I am so excited about todays Day in the Life guest because Jamie Moore is a wife, mother and creative with a heart of gold. She is one half of Sinclair & Moore and after watching her life (that sounds creepy typed out…but it’s true) on through little squares and years, we’ve started a beautiful friendship this year that has been such a blessing to me.

God totally orchestrated this whole thing. Like most people, years ago I saw one image from the Sinclair & Moore Instagram and spent the next hour of my day looking at each wedding they had planned, each dreamy floral arrangement they’d created and each nook and cranny of their stunning studio. I was hooked for life. I followed this husband and wife team from the time their son Grey was a baby (he and Oshiolema are days apart!) and just admired from afar the way they lived their lives and blessed others with their gifts. Fast forward to early this year when I received messages from both Jamie and Steve saying they felt like we’d be immediate friends. I was flattered, floored, and in awe of how God works! Read on to get a glimpse of how this sweet mama of two littles, event planner and design company co-owner spends her day. 

First, let me start off by saying I am truly honored that Jill would ask me to participate in this blog series! When she first asked me, my initial reaction was “no way, my schedule is not what I want it to be and needs a complete overhaul. It is too boring/needs improvement/is nothing special” but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it may be something useful for people who may be in a similar season as I am in right now. At this moment in time, it is my husband Steve’s and my busiest time of year. Actually we are in the absolute thick of busyness and it’s pretty chaotic with Steve traveling a lot and working incredibly long hours. And by long hours, I am talking out of the house by 5am and not home until 9 or 10 at night. The bulk of July so far has been this way so far. While every day and week differs for us, this daily routine is essentially the solo mama survival mode I am in and type of day I face when I am fully by myself.

For a little background, my husband Steve and I co-own a full-service event planning and design company in the Seattle area called Sinclair & Moore. My husband founded the business 17 years ago and this year marks my sixth year. The majority of our work is high-end weddings and here in the Pacific Northwest, the summer months are peak wedding season. I handle the logistical side of the wedding planning and my husband creates the visual beauty through design and florals. We also host floral workshops in the spring and fall for other planners and floral designers to attend.

As we now have two little ones Greyson and London (ages 3.5 and 17 months), I have taken a big step back out of the day-to-day work with Sinclair & Moore and have been placing my focus on our kids and being at home with them for this season. For reference, before we started our family I was doing full planning for 25 weddings per year and this year I am doing full planning for just two weddings. It is a huge step out of the business this year, but it has been the healthiest decision for our kids, our marriage and myself. There will always be more work that I can be a part of, and I am so blessed to be able to continue to have my hand in the business as much or as little as I want, and I will certainly be involved in Sinclair & Moore in some way at all times.

6/6:30 I think I officially cannot sleep in anymore. I wake up naturally without an alarm. I lay in bed for a few minutes and think about the day ahead and what I need to accomplish. I briefly check emails, messages and scroll social media for a few minutes while I wake up. Every morning no matter what day of the week it is, I will get up and get in the shower at this time. The time for myself crucial for me to have a good day, feel like myself and to really wake up and be productive and motivated. If I don’t take a shower, I feel sleepy and lazy all day. If we don’t have a houseguest (we often have staff members or floral freelancers staying over to assist with work), then I will go downstairs and make myself coffee and empty the dishwasher at this time so I can sip coffee while I do my makeup and hair.

7:00 This is when I do my makeup and hair as fast as I can. I definitely don’t have a 5-minute mom routine for this, though sometimes I wish I did. I take my time to get ready, as this is really the only time I have for myself. I listen to a podcast or worship music quietly in my bathroom.

7:30 Once showered, ready and dressed I go downstairs and tackle as much work I can do before the kids need me. This pretty much always consists of dishes, tidying up the kitchen, starting or folding laundry, a quick clean out of the car and vacuuming car seats, etc. Every day is a little different with the tasks I do.

8:00 I will either continue doing housework or I will jump on my computer and get some emails or client work done. As I mentioned, I am responsible for only two weddings this year, but they do keep me busy enough to need to pull out my computer most days to email vendors, clients, plan schedules, update budgets, and various other details that all go into planning weddings.

9:00 This is generally when I get Grey and London out of their bedrooms. They are not early risers, and for that I am grateful. They generally wake up sometime between 7-8am, and when they wake, they are not eager to get out of their beds. My son reads some books and plays with his books, blanket and stuffed animals, and my daughter happily rolls and jumps around in her crib. Unless someone is upset, I do not rush in to get them up for the day.

9:30 I have now spent a little time playing and reading with my kids in their bedrooms, changed London’s diaper, put laundry away and tidied up their rooms a bit and we head downstairs. The kids will either have some independent play or watch an episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood while I pull breakfast together.

10:00 Lazy, slow breakfast together and neither kid seems to be a huge eater lately, so I don’t go too crazy with breakfasts and keep it simple. Oatmeal, pancakes, eggs and lots of fruit and berries are all on the rotation.

10:30 I quickly clean up from breakfast as much as I can, usually tossing things in the sink and cleaning high chairs, changing kids out of PJs and then we are heading out for some kind of outing. We go to a lot of parks, gymnastics drop-in classes, meet up with friends or simply run to Target or the grocery store.

12/12:30 I aim to be home around noon to give the kids a snack/light lunch and get London down for her nap. This timeframe is also called “Mommy-GreyGrey time” and is easily Grey’s favorite part of the day. He thrives on the one on one time and we try and do something special just for him like creating some sort of craft or project together, Play-Doh, building a marble run – things that I don’t like to do when London is playing with us, require more focus or are trickier with two kids. During London’s nap, I also tidy up the kitchen from breakfast and lunch as I can.

3:00 London is awake and we have a snack and will either do an outing again or keep it simple and stay home and either play in the yard or go on a walk. It’s been really hot in the Northwest lately so we have been playing with the hose, little wading pool and sprinkler.

5:00/5:30 Dinner time. London gets hangry at 5pm on the dot every day. Girl likes to eat and sleep. Dinners have been fairly simple lately and with Steve busy until late at night, I eat with the kids at this early dinner time, the three of us and it’s usually pretty quick. If Steve and I have an evening client meeting or date night scheduled, I will usually have our babysitter come at this time and make the transition during dinner.

6:00 We play a bit more, have a dance party, have a popsicle out on the deck together, or they watch a show while I clean up from dinner if I need a little extra time or a bit of space to get things done. I try and keep screen time limited, but on these days that I am by myself all day with the kids, the TV does become a tool that I use to get things done and give the kids a little down time.

6:45 If I am lucky, I can get them both in the bath. Some days it’s a battle that I am just not going to fight, so it doesn’t happen. I count it as a success on the evenings I get them both bathed before bed!

7:00/7:30 London goes to bed. She is so easy and just takes a bottle, has her teeth brushed and is placed in her crib and goes to sleep on her own. She is such a good girl. Then I start Grey’s bedtime. He always has a long list of things he needs and wants – from being “really really hungry” all of a sudden, to having certain books he wants read, brushing and flossing teeth to then wanting snuggles and talking about the day. I can’t resist snuggling up, so I climb into his crib and read and snuggle with him. I tend to doze off in there with him most nights, especially when Steve is not home. If Steve is home, I make a point of telling Grey the importance of “mommy and daddy time” and bedtime for Grey is shorter.

8:30/9:00 Kids are in bed and it’s time for me to assess what I am doing next. Most of the time I am cleaning again and doing some client work on my computer. If Steve is home we are connecting and then usually having some kind of treat and catching up or watching a show. Every night I prioritize a few minutes to go through my nighttime skincare routine, which is fairly simple. I always remove makeup and wash my face, apply moisturizer and under eye creams.

10:30/11 This is when I aim to be in bed and going to sleep, though it seems to be getting later and later lately which I always regret in the morning when I start over again!

Thank you so much for sharing your day with us, Jamie! It’s rare that I have a stretch of weeks where O isn’t home in the evenings and I’m amazed by all you mamas who thrive in this. Follow along with Jamie, Grey and London (you will not be disappointed) here!