Completely Eclipsed

Please welcome Melissa, ” a 20 something year old wife, teacher, and brand new mom” to SITS today.  She writes at Completely Eclipsed and has some of the best shopping advice I’ve heard!  Melissa takes a realistic view on life while balancing family life, friendships, and work. She’s completely adorable.

Tell us about your blog.
My blog is my place.  It’s a space that belongs only to me and I don’t have to share it with a hungry husband or a demanding toddler. It’s a place where I can vent, where I can be ridiculous, where I can share moments both profound and ordinary.  It’s a place where I can openly admit when I’m floundering and can receive advice and sometimes a little tough love to get myself back to reality.  It’s reflective of who I am in the moment when I’m writing.  Sometimes it’s a sad sac and sometimes it’s silly.  It’s adaptable and it changes as I change.

When did you start blogging?
I started blogging sometime in 2009 when I was pregnant with my daughter Isabella, but it wasn’t my first attempt at blogging.  When I was in college, none-of-your-business years ago I took a creative writing class and as an exercise in character development we were supposed to write a blog from our character’s point of view.  It was a great idea, but it didn’t last long as I much prefer writing about myself, not that that’s too narcissistic.

Has your blog changed over time?
When I first started blogging it was a way to chronicle my pregnancy.  It was all puppies and rainbows.  It’s like I pooped glitter all over it.  But if there’s one thing motherhood gives you it’s a healthy dose of reality and things got ugly real quick.  Instead of my blog being an avenue for me to show how together I have it, now it’s a place where I can get into the nitty gritty details of what being a working mother trying to balance it all entails.  I know that I prefer to read blog posts that show someone’s humanity, so I try to show mine.  It’s evolved into a place where I can work through my struggles and say out loud things that I might be to embarrassed or prideful to admit in person.

What piece of advice would you give other 20-something, working moms?
Get organized.  Set up everything you can the night before, even if you’re tired and all you want to do is crash in front of the television with a glass of wine.  Set up your coffee pot, make your lunch, pick out your outfit, and whatever other loose ends you need to deal with.  It makes a huge difference.  Also, get yourself into a routine that works and stick with it.  If that means brewing your coffee in the bathroom so be it, when you’re pressed for time function always beats out form.  Set aside time for yourself to decompress, it can be as elaborate as a girl’s only weekend or as simple as a hot bath.  It will give you time to get yourself together and face another week.  I try and do one nice thing for myself each week.  Plan your meals for the week and do whatever prep work you can on Sunday night.  This way you know what you’re making, will avoid last minute runs to the store, and you’ll save time on chopping.

If you could have a day all to yourself, what would you do?
I’d start it off right by sleeping in.  Then I’d eat a really big, unhealthy breakfast, maybe a bacon, egg, and cheese empanada.  I’d follow that up with a reality TV marathon and maybe a little shopping followed by an afternoon nap and then lay out by the pool all by myself. Maybe meet some girlfriends up for dinner and drinks and then an early bedtime.  It sounds heavenly.  Now which one of you SITStahs want to come and take my husband and daughter for a day so I can live it out?

Favorite Posts:
Time Slips Away: Melissa realizes that time just seems to slip away!
Tales From the Fitting Room: This To do list before going shopping knocked my socks off.  It’s excellent.
No Jury Would Convict Me: Or would they?

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About Alina Thomas

Alina is a Northern Virginia wedding photographer based out of Leesburg, VA. She has a passion for arts and design, and strives to express it through her work. She is creative at heart and loves nothing more than sharing her knowledge in photography with other Virginia wedding photographers on her blog each week. Alina loves being a new mom to her first-born and spending time with her husband who helps her run her businesses. Please feel free to follow her on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or Google+.

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