Mika Brzenzinski at Philadelphia Free Library

A few weeks ago, I had a rather exciting evening (at least for me). A few of us went to Happy Hour after work and Mika Brzezinski spoke about her book “All Things at Once” at the Library in Philadelphia. What a full day!

It was a day that I had looked forward too for a long time. First, I’d be in the office, which always gives me a chance to talk to grown ups, but also gives me some professional face time. Especially now that I am working from home, I find it crucial that my colleagues know that I continue to be a hard worker and dedicated to my tasks (all the more reason I want to muzzle my dogs - see yesterday's post).

Following my big day in the office, a group of us went out for Happy Hour at The Prime Rib at 17th & Locust (by the way, they have some pretty good Happy Hour specials). There was a pleasant mix of Mommies and un-Mommies, singles and marrieds, boys and girls so this is also good for me. It reminded me what its like to be 6 months into dating someone and totally smitten. It reminded me that time with my (now)almost 6 month old is precious because one day he’ll be a year and then 17 years and on and on. It reminded me that as tired and stressed and worried as I can let myself become, I truly am blessed. It reminded me that it’s just money and if I’m not going to enjoy myself for all the work I do, what’s the point of working this hard? (A good lesson to be reminded of.) Not to mention, a few glasses of wine with friends never hurts!

Following Happy Hour I hopped a cab to the Library at 19th and Vine. Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough were speaking about her new book “All Things at Once”. Since this is a book about juggling working and motherhood it was something that I am definitely interested in. Mika and Joe told stories from her book and touched on some of the topics they discuss on their show “Morning Joe” on MSNBC. Governor Ed Rendell was there to introduce Mika and Joe and was more relaxed than any of the other times I'd seen him speak.

Mika talked about a particularly stressful time in her life - when she had 2 young children - her youngest only 4 months old - and she had returned to her very busy schedule at work. During one of these crazy, busy, sleep deprived days, she was in a hurry and fell down the stairs while holding her 4 month old daughter. The end of the story is that her daughter is ok, but there were some terrifying moments for her in the ER. Since my son was very near to the same age of her daughter at the time of her fall, I took this story as a very timely warning to focus on the important things.

All in all it was a great, though tiring day. Now that we have a baby a day like this is longer than ever before. I need to bring extra bottles for pumping during the day. I need to lug my laptop and bottles of precious milk to Happy Hour, and the Library, then back on the train home. (What must the security guard at the Library thought of me?!)

By the time I got home I was so exhausted I felt nauseous. But, as Mika says in her book, it’s about knowing who you are and honoring your voice. All the things I did on that day were things that made me happy, peaceful, joyful, successful and fulfilled. Yes, I was exhausted, but exhaustion is a small (temporary) price to pay. I'm confident Mika would say the same, as she states in her book - running on autopilot is ok from time to time, but living that way for an extended period of time makes us numb and removed from our own lives (I paraphrased a bit). So one exhausting day for a sense of accomplishment was well worth it.

Check out the book if you are interested!