ISSUE 51: the september six

I was shaking the freshly laundered duvet cover back onto our duvet when I found myself uttering Jesus under my breath while walking over to turn the volume down on my phone - 6 things for sept

The Debrief is a weeklyish newsletter - because the post life event chats are (almost) always better than the event itself. Forever honest and aesthetic driven.

Last week I posted some thoughts around the ache in my chest that is back to school as a mother of three who can never quite adequately prepare myself for the flood of melancholy that I experience when September hits, and while many of you commented how deeply you felt exactly what I felt, I got far more than I was expecting when I shared that post in my business IG account stories with the simple caption: Who else is balancing motherhood & business?

So maybe there’s something more to talk about there — I am forever being reminded that in my life it’s all intertwined where balance really just means doing it all and enjoying it as much as possible — at least right now.

The September Six

01 — Read

When I found myself done my latest kindle read in the middle of our stay at Sandbanks Provincial Park - rather than going through the tricky maneuver of trying to use my phone as a hotspot to download a new book to my kindle in a very unreliable service area, I instead found myself at one of my favourite book stores - Books & Company the next day buying a new book light, determined to read that paperback that I bought a year ago in the very same bookstore.

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson was worth the wait. It was the perfect novel to distract me from my end of summer anxieties and transported me right into a world drenched in old money, family drama and an big ornately decorated house. It made me think - which is all I really want from a book right now. Have you read it?

02 — Listen

I was shaking the freshly laundered duvet cover back onto our duvet yesterday when I found myself uttering Jesus under my breath while putting down the duvet and walking over to turn the volume down on my phone. Admittedly I’d long dismissed any notion of reading one of Emily Henry’s novels due to the corny cover art on her books. I am very much a “buy it for the cover type of reader”. But when I grew tired of listening to the depressing world of Greenwood by Michael Christie I knew I needed to do something drastic. So I searched through audible for anything that felt light and fluffy and soothing and I landed on Funny Story. What I didn’t expect was to like it - and what I didn’t expect even more was the steam. I’m not talking erotica here by any means but I am talking enough that I shot across the bedroom so that our seven year old son wouldn’t hear about anyone licking anything other than a popsicle.

10/10 would highly recommend listing to this book while you clean your house, cook dinner for your kids, drive to pick up your kids from the endless stream of dance, cheer and parkour… (and I’m only 60% of the way through).

03 — Move

I’ve almost hit my 400th workout on Obé. I tell you that not to brag (because I’ve been subscribed to the platform since the pandemic) but because I still look forward to doing almost every single workout. Yesterday I found a HIIT workout with a step and I’m still smiling about it. It was the perfect mix of cardio and brain/don’t trip on the step challenge (how I am a mother to a competitive dancer is beyond me).

04 — Plan

Life feels better with plans - something I’ve come to realize more and more. And I don’t mean what to make for dinner plans or plans that you make for your children. I mean plans for yourself.

Ben and I stopped by a flower market stand in Kemptville this afternoon (note that it was absolutely freezing and I Ben and I both wore my coat) as I’ve been craving flowers indoors and when I tapped my card to pay the woman who ran the booth asked me whether they were a gift. I told her no - that they’re for me and she replied with - good, that’s even better. And while flowers are clearly not plans — in a way they are. They are me telling myself that this is going to be a good week. That I will at a minimum have something nice to look at.

Outside of flowers I planned another trip to Maine with a friend, I planned to meet a couple of long time clients in person for a change, and I am committed to actually planning out my home office/wellness studio after mulling it over for far too long.

05 — Shop

I bought three denim skirts in the last year and finally kept one of them! The first two included a cheapie from H&M that felt like way too much skirt and a cute one from Aritzia that hurt everywhere to sit down in. While camping at Sandbanks Provincial Park we always make a stop in Wellington for the playground but also for Oak Clothing Co..

I found this Rolla’s skirt on an end of season sale (this site has more in stock) in a size up from my usual but maybe that was the missing piece to being able to sit and work in a denim skirt and not feel terrible all day. It feels like butter and I plan on wearing it year round with sneakers, boots and flats.

06 — Dream

A message pops onto my screen from my husband. It’s a real estate listing. I hear the swoosh of a link being airdropped into his phone. It’s a real estate listing. Ever since I walked through the doors of The Sheldon Manor for our stay this labor day weekend I’ve been thinking we might need a bigger house.

Maybe it’s merely a case of the Septembers, maybe it’s that my capacity to deal with the utter lack of alone time in my marriage has hit its peak in our smallish space, maybe our lives would actually be better with a little more house. Whatever it is, the front runner is this 6000sf number complete with indoor pool and 4 staircases for good measure. I mean you might think I’m joking and part of me is - I mean the price is a little full but god the possibilities!!!

Maybe I just need to redecorate something. Maybe it’s my office. Maybe it’s my downstairs bathroom. Maybe it’s my neighbour’s bathroom (which I actually will be starting this fall).

Or maybe we really need an indoor pool.

Okay 5 things I saved this week

1 | Dying over every single room in this portfolio

2| Mirrors + trim = perfection

3 | We think we want to be rich.

4 | Why do I like this so much

5 | Home office ideas

New at Ash Izsak Studio

Lots! And I’m slowly updating it over here (but website updates are coming too)!

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Thank you for reading. I used to write a lot so this feels good. — Ashley.