Dashiell is two years and eleven months old, Cedric is fifteen months old and this is what I want to remember: + Cedric's soft, plump, warm cheeks when he first wakes up and the smell of his morning breath. + The earnest look of Dash big brown eyes. + Cedric's pokey belly and the way he will lift his shirt when you ask, "Where's your belly?" + Dash throwing his arms around me in a big hug before he left the house and waving "bye!" like such a big boy, and then turning to blow me a kiss before running... Read more →

An occasional series of small things that bring some awesome to my life. Drinking hot coffee in the shower. If you are laughing at me, that's fine. I'm warm outside and inside in my hot shower with my hot coffee (hydroflask!) Or, if this is already a habit of yours you know exactly how genius this is. On a chilly morning, or especially after a winter morning workout, there is nothing so wonderful as hot coffee on the inside and hot water on the outside. Sipping hot coffee while in a hot shower is an indulgent ritual of mine every... Read more →

During the 2016 Year of Kelsey I am vowing to get serious about taking care of my skin and finding a makeup routine that works for me. If I start a great skin care routine now I'll look amazing when I'm older! And having a reliable routine of great makeup products is definitely something I want in my life. My skin care routine is inconsistent but since January I have been wearing sunscreen nearly everyday, a habit I have been wanting to adopt. In the makeup department my goal is to have a simple makeup routine that leaves me feeling... Read more →

One of my 2016 goals is to take myself on at least 3 creative field trips. A creative field trip is any kind of outing where the purpose is to spark creativity. I love the endless possibilities of what a creative field trip can be. The destination could be anywhere: a museum, the backyard, the grocery store, a random intersection. I think a virtual creative field trip would also be possible! The objective could be to observe people or surroundings, to practice your craft (writing, painting, knitting, photography) in a different environment, or the objective might be to not have... Read more →

We all know that the secret to keeping your skin health and looking young is to protect it from the sun (not to mention to prevent skin cancer). Despite knowing this my habit of using a daily sunscreen was, until recently, a B- at best, maybe a C. Starting in high school I would occasionally get into a habit of using a daily moisturizer with SPF although it never seemed to stick, I think because I never found a product that I loved. But I live in Arizona where we have 300+sunny days per year. Even if I'm just driving... Read more →

I believe we all have a superpower or two. Mine include hula-hooping indefinitely and starting and maintaining habits. You might not have guessed the hula-hooping superpower but you probably guessed the habits superpower. Habits have been on my mind a lot lately. I stumbled onto Better Than Before and Gretchen Rubin's four habit tendencies and have been making most people I know take the tendency quiz. Just ask Chris, my entire book club or my office mate Troy, who was so sweet to give me a ride home one day and to repay him I made him take the tendency... Read more →

Hello spring! Even though February had an extra day there is no delaying spring here. The skies are blue and bright, the sunlight is toasty warm. I'm already getting weird tan lines on my feet from my slip-on shoes and it's nearly time to put away the boys' pants for the season. February brought what we hope will be the last of the plague of sicknesses at our house. If I add exclamation points after all the ailments it almost reads like an upbeat children's story: Cedric had RSV! Dash had a fever! Chris had the flu! We all had... Read more →