How Do We Balance It All?

In all seriousness, how do we balance it all? Apologies that it has been a while since I last wrote a personal post, life happens. After a very busy summer with work, children, dog fostering and doing this life/work/ balance dance, I decided to write again. Taking time off from the blog was not intentional.

Summer was productive and busy. I spent time doing various makeup/ hair projects mostly the usual video and photography plus a web series (hopefully something that may become a short film again). There were long days and hot humid situations all along. We had a very humid and rainy summer here in New Jersey. Sometimes I felt like it was more shine control patrol than makeup I was able to do. I discovered a couple of new products that I will share on a separate post, both a new foundation for matte finish and a shine control magic potion.

During the off school months, my children were at camp part of the day. They both had a swell time, doing mostly sports and outdoor activities. We watched the World Cup, filled out Panini soccer stickers and spent time with our dogs. Now I have a Kindergartner and a middle school child. Their back to school month was pretty smooth and I am happy to report they are doing very well.

I still foster dogs and was able to provide a safe home for three lovely creatures for Louies Legacy’s rescue. Our last one took longer than we anticipated, Beau our gentle giant who also fought tooth and nail with one of my dogs (it was so HARD to keep them happy). Fostering dogs and volunteering on transports or screening potential adopters takes up a lot of time and is consuming to the core. I am not going to sugar coat it, you need a lot of patience and the whole family has to be on board.

Wikipedia defines “Life work balance” as the term used to describe the balance that an individual needs between time allocated for work and other aspects of life. Areas of life other than work-life can be, but not limited to personal interests, family and social or leisure activities. This is pretty accurate, I would say.

I am going to be 100% honest, there is no real “How To” on work/ life/ balance. It’s always a juggling act and trying to stay organized with my partner. He travels a lot. Also both our families live far away, so I have the help of a wonderful housekeeper without this it would be impossible to do it all with two kids under the age of 15 years old. My job often requires long days and hours and it can be very unpredictable as I am freelance.

Top three things I rely on to keep me afloat include but aren’t limited to are Amazon Prime, Costco and a gym membership to Blink (plus a really lovely trainer). Last year, I talked about having a change of lifestyle, being more active and eating better. Fast forward to today, I am still going strong with some up and downs, still focused nonetheless. Exercise is my savior and a release.

P.S. It’s great to be back.