Power Nap #93
Kate's current fav song / Chatting with Emily Ley / An audio message hack / pooping in bookstores (yes, it's a thing)
Hey friends! I hope you are doing well. We are in the final weeks of the school year!!!! In the next few weeks soccer, tennis, golf, and school will all end. WILD! I wanted to update that I am one week into the “7 Meals for May,” and I am so grateful I did this. It’s been so easy and one huge thing to take off my plate. For someone who loves a meal plan and loves to cook, I am LUH-VING not thinking for it right now. All that to say, this is a gentle reminder you can enjoy something and still take a break from it when you need to.
In other news, my mom gave her daughters and daughters-in-law a girls trip to Chicago for Christmas and we went this past weekend. It was honest to goodness so special. We have never been on a trip just the five of us and I sincerely hope it’s not the last. PS— I was in a coat and scarf! In May! I don’t know how they do it. (Read on for the places we ate!)
Conversation with Emily Ley (and sorry!!!)
If you got 4-5 emails from me yesterday I wanted to say so sorry! I went live with Emily Ley on Substack and it was so, so good! Unfortunately, we had some technical difficulties and each time we tried to reconnect it sent an email. As someone who loathes unnecessary emails, I am so sorry for clogging your inboxes! I have now learned I can turn that email feature off so that’s good for the future. But also, the conversation was wonderful! She asked me some questions on being a working mother I had not been asked before and I really enjoyed talking through them. Aside from being a great interviewer, Emily has also written countless books and is the owner of Simplified. She makes some of the most thoughtfully designed (not to mention gorgeous!) planners and accessories on the market. You can watch the replay of our conversation here.
Mother’s Day Last Minute Gift Ideas
We are only a few days away from Mother’s Day and if it snuck up on you, here’s an awesome last minute gift idea:
First off, you coulddddd PREORDER MY BOOK for your mom!!! (Or ask for it for yourself)! I am genuinely so excited for this book. Heck, one of the chapters is called “I Just Wish I Was A Good Mom” and in it I share a lot of processing on what I think that means. Anyways, you could pre-order it and print the order and write them a nice card and BOOM! You are done!
Start a Mother’s Day Journal. Nate got this idea from an old friend and it has been one of my favorite things. In my opinion, this would be a solid thing to ask for from a spouse. Basically, they get a journal and use it to write you a note on Mother’s Day each year. Over the years the journal is filled with notes and memories and it is really special to look back on. As the kids grow older they can also leave a note in the journal. Every year on Mother’s Day I read the old entries and it’s really good for my heart.
Power Napper, Caitlin Reiter shared her Etsy shop - Evergreen Motherhood, with an awesome Mother’s Day gift idea (especially if you forgot and it’s in three days). She created beautiful printables for the family to fill out to honor Mom or Grandma: “Motherhood Performance Review,” the “Mom’s Year in Review,” and “Grandma’s Year in Review” which are so much better than a traditional card! They include open ended questions for the kids to fill out celebrating Mom or Grandma with their highlights, strengths, and space for her own self-reflection. They make thoughtful, unique, and affordable gifts for moms and grandmothers for Mother’s Day. Use code NAPTIME25 for 25% off.
In Case You Missed It
I reviewed the rotisserie chicken in a bag “hack” so you don’t have to.
I’m only making 7 meals in May - steal my plan!
When you’re a mom but you’re traveling with YOUR mom…
I wrote a blog post a few years back with some Mother’s Day perspective. It also includes gift ideas grouped by the five love languages. You can read it here.
All of the outfits I wore in Chicago are linked here.
I am still loving these Bose headphones. I can hear my surroundings (birds chirping, cars coming, my kids) while still enjoying music or a podcast.
Chicago Eats
Armitage Alehouse: I think this was the crowd favorite overall! So cozy and warm and the perfect blend of fries, steaks, and…curries! No joke, the curry was insanely good. Anna got the steak tartare and raved about it. The naan bread!! I could go on and on. Nina and I split the curry and a double smash burger and ate the burger in under two minutes. Basically if you get the chance you gotta eat here! Bonus: it’s nestled in an awesome shopping area in Lincoln Park.
Beatnik on the River: location, location, location!!! By far the coolest views and environment. Strong Mediterranean vibes and a really good drink menu. Definitely worth visiting.
Girl and the Goat: Nina snagged this hard to get reservation and the food was really cool! Very eclectic. The place was slammed and felt very fun and hip.
Venteux: this was the restaurant at our hotel and it was also delicious! I had the short rib boeuf bourguignon and it was absolutely delicious.
Lou Malnati’s Pizza: unfortunately this was our least favorite. Was it the deep dish? Maybe we didn’t get an authentic deep dish experience? I am not sure. Glad we tried it, but wasn’t our favorite.
“The more I learn, the more excited I get.” - Johnny Cash
Things Nate Found Interesting
If you are new, this segment is where we put articles we found interesting. It doesn't mean we necessarily agree with everything in every article (sometimes we even disagree!). Also, we do our best to link to free articles, but occasionally articles may require a subscription or require you to create a free account.
Last week I asked: Across all of history, which human being has been seen, in-person, by the greatest number of people? The answer, according to Chat GPT, is Pope John Paul II. Close contenders: Queen Elizabeth (makes sense) and Muhammad Ali (interesting).
“If you're under six-foot tall, you have less than a one in a million chance of making the NBA. If you're seven feet or above, you have a one in seven chance of making the NBA.” Really hard to be a one-in-a-million athlete. But being a one-in-seven athlete feels doable? If only I was seven feet tall…
The Mariko Aoki phenomenon. It is a Japanese expression referring to a sudden urge to use the bathroom that is felt upon entering bookstores. I read about this, and I have to admit this happens to me upon entering Barnes & Noble. “Possible theories behind the phenomenon include the smell of paper or ink having a laxative effect, the association with reading on the toilet at home, and the posture of browsing making bowel movement easier. The evidence for these explanations, however, remains weak.”
If you enjoy the Acquired podcast (Kate’s favorite new podcast of 2024), I enjoyed The Rest is History’s series on the build up and beginning of World War II. It’s two older British guys telling stories about history. In other words, it’s hard to beat. Episodes 530, 531, and 532 are the ones I listened to.
Final March Madness Update
One final update here: After over a month, the fifth place winner never reached out to collect their $1,000 prize (sad!). Therefore, we have awarded the prize to our sixth place winner, Genevieve O., a seventh grader from Kalamazoo, Michigan! Genevieve enjoys playing school soccer and being on a club swim team. Although she doesn’t love playing basketball, she loves watching college basketball and roots for Western Michigan University. Here she is upon finding out the news. Love it. Congrats, Genevieve!!
Molly’s Must-Haves
“Molly's Must-Haves” is brought to you by Kate's best friend Molly who is a meticulous researcher. Each week she is going to share an item, the problem it solves, and why she chose it. This week, she is sharing a hack for apple audio messages!
Audio Message Hack
If you send and receive audio messages via iMessage, you're going to want to listen up...Did you know you can SPEED UP audio messages when you listen? Not sure why people are gatekeeping this but all you have to do is hold down the play button to the left of the message and the option will pop up to play the message at 1x, 1.25x, 1.5x, or 2x. Yes, that's it! For those of us who find it easier to communicate through audio messages, this is epically helpful! Happy listening!
Beat on Repeat
The kids and I have been loving Forrest Frank and he’s such a BOP! I have been playing his music in the mornings before school and I love how fun and upbeat they are. My favorites are “Ups and Downs” and “Hallelujah”
The traveling with YOUR mom reel... 🥹😂
Thank you for the Chicago info. We are headed from Charleston to Chicago for a son’s graduation next month and I sincerely hope the weather is better than you had!