How to Celebrate Mother's Day at Home

This spring is starting to shape up way differently than most. While this time is typically for getting outside, taking walks or hikes, and playing at the park, many of us find ourselves at home, following the current pandemic guidelines. 

For us, Mother’s Day usually has the following components: FOOD, FAMILY, and SOMETHING NICE FOR JESS.

Here’s how those categories will change this year.

FOOD

Mid-may is usually when we decide to start incorporating grilling into our weekly meals. I am planning to use this Mother’s Day to try some unique, healthy, and family-friendly recipes on the grill. Here are some of my top picks - and I’m also a BIG supporter of ordering food from your local restaurants! Makes life a lot easier for you and helps support small businesses right now. 

• Pizza - you simply haven’t lived until you have grilled a pizza. It’s so, so, good!

• Grilled Cauliflower “Steak” - vertically cut your cauliflower head in “steak” shaped pieces, top with your favorite steak sauce and grill!

• Grill ALL your veggies! Trust me, they taste SO much better with a little char on them!

• Skewers - these are my favorite (and get the kids to try something new, too) because I can load them up with protein or veggies and it looks...fun? I really can’t explain it, but it’s new and different!

What’s your favorite place to order from if you do takeout? I’ll likely also order from Red Lobster; I worked there for SIX years throughout high school and college and I’m still dreaming of their shrimp scampi ;-D

FAMILY

In lieu of going to my parents’ house for a get-together, we will be keeping the kids occupied at home. We love to find new activities that will get everyone involved!  When we have a new baby in the house, we find ourselves dividing and conquering for a few months and I just really love when we are all together. Now that Graham is ONE, it’s a lot easier for us all to be doing the same thing, together. Some ideas of what we have done include:

• Scavenger Hunt - make teams between your family (this makes it easier for the youngest ones), compile a list of things to find around the house (or in your yard) and make it a competition for a prize that everyone would love (for us, that’s usually candy)

• Planning for later - one thing my girls love to do is BE HELPERS. Carmen likes to go on my phone or computer to find activities that they can do with me, so you can use some time to plan out some of the crafts, activities, and food for Mother’s Day weekend and the week ahead.

Here’s what I WANT to do if the weather is nice!!

Have a tea party on our back patio!

How fun to have daddy and Graham prepare tea and snacks for Carmen, Perry and me? If I was planning this (hint hint) I would decorate the back patio table with some flowers, have the girls dress up in fancy dresses, and enjoy some (caffeine-free for them) tea and snacks in the sunshine.

SOMETHING NICE FOR JESS

Typically, John will get me something nice out of the house - an excuse to get a mani, pedi, massage, etc. SINCE I CAN’T DO THAT - I would like to have the time to do some of these things myself. :)

Make time to actually be able to give yourself a mani and pedi

Make time to wash your hair and add a face and hair mask while you are at it. The way to do this efficiently is to apply the masks first, read or relax, and then wash everything off in the shower.

Buy yourself something nice to open up - things I would want or recommend include:

Comfortable clothes that look nice. I love shopping for “sets” from Lou and Grey or ZSupply. I feel like when you buy “sweat” items in sets, they look more polished...especially with a nice necklace…

Which brings me to beautiful, inexpensive, jewelry from Gorjana - I have a few of their longer pieces for layering with my short keepsake pieces, as well as some of their rings.

A wine subscription. I especially love Dry Farm Wines and if you use my code (jessb) you can get one of your bottles for a penny. They source all-natural wines that have less of the things that give you the dreaded hangover feeling in the morning.

Skincare - my go-to skincare brands are Franklin and Whitman (for most all things!) and Primally Pure (for deodorant that WORKS, and their Neroli Toner). I have codes for both that can help you save - 20% at FW with JESS and 10% at PP with HEALTHCOACHPHILLY. 

Lastly - CBD is really great for helping mom be present. I use it and have used it for years. My favorite brand is Equilibria because it is woman-owned, fully transparent about sourcing and production, and uses the key parts of the plant to help you find benefit from the product. ALSO, they have dosage advisors on staff, including docs and pharmacists, to help you determine how much you need. Use code jess15 to save 15%.

For most of us, Mother’s Day might be a little different this year, but that doesn’t mean new traditions can’t weave their way into your family! Have you done some awesome Mother’s Day celebrations at home in the past? Share with me some of your ideas in the comments!