All in Motherhood

Educate a Girl, Empower a Nation || Jewelry for Education with Bird + Stone

Educate a Girl, Empower a Nation || Jewelry for Education with Bird + Stone

Olivia Youngs
Slow Fashion, Motherhood

Evie, my oldest, is on the cusp of a new adventure: preschool. Since we moved at the beginning of the school year, she'll likely wait until Winter to start officially, as her mama, I'm a bundle of mixed emotions about it.

I'm excited for the new friends she'll meet. Will she get in time-out for forgetting to include everyone and playing only with her "best friend" as I did in preschool? Or will she be the leader, simultaneously getting other kids in trouble and defending them? 

I'm excited to have a little extra freedom. Of course, Mara will still be home with me, but the thought of having even a few hours a day to work/clean/plan/sleep/eat/write without TWO kids tugging at my pant leg? It sounds pretty glorious. 

Slow Parenting || When It's Hard

Slow Parenting || When It's Hard

Olivia Youngs
Motherhood, Lifestyle, Simple Home, Slow Living

I scream "slow down" from my internal rooftops all day everyday. Part of my job involves advertising slow fashion brands. My closet is carefully curated to make getting dressed easier, eliminating decision fatigue. Our kitchen is stocked with healthy foods, meant to make feeding a family of four easier than rummaging through cupboards of unknown ingredients. But one of the most important areas of my life is often the hardest for me to live "slowly" in. 

Our recent move is my excuse for every stress in my life, both inconsequential and significant, but it's been over a month and the transition isn't getting any simpler. As we "ease into" (I like using phrases that downplay how difficult it really feels- words like "transition" make it seem neat and tidy, but when is it, really?) our new life, I'm realizing that my approach to parenting lately has been anything but slow. 

Baabuk || Coziness For The Whole Family

Baabuk || Coziness For The Whole Family

Olivia Youngs
Slow Fashion, Simple Home, Motherhood, Slow Living

Home has always been a bit of a fluid concept for me, especially after "settling down" and having two little kiddos. AJ and I have moved around quite a bit and the sense of continual fluctuation can be hard to handle, especially as a self-dubbed "home-body". How am I to create a sweet, welcoming, stable home for my family if our sense of home is never set in stone, changing from year to year or sooner? 

As trite as it may sound, I've learned that, more often than not, home is less of a place and more of a state of heart. Our physical homes may change often, and the space may not be ideal, but when you surround yourself with the people you can't live without and the things that make your heart smile, then, I think, you've built a home. 

Plaine Products || Zero Waste Products for the Whole Family

Plaine Products || Zero Waste Products for the Whole Family

Olivia Youngs
Simple Home, Motherhood, Slow Fashion, Slow Living

I've been on my trek towards a more natural, healthy, ethical lifestyle for several years now and when it comes to my hair, I've learned to be picky. I've tried almost every "natural" method for taking care of your hair on the market. Shampoo bars? Yep. Sulfate/paraben/chemical-free? Of course. The "no-poo method" where you let your hair "adjust" to it's natural oils and then cleanse it with baking soda and apple cider vinegar, like, once a month? Oh yes. 

I've been feeling a bit burn out on the whole "healthy hair" thing and wasn't sure there was an actual product on the market that I felt good about. When I said I was picky, I meant it. I wanted all-natural ingredients that would actually help my color treated hair, not damage it. I wanted recycle-packaging that wouldn't end up in a landfill. I wanted to not smell like I walked out of a perfume shop. 

My Motherhood Essentials Simplified || With MATTER Prints

My Motherhood Essentials Simplified || With MATTER Prints

Olivia Youngs
Motherhood, Slow Fashion

Motherhood is rarely simple. In fact, in my experience, it's usually the opposite. 

Whether you're sorting through "must have" lists during your first pregnancy, unsure of what you really need and what you can go without, or are dealing with piles of gifted toys from well-wishing relatives for your little's birthdays, raising kids comes with a lot of stuff. Most of which, isn't really essential. 

I've talked many times about how becoming a mom at the young age of 20 was what catapulted me into my love for slow living. Downsizing, living with less, and going through the mundane everyday as intentionally as possible usually feels like it opposes the "natural" flow of stereotypical motherhood. 

Let's Chat about Birth Control || Part Two

Let's Chat about Birth Control || Part Two

Olivia Youngs
Motherhood, Slow Living

I'm a fan of talking about the taboo, the deep, and the pushed aside topics here on SL&Co. More often than not, those topics take the form of the fashion industry, ethics, and living with less, but today, I want to chat about birth control. For the second time.

Although *thankfully* the topic of fertility and birth control is getting more and more mainstream attention in recent years, I think most women still feel a lot of pressure when it comes to taking "the pill" and either aren't aware of or don't feel comfortable considering the other options available to them.

In my first post on the topic a few months ago, I shared about how at 22 years old, I went on a birth control pill (a progesterone only pill, since I was breastfeeding at the time,) for the first time in my life. I shared about the side effects of that supposedly "mild" version of the pill and how for the entirety of my time taking it I had a feeling that something was "off" with my body, mood, and hormones.

Load More