What new moms really need.

Aside from a devising a showering routine that is lightning fast, and adopting a hairstyle that doesn't require styling, I have discovered two essentials that I need (and love!) since becoming a mother. Don't laugh at the second one.

A DLSR camera. It is so important to invest in a decent camera - and learn how to use it - ahead of time. For the first six months of Coco's life, we were taking pictures with our point and shoot, but way more often with our iPhones. Don't do that! iPhone photos are not quality photos when it comes to printing and archiving. Then I got a Canon Rebel and 50mm lens. I'll admit that when I first bought it, I was telling everyone I had a new camera with a 50 milliliter lens and that I had also gotten a telescopic lens. It is not a measuring cup and no good for stargazing! What I did have were 50mm and telephoto lenses. ;) All the same, I learned how to use it and now we have gorgeous, photo album worthy photos of practically every waking moment of Coco's life. So worth it!

Trashy TV. This is invaluable at the beginning when your baby only wants to sleep in your arms. The first three weeks, J and I would settle onto the couch in the evenings with Coco in my arms on the Boppy Pillow and watch episode after episode of WEEDS! Sweet family viewing, right? But, really. I actually get kind of teary eyed when I hear the Weeds theme song now. It reminds me of those tender early days as a family. It was the perfect thing while we were exhausted and housebound. Watching trashy TV, drinking nursing tea and eating tons of cookies was just so satisfying. Now that Coco is older, once she is in bed at night, all I want to do after a long day of caring for her, meals, cleaning, laundry and diapers is kick back with a glass of red wine (or sometimes water! ;) and r-e-l-a-x. Last night I finally finished Desperate Housewives. What a disappointment! But trashy and fabulous, nonetheless!

What are the unexpected essentials and guilty pleasures of your life as a mom? And what are your favorite trashy TV shows? I'm looking for a new series! ;)

(Canon photo from here. Desperate Housewives logo from here.) 

Old TV Series: thirtysomething

Have you ever seen the show thirtysomething? I remember my older sister and her friends watching it  as twenty-somethings when I was a pre-teen and thinking that thirty-something sounded so old! Now, of course, I'm an early-thirty-something and I would love to watch the show as a new mom thinking about when to go back to work. Never mind that those thirty-somethings are now sixty-somethings; the show's themes are sort of timeless. One character grapples with the choice between working and staying at home with her children. The couples have difficulties in their marriages. They ask themselves how their youth got so far away - not necessarily in terms of time, but in ideology. It sounds like the same stuff thirty-somethings think about and worry about today! 

I was just reading about the show on Wikipedia and I'm so bummed that I can't find it for streaming on Netflix or Hulu. (Streaming! Just think, in the show there aren't even any cell phones, let alone smartphones and laptops and streaming! ;) I would really love to watch it and see what's the same as a new parent, what's different and how society has changed for parents over the last few decades. Without a streaming option, I might have to get the first season on iTunes, but it's not cheap. Have you seen it? Is it worth the $35 to see the first season? What did you like or dislike about it? I would love to hear what you think before I throw down the cash! 

By the way, isn't it funny that the show originally aired on Coco's birthday in 1987?  

{photo from MGM}