Simple Meals + Honest Book Reviews + Practical Living
It’s hard to wrap my head around Ezra’s labor and delivery. The timeline still leaves me and my husband, my mother, and the midwives scratching our heads.The short version of my labor with our second baby: I went from 3 cm to holding our son in less than three hours.
Our sweet baby girl is exactly four weeks old today. Everyone wants to know how the first few weeks at home has been, and I always say it’s been incredible, exhausting, wonderful, a whirlwind, and the most amazing thing ever all rolled into one.
If you ever feel like housework piles up faster than you can tackle it, I hope this will encourage you to break it down into small daily pieces — and show you how to take the decision fatigue out of cleaning.
I know meal prepping gets a bad rap. We all picture those Instagram-perfect rows of identical containers that probably took five hours on a Sunday. If spending half your weekend prepping meals works for you, amazing! But for me? I’d rather break it up — a little bit each day, woven into my normal cooking rhythm.
A spending freeze, for me, isn’t about cutting everything out of my life—it’s about drawing a clear line around non-essential spending. Essentials stay: groceries, utilities, gas, basic household needs. But things like dining out, coffee runs, clothing, books, home decor, and other discretionary purchases are paused for the month.
The goal isn’t to feel restricted. It’s to become more aware of my habits, especially the ones that are driven by convenience or routine rather than actual need.
It’s the week between Christmas and New Year’s, and we are fully embracing slow, lazy days over here — exactly what my body and soul need. I honestly think this stretch of the year is perfect for a digital detox, a closet clean-out, reviewing finances, writing goals, and reflecting on the year we’re closing out.
And speaking of the year… I read 67 books in 2021!
One of the questions I get asked most often — by friends, listeners, and honestly total strangers — is:
“But Dara, how do you have time to read so much?”
So today, I’m sharing exactly how. ❤️