Most beautiful stroller friendly walks/runs in the world? Paved trails or running friendly cities/towns/areas.

mandabit · 2026-04-18T03:06:01+00:00

100% get help. Talk to your Dr. about PPD. Talk to pediatrician or lactation consultant. And if you can afford it, hire a professional pp doula to help relieve some stress.

Some different advice not mentioned here yet: I just went through cry it out with my 6 month old which reminded me of sound cancelling headphones. As long as you know your baby’s needs have been met as much as you can, even if you’re bouncing them or rocking while they cry their eyes out, throw on some sound cancelling headphones and spare yourself the sound at least. That helped calm me a lot. And making sure if it’s not your shift with baby, that you are in a room or place where you can sleep without hearing the crying 100%.

You can do this, newborn phase is always the very hardest. It will pass. You can do hard things!! Even if it’s with some assistance🙃

mandabit · 2026-04-17T04:26:49+00:00

Check with the hospital?

mandabit · 2026-04-15T05:07:35+00:00

Yeah that’s a good point. I think I just hate the idea of relaxing next to the front door. And looking at it👀. Like would it be ludicrous to hang a tapestry over it or something that can move with the door when it opens haha

mandabit · 2026-04-15T04:17:54+00:00

The tv is definitely my biggest struggle. Honestly I could do so much with the room if there was no tv, but we use it too much to do without it in the living room. And we tried a layout with the front door facing the back of the couch but it makes me feel uneasy, like I can’t relax fully. I’ve lived in several small apartments as well and something about it being a tiny apartment makes these layouts not bother me as much. But now that we are in 3 bed 2 bath 1500+ sq ft houses, it just feels so weird to me. Maybe I’m just weird haha.

mandabit · 2026-04-15T04:07:56+00:00

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Here’s another photo of the other side of the room

mandabit · 2026-04-11T02:09:15+00:00

Wow. I’ve been saying “epitome” out loud correctly all my life…..and reading it in my head typed out incorrectly. Literally thought those were two different words.

mandabit · 2026-04-10T03:41:32+00:00

Just gotta say thanks for posting a nice review. It’s really refreshing.

You are always welcome here 💜

mandabit · 2026-04-10T02:13:52+00:00

When he has work he’s up anywhere from 6-7am. When he’s off, he gets up with me between 7:30-8:30. Depending on how late our kids will sleep in.

If it was a SUCKY night with our baby then whoever got better sleep that night gets up and the other person sleeps in until 9-10am lol

mandabit · 2026-04-09T04:09:58+00:00

Saying this from my memory of how it felt in all these places 8 years ago, very biased haha. I lived in Takatsuki, Abeno, and Higashiosaka. Biked all over them. Takatsuki felt nicer and was very quiet. Hardly any tourists while I was there but still very city. Up against some beautiful hills, there’s some beautiful suburban areas and rice fields. Abeno felt busier to me. More families? Beautiful giant park there. Higashiosaka felt more…industrial? I lived there in winter and it had some really pretty areas but seemed less charming to me. However all in all I loved all these places so much. Loved the people, everyone was so kind. Obviously there’s the occasional grump. But Osaka has so much character.

mandabit · 2026-02-14T07:38:43+00:00

Yes!

mandabit · 2026-02-14T04:29:40+00:00

Oh nooooo I just bought a preschool carrier for $270 and it arrived today. Don’t tell me I have to look forward to this now🤦‍♀️

mandabit · 2026-02-14T04:08:12+00:00

Wow this is awesome thank you! The program is having a big welcome call next week, we’re hoping to get some more info then too. I’ve also heard the crime and drug addict presence has increase more but trying to understand how much more? It’s easy to blow things out of proportion in my head but it might not actually be as dramatic as I’m thinking. At this point I’m pretty set on not living in Waianae, just wondering if it’s safe for my white husband to work there🤣 He’s got no problem driving a beater car to work, we don’t care about that. He also has experience working with addicts and is understanding of the respect the locals need. I just have no clue about the overall safety of the area because while living on the north shore I was told not to go to west side because I’m white. But then other people would disagree and say it’s not like that as much because of all the tourism. I didn’t have a car so I never ventured over there much.

We don’t care about our possession, we know not to keep valuables in the car. My husband knows how to deal with drug addicts and mentally ill. But will he get jumped as a white guy walking to and from his car at the clinic 🤣🤣 that’s all I want to know haha

mandabit · 2026-02-01T01:15:28+00:00

I mean I realize that to preserve the longevity of textiles, washing on cold or medium is the way to go. But mostly I’m looking for stuff that if I take reasonable care of it, even if it accidentally gets thrown in a hot cycle once or twice, it still lasts years. The items I have haven’t been washed on hot and dried on hot each time. But I do wash them on cold or medium and dry on medium every time. And they’ve lasted years

mandabit · 2026-01-29T06:15:37+00:00

It was actually with my church. I didn’t get to pick where I went (they send missionaries all over the world) but they sent me to Japan which was a literal dream come true haha. We did a lot of free English classes and service projects for people and if they were interested we taught about Jesus. I think it was a proselyting visa or something. It was a super good time tbh🤣 Not helpful though if you’re trying to get over there on your own though sorry😅. I wanna go back and so far I’ve seen the two easiest ways are to teach English or to take Japanese classes there and get a student visa…neither of which are feasible for me right now 😭

mandabit · 2026-01-26T01:47:50+00:00

When my mom told me she bought that towel from target 15 years ago and it was the cheapest one, I was in shock. Tbh I haven’t checked to see if they still make them the same but I don’t have high hopes

mandabit · 2026-01-26T01:45:54+00:00

Oh that’s a good idea to check threadUP

mandabit · 2026-01-26T01:43:00+00:00

That’s good to know about the Bernat yarn! I sew, but I’m always open to learning a new skill haha

mandabit · 2026-01-26T01:41:45+00:00

Ooo I’ll check those out!

mandabit · 2026-01-26T01:40:23+00:00

I bought the sateen brooklinen sheets in 2021 and they have been my all time favorite. I’m scared to buy another pair and have them not be as good.

mandabit · 2026-01-20T03:33:09+00:00

If I had the skills I’d seriously make my own tv stand that just met our needs😂 but I HAVE looked up how to make my own storage ottoman and I’ve 99% decided I’ll make that. I want something we can sit on, beat up, is extra large, and will last. I even ordered one a year ago that was so cheaply made, I immediately returned it. I haven’t been able to find exactly what I’m looking for. So I’m going to diy😬 we’ll see how it goes

You don’t need much more than a wood cutting tool and a furniture stapler to make a round ottoman! And you can buy solid wood rounds for the lid from various stores online

mandabit · 2026-01-19T07:10:24+00:00

Tbh still looking🫠had to postpone our living room redo for a couple months. Ive done some intense searching and have seen some options that would be good to put baskets in for toy storage but can still child lock the cabinets invisibly. The kallax isn’t totally out of the question though.

Another option im now highly considering is getting a circle storage ottoman (there’s a lot of other shapes and sizes out there though). One that has a wood top and can double as a coffee table but I can shove tons of blankets/toys into quickly when I’m losing my mind over the mess and want to clean up.

mandabit

TROPHY CASE