questions from you no. 23

Posted on 30. Jun, 2010 by Princess Lasertron in alice, CAMP, questions from you

Q: What is Hustling? (sent via Twitter)
A: It basically just means “hard work.” “Making money.” A lot of people I know don’t like to use the phrase “hard work” to describe what they do all day, maybe because they think it connotes strife, oppression, unhappiness, and the lack of control that sometimes comes from a traditional 8-5 job. When I spend all day driving to meetings, choosing paint colors, writing blog posts, shipping packages, organizing photoshoots and branding for the dress line, sending quotes to customers, meeting friends for late night work sessions, you could call that “hustling” because it doesn’t feel like work to me.

And yeah, my mom took a picture of me at this meeting. (I wish I had more pictures from meetings that involve liquor and french fries, etc.)

Q: How did/do you cope with the stresses involved in embarking on such a big project? The highs must be wonderful, but the lows (if there were any) must be awful – how do you mentally overcome it and get back on track? (From Nelle)
A: I am one of those people who can’t not work–which is made 1000x worse because of the fact that I love what I do. I was just talking to my friend Eric the other day about it–why do I feel the need to go a million miles an hour all the time? My husband Dave gets home from work every day at 5 and just enjoys watching tv and cooking and going for walks. Eight hours of work is enough for him every day. For me, it has to be at least like 14. Then I lay down and night and just worry about everything I didn’t do.

I look at it not as work, but as my life. As my lifestyle, my choice. And I’m either at 100% or 0%–I work 12 hours a day for 3 months straight and then when I take a break, it’s in the form of like a one-week vacation completely unplugged from the world. Its never like an hour-long tv show or sitting down to read a magazine like a normal person–I’m either at 0 or 100.

I don’t see what I do as overtly stressful. Intense, but not stressful. I have never faced a problem big enough that I felt it would never be over or that I couldn’t face it–there is always an end in sight to the struggles.

However I regretfully confess that I don’t really enjoy the “wonderful” highs either. It feels like it’s always on to the next thing. Now that I realize that I want to try harder to appreciate them and take time to celebrate accomplishments. But I love every day–it feels like I’m always celebrating a little because I never go to bed sad, you know?

Q: How did you come up with the name CAMP? What does it stand for? (via Formspring)
A: Well, the name CAMP was first mentioned by my mom because she always wanted to open up a retail store called Camp. I always liked the name, and the more I thought about it the more I realized that CAMP totally connotes everything we want the workspace to stand for and represent–a welcoming place for friends to gather and work, relax, play, etc. A casual place. I love the shape of the word and that it’s four letters. It doesn’t stand for anything. We joke that it’s capitalized because you’re supposed to yell it.

Q: You said you weren’t always a baby person. Did you always know you wanted kids or was it something you came to over time? (via Formspring)
A: I always knew I wanted kids–I just never felt like I loved any baby until I met my own. Before I gave birth, I wasn’t sure I would love mine either–I didn’t feel the “bonding” feeling in pregnancy. But the disconnected feeling from my fetus went away and I’ve continued to bond intensely with Alice. I lovey lovey lovey wuv wuv my little pancake so much. I am trying hard as a parent not to be the annoying mom who needs everyone’s world to revolve around my child. I’m still basically only interested in my own kid so I understand how they feel.

Q: We are looking to use cloth diapers and we don’t even know where to begin. What type of diapers do you use? How do you wash them? How often do you do laundry? How do you store the soiled ones until you do laundry? How many diapers did you buy in the beginning if you don’t mind sharing? Are there any tips that you would share for a first time cloth diapering mom? (From Melissa)
A: We use a cloth diapering service which is really convenient because I don’t have to do any laundry–we get a bag of 70 clean diapers every week, and put the dirty ones out to be picked up. I searched the web for videos of people folding the diapers to learn–we use the angel wing fold–and cover each cloth diaper with a washable cover. Some people invest in pocket diapers or all-in-one diapers, which are made of absorbent fabric and are just worn once before they are washed by you at home. We have about six of those and put them on Alice when we want her to go a little longer without a changing, like on a car ride or overnight.

Honestly, breastfed babies’ diapers don’t really smell. They have a smell, but it’s not repugnant. We store the used ones in a pail lined with a zip-up bag that was given to us by the diaper service, but I have left our pocket diapers in a laundry basket to be washed before too. Just do a load at least every 2-3 days and I think you will be fine. There is SO MUCH support out there for cloth diapering–Mothering magazine recently had a great article about it too.

Q: Do you feel like you are “returning to normal” after delivering Alice? Are you starting to wish for your “old body” back? (via Formspring)
A: I don’t feel like I am returning to normal quite yet. I gained about 40 pounds in my pregnancy and now I’m about 15 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. I know that is a huge accomplishment but it is still frustrating to not fit into ANYTHING–not my maternity clothes, and not my pre-pregnancy clothes. It gets expensive needing to have so many different wardrobes!

Although I don’t feel the same, the truth is I will never be the same woman I was before. Eventually I will reach my pre-pregnancy weight but I don’t subscribe to the “I want my old body back” attitude. My choice was to get pregnant and have a baby, and along with that choice I accept all of the consequences. This is my body, it’s the only one I’ll ever have, and it is beautiful and strong. It supported and bore life and now it is nourishing my daughter. My “old body” is just adapting to my new life and it will continue to adapt and change. I still have my own body, for me, and I continue to be amazed by its resilience and purpose.

Q: Are you and Dave both vegans (or is it just him)? How hard is it to eat out with a vegan diet? (via Formspring)
A: Dave is vegan and I am not. I have a vegetarian diet. It is easy to eat out and we can both always find something at the places we go out to with our friends–places like Noodles & Co, Chipotle, P.F. Chang’s, any pizza place, and any ethnic restaurant have enough vegan options. There are a lot of great local vegetarian restaurants here too like McFoster’s and Daily Grub. However, neither of us generally enjoys going out to eat and we usually cook at home.

Tags: cloth diapering, hustling, pregnancy, vegan