My dad used to say something along the lines of being sure to always have the right tool for whatever project you are doing. The tool is going to make or break the project. It’s either going to be easy, simple, like deciding to finish off a summer bbq with a scoop of ice cream. Or the experience is going to be hell, like having gestational diabetes for the whole summer of ’14 and not being to eat any ice cream, because the tool you choose is not working for you. Owning a business with a baby, I have learned in the past nine months, is either going to be blissful or the seventh layer of hell depending on your tools. In this case, the diaper bag.
I get asked a lot by my industry friends how it’s going with Dean. Am I able to get work done? How do I balance my time? First, I get most of my work done Tuesday through Thursday when we have a nanny. Getting any kind of computer work finished and taking care of a baby simultaneously is impossible. Our nanny is amazing. She cleans my kitchen. She loves on Dean. She imparts her mother wisdom on me.
Mondays, Fridays when I don’t have events, and early morning flower market runs are Dean and mommy time. I first took him to the flower market when he was five weeks old. I had him in a carrier and he slept the whole time. When I reached down to grab flowers, the diaper bag I had at the time fell off my shoulder.
Reach. Fall.
Reach while trying to balance the bag on my butt. Fall.
Put bag on wet, dirty floor. Reach for flowers, run out of hands to pick bag back up off of floor.
I was slowly entering the seventh layer of hell at 6:30am on two hours of sleep with my hands full of hundreds of dollars of flowers, a cuddly baby, and a bag that was making my experience less than enjoyable.
Had my industry friends seen me then, their next stop would have been the drugstore for a lifetime supply of condoms.
Look at this picture! The diaper bag isn’t going anywhere! Both of my hands are free! It’s a miracle. Actually, it’s a lily-jade, buttery smooth, leather diaper bag that can be worn as a backpack and has basically changed my life. I can take Dean to the flower market with me, choose all the flowers I want, and the bag doesn’t go anywhere. My job is suddenly much more enjoyable at 6:30am in midtown. Which is why I’ve started this whole shebang, right? To be fully enjoying myself at all hours of the day? Thank you, lily-jade diaper bag.
It’s all about the tools. Dean and I can jet around the city buying fabric, ribbon, and props for my clients’ weddings without an annoying bag falling off my shoulder every two seconds. I’m happier. He’s happier. We are all happier. The world keepings turning and the flowers get bought and no one is annoyed to the edge of exhaustion. Because that’s why I started this business is the first place, right? To be happier. To be able to simultaneously hang with my kid and get a few work errands done.
Thank you to Lily-jade for the beautiful bag and for restoring sanity to my NYC errands with a nine month old. Baby wrap: Solly Baby. Shirt: Old Navy. Jeans: high rise BCBG. Photos by brklyn view photography.
