At TaskRabbit, we love the weekends. They may not be any less productive than hectic weekdays, but they have a different kind of pace and energy. In the Weekend Routine series, we take a look at how the people who inspire us use their weekends to find a balance between planning for the week ahead and taking a break from the daily grind.
Neely Moldovan is the first to admit that she feels like she’s failing in some part of her life at least once a day. As a mom, wife, and content creator behind the lifestyle blog It Starts with Coffee, Neely is constantly working to find balance in her life — and to help readers do the same by showing it’s okay to not do it all. See how Neely uses her weekend to get ahead, cheer on the Cowboys, and indulge in some “really terrible” reality TV.
Pizza & Reality TV. Every Friday since we’ve met, my husband, Andrew, makes pizza from scratch (sauce, too!) for dinner. After dinner, we have bath time and bedtime with our 19-month old, Liam. When he’s asleep we watch really terrible reality TV. MTV, Floribama Shore — we love it, we live for it. It’s our Friday thing.
Morning Workout. I love working out in the mornings because it makes me feel more productive during the day. Usually, I’ll do an at-home workout, barre class, or yoga class. It’s a “me” thing I take the time for, and it jumpstarts my day. I automatically feel more productive.
Gym, Grocery, Nap, Repeat. During the week my husband gets home with 30-45 minutes to spare before we start Liam’s bedtime routine, so we don’t get a ton of just family time for the three of us. My favorite part of the weekend is all the time the three of us get together without a lot of commitments.
Every Saturday morning, we take our son to his Little Gym class and all go to the grocery shopping to stock up for the week. When we come home, we all eat lunch as a family and then we get ready for naptime. We joke our favorite thing is when someone cancels plans and our weekend is just free except for grocery shopping and laundry.
Afternoon Activities. In the afternoons, we like to do something outside with the kiddo. We might go to the pool or take a walk around the neighborhood. If the weather’s bad, we hunker down and play inside.
With fall here there are a lot of events going on like the Texas State Fair or pumpkin picking at the arboretum. Every weekend is a little different during the fall since we try to do as many of the seasonal activities as we can before the cold weather hits.
Monthly Date Night. Once a month we’ll go out for a date night. It’s almost always dinner and then we’re home early because our human will wake us up early the next morning.
If we’re home, we try to unplug — no phones. We eat dinner together, unwind on the couch, have a drink, and watch a movie or binge watch a TV show.
Family & Football. We’re a big football family so right now, Sundays revolve around the Cowboys. My parents will come over to see the kiddo, play with him for an hour, and then we’ll meal prep. I try to bake muffins every weekend. I’m not a big cook but I love, love, love to bake. I find it really relaxing. I’m very Type A, so the art of following directions fits me.
Naptime Hack. When my little one is napping, usually once a day, I try to set aside some time for “balance”. The thing with balance is it looks different for everybody. For me, my husband and child come first above anything. If that means I need to stay up late to get blog work done or use his naptimes on the weekends instead of doing something more relaxing, that’s the way it’s gonna be.
Some weekends, Andrew and I will take all the blog photos we need for the next few weeks. Other weekends, I sit down and create content for a couple hours.
Turning the Page. Reading is my favorite thing outside of being a mom and wife. I set monthly goals on my blog and read four to five books a month. I read a lot of board books and children’s books, almost 100 a month!
I don’t get to read as much for myself, but I try to spend at least an hour reading during the weekend. Right now, I’m reading Ghosted by Rosie Walsh. I just finished You by Caroline Kepnes; it’s currently a show on Lifetime!
Finding Grace in Imperfection. I feel like at least once a day, I’m failing somewhere — not doing a good enough job as a wife, mom, or blogger. Nobody can balance it 100% of the time, so I try to give myself as much grace as possible. I know at the end of the day, if my husband and baby are happy and my blog is still running, that’s enough.
Feeling inspired for the upcoming weekend? Whether you want more time to relax or you are trying to find grace in imperfection, book a Tasker to get a head start on the weekend.
