HAPPY MOM FRIEND MONDAY Y’ALL!!!
I think Monday is starting to become my FAVORITE day of the week! I have to skip mommy group at our church this week because EM has an early morning appointment #onecarfamilyproblems – so I’m SUPER excited that we get to have some fellowship – or cybership …?! here at Shell and Olive!
This week we get to hang out with Sheena Tobin, wife, mama, blogger at Bean In Love, and DIY extraordinaire! I’m constantly showing EM instagram pics of her amazing before and afters – convinced I have the same Joanna Gaines spirit animal – friends I don’t! But man does this mama inspire me to think outside the box and see the beauty in the roughage!
Not to mention – how cute is her family?!
So grab your morning cup of survival and let’s hang out!
MB – Hey Sheena! I’m so excited to have you here at Shell and Olive for Mom Friend Monday! You have 4 of the cutest kids, an amazing blog, killer style, and are basically my DIY spirit animal! I’d love to know how you became so good at DIYing, was it something you were always good at?
Sheena – You know, my mom is really good at creating things, redoing things, you name it and my dad was a farmer with that incredible work ethic so I guess you could say you put two-and-two together and you get their offspring. 🙂 I don’t know that I’ve always been good at it; I’ve had my fair share of failed projects but I’ve been making things for as long as I can remember so I’ve got a lot of practice under my belt.
MB – Did you always have that stylistic eye, or was it something you had to work at?
Sheena – Well, I did sport some pink pleather bell bottoms in my senior pictures so, there’s that. Work-in-progress, that’s me. But really, I think my style has evolved over time. I know that trends come and go and so I can maybe justify some bad design decisions on what was trending at the time but then there are things like the awful chocolate-brown paint color I paired with the orange-y oak cabinets and trim in our first house that totally blow my cover.
MB – Who didn’t have pink pleather bell bottoms!? Ok, confession time, I did once own purple pleather pants…clearly you were in good company!
So I always attempt, and usually fail, to find the diamonds in the rough. Where is your go to place for good items to makeover?
MB – Seriously so impressed by this couch! So many people would just see a janky-ass couch and yet you saw it for the potential it had. Where do you get your DIY inspiration?
Sheena – Lots of places – Pinterest of course, magazines (West Elm and Pottery Barn are two of my faves), tv shows (I’m always looking past characters into their homes), and in stores like Hobby Lobby and Home Goods. We’re on a tight budget so traipsing through pretty magazines and stores is about all I can do these days but I love the challenge of finding something I love and then trying my hand at making something similar for much, much less.
MB – Yes, I totally have that champagne taste – I’d say on a beer budget – but let’s be real, it’s more of a tap water budget. I love how you find the style you like and then recreate it!
If you could plan your ultimate mom friend getaway where would you go and what would you do?
Sheena – Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing just reading it (I just got done putting my kids to bed after a long day solo so I guess I’m daydreaming again, haha!) The weather has been incredible down here lately, making me wish it was easy to pack up the kids and head to the beach so I guess right now I’d say a beach getaway. The waves, friends, a book, and a lounge chair, oh, and a nap or maybe a few and I’d call it a slice of heaven…until I missed my kids too much. It’s one of those vicious cycles.
MB – Oh my goodness yes! A beach trip WITHOUT kids sounds AMAZING! We live at the beach and it used to be my favorite, relaxing, summer activity, and now it’s just stressful! Sand is no longer my friend! It has become the enemy!
If you could impart some mom wisdom on our readers, what would it be?
Sheena – 1) Take lots of deep breaths. I read somewhere awhile back that deep breathing delivers more oxygen (duh, Sheena) to your body, relieving stress and elevating moods and I have never forgotten it. Whenever I start to get overwhelmed or a tantrum is about to peak, I just pause to take a deep breath (or five) and suddenly everything is alright. Okay, so maybe that’s a slight exaggeration but I do find a little bit of solace in that quick second.
2) Use the tv as a babysitter when you need a break. It’s ok. I used to say I’d never let my kids watch tv…and then I had kids.
3) Find something that you love to do and make time to do it. Motherhood, though it be great and wonderful and all those things, can also be taxing and overwhelming at times so being able to throw yourself into a project or pastime is so beneficial and refreshing and did I mention a sanity-saver? We mamas need all the sanity we can get, right? We live through our own sort of Chinese water torture with the “Mom. Mom? MOOOOMMYYY! Mooouum. Mom. Mama. Mommy?” 😉
MB – “Our own sort of Chinese water torture” – isn’t that the truth! Theo is now in the “mama…mama…mama…maaaammmaaaa” phase, and I might be losing my mind! Or it’s already lost, jury is still out. Your reminder to take a deep breath is such a simple one, yet one I feel as though many of us forget in those moments. Momming is hard!
So glad we got to spend this morning getting to know you a bit more! Thanks for joining us Sheena!
Seriously y’all, what amazing mom wisdom! We all need to slow down and pause. I was just saying this past weekend over on instagram how the boys have been driving me absolutely batty, and not knowing how to find that peace when at the point of boiling over – I think I’m going to make the “take a breath” my goal for the week. If I start to feel overwhelmed, which what mama doesn’t, I’m going to pause and just breathe, then reassess the situation. Funny enough, things are usually better once we calm down and take a step back.
Oh and disclaimer – I was TOTALLY the “my kids are never having screen time” mama, before having kids! Then I got pregnant with Theo and things changed! Do what works for you! If you are one of those screen time free mamas, rock on! If you know you need that break – take it! At the end of the day a mentally healthy mama is the most important thing for our kids. If we are stressed, they are stressed! I know so many mamas feel the guilt of “my kids watch too much tv”. And who knows, maybe in some cases they do, but in others it’s just a phase and season of life you need to get through. Currently for me, being pregnant with SPD, I just can’t keep up with chasing the boys and constantly pulling Theo down from whatever piece of furniture he’s climbing. So a movie that keeps his roadrunner butt still, is A OK with this mama! #noshame
Well, I hope y’all enjoyed meeting Sheena this week and will go follow her blog Bean In Love and her amazing Instagram page! You’ll be glad you did!
PS!!! Don’t forget to subscribe to Shell and Olive! You don’t want to miss any Mom Friend Monday’s or other fun things do you…? Like maybe a giveaway coming up soon…
So what I’m saying is subscribe … all the cool kids are doing it!
Janky-ass! Bahaha! Between cybership and that, you’re a bonified wordsmith. Love it! Thank you for having me over!! 🙂
Just call me Shakespeare! 😂 so glad to have had you!!!
That bench looks amazing! She does quite the transformations.
Love seeing what she transforms and what it started out as!