Summer fun in the sun!
I find myself in one of the most chaotic, exciting, overwhelming, but hopeful seasons of my life. It’s crazy to think that not too long ago I started a little food blog to share the food I made for family and friends with the world. Now, in a few days I will be meeting with the editors of Martha Stewart Living and will be the keynote speaker at an all day food blogging workshop – crazy!! When I started Savory Sweet Life I had zero expectations for it except only to use it has a creative outlet for myself. In my last post someone had commented they thought I was depressed. I replied to her comment by sharing a little bit about the time I did experience postpartum depression after the birth of my second daughter, Mimi.
I remember sitting on the living room floor with my back to the wall crying while holding Mimi and watching Abigail play with her growing collection of princess dolls. I felt the crushing weight of the world on my shoulders and all I wanted to do was take a nap but I couldn’t because my older daughter was only 21 months old and needed a mama to play with. Her baby sister was ten weeks old and nursing every couple hours. I was waking up every 2.5 hrs through the night and my longest stretch of sleep was the same. All my energy went into taking care of those girls and the sleep deprivation was effecting me beyond what I could handle. I was also volunteering 10-15 hours a week in a leadership capacity in a MOPS group. I felt so guilty that my house was a mess, I lacked energy to make it to the grocery store to cook a decent meal, and my husband had to come home to a women who was burned out beyond repair. Yet I continued to coordinate bi-monthly fellowship meetings for moms and their children. Ironically these meetings were intended for moms of young children to get a break, except there was no break for me. Fortunately with the love and support of my husband, family and my doctor, the depression only lasted about two months and life was back to normal.
Six years later and ten months after Eli was born I started a food blog called Savory Sweet Life. The motivation for starting it was purely selfish. You see… I was born to be creative. When I’m not creating something, I don’t feel like myself. And when I’m not myself.. I feel a loss of joy because I’m not doing what I love to do. Right before I started SSL, I was working very hard to make sure everyone else in my family was taken care, as I should be doing. But somewhere along the way I allowed myself to let go of the things I loved to do. Three young kids makes for one loud house. So after everyone went to bed, I discovered how nice it was to have a quiet moment to myself. Because I had made a New Year’s resolution the year before to start a blog, I found that I just needed to get over myself and just do it. So in those quiet moments in the night with a nursing baby on my lap I started Savory Sweet Life. Life would never be the same.
In many ways starting a blog is like giving birth to a child. I had no idea how it would grow and develop but I loved it just the same and worked hard caring for it like I had done and still do with my own children. I still work on it after my kids go to bed and do my best to keep work at a minimum during the day.
Blogging has been a tremendous blessing. It’s not the end all be all but it has given me opportunities I never would have considered or dreamed about just a year and a half ago. It allows me to be at home with my kids and satisfies my need for creativity.
I share this with you for a few reasons. The first reason is for you to get to know me a little bit more. This is how friendships grow. But because I don’t believe in one directional relationships, I would like to get to know you too! Hopefully over time we will become more acquainted with one another. Tell me something about you and leave a link to your site. I will do my best to check them out. I may not leave a comment but I promise to visit – pinky swear.
Reason number two for sharing is to encourage some of you. Perhaps you have a little one at home and feel exhausted and worn out. Maybe you’re holding your baby right now with one hand and using the other one to check emails and catch up on your favorite sites. Or maybe you’re wondering if there is light at the end of the tunnel for the baby blues you’re feeling today. For those of you who can relate to my latter reason I’m here to tell you it does get better over time. It may not feel like it this moment but someday you will look back and remember how hard it was but how in the end it was so worth it.
Finally, there are those of you who may feel like you lost a bit of yourself and have given up on the hobbies you loved to do but don’t do anymore for whatever reason. I’m here to tell you it’s not too late to start again. If you love to paint and haven’t picked up a brush in years, let your inner artist out and create something beautiful and magical. If you love to sing but haven’t in awhile, join a choir and let the music flow up from your heart and out of your mouth. Whatever it is you love to do, take a baby action step today. I promise the moment you do, you will experience joy and peace which only comes from doing what you were meant to do. And who knows where those action steps will take you! You’ll never know unless you try.
{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve been blogging about a year and a half now and I find it’s such a great creative outlet. But it’s also a learning process and teaching tool for me to try new things and challenge myself. It’s been a wonderful experience and I’ve been privileged to “meet” some extraordinary people. And, more than all that, it’s just plain fun!
Thank you for sharing your heart…it was something I needed to hear today. The last two months (and well, actually 2 years) I’ve been doing a slow sink. I had no idea that parenting could be so joyful, yet so challenging. I’m normally tough as nails — and use to doing a million things at once, but a focused outlet is what I need. Your blog has been such an inspiration to me (for my stomach and my heart!) Thanks Alice. Keep on pressin’ on and blessings on the fab trip to NYC and meeting with some big players…heck, you’re one of them to me. As an added note: I got to see 3 of the 5 Sorrel sisters on Sunday! =) You all pack a powerful punch.
I loved reading your blog. I too suffered greatly from postpartum depression after my second son was born. I was in a similar situation because my oldest was 19 months older and I was breastfeeding my second. I’m here to attest, yes it does get better! I love blogging and enjoy reading others.
Congratulations on meeting with Martha Stewart’s editors and on your speaking engagement! That’s AWESOME!
Come check out my blog. I’m a featured guest curator on Crescendoh’s ART SAVES story website.
Keep up the great work!
Great post, Alice! Thank you, thank you. I often don’t know how people with kids do it…seriously! I don’t have any kids and I find it hard to find time to do everything that I want. And you’re so right about finding the things that are most important to us.
Hope you have fun in New York and good luck with everything!
I started a cooking blog in December as a way to share my cooking and baking with my family and friends too and it’s at http://www.thelittlekitchen.net I find myself feeling guilty when I can’t update as often as I want to.
BTW, I meant to mention to you on twitter, that we tried the teriyaki steak on kabobs and they were great! Thanks again! (@thelittlekitchn)
Thanks for sharing, Alice. I am so proud for all that you have accomplished! It is very true that when you are proud of your personal accomplishments, you are a better mama, wife and person, in general. I sometimes feel like my hubby is jealous that I get so much gratification from my work, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Proud to know you!
xo
Michelle
http://www.whatscookingblog.com
I may be a bit extra sensitive these days, but this hits hard. I started my quilting blog a few years back, while on mat leave the first time. It was the call the arms for my creativity. I enjoyed it so much and food kept creeping in, so I started a food blog as well. And now, not only do I take pleasure in this hobby of mine, but it is leading to a new career for me as well. We’re making some major changes in our family to make this happen for me. I have an awesome husband who is encouraging me all the way. And two little girls who drive me banana nuts on a daily basis, but are the reason I am living a more honest life now. Kids really do rock your world.
I heard an interview once with someone who said that having kids disassembles your personality, then it is up to you to put it back together. And like the first time some geek took apart a VCR, maybe all the parts won’t go back in, but you can still get it to work.
Good luck with your meeting!
Blogging has filled a void that only using my creative voice could fill. I only wish I had discovered it years ago when my children were younger. Those years were tough in so many ways. Better late than never, though. I’ve been blessed in such a short time as well with the many connections to other women I would have never met otherwise – you included!
See you soon!
Much of your story resonates with me; different situation, different time but a thread that many can identify with and in the sharing know we’re not alone. I’ve spent most of my adult life as a single parent, determined to raise my children myself. That effort has seen me work from home for most of the past 20 years, the last 15 as the owner of a web development company. I’ve known exhaustion of such immense degrees but am thankful I kept that same mantra; my children needed me to be strong so somehow put on that happy face and we actually made it; both girls have now graduated from college and my youngest just moved into her own apartment this past weekend. You might see me doing some hip hip hoorays that moms of young children can’t imagine but trust me, 25 yr old girls and their moms were not meant to live together!
Much like you…I am driven to be creative and it’s evident in my home, my garden and in how I love to cook…and I love bringing all of those elements together to entertain friends and family. The first website I built in 1995 was a recipe website that is still out there and that I’m working diligently to move to my current blog.
A freak accident almost 6 months ago saw me break my leg and strain everything possible attached to the knee and I think I can honestly say that without blogging and Twitter I might have gone a bit mad as that injury put a big stop to my participating fully in life. Probably have no matter but just not to the same degree! So I applaud your sharing more than just recipes; I love seeing the woman behind the cake!
Thanks for a little more insight into your life and how you tick. Can totally relate to the late night feedings/blog surfing as a new mama. Now it’s all about peering around the camera lens to see who’s stuck their little paw into my shot >> Right?
I left the professional cooking world when I had my first son. Blogging sustained my creativity and threw open a door to a world of wonderful people such as yourself. Although underthehighchair.com was a hobby, a pastime, it garnered some attention (not quite MSL!!) and opened another door for me to be editor of simplebites.net.
Pop by sometime, we’d love to have you!
Best of luck with everything that lies ahead, Alice, both in your professional life and personal.
xox
This post is just another motivation for me to keep trucking away at my own little blog, a labor of love and a way to, as you’ve said it, be creative, because I too suffer when I am not creating something! Thank you for sharing your heart with us, you are a joy!
Hi there! Thanks so much for sharing with us. I started my blog about three months ago as a way of pursuing my passions for food, writing and photography. The inspiration for this was the birth of my daughter, Jordan Lily. She is 15 months old now and had taught me I need to enjoy life…that love and family are the most important things we have. I, too, have written many a post with a nursing baby on my lap
. I hope to continue this friendship with you in the future. Thanks again for sharing and for inspiring others. Best of luck with your upcoming events and congrats on your success! Take care!
Thanks for writing this post and congratulations on the recognition you received as a successful blogger. God bless you abundantly!
This is such a wonderful, poignant post. It is one that resonates soundly with me, and I know it will touch many others. Thank you for writing it and so openly sharing a piece of yourself with us.
I’ve come to love blogs for posts like this. I love when people are willing to share stories like this, without fear of judgment. I love that the internet connects people this way.
I don’t post written posts often (at the moment it’s mostly just photo365 posts), but I’m over at From Self to Being if you want to take a peak. Actually, I think you did a couple months ago! It meant a lot to me that you left a comment! =D
wow… i just came across your post by serendipity and one of the person you’re describing is… me. my first baby who is just turning 8 weeks old… me reading your post while holding sleeping baby in other arm.
i am in the design field and I think i have always driven more by the right brain…has been blogging for a few years about curating beautiful life with words and photography…
then my little angel came and the priority shifted drastically. nowadays, having time to blog is such a treasure. like you said, i love the creative outlet blogging brings and i actually think that my little daughter has become a source of my inspiration but also the reason to focus on what I do when I am away from her.
Your story has brought me a lot of inspiration today and I am so glad that there are so many other moms who have gone through the same thing as I am right now.
Thank you,
-wakako
p.s. my current blog is: http://blog.baum-kuchen.net
I used to blog at {http://story-of.tumblr.com} until few weeks ago…
Thank you so much for sharing – your post touched me deeply. I can identify with what you felt/feel on many levels and much of it is what pushed me into blogging (also a new year resolution) earlier this year. And of course I love it & the creative outlet it provides.
Be blessed!
Wonderful post. I don’t have children, but I feel I can somehow relate to what you’ve written all the same. Thanks for sharing! x
I’m high fiving you on the Martha Stewart gig, how fantastic is that? My baby is 11 years old now but I do remember those infant/toddler stage when I sat there and wonder why I did not bask in the glow of motherhood. Once she was out of diapers, I finally saw the rainbow of parenthood.
Just a little bit about myself, I left the corporate world 5 years ago after 16 years of wondering why I was there other than the nice paycheck. I now live a relax and leisurely life in a much smaller house with a lot less material things but so much richer in so many intangible ways.
I enjoy reading but not so much writing so no blog for me. My energy is spent on cooking, photography, and manage a yoga studio for my friend. You can check out the website that I developed and maintain for her at http://suryacenteryoga.com/
From Alice: Von – Nice site!! It’s great how you all have included video into the site.
I’m so glad I stumbled upon your blog! I used to follow SSL when I wrote a food blog too (lowbrowfoodie.blogspot.com) After getting engaged, I started a new blog…which ended up taking more of my time.
But I LOVED SSL…i’ve just been on the road for 6 months without a kitchen…so stoked to find you again!
Thank you all so much for your thoughtful and encouraging comments. It’s great to know so many people identified with this post.
Alice, I knew this would resonate. I’m going to write something up for Truu Confessions and send it to you. You can help our moms so much and reach even more who are struggling. It was such a pleasure to meet you this weekend, and I hope we get a chance to hang out more!
Alice, this was a beautiful post. Honest, kind and inspiring. You’re amazing. I’m nowhere near having kids, but I get it. It’s a universal thing that we all need, in one form or another
.
Alice, thank you for sharing this story. It was powerful to hear you tell it in person and just as moving seeing it here on the blog. You provide a wonderful example of what it means to live fully, to give back, and to be authentic.
Thanks hon.
Alice – you are the warmth of sunshine on a bright August day! Thank goodness I saw a RT from Guacgirl about your website on Twitter!!! I’m so excited to share in some of your recipes and experiences. Best of luck to you!
I’m a new blogger too but without a great camera, but please, check me out!
http://courtneywise.blogspot.com
So glad to have found your blog. Thanks for encouraging us new bloggers – it does require a certain discipline and it’s nice to hear encouraging words.
Hello
I found you in PW’s links.
I so remember these awful feeling of losing myself as a mother to little ones. It was SO.HARD! I have recently thought about how much encouragement/help other mothers need at this time. People who haven’t been there couldn’t know or understand.
Can’t wait to look at your cooking site!
You are a talented writer. By sharing from the heart you draw others in. Thank you for sharing your personal experiences in such a poignant way!
hi alice, i found you through p dub and i have been reading all morning, both the cooking site and this one. i feel like i have found a kindred spirit here because i am also a mom that will be so burnt out and cry and cry and i can’t explain why. i started my blog as a way of forcing myself out of bed each morning and do something, anything, once a day. i want to be able to look back after one year with my new son and see what we were up to each day. i have no real direction or focus to my blog, but i just fee like sharing. i hope you keep this up too!
thank you so much for sharing! I needed to hear this today.
Sarah
What a lovely and thoughtful idea. Wonderful to have stumbled on your blog!
I am a mom of 5 kids, all of them very musical. My husband and I run a greenhouse business just an hour outside of Vancouver, Canada. We built it up from a 2 man operation (him and I) to a medium sized business with up to 100 seasonal workers in the Spring. We worked hard and played hard. We invested both in the business and the family. Many a night, I was up late at night doing “greenhouse” stuff so I could spend the daytime hours with our kids. They are all growing up and starting exciting lives of their own. Accomplished musicians and artists, they support us and eachother in whatever we may need.
My blog is about my family and our business and how they work together. I enjoy putting my memories down in writing. It helps me count all my incredible blessings and encourages me to express my love for those around me.
Thanks for your wonderful blog!
http://thegreenhousediaries.blogspot.com/
How did the meeting with MSL go?? Are you going to be in the magazine? I have been submitting stuff to them forever. Well. A few times, until they wrote back and told me, “we would love to give all your information to the production side, but we do not solicite info from outside sources for the magazine. We research and find and process everything here with your amazing staff”
Anywho… I am so glad they found you!! You are such a jewel my dear!!
BLessings-
AManda
I’m loving “Everyday Alice”! It’s as warm and wonderful and comfortingly delicious as the Sunday Morning: Plum Cardamom Coffee Cake I happened upon when I first found Savory Sweet Life (via Pioneer Woman). That plum cake has become a real favorite among my family and friends, and I wrote a small post about it when I first started my blog—an eclectic mix of life on Grand Bahama Island as well as art/design/whimsy and musings that keep me afloat!
http://paulasparadise.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/first-fall-cool-snap-plum-cake/
Your blogs are especially great at connecting us kitchen-to-kitchen and heart-to-heart … many thanks for doing what you do so well and sharing it so beautifully!
Continued success,
Paula
Thank you Paula!
Alice,
I remember reading this post when I first discovered your site and how it registered with me then. And in more recent days, it speaks volumes to me as I struggle to find balance and order in life as a busy mom. Some days, I feel like I’m drowning in the responsibilities. Other days, I just go through the motions without thinking or feeling anything.
And like you, I so desperately need to create. When I’m not creating, I feel numb. I need to have that outlet, but finding the time with two young children who are dependent on you for everything is soooo hard! I end up burning the midnight oil just to have some time to myself and be able to read or work on my blog, but then pay the price the next day by being utterly exhausted (which then translates to being easily frustrated and taking it out on the boys).
I don’t know how you did it or continue to do it with three! Everyone keeps telling me it’ll get easier as the children get older. But I would like to relish here and now with them instead of walking around in a fog waiting for “one day”.
I’m thankful for you sharing this post, b/c it’s a comfort knowing we’re not alone in our struggles.
Rachel
Rachel: For most of last year I was so sleep deprived from working so much after the kids went to bed. Although I know I was born to be creative, it certainly wasn’t easy with the kids. With that said, it is by grace that I managed it all – even when everything was being help by a string. You and I are very similar this way!
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