A Very Special Family Election Moment

How has it been a week since the announcement of the election results?!

Tee via @always.southern (and updated here!) 

I'm popping in briefly as we finish up a weekend at safe at home to share a bit of post-election joy...

Mom-ing During Covid

Like Easter, Mother's Day 2020 was quiet and undocumented. I spent mine peacefully and was mostly left alone, but for 2021 I'm already plotting to get away solo for the whole weekend! 

In the interim my family and I are kicking off week 9 at home and week 8 of distance learning here in Boston. With 5 more weeks to go after this one (Lord help me!), it's been quite the test of patience and motivation. I've found the hardest part is imagining what the summer and beyond will look like, and rather than let speculation get the best of me (I tend to spiral into an abyss when I do), I've just been focusing on one day at a time.

2020: A Kevin McCallister Moment

Grayson meeting his Great Grandma Mary for the first time

A while back I was speaking with my Grandma Mary in Columbus, Ohio - my last living grandparent. I was lamenting over the fact that while there were a lot of positive things happening, I really would like for everything to pause for about 2 weeks so I could just breathe for a moment and catch up.

Yesterday, I called my Grandma Mary to check on her, and explained that it seems that I got what I wished for but in a twisted kind of way.

My Kevin McCallister Moment.

Reflecting on International Women's Day & A Day Without Women

Today I spent most of the afternoon back at Wellesley College and with the sunny weather nearing 60 degrees it was perfection. 

Reflecting on My 2009 Inauguration Experience

Today I felt compelled to revisit my photos from the 2009 inauguration of President Obama. I am truly thankful to have been alive to experience his presidency and I will never take it for granted.

Beyond Black & White: Breaking Down the Election in 5 Points

*Due to the the unique polarization of this election and how so many marginalized members of my community and readers are adversely affected I've decided to write this post.*

Oppression is beyond black and white - there are levels to this.

What happened last week was a symptom of something that's bigger than party lines, and I've spent the days since attempting to sort it all out. I keep coming back to our basic needs as humans and what motivates us. I've appreciated the thoughtful posts immediately following the election regarding what a vote for a hate-monger stands for, but I'm thinking beyond that.

What We All Want

Early voting with my Lovebirds on October 26!

I returned from Blogalicious this past Saturday night in Atlanta, and two weeks before that I returned from W.E.L.L. Summit in New York City. These were repeat conferences for me, the former touching on blogging, and the latter touching on wellness (recaps forthcoming...). Driving home from W.E.L.L. Summit I suddenly got very emotional and started crying thinking of all the wonderful women I met and how, in the midst of so much hatred this election season (THANK GOD it's almost over), we all really want the same thing:

To live our best lives. 

Faith Without Works

I know there are many details still forthcoming so I won't attempt to delve into them until we know more, but we've been here before. I wrote it about here 3 years ago in the aftermath of Newtown. 

When Mr. Lovebird showed me this when I returned home from my PTO meeting last night my eyes widened:

And I understood where the copywriter was coming from. 

I am a Christian and I pray, but that is not all I do in the face of what's going on in our country. 

For those who are offended by the Daily News cover you are missing the point. Jesus himself was a man of action, and I refuse to become the type of Christian that simply plasters a "Jesus band-aid" over any worldly situation of despair and violence like what just happened and will continue to happen unless...

We take action. 

As a believer in Christ I refuse to stand by and say, "Well it's not just about this life anyway, but the afterlife." No, no,  just no. If that's the case why even live? 

Instead there are things we can do right here, right now on this side of Heaven. While I recently wrote about the history of atrocities that have been carried out worldwide in the name of Christianity, there is also so much good that has been done. Our country's history with the church has been complicated but there has been a legacy of activism and counter-culturalness within the church as well. 

I see it as an opportunity for the church to revisit that legacy. Whether a Christian or not, if you haven't already please start by taking action and writing to your state representatives, and demanding that laws change.

I still believe in the power of prayer AND I believe in action. For me, they are not mutually exclusive but while for some it may be heartfelt, we cannot simply rattle off "thoughts and prayers" responses without DOING something. 

Unless you just want to wait until next time. 

 

Save the Date! I'm on The Dr. Oz Show This Week

How was your weekend? We kicked ours off in the ER but more on that later . . .

You may have seen my Instagram when I was at ABC studios last week but in case you missed it:

My show airs this Wednesday, March 26 so please try to catch it or DVR it if you can (check your local listings here). It was a delicious segment, and I'm glad I got to share the experience with my sister Ariane!


 

P.S. I'm officially in my 3rd trimester now! 12 weeks (or so) until I meet Baby Agbai 2.0 (catch my latest pregnancy update here).

How the Love Birds Weekend

Friday

A night at the Griffin . . .

 

My KISS Nail Dress via Influenster
 - I put it on in 20 minutes on the train!*

With my sister and her BF

After hours mac & cheese at Cafeteria . . .

Saturday

Headed into Manhattan for some mommy time with my dear friend April . . .

I didn't take a picture of it, but I also devoured had Le Pain Quotidien's warm chocolate bread with cherry and ricotta topping - it was DIVINE!

I picked these up on the way home - I'm a sucker for products like this!

I really wanted to watch Downton Abbey that night (I've only watched the first episode of season 3!), but I crashed hard seeing that I didn't get in from the Griffin until 6a.m. that morning O_o
 
Sunday

On the way to the grocery store being silly!

Keep calm and grocery shop

We went to the historic Riverside Church in Harlem for a screening of "The Central Park Five" - I highly recommend this documentary

Following the screening was a panel discussion including 4 of the 5 defendants and Sarah Burns

I got nostalgic for Harlem on my ride to pick up Nia at my sister's apartment after the screening. It's been exactly 1 year since we've left Harlem, and I'm not over it. Probably won't ever be.

Have a great week everyone and don't forget to enter my throwback Spirograph giveaway - it ends this Thursday!

 
 

P.S. Wanna try KISS Nail Dress? Get 50% off and free shipping when you use code VOXBOXHOL here. {Disclosure: I was provided with free KISS Nail Dress via Influenster; all opinions are my own.}

Love Birds Visit the MLK, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C.

We couldn't have picked a more beautiful day to visit the MLK, Jr. Memorial for the first time yesterday. I highly recommend going!

Random, right?!

Practicing saying, "Martin Luther King" (video here!)

 

It Was Worth It

My Lil Love Bird waiting patiently in line to vote with her Nana in MD

First, I have to share Lil Love Bird's thoughts on the election (she had been going on like this for a while before I noticed what she was saying and grabbed my phone to record it!):

 

Second, we Love Birds are finally home! We got word last night that power was restored so after 5 days in MD with family Mr. Love Bird had to return to work anyway so at the last minute Nia and I packed up too and joined him on the bus to NJ. We got home at 2a.m. and are so thankful that we were able to all come back together vs. Mr. Love Bird going back alone and still without power as we originally thought. 

My thoughts and prayers continue to be with those who are still without power, homeless and otherwise affected by the hurricane. As the NJ Governor reiterated it doesn't matter that millions of homes have power restored when you're one of the few hundred thousand still without power. 

In the midst of this I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to vote. I shared my trials on my Facebook page and was ready to dial the voter complaint line but I'm so glad it didn't come to that:

It was well worth it to be persistent and to find a way to vote; it took one hour start to finish (and thank you to my dad for alerting me that I could vote anywhere provisionally!). My Facebook friends had told me that I could e-mail my NJ ballot, but that process quickly fell apart as the news outlets reported:

"This is an unprecedented disaster," Essex County clerk Chris Durkin told the Montclair Times. "People will be disenfranchised because of this unprecedented disaster."

Voted! Nia had watched the Daniel Tiger voting episode right before we left to vote and was so excited to help me. She was attentive while I explained to her what I was doing!

In the end I know there were so many others who weren't able to vote or perhaps not motivated to vote as they were dealing with lack of transportation, food and heat. They most likely had more immediate concerns on their minds for them and their families. 

Now we are bracing for the N'or Easter that's bearing down (I'm typing this in a hoodie, flannel pants and the heat blasting) and are hoping to be able to make it out for groceries. I truly miss the grocery delivery service we had in Manhattan! I won't complain, but I will count my blessings and munch on my grapes that thankfully arrived this morning when I was contemplating our empty fridge (thank you Harry & David!):

On a similar topic, I wanted to add to my silver lining post and point out that another aspect that I'm thankful for is that several events I had wanted to attend but for whatever reason conflicted with my schedule are now being rescheduled, and I'm anticipating being able to go to them. I always find that many events I want to attend happen on the same day! Perhaps it's a sign that I need to slow down . . .

Stay warm those of you also in the northeast! 
 

10 Years Ago Today

Dancing Royals

Mr. Love Bird was watching this the other day and now I can't get enough:

Ahhh, The Royal Wedding

I've posted before about how I'm obsessed with all things British, and when I saw an ad for Wedgewood's Royal Collection pieces I had to click through. 

Here's what's featured:

Wedgewood Royal Wedding Plate

Wedgewood Royal Wedding Trinket Box

Wedgewood Royal Wedding Satyr Vase

Wedgewood Royal Wedding Mug

I don't even know what a satyr vase is, but it's 500 pounds - WHOA! The mug is more manageable at 35 pounds, and I really want it. I've always felt connected to Prince William because we're about the same age and have always paid attention to him in the news and tabloids. I've always thought he was handsome too luckily taking after his mother more than his father although he did inherit his father's dreadful thinning hair. I hope his and Kate's children have her thick hair! 

Anyway, now I just have to convince Mr. Love Bird to get that mug for me which goes on sale in a week . . .