in my week, I had to mention a few of my favorite moments from our Disney trip. This was the first time we went that Maverick recognized the characters. We saw Daisy and Donald first, and she started smiling so big and laughing. It was so sweet. Then, we found Chip & Dale in a quiet corner with no one around, and they ended up walking down the street holding her hands. It’s a memory that will be engrained in my brain forever. And when I sent my parents the video of it, they got all teary remembering when I did the same thing at her age with Minnie and Mickey. So special. And finally, when Maverick was twirling in her dress in front of the castle at Magic Kingdom. It just felt so insanely magical, and I couldn’t stop smiling all weekend. I was so grateful.

Phew, this was a long-winded one, but I guess I had a lot to say. Ha! Anyway, thank you as always for reading. It means the world to me. I’d love to know what magically mundane thing you’ve experienced this week that has brought you joy.