Hi everyone!

Hope your 2025 is off to a great start! We are truly having a real winter this year with lots of snow and cold temperatures down the shore. I enjoyed the first big storm we got in January but feel pretty ready to move onto milder weather in the coming months. Anyone else?

I feel bad that I haven’t hopped on here since October but if you saw my latest Instagram post, it was for good reason! My husband and I found out we are expecting our first child back in October, so the past few months have been very exciting but also physically exhausting as my body has undergone so many changes.

From a business perspective, the fall and winter were really successful thanks to a lot of seasonal events both in the Cape May and Philadelphia areas. I had moments where I questioned whether I would be able to fulfill my commitments to doing so many markets due to early pregnancy symptoms. Luckily, my husband trekked with me to most of them to help with the heavy lifting, so I was able to manage and get through that period with my head held high! I’m really proud of that!

January rolled around and I felt like I earned a deserved break, so I took some time off to recuperate. Candidly, it’s taken me a little longer than anticipated to get back into the swing of things now that we are midway through February. That may also be due to the fact that we have had a lot of logistical things to figure out as we inch towards our new chapter of becoming parents. One of the bigger projects is our house. We are working on enclosing our porch into a sunroom and office space so we can free up a bedroom to be the future nursery. I am very excited to get going with decorating the nursery and have already sourced some vintage pieces from local vendors in our area, yay! Those renovations are all underway but with what feels like constant snow storms interfering, it has also been a slower process than anticipated. Separately, my freelance jobs that have helped to fund Spruce Lane over the past year have been somewhat in flux heading into 2025, so I have been trying to see how that all evolves over time as well. All this to say, a lot is up in the air right now. I find these periods are the best to sit and blog however, because a lot of people can relate to these topics and the subject matter is more meaningful.

So that brings us up to speed to current day. I am reflecting upon being a little over halfway through my pregnancy and also looking ahead to what the spring and summer might be like. I have felt pretty mixed on work-life balance going into being a new mom. On one hand, I am really grateful that I have had so much flexibility these last few months, especially on days where I was feeling sick or exhausted. The flexibility will also be nice when the baby is here and I can hopefully adjust my schedule to a comfortable balance of caretaking and working. On the other hand, I am envious of women who have more structure to their daily routines, plus reliable income and benefits to return to as they grow their families. I have told myself that this experience is different for everyone and try to give myself grace. Some days, leaning into work feels really good and other days I don’t feel productive at all. The lack of consistency has been one of my biggest insecurities and internal struggles. Can anyone else relate?

Thinking about it more, my work situation feels pretty reminiscent of when we first moved from Philly and I decided to pursue entrepreneurship. If I learned anything from that period, it was that while it had its challenges, things did take shape over time. Between now and our baby’s arrival, I am curating a new spring assortment that I will debut online and maybe in person at a market or two if I can find good opportunities! I also would like to replenish my t-shirt stock (maybe in some new colors?) to have readily available for online sales throughout the summer. By fall and winter, I should hopefully have my feet under me again and have a better sense of direction in terms of managing more markets or even better, finding a local retail space to expand to.

To wrap it all up, I am sorry I have been pretty quiet on social media but it is simply because I don’t have a ton going on business-wise these days. My messaging is probably going to skew more personal for the time being until things get going again in the spring. Of course, I am very open to your feedback in terms of what you’d like to see from Spruce Lane over the coming months so feel free to email or message me with any thoughts. Also, if you are a working mom who freelances or runs your own business, I also am all ears to how you navigated juggling these different hats! One of the biggest reasons I continue to blog this way is from the really positive and supportive community it has fostered, so thank you to those who continue to read and follow.

Ok and my final thoughts, non-business related:

While we are on the subject of babies and pregnancy, I just want to acknowledge anyone who is reading that might be TTC, has experienced pregnancy loss, or has decided motherhood is not part of their life story. This is such a personal subject so just know that I am aware that we are all on our own paths and you have my full support and respect in whatever phase of your journey you are on as a woman!
For those who have experienced pregnancy or motherhood already, you also have my utmost respect and admiration! Women are remarkably strong and it’s crazy to see how our bodies naturally transform throughout this process of bringing new life into the world. While I wouldn’t say I have had a terrible pregnancy thus far, I have had my moments where I have felt very much over it. Can this baby come already? Emotionally, I also get pangs of fear about what the future holds and how I will adapt once the baby is here. It is so exciting but also scary. I saw an interview with Rihanna recently where a reporter asked her about how she was managing getting back to her “old self” after having two kids. In her typical manner, she replied saying there was no going back - only a sense of new normalcy going forward. Some days for her, just getting dressed and out of the house was an accomplishment and enough to feel good about. Coming from a queen like RIHANNA, that was pretty powerful to hear.
And to end on a positive note, when we have our ultrasound appointments and we get to see the baby, those fears do melt away. The maternal instinct and unconditional love kick in, so anyone else having little trepidations about the idea of starting family, just know that those good feelings are very much part of everything too.

If you got this far in this lengthy blog post, thank you again for reading! I will keep you posted on how the latter half of all of this goes and do my best to sprinkle some SL surprises in as well.

Cheers to warmer and sunnier days ahead!

Laura

A Postcard from Winter

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