Welcome to the World Ella Jean Foret

On October 23rd, 2018 at 3:33 PM, I heard the most perfect sound - my baby girl letting the world hear her roar. I spent 9 months crying and waiting and hoping for that sound. I am so exhausted, I've been cut open and taken apart and sewn back together. I haven't slept in over 24 hours, my insides feel like they could fall out at any moment, her nursery isn't finished and I have a good 20 (okay, 30) pounds to lose. And this is the happiest I've ever been! My sweet Ella Jean Forêt, you are more and better and lovelier than I could have ever imagined. I love you more than life.

The Night Before I Became a Mama

We literally waited until the LAST minute to take some maternity photos. This was the night before sweet Ella Jean was born. Thanks to my little sister Alysha for snapping these photos for us. 

Our Wedding - October 5th, 2014

Celebrating 3 years of waking up next to the man who put my dreams to shame by making real life better than I could have ever imagined. 

Our 3rd year was our craziest - which says a lot since we met online and on our wedding day, I'd known you for less than 6 months. And since our first year of marriage we lived in the middle of nowhere Missouri honeymooning in the woods for 3 months - plus a weird trip to Nepal where we would truly see each other at our worst (*don't drink the water), then moved to Asheville, traveled back and forth to Hawaii almost every other month shooting weddings, started a new business and made our first home together. Since our second year of marriage, we opened a beautiful space with zero dollars, hosted a 4 day creative gathering in the mountains with people who changed my life, and you had 4 different jobs that year and landed on the one you now love. You encouraged and believed in me when I didn't know what I was doing. But our third year, that was the craziest. We started with a million dreams of growing everything we'd already created, meanwhile I was unknowingly growing our newest and most perfect creation inside of me. I remember your face when we first heard her heartbeat. I remember crying in a Mexican restaurant because the doctor told us I had an abnormal uterus which meant higher chance of miscarriage & likely wouldn't carry her full term. I cried for weeks and you let me lay in bed watching Gilmore Girls for what felt like an eternity. You took care of me when I was sick and a lot of times just because I was sad. You had enough hope and faith for both of us when I had none. You work harder than anyone I know but you never let me feel alone. You've been by my side for every doctors appointment. When you won't be home for dinner, you wake me up early and take me out for breakfast. We moved closer to my family on a bit of a whim decision and have fallen in love with our new home in Greenville. And in a few short weeks, we become a family of 3. You make every good part of life a little bit brighter, and every scary part of life seem small compared to the power we have inside of us. You are and will always be my whole world. Happy Anniversary,  babe. 

Baby Shower: It's A Girl

Blaise and I decided not to announce the gender of our baby because we wanted it to be a surprise. (But really, maybe it's because we didn't have a super cute reveal idea - where do y'all find all this colorful smoke anyways??) And from the very beginning, I said neutral colors only- NO PINK! Welllllll, I'm 35 weeks pregnant and I changed my mind! We had our baby shower this weekend and I have never loved pink so much! So, if you didn't know- now you know!

My mom and sisters overdid it on the balloons and I was pretty thrilled about. So many sweet friends and family members spoiled us with love and gifts. I could not be more thankful for the people in my life. 

Lake Jocassee at Devils Fork State Park and A Few Thoughts on Week 25 of Pregnancy

Blaise would rather sit on the couch and watch Back to The Future or anything else TBS has to offer than drive an hour to the lake when it's more than likely going to rain. This is the first time in our marriage that we’ve had cable - or a TV for that matter, so I try to give him grace. But I have a very convincing “even if it rains, I promise it will be fun” argument and after a dramatic side-eye, he conceded. 

It did rain. But only a little. And I was right, it was still fun. We took a nap in the sand, had a picnic then kayaked around Lake Jocassee. 

This was 2 weekends ago when I was 23 weeks pregnant. It was the first week I started to feel confident in my bump. I didn’t like taking photos the first 20 weeks of pregnancy because I didn’t necessary look pregnant. Up until now, I just looked like I had a really good time at brunch. (And on most days, that was probably true.) But now, there is no hiding this little miracle. 

I’m just over 25 weeks now and there is no question I am sharing my body with a little babe- about 13.5 inches long, a pound and a half. The size of a Prairie Dog, if you will. When I feel little kicks, I try to place Blaise’s hand in the perfect spot so he can feel too- this has been successful 2 out of 832 times. Every night before bed, I look at him and say “But for real, can you believe there’s like this tiny person who we’ve never even met who is just living inside my body?” And we both start laughing. Because being pregnant is actually the weirdest thing. 

Everything I read about this stage of pregnancy tells me I am hormonal and probably acting crazy. Occasionally, I’ll check in with Blaise on the matter, “So, do you think I’ve gone crazy yet?” He says no- which means either I haven’t gone crazy. OR I have most definitely gone crazy.... because who's gonna tell a crazy pregnant lady that she's crazy? It’s hard to know anything about real life when you’re pregnant. Everyone lies to you. People will see me “You look SO good”… and I’m like “Really? Because I haven’t washed my hair in 4 days and I’m pretty sure I’ve gained nearly 20 pounds since the last time you saw me.” So, what scale are we going by? I look good compared to what - back when I still wore eye liner and could walk up a flight of stairs with out taking a break? Good compared to that? Or are you just a nice person and your initial thought of “My god, I can’t believe you left the house like that” didn’t seem appropriate?

Either way, I am appreciative. My self esteem is likely built off of white lies and I am totally fine with that.

25 weeks down, 15 to go...

TRANSITION: A Little Update On Life

Transition.

I’ve decided that is the best way I can describe pregnancy: a transition.

A transition from eating saltines to throwing them up, a transition from loving avocados to hating them, from being maddeningly uncomfortable in my own clothes to giving up and buying overpriced pants with a giant elastic band around the waist, a transition from the highs of each day to the lows - and trying to settle somewhere in between.

I’ve had to give up a few things I wanted to do this year while putting others on hold. But I’m learning to give myself grace while fighting the thoughts of feeling like a bad wife, friend or business owner. Taking care of that extra heart beating inside of me is everything right now. Thankfully, I married a good man who handles life with tremendous ease… or at least he pretends to. Probably so I don’t cry. Which only works out half the time.

We're in the process of moving. I have been in full nesting mode but instead of decorating and creating a comfy home, I'm boxing and packing and cleaning the one we’ve got. The one where we built the beginning of our life together. The one that will always be a special place where it was "just the two of us”. 

I have been on a mission to go natural this year. I started with the obvious: food. January went well - I did (mostly) Whole30. Then I got pregnant and switched from “eating clean” to “eating anything I can keep down” which turned out to be hardly anything. My daily diet consisted of bagels and popcorn for about 10 weeks straight. Soooo, that was cool. 

Instead, I shifted my focus to getting toxic chemicals out of our house. I’ve been obsessed with the Think Dirty App, my essential oils, and making my own deodorant and cleaning products. We aren’t there yet but SLOWLY switching out small parts of our life for better options. This is something I've been wanting to do for a while. But this little baby growing inside my belly has given me a sense of urgency. 

I’ve unintentionally neglected this space for a while. The past two years, I've been pouring myself into Asheville Folk (with no regrets!) But now, more than ever, documenting our life and growing family is the most important thing to me. (This is my very vague, noncommittal, non-specific way of saying I plan on blogging a lot more... Wish me luck!) 

Baby Forêt Coming in October!

First Trimester

2 Year Anniversary

I know you existed 30 years without knowing me, you have old photos and football jerseys to prove it. But some days, I still think I dreamt you up myself. You are my perfect counterpart. Happy 2 years of being the most beautiful part of my life, Baise Forêt. I will love you forever. 

Photos by: MorningWild Photography

Urban Outfitters: Dreamers + Doers with BANGS Shoes & Asheville Folk

I had such a blast hosting the Urban Outfitters Dreamers & Doers Interview series in Asheville. I interviewed the founders of BANGS SHOES, Hannah and Molly Davis. 

Photos by Savannah Devore

Aloha

Hawaii is my home away from home. I won't pretend I am special in that aspect. I think most people who have experienced the barefoot life, the wild haired days, the salty lips, the sandy skin, feel in someway that this is how we're supposed to live. 

Hawaii offers me a chance to be someone I'm not. A morning person. With the 6 hour time difference, I'm up by 5am (which is not THAT impressive considering its 11am back home) chipper and ready to explore the island, watch the sunrise- I'll even make you breakfast. It's fun being a morning person. If only for a week. 

We always use airbnb. But this trip we stayed in Waikiki. This is the most touristy part of the island - there's a Hard Rock Cafe and Forever21 if that tells you anything. But I used to live in a high rise right on the Ala Wai so it was fun for me to be in very familiar ground. You can walk out of your condo and grab coffee or an acai bowl across the street. It feels like a bustling city. Shopping bags and to-go boxes and people fighting over parking spots. But a calm and private beach is an easy 15 minute drive. The best of both worlds. 
 

Bridal Brunch with Atomic Furnishing & Design: Natural Style

I teamed up with one of my favorite artists and dearest friends, Megan Walsh, to create this Styled Bridal Brunch. Megan and her husband Todd are the owners of Atomic Furnishing & Design. They both work really hard to restore, upholster, and refinish mid-century furniture to it's original beauty. They are passionate about design and everything they touch turns to magic. 

When Megan told me they were expanding their shop and making it available for brides to rent out on their wedding day as a space to get ready or enjoy a bridal brunch, I knew it would be stunning. It's more than just a room to rent out. It is an intentionally designed space with beautiful natural light and gorgeous mid-century furniture. 

We set up 3 different styles for this shoot: Natural, Bohemian, and Modern. Today, I'm sharing the Natural - a neutral and modern palate with earth tones, natural materials and simplistic design. If you are an Asheville bride looking for a beautiful space to get ready on your wedding day, look no further! We've created packages that include everything from flowers, to hair and make-up, down to the coffee & food. Email atomicfurnishing@gmail.com for more info. 

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VENDORS: 

Venue & Styling: Atomic Furnishing & Design
Wedding Gown: Margaux from Wildflower Bridal
Home Wares: Morgan from Bomisch
Makeup: Joanna from Powder Me Pretty
Hair: Morian from Bari Salon
Florals: Flora
Baked Bread: Sarah Snyder
Models: Rebecca Snyder, Sarah Snyder, Erin Wolf, Morgan Fender

Adventures With Em

This is the Beginning

I bought this domain 13 months ago. Maybe sooner. Probably closer to the date I met Mister Forêt rather than the date we actually wed. Coincidentally, those dates are only 5 months apart so we'll just say sometime in 2014. Buying and owning christinaforet.com was my top priority after falling in love. We live in an interesting age. 

The past 13 months have been everything I never knew how to dream of. We spent our first 3 months of marriage traveling from Nepal to Hawaii to California and getting some rest in the middle of nowhere Missouri- one of our wedding gifts was an amazing honeymoon home in Marthasville, MO. We moved into our first home together in January of 2015 and we are still moving in. We have books in the office stacked against the wall 2.5 ft tall- we discovered the perfect height of a book tower that doubles as a mail holder. Life is never quite as tidy and put together as instagram would like it to be. When it almost is, we start another messy project and and then other before that one is cleaned up. 

I was away more often than I was home this year. Traveling is a luxury and I am thankful. But, home is also a luxury. Community is a luxury. So, here we are in Asheville, North Carolina. Writing, photographing, loving and learning. Always learning. This space is where I will document our days, give thanks, share ideas and most importantly where my dreams come to life.