I planned a special “Mommy’s Day Out” for myself today.  I try to arrange for these once every few months.  I recognize I need a full day recharge from time to time.  Honoring myself with a special outing is the push I need to convince myself to take the time, because honestly I’m not sure I would take a full day away from the kids otherwise.  I truly do not like being apart from them for more than a couple of hours.  It hurts my heart (quite literally!).  But I know that a little space every once in awhile is not only ok, but actually beneficial to help me stay balanced and be the best parent I can be to my sweet babes.

I’m not saying I never practice self-care.  I actually have made a point in the past year of making sure I put aside little pockets of time each and every day for this.  For me that includes things like 20 minutes of daily yoga at home, a 30 minute run outside, and journaling about my day before bedtime.  Some of my self-care favorites I do more on a weekly basis such as going to my favorite dance cardio class (yay for WERQ!) and soaking in the tub a couple of times a week.  I recently started venturing outside my house for yoga in a studio after many years of at home practice only.

I decided to take myself downtown today to revisit one of my pre-kid holiday traditions: the Christkindlmarket.  This German-inspired holiday market was something I never used to miss, but it hasn’t felt right to me to bring the kids just yet.  They’re still so little and I am not sure this would be something they’d enjoy at this stage.  I hope to bring them in a few years when they’re more interested in all of the fun food offerings and seeing the handmade knickknacks that are sold at the market.  It was really fun to bring myself in a “blast to the past” capacity (although I do recommend going early on a weekday as opposed to midday on a weekend if you’re interested in attending…man, was it ever crowded!).

Afterwards, I had a late lunch at Althea, an awesome plant-based restaurant located on the top floor of Saks Fifth Avenue.  I had an amazingly delicious meal and then headed a few block up Michigan Avenue to the Four Seasons hotel for a full pampering session including a pedicure and a massage.  This was my Christmas gift to myself.  It’s been a long time since I treated myself to the spa.  I came home feeling relaxed and rejuvenated.

It was such a fun day and an admittedly very splurgy one at that, which is why I don’t do something like this on a regular basis.  I don’t think I need to spend a lot of money to treat myself to a fun and relaxing day, but when it feels right, I splurge, no guilt allowed!

I documented this special outing in my December Daily album with a full page selfie.  I’m honestly super self-conscious of putting such a large photo of my face in my album, but I’m making a concentrated effort to “embrace my face” and include photos of myself in my memory keeping projects more.  I layered some simple embellishments and wrote out the story of my day on a 4″x6″ tag that I punched holes in to pop right into the rings of my album.  I will wait to add the ribbon until after I see how tomorrow’s spread pans out, because I do not yet know what I will do with the back of the tag.

This was a relatively simple spread but I am quite happy with how it turned out.  I think it has a nice balance to it.  Again, I am noticing that my crafting is a reflection of my current state of mind.  I am intrigued by this observation!

I’d love to hear about some of your self-care rituals if you care to share.  I hope you recognize and honor the importance of taking care of yourself.  You cannot pour from an empty cup, as they say.  Take good care of yourselves, friends ❤️

* This is not a sponsored post.  All opinions are genuinely my own. *