Top from Forever 21 | Skirt from SheInside | Shoes from Charles & Keith | Purse from Coach | Sunglasses from Armani

#1: Quality time with the fam-jam

If you’re a working mom, you know how crazy it gets having to perpetually juggle different responsibilities. Your mind is constantly pulled in different directions: whether it’s sorting out playdates while scheduling working meetings at the same time, or planning your family’s next meal while organizing your next business trip out of town. You want to do justice to both your home life and professional life but never quite feel that you do. Sound familiar? Enter maternity leave. No one ever claimed that it’s a walk in the park, but at least you get the opportunity to focus entirely on your home life and take a breather from the office setting. Your mindspace isn’t having to constantly compete with work stuff and neither does your guilty conscience play a number on you. I’ve found my time during maternity leave to be a special time to connect with my new baby and reconnect with other members of the family – my older son who gets to spend a lot more quality time with me, my husband with whom I share 3 am conversations while up feeding the baby, and my mother who spent so much time helping me care for the baby. I know that when I eventually go back to work, I’ll feel a lot more rejuvenated emotionally and mentally.

#2: Weekday hangouts

You know that when you have a day job, any other engagements and appointments have to get squeezed into weekday evenings and weekends. Well, the bright side of being on maternity leave is that you don’t have to! Once I had recovered from delivery and became more mobile with the baby, I love how I can randomly meet a friend for lunch in the weekday, run errands without having to face the weekend crowds in stores, or get my nails done in the middle of the day without the wait (for some “me time”). It’s awesome! My stretch goal for this mat leave? Catching a matinee show on a weekday for a Bollywood movie!

#3: Time for creative pursuits and other side projects

I know better than to get overambitious while being on maternity leave. Some days, you're lucky if you can even get time for a shower or to send off an email! However, you will find pockets of time to work on things that were put on the backshelf for a while. Baby’s napping? Let me finally organize that kitchen pantry! Baby’s napping again? Great, let me work on that blogpost I was planning in my head! Someone can watch the baby for a while? I can step out for that errand that was pending for so long. Knowing that these activities can only be accomplished in byte-sized timeframes (because it’s very hard to get long, uninterrupted stretches of time to yourself with an infant), I’ve created a list of things I’d like to do during my maternity leave…from redecorating certain parts of the house, getting involved in community service with my older son, to my creative pursuits with the blog. It’s really a great way to keep myself engaged without feeling that every moment of the day is all-consuming with the baby. I find myself to be in a happier and more fulfilled state of mind this way.

And speaking of creative pursuits, this is my first style post since having the baby. Embracing my post-pregnancy body - the extra pounds, scars, and all! I know I'll get back in shape eventually so I'm not rushing it. It's all about enjoying this time and focusing on eating right for yourself and the baby.