Brittany Robertson | "How does she do it?"

This week, I'd like to welcome Brittany– a mother to Paisley and Elizabeth, wife to Jade, who is an Interior Designer and loves coffee. I fell in love with Brittany's feed because...well have you seen it!?  It's gorgeous with amazing pictures of her home and beautiful little girls. We share a love for coffee and a hatred for laundry! Oh and a couple of other things that I think you might too. P.S. Isn't this series amazing?

Audio courtesy of Anabell Ingleton @pregnancyperfect | www.pregnancyperfect.com 

Tell us about yourself: Where do you live, age, marital status, number of kids and business.

 I am 29,married and live in Grande Prairie Alberta Canada and have two daughters. I work as a part time interior designer and stay at home Mom :)

 
Describe a day in the life of you. 

My daughters and I wake up around 7:00 am every morning, I am a slow starter in the morning so I make coffee, we have breakfast and figure out what we need to accomplish for the day.

Do you have help? A Nanny or Housekeeper? Family?

I have help when doing interior design jobs and need to be away from the girls. My family is the reason I can be a stay at home mom, work very part time, and run my blog.

 
How do you manage to have “me” time?

Well I still make sure the girls have quiet time. They are 3 and 4 years old so everyday for an hour or two they need to play quietly in their room they share. I usually get most of my blog posts written during this time. I also try and take time one evening a week to do something for myself, and my husband will watch the girls.

How do you manage to make time to stay in shape? Do you workout? Diet?

I workout from home. I am not a group exerciser; I love doing work out videos from home and running on our treadmill. I usually do this during the afternoon and the girl’s run around and play beside me…. It can get a little hectic and half the time I end up wanting to give up but I do it anyways and remind myself they will only be little for so long.

 
Do you get ready every day? Makeup, hair and curated outfits?  If so, how do you do it with children? 

Oh my goodness no. I do not get all dressed up every day. I am lucky I am not a full time fashion blogger lol. Most days I spend in leggings and a comfy sweater with my hair in a messy bun (its naturally curly and a challenge at the best of times) but I do always try and put on makeup. Mascara and blush especially, for myself.

Has your style changed after motherhood?

Yes my style changed a lot after I had the girls. I used to spend a lot of money on nice clothing and now I have had enough beautiful pieces from Anthropologie or Free People ruined with craft glue and food stains. I keep my nice outfits for date nights and time with my friends and otherwise I wear clothing I won’t mind getting stains on, but I still like trends and fashion so I will dress it up with a scarf or fun jewelry.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

Starbucks and donuts!

How many hours of sleep to you get a night on average?

Probably 7-8 but I am a terrible sleeper and always have been. I wake up 3-4 times a night and have a really hard time falling back asleep, so I am usually really tired haha.

What is a priority for you, and what gets sacrificed? For example, everyone looks great but the house is a disaster, or the house is clean but work deadlines get pushed back.

My priority would be making sure the house is clean and we have good healthy meals to eat, and the girls are happy. Everything else is just extra.

Do you cook meals every day for your family? If so, how do you plan them?

I cook all our meals. We eat out probably 1-2 times week at the most. I am not a meal planner, I want to be this super organized scheduled person but sadly I am not. I wing most things like what we will eat for dinner or a blog post idea at the last min. I’ve learned I work best under pressure I create for myself! That said I do have a lot of healthy meals that are quick and simple we eat for dinner and the girls and I generally eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch everyday, this helps me stay on track with eating well and simplifies our life.

Have you ever felt like you are loosing yourself to motherhood and or life? If so, how did you bounce back?

Oh I always feel this way. It is my number one struggle. My sister recently took the girls for two full days and one night while my husband was out of town so I could work on a large design project I had going on. I finished up early and had almost a full day to myself with no kids or husband and I almost cried at what it felt like to have only myself to worry about. It was wonderful but I love my family and I honestly remind myself 20 times a day, these days will be over so fast and you will miss them… but I absolutely feel like “what about me” a lot and I just make sure to ask for help when those feelings take over, and have a good chat with my sister who is in the same season of life as me and totally understands!

Does hubby help you with anything particular? If so, what and how?

My husband works really hard for us. We have a rental property and he is part owner of our family business. He also is my part time design assistant haha and installs everything I cant, which I really appreciate. He 100% supports me with my blog and everything that goes with and would do anything to help me succeed in that, because he knows it’s my passion. He’s everything from my photographer, decor stylist and a great father to our girls!

How do you manage motherhood and marriage?

We always try to set aside little date nights. Even if that means once the girls are in bed we put on our current favorite show and spend time together. Our marriage is number one. We want our girls to grow up knowing Mom and Dad love each other and respect each other.

Do you work? Do you work in an office or at home? What does your work consist of and how do you get it done during the week?

I have been doing interior design for the past year. I do this very part time and am mainly a stay at home mom. When I do have a design project on the go my mom or sister or friend Jennifer will watch the girls for me. They are essential to me being able to do design on the side.

Have your circle of friends changed now that you're a mother? if so, how do you meet new mommy friends?

My circle of friends has changed. I find it’s really important to have friends that understand your lifestyle and support you. I’ve been blessed by having an amazing sister in law and two of my own sisters who are my best friends and I couldn’t live without.  I am terrible at making new friends; I am actually really shy and an introvert by nature. All my friends tend to be extroverts who are not shy haha my newest friend approached me at the park this past summer and I was so impressed by her ability to walk up to a complete stranger and essentially say hey lets be friends! I wish I could be more like that but am so thankful she is!

What’s the least favorite household chore you dread doing?

 Laundry, hands down!

Describe a recent experience when you didn’t have it “all together” and how you handled it all.

I recently did a mini instagram post about how as bloggers we can look like we have it all together but behind the scenes’ is a completely different story. I was doing a post on making donuts with the girls for Valentines day, the pictures showed this lovely little donut making day with us all dressed in our cute clothes and using pretty things like my seafoam mixer and heart measuring cups… in reality that morning my littlest had dumped a huge jar of craft beads all over the floor scattering them everywhere. It took us the better part of an hour to clean up, then because I have had a crazy couple weeks I went to make lunch and realized we had no groceries lol so we decided to make easy homemade popsicles ( I’m talking juice and blueberries) and I dumped half the mixture down my freezer when I tried to slide  them in there. Then after we got that cleaned up I went to make the donuts with them and didn’t have all the ingredients we needed so we made a few substitutes and they were the grossest donuts ever haha my kids wouldn’t even eat them! We were all in bad moods. At the end we all through a temper tantrum and I sent everyone including myself into time out haha it honestly was a mess. The work needed to get done, I had a deadline, but it was not perfect. The house was a mess we had nothing to eat and our donuts were ruined!

Fill in the blank: As a mother, it's a luxury to

 Go to the bathroom alone haha

What is your philosophy on balance and does it exist in your home?

 That is a constant struggle of mine and I am still working on it.

What are your dreams outside of motherhood that you would like to accomplish?

 I love interior design and product photography. I try to incorporate these into my life and that’s where my blog grew from. This way I can do these things from home with my little’s but still be creative on a day-to-day basis.

What is one thing that keeps you sane?

 My faith, and coffee :)

What is one question you'd like to ask our fellow mama readers?

How do you spend your “me time”, this is probably something I am the worst at, and would love to know what other Mama’s do?

Thank you so much Brittany for sharing & being so honest with us! If you haven't already, do yourself a favor and check out her amazingly beautiful feed, trust me! Go follow her! @ohmydearhandmade