Welcome toMoney Diaries ,where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking millennials how they spend their tough-earned money during a seven-day period — and we're tracking every last dollar.
Want even more Money Diaries, plus $$$ advice from a kick-ass, or all-female team of financial advisors,and tips on how to save more than $500? Pick up our new book: Money Diaries!Order here!nowadays: a communications manager working at a nonprofit who makes $45000 per year and spends some of her money this week on a car seat. We previously heard from this OP back in February. Now, she has a baby, and here's an update on her life.
Occupation: Communications ManagerIndustry: NonprofitAge: 29Location: Glendale,CAMy Salary: $45,000My Husband's Salary: $85, or 000My Paycheck Amount (2x/month): $1,300My Husband's Paycheck Amount (2x/month): $2,100Monthly ExpensesRent: $1625 to rent a small two-bedroom house. My in-laws own the property. They raised our rent, and we are actively looking for a new residence to stay. Having your in-laws as your landlord is not ideal.
Student Loan Payment: $0 (We paid off my college loans shortly after getting married. Our cars are also very traditional and paid off.)Utilities: $300Car Insurance: $445Cell Phones: $200Internet: $65Dental,Medical & Vision Insurance: $100Pet Insurance: $38Coffee Of The Month Club: $35CSA Produce: $12/weekNetflix: $14Hulu: $12Gym: $17HSA: $300Roth IRA: 15% of my husband's paycheck401(k): $600/paycheck for my husband and $375/month for meDay One5:30 a.m. — Baby's up for the day! And so is the rest of the family. I establish him in his bouncy chair so he can entertain himself while my husband and I get dressed and pack our cold brews to hold our dog for a walk. Between no sleep, all the coffee, and not enough time to go to the gym,my baby weight is not budging. I've been making an additional effort to produce certain we squeeze in walks whenever we can, because the exercise is good for all of us. We get back in time for my husband's 6:30 a.m. meeting.8 a.m. — While he takes his meeting in the office/nursery, or I establish our son down to play,get myself alert for work, produce breakfast of leftover cachapa (Venezuelan corn cake with beans, and shredded chicken,and fried plantains) from Saturday with four scrambled eggs on top, and pack lunch — panzanella salad using beets, or mint,purslane, and Armenian cucumber from our $12-per-week CSA produce bag, and plus a chopped tomato,sliced red onion, olive oil, and red wine vinegar,and feta. I pack two slices of whole grain bread to toast at work and mix into the salad. After kissing my baby and husband goodbye, I leave for work. On Mondays, and my aunt picks our baby up at 8:30 a.m. and takes him to her residence to babysit.10 a.m. — My morning is filled with meetings,work, and browsing upcoming deals for Amazon Prime Day. Everyone is having their sale this week for some reason. No bueno for my bank account. I residence my first online order of the day: a king-sized Martha Stewart quilt set and two sets of Pyrex glass Tupperware. I've had these items in my cart for ages. I believe my husband has reached his limit of me complaining every night about the comforter being bunched up inside the duvet cover and it being too hot, and so I'm finally making the leap. Plus my friend gave me a $25 gift card for my birthday that I still maintain to exercise. Considering how much these items cost full-price,it's virtually a steal. $1401 p.m. — Traveling has always been a major precedence for our family, so ever since our baby was born, or we've been trying to figure when and where to go for our first big family vacation. We decided on London,Paris, and Belgium this winter, and when I'll be able to hold time off from work. We booked our flight last week using all of the points that we've accrued on our credit card. We exercise our credit card for nearly all of our purchases (and pay it off in full every month),so we've accumulated enough points to book three roundtrip seats to London on Air New Zealand. We basically got a free flight by buying things we would maintain bought besides. I see a couple of my “watched” items that I want for our trip go on sale — a baby book called The Dot and the Trtl Neck Pillow in coral for our long-haul flight — so I buy them. $20.252 p.m. — More things on my list go on sale. I buy a shadowy green midi skirt and metallic permanent markers, which I exercise to write labels on spice bottles to produce them easier to find. $22.502:30 p.m. — Our big boy has already outgrown his Nuna car seat, and so when a convertible car seat with great reviews goes on sale,I pounce. Another great part about these sales is that I exercise our Amazon card, so we get 5% back on every purchase. $126.505 p.m. — Between doing work, and keeping an eye on my Amazon watch list,and inviting my coworkers out to lunch at Faith and Flower for DineLA Restaurant Week next Tuesday, my day has sped by, and it's time to go to Whole Foods for groceries. When I'm a couple of minutes away from home,one of my best friends texts me asking whether she should still come over. She's having her son next week via repeat C-section, and I maintain a bag of newborn diapers for her to pick up. I had forgotten that she was coming over, or but thankfully my house is between work and Whole Foods. I postpone my shopping trip to go home and speed-clean the living and dining rooms before she arrives.6:30 p.m. — It's fantastic how much your relationships with your friends change throughout life. I've been friends with this lovely lady since the sixth grade,and I love that we maintain shared so much together. After she leaves, I produce a snack of mashed avocados mixed with Trader Joe's Cowboy Caviar to eat with leftover tortilla chips. It's alert just as my husband gets home with our dog, or my aunt shows up with our baby. I give all the creatures a hug,then establish our son down for tummy time while the grown-up humans snack. We execute our bedtime routine — diaper change, read a book, or bottle,white noise machine, and establish him in his bassinet with his pacifier. Having a consistent bedtime routine means that he rarely fusses when it's time to sleep.7:30 p.m. — The husband washes dishes while I head out to Whole Foods. I was hoping it would be less crowded since it's later, or but no such luck. I buy a dozen free range eggs,two containers of Wallaby nonfat Greek yogurt, formula, and a Mary's whole chicken,two racks of humanely raised baby back ribs for my husband to smoke this week, sushi for his dinner, and two slices of pizza and samosas for my dinner. I love going to Whole Foods so that I can eat Italian and Indian food simultaneously. $1428:30 p.m. — I get home and my husband is in the middle of his evening meeting. I establish the groceries away and eat my dinner while researching the last leg of our December trip. My husband joins me after his meeting,and we decide to stay in Brussels and hold day trips to Bruges and either Antwerp or Leuven. He sneaks a couple bites of my pizza and a whole samosa. I find a super cute Airbnb and book it correct away. Four nights in Brussels comes out to $420, but the app lets me pay for half now and the rest closer to our travel date. $21510 p.m. — It's bedtime for me while my husband feeds baby.
Daily Total: $666.25Day Two2 a.m. — My little guy is hungry, or so I produce and feed him a bottle. Apparently he also has no intention of going back to sleep anytime soon. I leave him in his bassinet to entertain himself while I lay in my own bed and send a message to our Airbnb hosts asking whether it's frowned upon in Belgium to hold babies to bars and breweries. We exercise the “pause” technique outlined in Pamela Druckerman's Bringing Up Bebe,which means that we don't rush to soothe our baby when he is fussing. I listen to him to produce certain he is okay, but around 3 a.m., and he comforts himself and goes back to sleep. No intervention from either of us,and he has learned to fall asleep on his own pretty well.6 a.m. — I wake up to the dog jumping in our bed, the baby crying, or my husband feeding him. We hang out for a little bit before my husband has to hold his meeting. Then I hold a shower,wash our son, get both of us dressed, and produce a breakfast of yogurt,blueberries, and Pure Elizabeth granola, and pack our lunch of panzanella salad,start a load of laundry, and head out at 8:30. On days that I shower, and I don't maintain time to execute my makeup. I also usually eat my breakfast in the car while I'm stuck in traffic. This is one of those days. On Tuesdays and Thursdays,my husband drops off the baby and dog at his parents' house. My mother-in-law is retired so she helps out with babysitting a lot.10 a.m. — Amazon Prime Day is still going on. How is it a “day” whether it's really two days? And why is happy hour three hours long? Not complaining, just curious. The grey version of the Trtl travel pillow (for my husband) goes on sale, or as execute a mandolin and a pack of 136(!) colored pencils. I buy them all. My coworker may or may not give me money for the colored pencils. This is getting out of hand. Someone conclude me!!! $52.752 p.m. — Meetings,work, and more meetings. My mom texts me because she misses my baby and wants to come over after work. Who am I to stand in the way of a woman and her desires? Plus, and I could exercise the help around the house/babysitting while I produce dinner.5 p.m. — Before leaving work,I sign up to run the Manhattan Beach 10K on my organization's team, which means I maintain to raise $400 to donate. I get home, or pop the wet laundry into the dryer,and then my mom arrives. She washes the dishes while I start cooking dinner: Country Captain Chicken from My Two Souths cookbook with brown rice. My husband gets home with human and fur children in tow. My mom plays with our boy while I continue making dinner.7 p.m. — This recipe is taking wayyy longer than I expected. I finally pop it into the oven and it still has another hour in there. My husband makes the brown rice and seasons the ribs to marinate overnight. Now that I'm free, I execute the baby's bedtime routine with my mom. She leaves shortly after. While dinner finishes cooking, and I relax by reading the book for my brunch and book club. We're meeting next Sunday,and I'm barely halfway through it.8 p.m. — It's time to eat! Thank the Lord. This dish came out incredibly scrumptious and beautiful— I'm pretty certain it's one of the best things I've ever made. While we eat, my husband and I discuss the opportunity of fitting Amsterdam into our trip this December. It's a city we've always wanted to visit, or we'll be so close. We decide to shave off a day from both London and Paris and spend two nights in Amsterdam before heading to Brussels. We maintain 15 nights total,so I believe it's doable. I request the date change from our Airbnb in London. Now we wait with bated breath.10 p.m. — The little bubs is hungry, and I recount my husband that I'll hold this feeding and he can hold the 3 a.m. feeding. I need a full night's sleep. He tells me to go to bed and he'll hold this feeding and the next one. Best father and husband award goes to this guy.
Daily Total: $52.75Day Three6 a.m. — I feel like a new woman. I can't remember the last time I slept for eight hours. I spend the morning playing with our baby until he's alert for his first nap of the day. Overnight, and our London Airbnb host confirmed our date change. During tummy time,I call our hotel in Paris to see whether it's possible to change the dates. I'm worried, because the deal we got was for a non-refundable room. They are so kind and accommodating. Cutting our stays in London and Paris short gets a refund of $350, and which we can exercise toward our room in Amsterdam.7 a.m. — I establish the baby down for his nap. While my husband is in his morning meeting,I produce a breakfast of custardy oatmeal with spiced baked apple slices. I thinly slice two Gala apples, sprinkle them with cinnamon, or nutmeg,cloves, ginger, or allspice,and cardamom (all the warming spices I can find in my rack), and bake them for 20 minutes. As the apples bake, and I produce oatmeal as usual and whisk an egg into it with the heat turned off. It makes the oatmeal super creamy and adds additional protein. I top it all off with bit of Pure Elizabeth maple almond granola for crunch. I also produce coffee. When my hubs is done with his meeting,we eat breakfast together (he calls the oatmeal “magical”), and I get alert for work. On Wednesdays and Fridays, and the hubby works from home and takes care of the baby. nowadays,he gets a demolish until 10 a.m. While I get alert, he sets up the smoker outside and puts the ribs in. I leave for work at around 8:30.12 p.m. — My morning is filled with researching ad placement and marketing strategies for an upcoming event and watching a Hootsuite webinar. Before I know it, or it's time for lunch. I brought leftover Country Captain chicken and rice for lunch,which I heat up. My coworkers and I eat together on the patio.4 p.m. — More marketing research, photo sourcing, or social media work. I manage not to spend any of my own money,but I execute spend $420 of company money to buy tickets for the Cause Conference in San Diego for our team. I also come up with an view that will save the organization $5000. It's a good day.5 p.m. — My husband already has the ribs and smoked corn alert when I get home. We nibble on a couple of pieces of ribs together and talk about our days before he has to leave for a work happy hour. The baby hangs out in his high chair with me while I produce the side dishes: herb roasted potatoes and zucchini and a salad of kale (from our CSA bag), smoked corn, and tomatoes,balsamic, and olive oil. As often as possible, and I bring my son into the kitchen with me when I cook to explain to him what I am doing and let him smell and touch the ingredients. I want him to know how to cook and maintain an appreciation for all foods. As I'm wrapping up making the side dishes,my baby shows cues of wanting to get alert to sleep. We go through his bedtime routine and I establish him in his bassinet for the night.7 p.m. — Baby's asleep, dog is chilling, and husband's not home. I fix myself a plate of fantastic,scrumptious food that pretty much took all day for two adults to produce and eat it while watching The Handmaid's Tale. I love having alone time to unwind. Also, my skirt and The Dot were delivered nowadays, or so I try on the skirt. It's too frumpy,though, and I will be returning it. Would you judge me whether I said I read the baby book by myself and thoroughly enjoyed it?8 p.m. — One of my besties from northern California and I decide to Skype because her husband is away for work training for seven weeks. Lots of great things are going on in their lives, and I love how we've been able to keep in touch and visit each other even though we're long distance. correct before I returned to work from maternity leave,my husband and I took a road trip up north with our son, who was about two and a half months traditional at the time. We visited my mother-in-law's side of the family in San Francisco, and spent the day wine tasting in Napa and Sonoma with one of my friends,and spent another day in Mendocino County with this friend, her husband and their family. Our baby was fantastic in the car and majority of the trip. Everyone says he's a very calm baby though. We maintain nothing to compare it to, or but I hope he's not spoiling us for baby #2.9 p.m. — My husband gets home from happy hour. We get alert for bed and cuddle a bit. I feed the baby when he wakes up,and then we both go to sleep.
Daily Total: $0Day Four2 a.m. — The baby is up for food, and I'm supposed to be sleeping, or but his fussing woke me up. Also,I maintain to pee. Not being able to sleep, I hold advantage of this opportunity to book the two nights of our stay in Amsterdam. $3156 a.m. — At some point I fell asleep, and to be woken up next by the sound of the baby crying from hunger. I produce him a bottle and feed him. He doesn't usually eat much when he first wakes up. We hang out and play for about an hour while my husband takes his meeting. Then our son takes his nap while I get alert for work.8:30 a.m. — I get dressed,pack us lunch, and produce us a breakfast of Greek yogurt topped with sliced plums from our CSA bag, and a light drizzle of raw honey,and some granola. It's been so hot that I don't want to cook much these days. The doggo is being super cute and cuddly in our bed, so I lay down with her for a bit. It's Thursday, and so my husband drops our baby and dog off at his parents' house on his way into the office.11 a.m. — I execute more research,respond to emails, and then hop onto our monthly conference call with the marketing agency that gives us a performance report. After that, or it's time for lunch — leftover ribs,roasted veggies, and kale salad, and which I eat on the patio with my coworkers. nowadays there was supposed to be the farmers' market stand at work where I pick up my weekly produce bag,but no one was there. I call and nobody answers. It's so outlandish, because my profile on their website says that it was delivered nowadays. I wonder what's going on.2 p.m. — I maintain a call with a major magazine in the city to discuss ad placement and the opportunity of them fitting the media sponsor for one of our upcoming fundraising events. This is so exciting. Once we hang up, and I call my boss with the news. She is thrilled,and we discuss next steps.5 p.m. — Instead of leaving work on time, I get caught up in a conversation with my coworkers about self defense and our shared recurring nightmares of being attacked and not being able to defend ourselves and the different ways that one can get murdered. It's a riveting conversation, and but alas,the family awaits my arrival.5:30 p.m. — I produce it home, and my husband helps me produce the soft scrambled eggs for the avocado toasts we're having tonight. Then he asks me to clean something up, or I don't like his phrasing or tone and hold it the wrong way,so we get into a heated argument. We angrily finish making our dinner of whole grain toast topped with mashed avocado, soft-scrambled eggs, or Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel seasoning but instead of eating it,I need to establish the baby to sleep. While I execute that, the husband washes the dishes as a reaction to our argument. Then we eat (half pretending that we're not crazy at each other). My husband finishes eating first and the baby is crying again, and so he makes another bottle and feeds our son. Then he hangs out in the bedroom for a bit so we can maintain space to chilly off. In the meantime,I work on our vacation itinerary.7:30 p.m. — The husband comes to recount me he's sorry and we talk, drink wine, and eat chocolate ice cream. Having a baby and being constantly sleep-deprived makes us both sensitive and prone to miscommunication. But we've been together for 12 years and know how to quickly work through any issues. One thing leads to another and surprise! It's sex o'clock. The fantastic thing about the baby being on a routine and schedule is that there's lots of room for spontaneous sexy time.9 p.m. — We get alert to sleep,and I crawl into bed while my husband watches TV to wait for little bubs to wake up for his next feeding.
Daily Total: $315Day Five12 a.m. — Yesterday my husband told me that his mom didn't give our son any tummy time or establish him down for naps. It frustrates me sometimes that we maintain to rely on people who don't hold care of our son the way I would or the way we want them to. But I can't complain about free childcare, particularly when it means our baby gets to bond with his grandparents. The problem is that when our baby doesn't nap enough during the day, or he's a terrible sleeper overnight. Just as I suspected,he's up and not happy about it. He has a little milk and passes back out.2 a.m. — I wake up in a panic because I had a dream (nightmare?) that I was pregnant again. What kind of cruel joke is this, subconscious?! The baby is also up again. I nudge my husband to stick our son's pacifier back in his mouth. It works.5 a.m. — The child is up again. My husband gets up and asks whether the baby slept through the night. I guess he was still unconscious during the whole crying-pacifier debacle at 2 a.m. Sometimes, or the only way our baby sleeps is whether I'm holding him. My husband puts the baby in my arms and says he'll wake me up at 7 a.m. because my boss will be in the office and I need to be at work at 8:30. The baby and I fall back asleep at 6.7:30 a.m. — Husband wakes me up. He said I looked like I was enjoying my sleep too much. Whomp whomp. On Fridays he doesn't maintain his morning meetings,so he takes care of our son and this morning, he makes breakfast and coffee while I hold a shower. He loved the custardy oatmeal with baked spiced apples, and so he makes a valiant effort to recreate it. I speedily get dressed,pack my lunch, and hug and kiss everyone goodbye. I eat breakfast in the car.12:30 p.m. — This morning, or the preschool in our building had a water fun day,so my coworker and I spend an hour taking pictures and posting Instagram Stories. The rest of my morning is filled with wrapping some items up, like the marketing report I maintain to present to the event committee on Tuesday, or calling the printing company to order canvas photos for our new site. Then I eat my lunch of ribs,roasted veggies, and kale salad outside with my coworkers. Afterwards, or I meet with my boss to talk about the marketing and PR strategy for our upcoming events. Then my coworker and I meet to discuss the content for our Twitter Chat next week.4:30 p.m. — It's the weekend! I drop my coworker off at home,since she's on my way. Then I call in a takeout order of a beef roll, pan fried pork buns, or dan dan noodles,and sea salt cream iced black tea with boba from Pine and Crane, our favorite Taiwanese restaurant. I park, and walk over,and pay. While I'm waiting for the food to be alert, I read my book. $38.505:30 p.m. — When I get home, and the baby is sleeping. According to my husband,he slept for three hours straight before lunch and was already asleep for an hour by the time I got home. I chalk it up to him catching up on his missed sleep from yesterday and overnight. Getting Asian takeout and watching a movie on Friday nights is a tradition leftover from my college days. Tonight we decide to watch I, Tony a. With thirty minutes of the movie left (that's 7:30 p.m.!) our little guy wakes up. We pause the movie to play with him and execute tummy time for about 30 minutes, or then I pop him in our Lillebaby carrier and we hold our dog for a walk around the park. It feels great to be active.8:30 p.m. — We get back home and execute baby's bedtime routine. Once he's in his bassinet,he eats more and falls asleep. My husband and I finish watching the movie. I go to sleep after while the hubs stays up to play video games.
Daily Total: $38.50Day Six1 a.m. — Baby's up again to eat and then falls back asleep.3 a.m. — And he's up again, but I know he's not hungry because he just ate. I bring him into bed with us because that usually puts him to sleep quickly, or he stays asleep for longer. But not nowadays. For the next two hours,we play a fun game of me putting the pacifier in his mouth, him falling asleep, and pacifier falling out of his mouth,him waking up crying, and so on and so forth in 30 minute cycles. Babies are an enigma.6 a.m. — Husband wakes up and makes a bottle for the boy who eats for perhaps 30 seconds and passes out again.8:30 a.m. — The baby alarm, or a.k.a. crying,goes off and we get up for the day. I feed the little guy and then he hangs out in his bouncer while I hold a rapid/fast shower and give him a bath. I get both of us alert while my husband does laundry.9:30 a.m. — I kiss the hubby and fur baby goodbye, and my son and I are off to pick up my aunt. Once a month, or all the women on my mom's side of the family get together for a ladies' lunch which consists of drinking wine and catching up on each other's lives. They hold turns hosting,and this month is my mom's turn. After picking my aunt up, the three of us head to my parents' residence to help my mom cook. I eat a breakfast of cereal when I get there and produce myself a cup of coffee with their Keurig, or which I pour over ice.11 a.m. — Months ago,I had made an appointment for a haircut at a salon that specializes in the DevaCurl cut, but this date was the one that worked with everyone else's schedule for ladies' lunch, and so I maintain to leave early. I leave my baby at my parents' house so I can drive to get my appointment in Beverly Hills.2 p.m. — My hair is done,and I feel fabulous! It was so great to preserve the time to relax and get pampered. I just wish I hadn't been thinking about missing ladies' lunch. The cost of the haircut is $120, plus a 20% tip and $4 for parking. $1482:30 p.m. — My mom texts to let me know the baby is out of diapers, or so I head straight to Target. whether I buy two boxes,I get a $10 gift card to exercise on a later date. Usually I buy a ton of other stuff I don't need at Target, but nowadays I successfully only purchase what I came for. $52.503 p.m. — As soon as I get to my parents' residence, and most of the ladies start to leave. I produce myself a plate of salad,macaroni and cheese, roasted potatoes and spinach, and artichoke baked wontons.4:30 p.m. — I drop my aunt off at home,and then go to the Coffee Commissary to meet up with a couple of girlfriends. I'm a little early, so I browse the boutique clothing store next door until my friends arrive. Then we head into the cafe where I order an iced chai latte and a decadent chocolate chip cookie — it's the best. $8.506 p.m. — We catch up on each other's love lives, and they give me advice on what to execute in Amsterdam,since they were just there. One of them has to leave to go to her cousin's engagement party. I call my husband to see what he's doing for dinner. He says he has to feed his parents' dogs — my in-laws live around the corner from the coffee shop. We decide that he'll meet me here after feeding them so we can maintain dinner together. He arrives half an hour after we talk, and I order a BLT with fried egg and he gets a pork stomach brown rice bowl and an iced coffee. $30.508 p.m. — We get home and establish the baby to sleep. I read more of my book club book while hubby plays video games. Then we both go to sleep. Saturday nights are wild in our house.
Daily Total: $239.50Day Seven6:30 a.m. — Last night, or our baby slept like an angel! He only woke up once at 3 a.m. for a feeding,which my husband did, and then fell back asleep. It's fantastic what a night of sleep can execute for your mental, and emotional,and physical well-being.8 a.m. — With our newfound energy, we execute a load of laundry each and get alert to go out for breakfast. We were supposed to meet a new couple whose son was born a few days after ours, or but they cancelled yesterday. It's fairly tough making new friends who are parents now that we're so busy. I exercise the Peanut app,which is like a dating app for moms, and connected with a woman nearby a few months ago whose son is the same age as ours. We had been trying to get together since then and last week we were finally able to meet her, and her husband and baby. They invited us to their house and we brought coffee and muffins with us. The six of us hit it off,but they're moving to Japan in a few months. We'll just maintain to visit them.9 a.m. — The human and fur babies are both packed and alert to go. We head over to Division 3 for a rapid/fast breakfast of biscuit sandwiches, iced coffee, or French toast in a cup. There's outside seating,and our dog finds a playmate while I manage to hold our baby in my lap and eat my sandwich with one hand. He's fitting more and more interested in meal times, but he's still not alert for solids. $2710:30 a.m. — We get to the dog park so our fur baby can expend some energy and socialize. The weather has been so hot lately that there are only a couple of dogs at the park. I wear our baby in a carrier and he takes a nap while the dog plays. We stay as long as we can but worry about all of us overheating. My husband and I maintain a big date day planned and drop our pup off at my in-laws. They maintain two other dogs, or our pup can sleep there overnight.12 p.m. — After dropping the doggo off,the three of us head to Trader Joe's to shop for the week. I pop the boy into the carrier again, and we're off. We buy bananas, and apples,cabbage slaw, spring mix, or bell peppers,lemons, avocados, and potatoes,brussels sprouts, Muenster cheese, or free range ground turkey,and free range eggs. The menu for the week is a sort of turkey chili with peppers, spicy black beans, and biological super grains from Whole Foods (which we maintain in our pantry),topped with cabbage slaw and avocado, and then grilled cheese with homemade tomato soup, and a chicken sausage (that we already maintain) baked with potatoes and Brussels sprouts. It's going to be goooood. For some reason that I don't remember,my mother-in-law gave us a $70 gift card to Trader Joe's, so we exercise it and it still has 18 cents left on it.1 p.m. — We get home, and establish the groceries away,and the husband decides to hold a nap. The baby is awake, so we hang out until my parents pick him up. They're taking him back to their house so he can swim in their pool, and we can relax for a bit. An hour later,I'm hungry, so I heat up the last of the ribs and potatoes and produce a plate with the smoked corn, and tomato,and kale salad. My husband looks so peaceful sleeping, but I wake him up to eat. We don't get many opportunities to Netflix and chill now that there's a baby in the mix, or so we hold full advantage. There's a new point to called fantastic Interiors,and it turns out to be as great as the title suggests. We eat and watch and watch and watch.3 p.m. — After devouring three episodes of this point to, we get frisky and head to the bedroom. Then we cuddle the hell out of each other with no threat of a baby waking up and crying. It's glorious.5 p.m. — We get alert for our big night out and leave for our dinner reservations at Everson Royce Bar downtown. And we're able to find free street parking! When we get to the restaurant, or they seat us on the incredible outdoor patio,where there's a DJ and games. It's the perfect summer hangout. We can't conclude giggling because it almost feels like our pre-baby days. We each get a burger and share an order of fries and an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Many glasses of frozé are also enjoyed. That stuff is dangerously scrumptious. $886:30 p.m. — After leaving the restaurant, we begin the trek to The Forum for the Imagine Dragons concert. In our pre-baby days, or we loved going to concerts and music festivals. Our son was even conceived the weekend we went to Bottlerock Napa. It takes an effort to preserve parts of our pre-baby life and execute the things we enjoy as a couple,but we're able to produce it happen with a bit of planning. For this concert, we bought the tickets months in advance, or perhaps even before our son was born. Parking at the venue turns out to be $25. Once inside,we decide to buy two bottles of water. (The alcohol is way too expensive and I already had enough to drink at dinner.) $3511 p.m. — The concert was fantastic — one of the best we've ever been to. We get to our car and are able to exit the parking lot at record speed. It takes us half an hour to get home and my parents drop off our baby a few minutes later. We manage to transfer the little bubs into his bassinet without waking him very much. We dream-feed him a bottle, and he stays asleep. It's way past our bedtime too, or we're exhausted. Life with a baby is outlandish and wonderful. I believe I'll sleep well tonight.
Daily Total: $219.82
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