ready, set, notice: Danielle Oakey Interiors

Today we'll hear from Danielle from Danielle Oakey Interiors.  Danielle is the wife of a second year medical student, mother to an beautiful, just-turned-3 year old little girl.  She spends her days blogging on her most popular design blog, and my personal favorite, showing us how do-it-yourself projects are completely do-able. 

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I am a planner. I love lists. I plan when I clean, eat, blog, design, cook, grocery shop, get ready, exercise, and play. Weird? Definitely.

I thrive off of being busy. It seems like my “lists” always have a million to-dos on them. Maybe it’s because I like the feeling of being “needed” for purposes other than being a mom. The hard part, how do I do it all and still be a good mom? This is such a tricky balance.

Luckily this assignment came at a perfect time for me…

Last week I sat down at the computer mid-afternoon to try and get some design work done. Emory was less than thrilled. She was climbing all over me, pulling me hair, and essentially begging for attention. My frustration levels started to rise, why wouldn’t she just let me get a little bit of work done? Just when I was at my breaking point I realized, I was at fault. My sweet 2-year-old girl just wanted me to play with her.

We spent the next half-hour chasing each other through our small condo. Back and forth we ran, taking turns running and hiding. Her contagious giggle had us both almost in tears. She loved every minute of it and so did I.

This experience has been stuck in my mind since that day. Emory is one of the most important things in my life, so why doesn’t she even make my list? I can’t remember the last time I scheduled “play with Emory” time. Will I now? Absolutely.

I attended a conference a couple years ago focusing on the challenges of being a stay-at-home mom. Many of the women speaking were independent, confident, and previously very successful before retiring their careers to be stay-at-home moms. An older lady, and alumni from Harvard, directed her speech on the importance on not being too busy. She noted, a stay-at-home mom only counts if you actually stay-at-home. I think this concept applies to all areas of life. It is so important not to overbook yourself or you WILL miss out on noticing the important things in life, like a genuine afternoon laugh with the wee one!

Thanks for coming by Danielle! Don’t forget to check out her blog for today’s latest and greatest in design.  My latest fave?  this one- it's Danielle's blog perfectly summarized in 4 beautiful pictures.