entering my next era
It’s Labor Day weekend, which traditionally means the end of summer for all my East Coast peeps.
Here in San Francisco, the technical summer ended a few weeks ago when the kids went back to school. But our actual summer? It’s just beginning. September and October are when SF finally heats up, so we are officially entering our summer era, and I’m VERY psyched about it.
I’m also about to enter a pretty huge new era personally.
We’re taking Ever to college.
Suddenly, we’re going from two kids at home to one. One 18 year old daughter in college. One 16 year old son at home who can’t wait to get all of our attention and no longer have to share rides or the bathroom with his older sister.
It’s the beginning of empty nesting. How did THAT happen?
Of course, it has me thinking about the past 18 years and asking myself: Did I do all the right things to help her become a fabulous adult?
Sometimes I think yes. People rave about her, and I’m ridiculously proud of the adult she is becoming. She’s extremely bright, independent, funny, opinionated, caring, driven and fierce. (She’ll rip you a new one if she feels she needs to.)
And other times, I’m like, UGHHH, I think I just f’d it all up.
But no matter how old she gets, she’ll always be the one who made me a mom.
Funny enough, we’ve gotten to spend part of this last summer before college working adjacent to each other.
I’ve been consulting for Tahlia Bliss, owner of Frankie’s on the Park SF, and it has been SOOO much fun helping support a locally owned, female-run business.
If you’re out and about in SF, swing by the store, (1843 Union St.) especially if you have a tween or teen who needs a dress for her own Bat Mitzvah or something fabulous to wear to her friends’ B’nai Mitzvahs. This store seriously fills a much-needed gap we’ve had in San Francisco for as long as I can remember. When Ever needed B’nai Mitzvah dresses, there was nowhere local to shop.
Now there is!
They also have great clothes for teens AND moms. It’s a dangerously fun combination to have a multigenerational shop.
And, Ever works there as a sales associate.
Watching her kill it on the sales floor and discover retail has been so rewarding.
Although I have warned her: retail is a slippery slope.
You want everything in the store. You get a buzz from selling. You want to buy everything. You buy something, then you want to buy more.
Basically, you get/need your fashion fix all day long.
Speaking of buying things...
Dorm shopping has become my latest addiction.
Makeup mirror? Got it. ⚡️
Desk hutch? Got it. ⚡️
Comforter, bedding, rug, storage and approximately a gazillion things I suddenly decided a college freshman absolutely cannot live without because I saw them on Insta and TikTok? Check, check, check. ⚡️ ⚡️ ⚡️
I’m even creating an entire dorm-room medicine kit. I’ll share what I put in it because apparently living in the dorms is like living in a petri dish and all the kids get super sick.
Before college prep completely took over my life, I also got some real summer in.
I spent time at the Jersey Shore with family and friends AND got to see Jamie the Great, my Talking Smack 415 co-host. She was right in the middle of her cancer treatment and rallied to come see me twice. You’re the best, Jamie the Great.
our entry into the cake competition
You can hear all about her latest treatment on our newest episode of Talking Smack 415, Deep & Shallow. This episode gets deeper than usual, but we’re still laughter and friendship to feed your soul.
And speaking of what feeds the soul....
For years I have debated becoming a coach.
And yet, when I started thinking about what my next career chapter could look like, I explored ALL THE THINGS.
Should I become a therapist?
Maybe get my real estate license?
A friend of my mom’s even generously offered to help guide me into her business.
But the truth is, I’ve known for a while that I want to take my career in a different direction.
I want to go into organizations and coach leaders and teams on how to take care of themselves so they don’t burn out. I want to help people figure out what they want next, how to get there and how to thrive along the way.
So after years of debating, researching, getting distracted and finding approximately 888 other things to do instead, I finally bit the bullet and enrolled in a coaching certification program.
I’m planning to focus on a combination of life and executive coaching, which actually feels like such a natural culmination of so many parts of my career and life.
Before I can complete my certification, I need 100 hours of coaching, so I’ll be reaching out in October. If you, or someone you know, might want some coaching at a discounted rate, while also helping me accumulate my hours, hit me up.
Are you entering a new era ? Hit reply and LMK.
All my Leopard Print and Lipstick 💋,
d
P.S. L’Shanah Tovah in case I don’t write again before the holiday.
P.P.S. Start thinking about whether you, or anyone you know, might need a coach. I’ll share more details in mid October.
