An Honest Description of Life as a New Mom

Being a mom is the hardest, most beautiful thing I’ve ever done.

Don’t get me wrong… I love being a mom and I will get to all of that soon. But… being a mom is by far the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do. Probably in part a by-product of the postpartum hormones. But largely because I have always been an intensely emotional person, and being a mom has brought entirely new layers of emotions, and honestly – I’m exhausted.

Firstly, I’m a selfish person. I love my sleep, I love naps – and don’t ever wake me up from a nap unless you are ready to face my furry. But as a mom… sleep? Oh, you mean those sporadic 1-2 hour naps – yeah those are great! And it’s just my reality now; I just don’t have the luxury of sleeping in on Sundays anymore.

Then there are the sweet luxuries of trying a new bottle of wine on a Friday night, and why not opening a second bottle! I really don’t think my entirely breastfeed baby would appreciate the taste of Chianti as much as I do. Which is fine, I get to enjoy a small glass of wine every once and a while, as well as the occasional beer. But honestly, not waking up with a hangover does have its advantages!

Although this may be only 2 small examples of the long list of changes I’ve faced in the past 2 months, I wouldn’t change any of it for the world.

Have you seen my son? Spoiler: he’s perfect.

His dark brown curious eyes are what have been melting my heart recently. He’s awake and aware, and he’s recently started smiling… on purpose!

I’ve never been prouder of myself than how I’ve handled being a mom.  I’ve shown myself a whole new strength I never knew I had. Everything we’ve had to go through since Mason’s birth has been short of extremely stressful. Although I had my moments where I broke down in tears or got impatient with a nurse, or family or friends – I did it. I woke up every 2 hours for the past 2 months to feed my child and put him back to sleep. I’ve changed hundreds of diapers at all hours of the day. Oh and, the puking. I’ve been puked on thousands of times. Side note: If you haven’t seen my baby, he’s 12.9 lbs at 3 months old – don’t worry he’s eating more than enough, and no, he’s not overfed. He’s just like that. Good thing I’ve always loved doing laundry!

So far, everything my family and friends have said about being a mom has been right on point. So when they tell me it will get easier, I believe them.  I’m taking it one day at a time, and spending my day seeing this little boy evolve is just the most incredible thing.

I hope if anything, that he grows up one day, and understands how much I loved him in this very moment while he naps next to me.

Since I’m strong on the “nap while he sleeps rule”, I’m going to go close my eyes. *Refer to part where I explain that I’m selfish about sleep.

Good morning world and goodnight!

Life Updates!

Hello lovelies,

I know it’s been a while… like a very long time since I’ve posted anything on my blog – but here I am, and I’m truly back!

If you follow me on any of my social media, then you probably already know the big news…

I’m pregnant! 

We are expecting a little baby boy in February 2017 – and we couldn’t be happier. 

We’ve also purchased a new house and are moving in 4 weeks before the baby is due – crazy I know. Hopefully the little guy takes his time and gives me enough time to setup all the new furniture! And by setup, I really mean order my loved ones around for a couple days until all the new furniture is built and in the right spot. I’m going to have to be extra creative with my thank you gifts… dealing with an 8 month pregnant woman trying to nest won’t be easy! 

So besides buying furniture and decor for the new house, starting my baby registry, I’ve also started a new job in the last month – hooray! I couldn’t really couldn’t be happier. They’ve also been super amazing about my pregnancy which takes a lot of stress off of me. Although I don’t want my blog to become a pregnancy or new mom blog, you can definitely expect that a couple of my posts will be baby related, I mean this is a really big deal!!

So stick around to see all the exciting projects and adventures I have on the go!

Amanda xox

Cold Symptoms? This Tea Will Help!

This morning I woke up to an awful dry, scratchy feeling, at the back of my throat, and nothing is helping… I’m miserable.

I hate being sick. I mean, who doesn’t? But it feels like I’ve been sick nonstop since the New Year.

The first step in fighting off a cold… Hydration!

You don’t need me to tell you why being dehydrated is bad for you, but when you’re sick your body needs all the help it can get to fight the infection.

So today, I’ve equipped myself with a liter of water, and a warm Echinacea Tea.

Echinacea Tea is known to have many benefits, including the following:

• Prevents colds and flu
• Boosts immune system
• Fight viral bacterial infections
• Anti-inflammatory
• Treats sore throats

You can see by the list mentioned above, why Echinacea Tea is the perfect remedy for my symptoms.

If you want to kick it up a notch, try this recipe by Thank Your Body for a Flu Fighting Tea Recipe.

Let me know if you have any go-to tips or tricks to help fight off these annoying colds!

 

 

My New Facebook Artwork Page

Well, I’ve officially made the leap, and published my Amanda Kayla Liberty Art Facebook Page!

On this page, I will be sharing my artwork progress updates, final renderings, inspiration and quotes. I hope you will enjoy watching my artwork evolve, as much as I enjoying evolving with each of them. So make sure to drop by, and like my page, so you can following along on my crazy artistic journey.

Thanks in advance for all your continued support, I appreciate each and every one of you!

Before I leave you, I will share this wonderful quote I stumbled upon this morning:

Keep on keeping on all my lovely weirdos. xo

Surviving a Long Commute & Public Transit Nightmares

Traffic, public transit, smelly commuters, loud talkers and angry drivers… You know the feeling, am I right?!

This blog post was inspired by my favorite website Apartment Therapy where they review the 5 Ways Smart People Survive a Long Commute.

As per a study by Statistics Canada: “In the six largest metropolitan areas, the average commuting time was 44 minutes for public transit users and 27 minutes by car.”

I guess I’m far from the average commuter since my daily public transit commute is approximately 2.5 hours, and 40 minutes on the weekends. Which is an average total of 750 minutes of commute time each week. Cue the tears…

I don’t have a driver’s license, so taking the bus really is my only option. I’ve been taking the bus for most of my life, and luckily I’ve found several ways to make the most of my time productive and enjoyable.

    1. Music

If I don’t have my headphones with me, I’m basically miserable, so I’ve made the habit of checking my bag before I leave the house each day. I plug them in and listen to my favorite tunes all the way to my office. Lately, my playlists consists of Justin Bieber (I’m not even slightly embarrassed about him being the first on my list), Iggy Azalea (working on my shiiiit), The Weekend (especially when it’s rainy, so soothing), Lana Del Rey (duh) and random oldies.

2. Podcasts

The great thing about podcasts is you can actually download them to your device instead of streaming them on the bus! I mostly listen to Tim Ferris, Call Your Girlfriend, The Mystery Show and my new favorite The Meditation Podcast, any time I feel anxious, nervous or frustrated, I put my headphones in and listen to their 8 minute podcast and I feel a thousand times better.

3. Lists

Lists, oh how I love making lists. I plan my day, I plan my evening, I plan my week, I plan everything, and it helps keep me on track and I usually avoid forgetting things… Usually… I put everything in the Notes section of my phone, and set daily reminders for things I absolutely can’t forget. If you can’t already tell, I’m a very forgetful person.

4. E-books

I LOVE E-books! Unfortunately in the last couple of years I’ve become nauseated from reading in a moving vehicle, that’s when I discovered E-books. The last one I read was Furiously Happy, which I recommend times a million to anyone who deals, or knows someone that deals with mental illness.

5. Naps

I’m not even kidding, sometimes I definitely get some sleep on my way in to work. I’m not a morning person, don’t judge me. It’s never a full REM sleep obviously, but I feels good to close my eyes. And luckily (knock on wood) I’ve never missed my stop.

Now, for the totally unacceptable things to do in public transit:

Disclaimer, if you do any of these things, you’re a terrible human being.

1. Cut your nails. I’ve actually seen this happen more often than I would like to admit, and I mean I’ve even seen people take their socks off and cut their toe nails. DON’T EVER DO THIS.
2. Lounge. By all means, read your book, I have no issue with that, but understand that this isn’t your sofa, I do not want your elbows on my person, so GTFO.
3. Argue on the phone. Listen if you’re on the phone, I don’t care, that’s why I have headphones, but do not yell on your phone swearing about how your brother ate the entire bag of Cheetos last night. True story.
4. Eggs. Nothing makes me want to puke more in the morning than someone eating hard-boiled eggs on the bus. COMMON NOW!

#facepalm

Let me know the things you do to pass the time on your commute into work! I’d love to add somethings to my list! And share any horror stories you’ve witnessed on the bus or other public transit – we can console each other about how messed up some people are.

Happy Monday everyone!

I cut my own hair.

Remember that time on St. Patrick’s Day when you decided to cut your own hair…

OH wait. Never mind, that was me.

When I told my mom that I cut my own hair, she was mostly thankful it turned out better than my first attempt at cutting my own hair. Picture 12 year old Amanda at my grand parents’ house, walking up the stairs as my Mamie shouts “What did you do?!”, to which I replied multiple times “Nothing, I have NO IDEA what happened.” There truth was, not 5 minutes earlier, I had taken a large pair of light blue scissors to my long natural brown hair and gave myself the most uneven bangs you could ever imagine.

She eventually found the scissors and strands of hair tossed behind her laundry machine. OOPS. Sorry Mamie!!

But now, I’m all grown up… and I DO WHAT I WANT.

But seriously, I did my research, gathered many tips from a few decent YouTube videos, until I decided I was ready to take the plunge. Well, with a little St. Paddy’s liquid courage…

And guess what?! I love it. It’s not perfect, and my hairdresser might cry when I go see her. But it works. My dead ends are gone, and my hair is nice and bouncy again. 

THE AFTERMATH:

It’s not so bad, right?! Haha I also dyed my hair black last night, mostly because my roots were coming in strong, and black was the only color I had laying around the house. I really want to try giving myself a caramel balayage… Maybe that I will try documenting that whole experiment…

I hope all you lovely creative souls have an amazing week. xo

She’s Alive

Hellooooo everyone.

So I’ve clearly been absent from my blog for the past 2 weeks. It started off with me getting the flu and being unproductive for a good while. After I started feeling better I was so busy playing catchup with work, school, art, 2nd job, clothing sales that I never got the chance to sit down and write something down.

Thanks to the readers that took the time to email me during my absence! xo

Well it’s officially Sunday evening, and I’m exhausted. But I’m totally refusing to go to sleep at a reasonable time…. Because, how can I sleep when I have this much on my mind?!

Well, I’ve been commissioned to create another Ball Hockey Team logo, and I’m super excited. Those are always a lot of fun to do! I will make sure to show you all the finished product.

I also need to try and finish my Boba Fett painting, and the Joker painting this week. It’s likely to be pushed back until next weekend. But I’m working on it!

Here’s the latest progress report on BF:

Boba Fett (Work in Progress) Amanda Liberty

Lastly, I have a couple DIY projects I’ve been working on, as well as my wardrobe sale endeavor. I’ve sold approximately 15 pieces, already, and I’m not going to lie, I’ve loved every minute of it. Who knew I would be so good at getting rid of my clothing collection? I’m actually quite proud of myself. In the past, I would definitely have considered myself a little bit of a hoarder when it comes to shoes, bags and clothes. PROGRESS!

Today I worked at my part-time gig, and I was really happy to see the team! It’s such a great and positive environment, I love being there on the weekends.

On my way to work. The Infamous Car Ride Selfie.

 

Alright then, it’s time for me to post a couple more items for sale before I shut it down for the night.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

 

 

 

 

 

Having a Bad Day? Let’s Change That…

Have you ever had one of those days, where everything seemed to go completely wrong?

I started writing this post last week, halfway through what seemed to be the worst day ever. I slept through my alarm… so my morning was off to a great start already. I tried my best to be semi-presentable and rushed to catch my bus. As I left my building, the bus was driving passed me and I ran to catch it… I managed to leap into the largest slush puddle, and got my socks, completely soaked. I missed the bus, and had to walk 15 minutes to the next stop. Finally when I got on my bus, I had the loudest person come sit next to me, blabbing away on their phone. I forgot my headphones back at home, which means it was a torturous commute… Eventually after a 1 hour bus ride, I finally get to work. Of course the first thing on my mind is… COFFEE. I grab a fresh cup, sit at my desk, and I’m sure you can already tell where I’m going with this… I dropped the entire cup on my desk and lap. I remember being stunned and walking away, hiding in the bathroom to let out a few tears. Why is everything going so wrong? Why is this happening to me?

The truth is, and some might disagree, but bad energy brings bad results. Yes, some things are completely out of our control, but what we do have control over is the way we choose to feel about the situation.

If I wasn’t so upset about missing my bus, having to walk, and the fact that my feet were wet and cold, I might not have been so annoyed with the person talking on the phone. And if I wasn’t so upset about all of that I might not have been on edge, and could have avoided spilling my coffee. Listen, I know what I’m saying is easier to accept after the fact. It’s hard to be positive when you’re standing in a cold puddle that’s formed in your boots, or drenched in burning hot coffee. I get it. But sometimes, if we just moved passed those problems, and looked around instead of sulking, we would see all the magic that surrounds us.

Just the other day I was upset because my cellphone died while I was commuting home. As I put my phone away I started to look at the people around me waiting at the bus stop. That’s when I noticed this elderly lady struggle to walk through the mounts of snow with her large grocery bags. These men in suits rushed passed her, I thought to myself “someone should help her… I should help her”… before I could take a step, this young man, maybe 16 years old at the most, stopped her and asked her if she needed help, he grabbed her bags and walked her to the bench inside the bus stop. My eyes filled with water. How lucky I was to witness this moment, how lucky I was that for once, I wasn’t too busy staring at my screen. 

All this to say… I made a list of things to remember, for the next time I accidentally jump in puddles without my rain boots. (Because jumping in puddles can actually be very therapeutic.) 

Accept the Situation

Oh, you spilled your coffee? That really sucks. Are you still alive? Thought so. Clean up, brush it off and make a new cup.

It Could be Worse

Your boss was tough on you today, and you get home all worked up… Move on, you might not always like your job, but at least you have a job.

Force Yourself to Smile

Are you mad? Oh no… You’re furious! You say there’s no way anything can turn your mood around? Really? Please Google “Funny Pugs” and tell me that you don’t feel a little bit better.

This Isn’t Permanent

OKAY FINE. Some days are just so impossible that you can’t move past them… At least find comfort in the fact that no matter how hard it gets, This too Shall Pass (my very wise little sister shared that quote with me).

Superhero Mode

You’re having a really shitty day. Guess what? You’re probably not the only one. Get out of your head, and make someone smile, do something nice. I guarantee it will change your perspective.

 

Spinach & Mushroom Omelette

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal. I can’t be the only one, right?!

It’s one of the easiest meals to skip, yet it’s basically the most important meal of the day. I can attest that eating breakfast definitely helps reduce my hunger throughout my day.

During the week I try to prepare quick and easy breakfasts, such as my Simple Blueberry Smoothie recipe. But during the weekend I definitely like to treat myself to a heartier meal.

This weekend I made a vegetarian omelette with spinach and mushrooms! It’s probably my new favorite omelette combo. 

Here’s the recipe I used: 

Ingredients:

• Handful of baby spinach
• Handful of sliced mushrooms
• 6 eggs (for 2 people)
• 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
• Chili powder to taste
• Salt and pepper

Direction:

1. Wash your spinach leaves and mushrooms thoroughly.
2. In a small skillet warm up a dash of olive oil and toss in your mushrooms. Once your mushrooms are almost ready toss in the spinach. They don’t take long to wither.
3. Beat your eggs in a separate bowl and add your seasonings and Parmesan cheese.
4. Add the cooked veggies to the egg mixture.
5. In a large frying pan, cover surface with olive oil and pour your eggs mixture.
6. Lift the edges lightly and let some batter pour under your omelette.
7. Once the top of your omelette almost cooked, flip it over!
8. I suggest adding some mozzarella cheese on half of the omelette before folding over.
9. Cut in half and serve!

I added avocado on top of my omelette and a little more Parmesan cheese!

So yummy!

What are your favorite breakfast recipes?!

Ivanka Trump Heels

I’m still glowing from the amazing deal I stumbled upon this weekend.

I was shopping with my mom and sister at our local Winners (which we are ALL obsessed with!) and I found these Ivanka Trump leopard heels on clearance for…

Wait for it… $19! Just look at these beauties, how could I resist?

I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes. AND they just happened to be in my size – it’s clear, it was meant to be!

I also went to Winners with the intention of finding a faux-fur white rug for my bedroom. I needed something to put at the foot of my bed. I found a beautiful rug for just $24.99. You can see it in the picture above.

I LOVE Winners. That is all.

Don’t forget to checkout my new Society6 shop! I will be adding a new artwork by the end of the week!

Have a lovely Tuesday!