If you had a time machine, would you travel to the future or back to the past?
I would travel back to the past to 1937 and hitch a ride with Amelia Earhart on her last attempt to be the first woman to fly around the globe. I’ve always been a bit obsessed with her, and the conspiracy theories surrounding her disappearance – she was always my subject of choice for many middle and high school report assignments. Then I would come back to the present, find her missing Lockheed Electra plane, and write a best-selling book about what ACTUALLY happened on that doomed flight.
How do you practice self-care?
Self-care for me is spending time with my friends – meeting for happy hour, taking a walk, sitting on the porch, or anything else really. Spending time with the amazing women in my life fills my cup every time and gives me the breather I need to get back to home life and work life. I also love a good puzzle – gives my busy mind something else to focus on – with a glass of French rosé and any episode of The Office or Brooklyn Nine-Nine playing in the background.
Where did you grow up and how did you end up in Richmond?
I was born in Houston, TX and moved to Northern VA and then Maryland in elementary school. I landed in Richmond in 5th grade due to my dad’s job and have been here ever since (except for a few years in Blacksburg working at VT when Stella was born).
How did becoming a mother change you?
How did it NOT change me is a better question. It has put a microscope on everything I do, especially as a woman raising two girls. One of the biggest things it’s changed for me is how I talk to myself and about myself to other people. I used to be very self-deprecating in a humorous way to deflect my insecurities, especially through middle and high school, and college. A lightbulb went off for me when my oldest was 5 and she looked at a picture I took of her and said “ew take it again, I don’t like the way I look.” I knew instantly she learned that from me and it broke my heart. It still hurts to remember that. Since then, despite what narrative I have going in my head (which I am still working on!), I keep my external narrative positive and complimentary of myself – whether I’m around my kids or not (which took a lot of practice when they weren’t around to be a visual reminder). We also do not talk about diets and needing to exercise because you ate “poorly” – which was extremely difficult since I had been on any number of diet trends since middle school. We keep our conversations about being healthy all around –physically and mentally. Becoming a mother has forced me to be kinder to myself so that my daughters can learn how to be kind to themselves in turn.
What is the last great book or television series you've read/watched?
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is the most recent book I read that I absolutely loved. I was genuinely sad when it was over. In TV, Natalie finally convinced me to watch Emily in Paris and I binged all three seasons in record time!
How did you meet your partner?
Travis and I have known each other since high school…..when I dated his best friend! We didn’t start dating each other though until college, after spending a lot of time together at a summer church camp (long after his best friend and I had broken up!).
