Low Tide Notes | 0004

What not to send your boss; body image changes; tell your friends to sign up!

Feb 06, 2026

Another beautiful, Friday morning. Sunny, a high of 60.

Jack is away on Business today. It’s always odd waking up to an empty bed, so to fix that, I brought in my little angel to snuggle with me.

When we got up, I made a coffee and watched her roll over twice (!!). Nothing is better than the surprise look on her face when she can’t quite figure out how she got from her tummy to her back without my help.

We have a tradition on Fridays, too, just me and Junie. I pick her up early from daycare, we get myself a coffee and take a lap around the consignment furniture store.

It doesn’t matter what’s going on at that time. All that matters is me and her.

How can I stop time???

Don’t email your boss at 3 a.m. in an emotional frenzy

I’ve been thinking about my career A LOT lately. Honestly, I’m always thinking about it: Is this what I want to do forever? Am I the leader I want to be? How can I make more money? If I don’t make more money, am I at least fulfilled? Does Joan care that she’s in daycare and I’m not home with her?

But I won’t get into those existential rabbit holes.

Instead, I’d like to write about two hard lessons learned from my early career. As the headline alludes to…

Lesson No. 1: Check your emotions before you email your boss

It was my first job out of college. This advertising agency branded itself as lowkey and creative, when in actuality it was pretentious and toxic.

And I was in a relationship with someone I thought then I’d marry, so I was disheveled when I came back from work one day to find a letter on the table and his stuff cleared out of our tiny home. (Yes, we lived together in a 300-square-foot tiny home. Intimate!)

Long story short, I emailed my boss that evening and said I wouldn’t make it into work the next day. I like to think I didn’t mention the breakup, but maybe I did.

Then my ex-boyfriend and I talked into the wee hours of the night and got back together. So I replied to the email chain… at 3 a.m… saying just kidding, I’ll be there, plus way too much detail and explanation of my situation.

I wish I could shake my young self!! No!! Wrong!!

Nothing good came out of my time at that company except for the lesson my boss taught me: She said I can never do that to any boss or any company, ever again in my life. I need to show poise, a level head in the work place.

The embarrassment was enough to know that. But her calling me out stuck the landing.

I’m now very good at what I tell who and when — and how.

Lesson No. 2: How you do the small things is how you’ll do the big things

My first job out of grad school was at POLITICO. I was on the production desk, which meant the hundreds of pieces of content that went up on politico.com or pro.politico.com every day went through our team of 20; we added art, fact-checked, AP style-checked, scheduled or posted. It was intense and magical.

I grabbed an agriculture article with an embargo note ROOSTER 5AM, meaning, schedule this story for a 5 a.m. send.

I read it, edited it, art-ed it, and sent it. Right away.

Immediately an email from the editor came to my inbox: WHY DID YOU SEND THIS? Can you not read?????? If you don’t find a piece interesting, don’t grab my articles.

I cried. I felt like I failed. I also wanted to write for the ag editor, and I found myself on her shit list. It was totally deflating — but she was right.

Idk.

Sometimes I think what’s the point in trying so hard to climb the ladder? Do I really want to work “to set the example for my kid”? I’m sitting on my porch in the sun writing this, a beautiful breeze blowing, a butterfly on my flowers. If only I could make money by daydreaming…

Queue: Sick of Dreaming. lol.

Anywhosie, I have a better relationship with my body since having a baby 🤷‍♀️

I recently fit into a pair of pre-pregnancy jeans, and then an even smaller pair of pre-preg jeans, and both were hella exciting moments for me.

But the excitement was less about my weight and more about the fact that I don’t need to buy an entire new wardrobe, despite how tempting that is.

I used to care soooo much about how my body looks. Very Concerned about my abs and my arms. I recently scrolled back through my photos and found pics from days when I felt semi-self conscious, and let me tell you, mama was finnnne!

After having a baby, though, something major shifted. I still care, of course, how I look. I think how you put yourself together, and how you keep yourself, says more about you than almost anything else.

But it’s like some chains have been lifted. I can’t believe my belly grew a baby. I can’t believe I can still run and jump rope and push press. I love that when I look in the mirror at my stomach, I’m looking at my c-section scar, the place my little girl came out of me, healthy.

I think I worded what I’m trying to say better to my friend last night (hi, Megan!). Basically, everything regarding my body pales in comparison to its greatest feat: growing and birthing a baby.

And that is hella freeing.