Blog Name Change

Five years ago I started a blog to share a little bit of our married life with our friends and family. Even though I am an infrequent blogger at best, it has been a fun way to write down memories. Five years later, I feel like I've outgrown the name "Crispy Instant Mashed Potatoes" for a few reasons:

1) It is a ridiculous name. Well, maybe that doesn't count as a reason since I am pretty ridiculous anyway.

2) I don't make instant mashed potatoes very often anymore. 

3) Life has changed dramatically what with having kids and all, and my purposes in blogging have changed slightly.

I was telling Brad and Lauren that I wanted to start blogging more to keep track of what recipes I'm making with what changes, the books I'm reading and if I liked them, and any other successes and failures in my day to day life. Brad suggested I have a blog name that referenced the Half Blood Prince's potions book because a) he wrote down notes of what did and didn't work in his potions and b) I love Harry Potter. Obviously. Thus, the Half Baked Princess was born.

Prepare yourself for more posts on food, more posts on books, and obviously more posts about how I tend to make life a little crazier than it needs to be. But that's the best way, right?

I have a lot of blog posts in the works, like the birth story/introduction of this dude. We like him. I'm sure you will, too.

What I Learned When I Cleaned Out My Closet

I don't have a glamorous wardrobe. That's such an understatement that I chuckle as I write it. In the past several years I've had a small, nearly nonexistent clothing budget, and I've had two babies and a smattering of stressful circumstances that have made my weight bounce around like a chocolate loving kangaroo. (Pretend like that simile makes sense, please and thank you.) This means that everything in my closet either doesn't fit or is worn out. When I put away my maternity clothes and started wearing my regular clothes again a few months ago, getting dressed every morning was depressing. I look terrible. I have nothing to wear. I look so frumpy. Bah, humbug.

So I decided to throw everything away and start over.

Just kidding. I can't afford that. Instead, I put everything that had holes or a really terrible fit in a laundry basket and put it in another room for a little while. I was left with about five shirts. Five. And I love it. I went from thinking almost every day that I had to go shopping right now and buy all the things, to thinking that I should keep my eye out for some sandals and a new nursing friendly dress, but it's not an emergency. Wearing clothes that I had to constantly pull at to stay comfortable or that were incredibly not flattering was emotionally exhausting and it wasn't working for me. I have a toddler and a newborn. I have no emotional energy to spend on my closet.

This is the part where my mom asks me how often I have to do laundry. (Hi, Mom! Thanks for being the only person who reads my blog!) I do laundry about every five minutes because my baby is a never-ending fountain of spit and pee, so this really hasn't changed that. In fact, my favorite items don't get lost in the laundry anymore because there are so few things I always know where everything is. It's pretty great.

Energized by this Marie Kondo-style success in my life, I decided to clean up my time.

What is wearing me out?

Instagram, Pinterest, mindlessly surfing headlines.

What doesn't fit?

Watching a lot of Netflix, I really would rather read. Multitasking looks pretty unflattering on me, it seems to emphasize all of my problem spots (crankiness.)

Somehow cutting out a bunch of stuff has made my life feel more full. Time playing with my kids is more joyful, I'm reading more, writing more, getting more done, and most of all, I'm thinking more. I am consciously keeping my phone in my pocket when I feel a jolt of boredom, guilt, or anxiety instead of self-medicating with social media browsing. I'm trying to lean into uncomfortable feelings and examine why I feel that why.

I haven't cut out social media completely. Surfing through Instagram and reading blogs is fun and enjoyable, but only when it doesn't take over my life.  When I make time for the things that really bring me joy (reading, practicing my violin, writing, exercise), the things that suck the joy out of me (laundry, picking up the same box of blocks for the millionth time) don't seem as exhausting. What I'm trying to say is: I'm a little bit less threadbare, and my life is becoming a little bit more flattering. All I had to do was treat it like my closet.

And because every post needs a picture, a blurry picture deep from the archives of my phone (March 2016.) Amelia is way more fashionable than I am.