February Favorites: Our Current Obsessions
The second month of 2021 is nearly over, and February brought some big changes to the Gather team. Gina had a baby! The whole Gather team got to be at her side as she labored at home in a love-filled birthing experience. While she isn’t included in this post, know that she’s doing some very important work at home with sweet Milo in her arms.
Out of all the content series we share here on the blog, our new monthly Favorites feature might top the list. It’s a chance for our team to swap recommendations as we compile this short list of the things we’re currently loving. Whether you’re hoping to find your new nightly read or just looking for a new binge-worthy series on Netflix, we think you’re in the right place. Consider this a recap of everything that made our month brighter.
An intimate moment from Gina’s Real Postpartum photography session
Reading:
Mere stopped reading The Dutch House by Ann Patchett because she wasn’t ready for it to end, but recently picked it back up again and is thoroughly engrossed. Brooke is making her way through Call The Midwife. Emily is reading a riveting and thought-provoking memoir of a Black adoptee raised by white parents.
Watching:
Gina's birth film, which was captured by Brooke, Emily, and Meredith, and beautifully edited by Brooke. Mere couldn’t love Better Things more. Brooke thinks Ted Lasso is absolutely wonderful. (Mere: co-signed!) Emily and her husband have been watching season two of Imposters after binging the first season in just a few nights after their kids went to sleep.
Eating:
Em is stocking up her freezer with snacks that a) everyone in the family enjoys and b) feel at least moderately nourishing - most notably cranberry and sunflower seed energy balls from a lovely new Mennonite cookbook called Sustainable Kitchen, mock cherry pie Larabars, and pumpkin spice mini-waffles. Mere is in the middle of a kitchen model that’s been in the works for three years now, and has been cooking with a toaster oven and a hot plate. Needless to say, she’s been making lots of sheet pan meals and scrambled eggs, and is fantasizing about pretty much everything The Wednesday Chef has been posting lately, including this Roasted Broccoli (on the menu for the weekend!).
Doing:
Despite the cold snap that seemed to last most of the month, we’re starting to look ahead to warmer days and spring! Mere has been spring cleaning and daydreaming about traveling again. Emily has been dreaming of a trip to visit family in Israel for the first time with her daughter Della and son Hugo along for the ride, and delighting in an opportunity to finally take her animal-loving girl to Galilee, an organic cheese farm restaurant with free-range goats aplenty to pet. Brooke has been the backbone of Gather Birth Cooperative. Between managing our inbox, keeping our CRM running smoothly, dealing with taxes, and being a birth video editing champ… We’d be lost without her!
What about you? What were your February bright spots?
