Good morning beautiful people. I air dropped all of the photos from days two and three of my NYC trip from my phone to my MacBook this morning…but then decided that I’d rather just sit down and write what’s on my heart and my mind instead. It’s rainy and cold here and it seems like a cozier option for this Sunday morning.

So let’s have a Sunday morning coffee chat, shall we?

If we were having coffee this morning, I’d be eating a bagel.

I just finished up a cinnamon raisin bagel with butter and cream cheese along with a grapefruit. Two things I can’t get enough of in pregnancy – anything involving bread and citrus/fruit. I would also share that Zoey just stole and ate half a stick of butter off the counter. AHHH! She is the sweetest thing but her #1 downfall is definitely food thieving and let me tell you…her hips don’t lie. 😉

If we were having coffee this morning, I’d share that I had the most traumatic travel home from NYC. 

I met a friend for lunch in Soho before heading to the airport and while lunch was absolutely delicious, a full belly + a cab to JFK + stop and go traffic for an hour did not make for a pretty equation for me. I got so nauseated in the cab and had to ask the driver to pull over in the middle of a busy highway so I could open the door and get sick. I then proceeded to also get sick in a trashcan in the middle of the TSA line at JFK with hundreds of people around me. It was that completely involuntary kind of throwing up that just makes you feel terrible.

Luckily, the gate agent was kind and moved me to an aisle seat at the front of the plane so that I could bolt if I needed to get sick and make a fast entrance and exit from the plane. The flight home was spent head down and eyes closed and when I got home I got straight in bed and slept until the next day.

I can now officially say that I’ve thrown up for the first time in pregnancy! I think I should feel lucky.

If we were having coffee this morning, I’d tell you I’m feeling a little nostalgic. 

About two and a half years ago I moved out of the house that I bought when I first moved to Charlotte and started renting it out. My current tenants are moving to Charleston so yesterday I showed the house to a new couple. It was the first time since I moved out that I felt a wave of nostalgia about it and a longing to move back in.

I like where I am right now, it offers a lot more living space and I adore the neighborhood for walking and running – but I’m renting the home and it doesn’t feel 100% my own. For example, the paint colors are just NOT my preference at all and the exact opposite of what I gravitate towards. Rentals are so hard because you don’t want to sink a ton of money into them because you know you won’t be there long-term.

The good news is that I’ve been so lucky to have the most wonderful young couples take great care of my home. There is a chance that I will move back into that house in years to come after some renovations and changes. Only time will tell! In the meantime, it’s a great investment property.

If we were having coffee this morning, I’d want to talk about this reading on shame. 

My 11:15 Saturday morning class is one of my favorites of the week. I loved the reading that I shared with my class yesterday on SHAME from Melody Beattie’s The Language of Letting Go.

“Shame is an overwhelming negative sense that who we are is not okay. Shame is a no-win situation. We can change our behaviors, but we can’t change who we are…learning to reject shame can change the quality of our life. It’s okay to be who we are. We are good enough. Our feelings are okay. Our past is okay. It’s okay to have problems, make mistakes and struggle to find our path. It’s okay to be human and cherish our humanness.” 

I appreciate the explanation in this reading of guilt versus shame as I think there is a very clear distinction between apologizing for something you have done/said that maybe did not come from your highest-self versus apologizing for who you are. This one has really stuck with me and I keep going back and reading it over and over.

Here’s a plug for Melody Beattie’s daily meditation books. I love The Language of Letting Go, and Journey to the Heart is my all-time favorite.

If we were having coffee this morning, I’d tell you about some of the amazing things my fellow bloggers are doing. 

I’m always so inspired by the creativity and passion in this community and I feel so fortunate that it’s connected me to so many beautiful, talented women. Here are some things my fellow blogging friends are doing and sharing. Please check them out.

• My friend Brittany from A Healthy Slice of Life is hosting a February Instagram challenge that is all about LOVE. Hop on over to her blog to get all the details and then follow her on Instagram and join the challenge. You should follow her anyway because she shares really yummy food along with very real and relatable family content.
• My friend Gina from the Fitnessista is in the final week of her annual Winter Shape Up but it’s not too late to go back and start from Week 1 on your own. If you’re looking for a kickstart into consistent workouts and healthy eating this February, this is the challenge for you! Here’s the challenge overview page. Also be sure to check out all of the great workouts she has shared!
• My friend Julie from Peanut Butter Fingers recently announced her pregnancy. She is 20 weeks along with her second baby but this is her fourth pregnancy. Julie has been so vulnerable, open and honest through her journey to conceive and about her experience with two back-to-back miscarriages. My heart is so happy for Julie, Ryan and Chase.

At this point in our coffee chat, we’d probably both need to excuse ourselves to go to the ladies room (especially me these days!) so it’s time to wrap it up. I need to plan for my prenatal class and I have a long day of teaching ahead of me.

I truly wish that I could sit down with each of you and have a coffee chat. I hope you know how much I value this community, your readership and the space that you hold for me to share a little bit of my life here every day.

xoxo
Jen

Anyone else get terrible motion sickness? Worst travel sickness story? 

Do you rent or own? If you rent, how do you make your place feel more like your own? 

What was your Sunday morning breakfast? 

Anything you would share if we were having a coffee chat?