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On today’s episode of A Day In Her Life, Ellie sits down with Mary James, who leads an analytics group at Real Chemistry (a pharmaceutical marketing and communications company) and is raising two little ones, a 9-month-old and a 2.5-year-old. Mary is the primary earner in her household, while her husband is a stay-at-home parent, and she gives an honest look at what it actually takes to keep work, kids, and sanity moving forward in a season that feels nonstop.

Mary describes her days in three words: dynamic, relentless, and funny, because if you don’t laugh… you might cry.

In this episode, we cover:

• The 5 a.m. OrangeTheory era (and the real reason she’s doing it) - Mary is in her “rebuild my strength postpartum” season, and early workouts are the only time that’s truly hers.
• Her tiny morning ritual that keeps her from disappearing - A simple “for me today” list - a few selfish, non-negotiable things that serve her before she starts serving everyone else.
• The workday strategy that protects her brain from constant context switching - She time-blocks calls, aims for “three key things,” and shares a few meeting hacks that might save your sanity.
• The 5 p.m. hard stop (and why it matters when you’re the breadwinner) - Their household runs on a daily handoff. She signs off at 5:00, not because it’s easy, but because it’s how they keep resentment from building.
• Dinner realism: kids at 6, adults later, and no shame about it - Family dinner happens when it happens. Otherwise, it’s “survival food,” frozen options, and DoorDash in a season where time is the luxury.
• Outsourcing that feels like getting your life back: laundry pickup - This is the one she’s not giving up. Pickup, drop-off, done. (Now they’re just figuring out the “put it away” part.)
• Friendship in the trenches: Marco Polo, audio notes, and staying in it without texting back instantly - A genuinely workable approach to keeping friendships alive when your hands are full and your phone is always being stolen.

Follow Mary

Mary Faith James

References

Kindle Scribe

Listen and Review

Podcasts - Spotify - YouTube

More A Day In Her Life

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Looking for your next romance read? Look no further! This month at Pepper Books we've got your Celebrity/Normie Romances from One Pepper all the way to Five!

Episode Music - For Days - Tom Deis via Shutterstock

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A Day In Her Life with Kelsey Smith – Adaptable, Intentional, Caffeinated Days as a Working Mom of Two and Email Accessibility Consultant

On today’s episode of A Day In Her Life, Ellie sits down with Kelsey Smith, a working mom of two toddlers living just outside Denver. Kelsey works in marketing, technology, and digital communications for a large public university and also runs her freelance consulting business, The Email Edit, where she helps nonprofits, small businesses, and entrepreneurs improve email marketing with a focus on digital accessibility.

Kelsey shares what life looks like right now with two kids just 11 months apart, a household that runs on teamwork (and coffee), and a workday shaped by a two-hour time difference. From chaotic pre-dawn wakeups and daycare drop-offs to hot sauna workouts, low-effort dinners, and bedtime that suddenly takes an hour, this episode is full of the real stuff working moms are navigating.

If you are balancing remote work, little kids, a relationship, and the constant feeling that your to-do list is never done, you will feel very seen in this conversation.

In this episode, we cover:

Two toddlers 11 months apart and mornings that start before you are ready - Kelsey’s reality right now: kids up between 5 and 6 a.m., a toddler climbing into her bed overnight, and mornings that feel like chaos before coffee even happens.

Remote work across time zones - What it is like being on Mountain Time while the rest of your team is on East Coast time, and how that creates built-in protected focus time in the late afternoon.

Time blocking for technical vs creative work - Kelsey’s approach to structuring her day: technical tasks and meetings in the morning, creative strategy work later, and a consistent end-of-day plan for tomorrow.

Bedtime phases and sleep curveballs - How bedtime used to be easy and suddenly is not, what it looks like getting two toddlers down, and the looming toddler bed transition.

How to find a therapist through insurance platforms - Kelsey’s experience starting with SonderMind and moving to Alma, plus the reminder to check your 2026 benefits.

Work travel with young kids and “partner guilt” - Why she does not feel mom guilt leaving but does feel the weight on her partner, and how family flying in makes travel possible.

Friendship in a busy season - Staying connected through small touchpoints, hosting, and aiming for at least one friend meetup a month.

Date nights without babysitters - Their every-other-Friday at-home date night rotation, alternating who plans, and creative ways to connect during the day while the kids are in daycare.

The ball she is letting drop - Releasing pressure around cooking and remembering: if you only have 40% that day and you give it, you gave 100% of what you had.

Connect with Kelsey

Find her on Instagram: @the.email.edit (email marketing, digital accessibility, and life as a working mom)

Listen and Review

Podcasts - Spotify - YouTube

More A Day In Her Life

@adayinherlifepod

adayinherlife.com

adayinherlife.substack.com

Looking for your next romance read? Look no further! This month at Pepper Books we've got your Celebrity/Normie Romances from One Pepper all the way to Five!

Episode Music - For Days - Tom Deis via Shutterstock

Tell us what you think!!!

A Day In Her Life with Lucie Corkery – Chaotic, Messy, Joyful Days as a Mom of Three

On today’s episode of A Day In Her Life, Ellie chats with Lucie Corkery, a mom of three under five, writer, and creator behind What Lucie Says and the Substack series Between Friends. Lucie lives in Massachusetts with her husband Kevin, their three kids, and their corgi Beverly, and shares a refreshingly honest look at full-time motherhood in a deeply busy season.

If you are in the thick of young kids, constantly forgetting lunch, negotiating bedtime chaos, and trying to stay connected to yourself, your partner, and your friends, this episode will feel deeply relatable.

In this episode, we cover:

Mornings with three kids under five - Why Lucie wakes up an hour before her kids, the bare minimum routine that helps her feel human, and how TV at breakfast is sometimes the only way mornings work.

Finding time for yourself as a stay-at-home mom - How tennis became Lucie’s outlet for movement, focus, and adult connection, and why having time without her phone has been surprisingly transformative.

The midday juggle no one talks about - Laundry running constantly, walking the dog alone, vacuuming with a toddler and a toy leaf blower, squeezing in workouts, and always forgetting to eat lunch.

Quiet time, shared rooms, and realistic rest - How Lucie structures naps and quiet time for three kids at different stages, and why rest time is non-negotiable for everyone’s sanity.

Afternoons, activities, and getting the wiggles out - Why leaving the house almost always leads to a better evening, even if it’s just a library trip, playground stop, or long car ride.

Early dinners and separate adult meals - Why her kids eat at 5:30, she and her husband eat later, and how letting go of family dinner expectations has made evenings calmer.

Bedtime chaos and small parenting hacks - From bath time that ramps kids up to the light-flicking trick she stole from teachers to regain attention during total mayhem.

Marriage, date nights, and staying connected - Why Lucie and her husband prioritize weekly date nights, how they find babysitters for three kids, and why investing in their relationship matters in this season.

Friendship in a misaligned season of life - The inspiration behind Between Friends, how friendships shift after kids, and why putting plans on the calendar is the only way they happen.

The ball she’s letting drop - Letting go of a spotless house, embracing the mess, and choosing peace over perfection in a home full of young kids.

Connect with Lucie

• Instagram: @whatluciesays
• Substack: What Lucie Says, including the Between Friends series

References

• Skylight Calendar

Listen and Review

Podcasts - Spotify - YouTube

More A Day In Her Life

@adayinherlifepod

adayinherlife.com

Looking for your next romance read? Look no further! This month at Pepper Books we've got your Celebrity/Normie Romances from One Pepper all the way to Five!

Episode Music - For Days - Tom Deis via Shutterstock