Leaf and Steel

motherhood - growth - living

Fall Friday Favorites #10

Happy Fall Friday!

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving! I know I’m still stuffed from all the food.

Any holiday week is a weird week. The downside to being on a set routine is struggling when one little part of it gets bumped out of place.

Anyways, here are some things I’m loving this week!

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Ah, the ever-controversial homemade vs. store-bought cranberry sauce debate. I always have been and always will be team homemade. I love making my own cranberry sauce and storing it in the fridge to put on just about anything. I do a bag of cranberries, a cup of sugar and a cup of pulp-free orange juice and just simmer it on the stove! I love homemade cranberry sauce on homemade corn bread.

My Stroller

We were gifted a lovely UppaBaby stroller and it’s worth the price tag. We call it Baby M’s car. I’ve put so much mileage on this thing lately. It’s so smooth and it just has so much room in the undercarriage. It’s truly one of my favorite things!

The Official Christmas Music Season

I’ve been listening to Christmas music since October because who cares about time anymore? Even though I got started very early this year, today is the official start to the Christmas season! I normally would have waited until the day after Thanksgiving to decorate. Now, I can blast my Christmas music without criticism from my husband! My favorite Christmas song is either Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) sung by Darlene Love or Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by either Frank Sinatra or Judy Garland, I can’t choose!

Scheduling Posts

I love that I can schedule posts here! I try to post every weekday, so having some schedule posts during holiday weeks makes it super easy to hit my blogging goals and take a day off.

This is the last Fall Friday for this year! I’ve really enjoyed posting these as hearing from you guys every week!

What are you loving this week? How was your Thanksgiving? Let me know below!

O.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

No matter how you celebrate, I hope you have the most wonderful Turkey Day.

Last year’s celebration was a blur. I had a literal newborn baby and there was a raging pandemic. I know that we visited my parents and in-laws, but I cannot remember it, if that makes sense. I do remember feeling really anxious and wondering if it was postpartum anxiety or just the baby blues. Luckily those intrusive thoughts and edgy feeling lifted after the first two weeks, but it made me feel a great deal of empathy for mothers who feel like that all the time!

I am a Christmas girl, through and through. But, since having a baby I’m becoming one of those every-holiday-is-a-party people, and today is no exception! I can’t wait for my daughter to experience the best parts of Thanksgiving – food and family. I can’t think of anything cuter than a little baby loving on some mashed potatoes and turkey.

This year, I’m extra grateful for my health and my family.

Between getting older and the state of the world these past two years, I have a newfound gratitude for my body working with me and not against me. I always took my health for granted, but not anymore.

It sounds obvious to be grateful for family, right? It sounds so simple, but it really is the most important thing in my life. I’ve been blessed with the best biological family and those that have placed in my life, like my husband, my daughter, and my friends.

This year is all about the gratitude.

I can’t wait to hear what you’re thankful for this year!

Be sure to check out my Thanksgiving Dinner This-or-That.

What are you doing to commemorate Thanksgiving this year? Has your celebration looked a little different since covid? Let me know below!

O.

More from Leaf and Steel:

Fall Friday Favorites #9

Happy Fall Friday y’all!

It’s almost the end of Fall Fridays, so I’m going to find another topic to post about every week!

This post contains affiliate links. This means that I may make a small commission off of products that are purchased through these links, at no cost to you. You can read more about this process here.

Here are some things I’m loving this week.

Colder Weather

I used to hate the cold. Never liked it. I always said I wanted to move down south to be warm. Not anymore! Maybe this is just part of getting older? I really don’t mind being tucked away in my house with the heat on, covered in heaps of blankets and wool socks. I think it’s part of being a “grown up” and letting go of the heat=summer=no school phenomenon.

Trader Joe’s Sparkling Lemonade

We’re whipping this out for a very special occasion – my baby’s birthday! I love sparkling (non-alcoholic) drinks and this one takes the cake. It’s great on it’s own or watered down with some plain seltzer. I believe every drink should have bubbles and I’m going to need someone to open one of those alcohol-free seltzer bars on Long Island.

My Yeti Tumbler

Even though it was a gift, these bad boys are worth every cent. I have the pink one and it’s like my shadow. It follows me everywhere. Not only does it keep my coffee hot for hours, it can also store a warm bottle (bet you didn’t think of that).

Bar Keeper’s Friend

Can you tell I need more hobbies? I love this stuff. I seriously love it. Thank you r/CleaningTips. It really does it all. I’m a fan of having just a few products to do multiple jobs, and Bar Keeper’s Friend makes the cut. I’ve tried the liquid and the powder, and the latter takes the cake. I implore you to try it. You won’t be disappointed.

What are you loving this week? Let me know below!

O.

Why You Should Try Blogtober

It might be November, but I wanted to share my experience with this years Blogtober tag!

What is Blogtober?

Blogtober is an online “event” where bloggers publish a post on their blog every single day in October.

Why I Tried Blogtober

I didn’t set out to participate in Blogtober21, it just sort of happened. As someone who reads a lot of blogs, I started to see the tag everywhere! Seeing such high volume of posts under #Blogtober21 and my love of a good portmanteau got me curious.

What I Did

Okay, so I didn’t post every day in October. I published 29 posts, which was just 1 short of my 30 posts goal for that month. You can blame my child’s 12 month sleep regression for that, ha!

I did sit down to write just about every week day. Like so many writers, I tend to focus on selecting images, contacting sponsors, analyzing stats, and doing just about everything I can besides publishing content. Getting in that daily habit of writing has changed the way I look at producing content.

What I Learned

Having a daily schedule of writing during my baby’s first nap and hitting publish (just about) every day made writing easier. I have my systems in place now. It’s just gotten easier. It used to take me days to research, write, format and edit an article. Now, I have streamlined that system down to a few hours at most.

It’s also showed me that “writing what you know” is some of the most accurate advice out there. Because I’m writing about things I’m genuinely either interested in, actively researching, or truly love, the writing is just a natural part of that.

I was consistent with my writing and pinning on Pinterest. I essentially doubled my traffic. I started to see more and more results from Google, Yahoo and Bing. I even was able to pick up a few partnerships and got to engage with so many of my readers.

More traffic led to more Amazon Affiliate sales and more ad revenue.

I was super pleased to see my hard work paying off.

Posting every week day, working with sponsors, and making a measly income did something incredible. It finally made me feel like a blogger. I can fall into some major bouts of imposter syndrome in most areas of my life. This month I really felt like I was reaping the emotional benefits of putting in the foot work.

Why YOU Should Try Blogtober22

Put me down in the calendar for Blogtober22!

I will definitely be doing Blogtober22. Just based on how it raised my stats alone, I’m in. But, I also was so impressed by the discipline and passion it takes to complete a challenge like this.

Next year, I plan on publishing 31 posts in October, to get the full effect.

You should try Blogtober because it can grow your audience, inspire diligence, and can help you get out of that writing rut!

Did you participate in #Blogtober? If you did, what did you learn? Would you do it again? Let me know below!

O.

References:

Tea & Cake for the Soul, “What is Blogtober? What to Expect and How to Take Part”

PinArtwork, Blogtober 2021 Grow your Blog’s traffic with a Blogtober Challenge

More from Leaf and Steel:

Fall Friday Favorites #8

Happy Fall Friday y’all!

I slept this week so I am feeling blessed and electrified.

Here’s what I’m loving this week!

This post contains affiliate links. This means that I may make a small commission off of products that are purchased through these links, at no cost to you. You can read more about this process here.

JBL FLIP 5, Waterproof Portable Bluetooth Speaker

This was a splurge but worth every penny. I got the blue. The sound is so clear and it feels indestructible (not willing to test it out). We needed a speaker for the garage and outdoors but obviously will not commit to a built in system. Maybe next year! This guy will do for now.

Hampton Bays Fire Pit

We picked up one of these guys over the weekend. I’ve wanted a fire pit for years and I’m so happy we got the one I wanted! It already as us asking “why didn’t we buy one of these years ago”. It’s been such a treat to have a warm fire in the backyard and cuddle up with some blankets. We have a beautiful yard and don’t use it nearly as much as we should, so hopefully this will change that. We made s’mores and although I’m really good at making them with the stove pilot light at 3 am, nothing beats a good old fashioned campfire s’more.

It came with a grill ad on so maybe we’ll get some use out of that this week!

We also picked up a cover so that it’ll last the Long Island winter.

Kind Laundry

I wrote a post on Kind Laundry this week! They were kind enough to gift me their products and I’m a believer! I’ve been using their stain remover bar and it really works. I never thought laundry would be important to me until I had a kid. I remember people telling me there would be a lot of laundry and I thought they meant all the tiny clothes that babies spit up on. That isn’t even the half of it. Now that my daughter eats solids I have to clean more of her clothes, my clothes, when she inadvertenly slathers me with yogurt when I’m not looking, and a million towels to clean it all up.

Anyways, go Kind Laundry!

Typhoon

I’m asking for these tickets for Christmas! I loved this song in 2018 (I can remember because I wanted it to be my wedding song but womp womp my husband wasn’t a fan at the time). This song is absolutely beautiful. It’s haunting and inspiring. I can’t wait to (hopefully) see them live!

What are you loving this week? Let me know below!

O.

5 Christmas Music Compilations to Listen to This Year

Happy Christmas season!

The official start of Christmas season starts with Christmas music!

I love hour-long compilations on YouTube to help me get into the holiday spirit. I can throw one on and don’t have to touch it while I make dinner, play with my daughter, or clean. Instead of wasting time and money buying the music on iTunes and creating a whole playlist, I just let the internet do the work for me!

There’s Christmas music for different moods. In the mornings, we like to listen to softer holiday songs, followed by peppier ones in the afternoon.

So, here are 5 of the best long Christmas music compilations! Let me know what you think below.

Are you ready for Christmas? What’s your favorite Christmas song?

Let me know below!

O.

Pregnancy #2 is Mentally on the Way!

Pregnancy #2 is on the way!

You read that right, pregnancy #2.

Not baby #2, not yet at least.

When I was pregnant with my almost one-year-old, I couldn’t imagine wanting another baby so soon. Little did I know, baby fever came back almost instantly.

I was 100% in the get-this-demon-out-of-my-body camp once I hit 35 weeks. I did everything I could to encourage her out (see my post on 5 Things I Did to Go into Labor Naturally).

Once she was out, I insisted on walking from the labor unit to the maternity ward. I felt so good (hello oxytocin & adrenaline). I was so excited to have my daughter in my arms and so excited to just not be pregnant anymore.

It lasted 3 days.

By the time we got home, I was crying that I missed my big belly and lamenting the absence of my little one’s kicks inside me.

Even throughout the sleepless nights, the throw up, the blowouts, there’s never been a question about having more kids.

I never thought I would be ready for another one so soon. I had long planned on a two year split for my own personal reasons, but when I was pregnant this seemed very close.

Now, I feel ready for #2. Baby M is sleeping through the night and this blog is heading in a great direction. I feel fulfilled in my home life and “work” life. I know that another baby is going to be hard and take work, just like most rewarding things in my life.

So, it’s time to get ready for pregnancy #2. I’m going to be documenting the changes I’m making to my body and home in the next few weeks.

Here’s to #2!

Do you have kids? How did you space yours out?

Let me know below!
O.