I turned 36 this year. 36! That is such a big number in my mind. My brain is swirling with all the things I want to do in this next year as I sit up in bed. It’s dark and my daughter is laying asleep next to me. I’m in Madrid, Spain at the moment in a cozy guest room with two twin beds pushed together at Jaime’s grandmother’s apartment. 4 kids used to share this room! Which is wild for me to imagine… it’s as small as most European bedrooms.

We celebrated my birthday in Salamanca with our little family of 3 and it was the best thing I’ve experienced in a while.

Here’s 36 thoughts I’m jotting down in a stream of consciousness style:

1. Eat the chocolate. Always.

2. You can make it happen if you think about it differently.

3. There’s nothing wrong with your circumstances, it’s your perception.

4. Share more.

5. Take the lead. You can do it.

6. Make that photo album.

7. Sending postcards is sweet. It’s a lost art!

8. Love often. There is always a surplus of love!

9. Hard times happen. Bad days will come. Move on quickly.

10. Smother your baby with kisses as long as she’ll let you.

11. Stop being ashamed to breastfeed or bed-share. In fact, talk about it more. Other moms are struggling and need to hear about it.

12. Noemi Rosalia (my daughter) is the coolest, best creation I have made to date. Her joy is infectious.

13. Kiss more.

14. It feels good to let go of all my grudges. Liberation comes in the form of forgiveness.

15. I miss hiking the smokies.

16. Be proud of yourself and others more. It causes a ripple effect and it feels fucking fantastic.

17. Audio books are awesome. They allow me to read books while being a full time mom.

18. So are apps. They allow me to vlog and blog as a full time mom.

19. There has to be a better word for full time mom (aren’t all mothers technically always moms full time 😬) or stay at home mother (we definitely don’t just stay at home). Can someone find a new term, please? Maybe I should. See number 5. 😭😂

20. Waking up to my baby smiling and calling me Mami is one of the best things ever.

21. I just erased what I wrote because I was scared to get judged. I’m still learning to let go and be myself. But at least I’m honest… hah.

22. Re-launch embrace that girl. It was a great first book.

22. Do that podcast or substack at some point, why not?

23. It feels damn good to create without thinking of SEO, views, clicks.

24. I love long walks.

25. I love creative sprints.

26. My journals are my treasures. I thought I lost the one from this special sabbatical in Spain and it nearly broke my heart. Reminder: material things can be replaced. Notebooks are priceless. Also, people are good. Remind me to tell that story here some time 😉

27. You did it! This year, your family of 3 lived location free. You used to journal about this 10 YEARS AGO. You visualized, dreamed, wished! You’ve done a good job appreciating that. The life you are currently living was once your day dream.

28. Sing more.

29. Look at those notes with ideas and do them. They’re good.

30. You’re not old. Stop saying that.

31. Move your body more. It’s incredible.

32. In fact, you should dance more.

33. The Disney channel year. This is a memory I have of being a kid and telling my mom she was the same age as the Disney channel… back when we didn’t have 1,000 channels or no channels at all and just streaming services. I’m 3 years older than my mom was when I told her that. Wow. Time flies. Go call mom and tell her you love her.

34. This is the age when I gave birth to Noemi Rosalia Greene 💚👶🏼

35. Hug your dog more.

36. Be grateful for your life exactly as it is.

I hope you enjoyed this mental collage of late night thoughts around turning 36. 🙏🏼

Yours,

C.