A Day In The Life of Ashley La Rue
Long before the thoughts of having a family of my own ever entered my mind, I came across Ashley La Rue and her beautiful family on Instagram. At the time, they were living in Dakar and I was fascinated with how Ashley balanced motherhood and expat life. The La Rue family ventures have now brought them to Vienna and today I am thrilled to have Ashley's sharing a peek into her life as we kick off our new Day in the Life series featuring some of our favorite modern moms.
By The Numbers
The Daily Grind
6:15 Alarm goes off and I hit snooze repeatedly.
6:49 I get out of bed reluctantly. Always. Everyone is still asleep so I prep breakfast, but first Nespresso. I put in a Rosabaya my absolute favorite. Maybe because it is pink? Weekly I make a double batch of whole grain mini pancakes or whole grain waffles and freeze for the week. This week it is waffles. I turn on the oven and pop two in and head downstairs (I have one of those weird apartments where the living room and kitchen is upstairs) to wake the older kids for school.
7:00 While the kids eat breakfast I sit down and check social media, read the Washington Post headlines, and check email.
7:30 Kids scrambling to find uniform shirts. I forgot to wash them last night so we wear something else and make sure they grab their jackets since the weather has cooled into the 60’s today in Vienna.
7:50 Shuttle arrives to pick up the kids and of course Gavin can’t find his shoes.
8:00 I make myself breakfast. I really want a doughnut. Instead I scramble a few eggs in coconut oil and have some watermelon.
8:15 I wake up Miss Evie. She would sleep until 10 if I let her! She has her breakfast and we get dressed and ready to head out the door.
9:00 We decide to drive today. I drop her off at Nursery and come back home to workout and finalize a website design for a client. I also take this time in the morning to start or finish laundry. Empty the dishwasher. The daily grind. Today I threw in some chicken breasts, homemade salsa, jalapeños, cilantro, and lime juice in the slow cooker for dinner. We are going to serve it over brown rice.
11:50 I need to head out to pick up Evie and grab a few things at our local market. I normally take the tram to pick her up but since it looks like rain I decide to take the car. I get an unexpected call from Claire’s school letting me know her voice teacher has a surprise for her at the end of her lesson tomorrow and that I should be there.
11:55 I love walking into to Evie’s little class because I always get a very loud “Mama!” and she comes running to me. This might be the best part of my day.
12:15 We precariously park in the small Billa parking lot. I only need a few things: beef for fajitas on Friday, milk, yogurt, peanut butter, wine, bananas and Evie convinced me to buy her Minion cookies. She flirts with the old man behind us in line dropping her pacifier and after he retrieves it I smile and say the only German I know: danke schön.
12:30 We need to walk down to this children’s shoe store to exchange a pair of homeroom shoes I bought Evie yesterday. Here in Austria everyone has shoes you only wear indoors and can I just say they make the best children’s shoes here. I always have a hard time in the states finding good shoes that fit well and hold up from all the running and playing. The owner is sipping wine and someone is giving a piano lesson whilst two adorable yellow labs run around the small boutique. Evie is terrified and the shop owner seems puzzled that my child is crying since every Austrian owns a dog. We get the right size and head out. I’ve been letting Evie walk more on her own, careful not to let her go to far in case she runs out into the street. She loves the freedom from the buggy.
1:00 It’s nap time which means lunch for me. Salad with cottage cheese. I check emails. Chat with my husband. We got a speeding ticket in the mail. Apparently in Linz back in May. I hate those pesky cameras.
2:00 It’s time for coffee and working on my to-do list. We have guests coming in July and we are also going on vacation so it is gearing up to be a busy month. I need my lists. I’ve had it on my list to make a vacation to-do list for weeks. Time to knock it out. Ordered a potty for Evie on Amazon Deutschland. She is so ready. Mommy is not.
3:05 Miss Evie is up and we cuddle and watch Daniel Tiger. I know all the songs, do you?
3:25 Big kids arrive home from school, starving and eager to tell me about their day. We all sit down for a snack. Hummus, pita, yogurt, and fruit.
4:00-Until Daddy Comes Home: Witching Hour. Enough said. Send wine.
5:45 Feed the hungry kids. Evie eats apple sauce with her hands. Throws vegetable soup on the ground.
6:00 Wine
6:15 Daddy is home and we sit down to eat quickly while the kids play. Except Evie managed to sneak into the kitchen and get a bag of cookies. We find her covered in chocolate. Bits smashed in the floor and on the tire of her pukylino bike. This is life.
7:00-8:30 juggle 3 kids, dinner clean up, 1 bath, 2 showers, find pacifiers (Evie sleeps with 4), vitamins, allergy medicine for Gavin, bedtime snack of fruit or cheese, story time and finally get them all to sleep!
8:45 settle down to sip wine, chat, and watch the Daily Show (previous nights episode) with my main squeeze.
Connect with Ashley
Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Photo Credit: Ashley La Rue & Bubblerock
