light & gather

Today is the first day of March, and since March is the first spring month of the year, it feels like the true New Year is about to start.

Before my son was born, we’d draw open the curtains so we could see new leaves growing on the trees outside. I would open the windows and lie on the floor with my dog, listening to whatever was going on outside.

Kids would be playing, and the wind would shake the trees.

But the biggest tell is the birds. They sing outside our window, and when I hear them, I know spring is here. I don’t care what day it is, the birds know better than me.

This year, March has felt like a breath of fresh air because I feel like I’m finally finding my stride after having the baby.

Speaking of spring and babies, a friend of mine just had hers.

When I was pregnant with my son, she gave me a lot of her son’s hand-me-downs, which were insanely helpful because we hardly had to buy anything new for ourselves. And while I initially appreciated the gesture, my appreciation grew immensely after we brought our baby home.

Because you can never be as ready as you need to be when you have your first child.

The fact that we had all these worn-in, mom-approved essentials really took a lot of guesswork out of being a mom in certain spots. Having a baby is like landing on a strange planet, so it’s nice when you know someone who’s already there, you know…?

I wanted to do something nice for her in return. And while I can’t do for her what she did for me, I can cook, so that’s what I decided to do.

I made cottage pie for her and a big brother cake for her son to celebrate him becoming a big brother. He acknowledged it was Spider-Man themed, and that was about it. My friend had told him he was a lucky boy, but he had already escaped into his own little world.

I’ve been really into cake making since I made a recipe for my son’s first birthday. My mother-in-law suggested I open a bakery. I thought nothing of it until recently. I pitched the idea of making cakes to a local shop owner, and now I’ll be doing a pop-up in April, which I am very excited about. I’ve been practicing recipes for a few weeks to get my signature flavors down.

For the first time, I feel like I’m doing something other than writing that feels right. It’s really brightened my perspective on things, and I’ve since started to pick up old hobbies and personal interests. I’ve started going back to the gym and checking out books from the library.

My next step is to start doing ceramics again, and a new hobby I want to try with my husband is tattooing. But we’ll see.

Right now, I’m trying to fill up my TBR list on Goodreads.