The Coconut Girl is Whitney Morrill, an architect, writer, and mother of two. Her blog offers new mothers equal doses of understanding, humor and utility through her quirky creative offerings. Music videos about late night feedings, essays about thwarted work projects and wise insights from her children speak to the ups and downs of parenthood. A running meal ticker and suggestions for partners provide hands-on tools for helping families get through the joyous but tiring days.
I love this blog because it’s a helpful reminder for moms and the friends and family of all moms with new babies that they need our support. It’s also a charming, humorous look back for me at those tough days and nights you never forget, but that somehow fade with time.
My next-door-neighbor is about to have her third child — I will make sure that Coconut Girl knows about Whitney and her blog — and remember to still be a helper past the early weeks of a new baby next door.
Starbuck (more nicknames: Star Trek, ShamWow) was looking shaggier than ever. We sorta remembered her having eyes under that mop. It was time, at eight months old, for her first haircut.
Doesn’t she look gorgeous? Much more like a Wheaten-Poodle mix than a dustmop.
For about a year now, I’ve been providing a community service — not to work off any convictions, just out of the goodness of my little blogger heart. Many of you are aware of my weekly appearance on WCAV CBS-19 where I’ve provided the extremely popular Blog of the Week segment.
Once I got over my shock that there WOULD NOT be a private, fully furnished trailer with my name on the door and that there WOULD NOT be a hair and makeup team, I settled into a weekly routine that went something like this:
Tuesday, 5pm – stop working, sprint upstairs and put on TV-worthy clothes. Slather on more makeup. Fret over hair. Add more powder. Change top again. 5:45pm, get in car, drive to station. 6:30pm, start paying attention to what’s going on behind the door at The Newsplex. 6:40ish – enter studio, take seat, and provide LIVE commentary on a featured local blog. 6:55pm, call home to see what they want for dinner. 7:15pm, pick up dinner. 8pm, arrive home, watch video clip of segment. Fret over hair. Start thinking about featured blogger for the next week.
I really loved every minute of it. I loved being recognized by people all over town. I loved that my far-flung family and friends could watch the video clips no matter where they are. I loved the chance to improve my live TV broadcast skills and to have the opportunity to get better with each week. But mainly, I loved that the segment gave a well-deserved focus on local bloggers, many of whom are friends or became friends through the Blog of the Week.
Past tense, eh?
Yes. I’m hanging up my Blog of the Week TV hat — I will provide one more week of Blog of the Week coverage and then the segment will live on with two very worthy replacements, Jason Hull of OpenSource Connections and Amy Eastlack of SuzySaid Cville. I want to thank everyone who was featured in this segment, who watched it on TV or online and who helped promote the segment via their blogs, Facebook and Twitter. It’s been a great ride.
I will miss the many friends I’ve made at The Newsplex; Dan Schutte, Sara Ross, Travis Koshko, Brantley Ussery, Jim Hanchett, Brad Ramsey, John Rogers, Mark Tenia, that guy that always opens the door for me, Cheryn Stone, Jennifer Black , Tim Free, Tom La and Liz Palka just to name a few (gosh, I hope I haven’t left anyone out). Beth Duffy was my friend even before the TV segment, and I enjoyed having the chance to see her every week.
I’m taking the step back from TV to get some time back to focus on My Gift of a Year and to better accommodate my full-time day job at Standing Partnership, which has added a lot of travel into my schedule for 2010. (Also? I’m running out of fabulous TV outfits and do not want to do any repeats).
Also? It’s time to let someone else sweat under the lights of live, weekly, local television. I’ve had my 15 minutes. Now if Oprah’s people call, that will be another story entirely.
And now, here’s some link love for all of the Blog of the Week’s I covered in 2009 and a few from 2010.
Last night I cut myself some slack. One of my best friends in the world is in town and we wanted to go out to dinner. We ended up at C & O where I had the Steak Chinoise (if you’re going to go to C & O, you must have the Steak Chinoise) with some buttery mashed potatoes, some lovely red wine and chocolate espresso pot de creme for dessert.
Not exactly weight watching food, I know.
But I decided that sometimes taking really good care of yourself means indulging in a delectable evening with some of your very best friends, laughing and talking and eating really delicious food. Once in awhile! Not all the time!
It was totally worth it.
HOWEVER, the next morning I slept to an unheard of 9:20am – I honestly do not know how the puppy waited till then to go outside. Unfortunately my healthy living appointment at the eye doctor was at 9am. So much for that. They did let me reschedule the appointment for later in the afternoon so I did keep that promise to myself, and fit in 30 minutes of yoga this morning despite half the day being gone already.
I DO think it’s OK to fall of the wagon every once in awhile and sometimes taking really good care of yourself isn’t all the obvious healthy stuff — it’s taking the time to surround yourself with people you love, and living in the moment.
This year, in seventh grade, the curriculum is getting a bit more detailed. Last night, after dinner, she was giving her dad and me a rundown of what she’s learning. Words and phrases came out of her mouth that simultaneously made me want to either laugh or clap my hands over my ears and sing “Do Wah Diddy” at the top of my lungs.
I kept telling her how, in my repressed parochial school upbringing we NEVER learned the stuff she’s learning and frankly, I think it’s great that she knows what she does from an appropriate source. My generation, you know, the one that hit puberty the same time that AIDS was sweeping the nation, is a throwback to a bit more squeamish time. It’s refreshing to me, that our daughter is comfortable enough to tell us what she’s learning, without embarrassment and with a little bit of delight, I think as we turn to her with our mildly shocked expressions.
Dear Lord, please let our daughter continue to tell us everything, even when it makes our ears bleed. Amen.
The Coconut Girl is Whitney Morrill, an architect, writer, and mother of two. Her blog offers new mothers equal doses of understanding, humor and utility through her quirky creative offerings. Music videos about late night feedings, essays about thwarted work projects and wise insights from her children speak to the ups and downs of parenthood. A running meal ticker and suggestions for partners provide hands-on tools for helping families get through the joyous but tiring days.
