Courtney runs an IG shopping account where she “blocks her husband and shares all the “@greatthingsibought.” She speaks my friendship love languages which are shopping and sarcasm. Her incessant recommendations are my guilty pleasure. I’ve never “swiped up” for anyone else as often as I have for Courtney. If you’re not already following, she is a must. Her range is impressive from items at $20 up to luxury prices points. She covers kids, beauty and women’s. Her suggestions are so fun and so is she… happy we get to introduce her to you. A Southern California native, she now lives in Provo, Utah with her picturesque family and is sharing with us how they have been spending their time at home.
Enjoy getting to know… Courtney Grow!
Tell us about who you are, your family, what you do for a living… and a little bit about how Coronavirus has affected those things.
My name is Courtney and I am the mother to four kids under six! I have a 5 year old girl, 2.5 year old boy and 5 month old twins. Professionally, I started by supporting my husband for the first three years of marriage by doing eyelash extensions while he worked to build a wedding rental business. He took over the role of breadwinner in 2012, which allowed me to unkink my neck and for a bit before starting on the path of motherhood. Nowadays I am primarily a stay at home mom with an irrepressible compulsion to share and talk about all the things I love. I started GreatthingsIbought when I was 7 months pregnant (what a stable genius!) with my twins. Since then, I’ve been working to balance my two passions: my family and intense shopping. It’s been a fun ride and I’ve met so many interesting and inspiring people in the process.
How have you had to innovate your work/home life in order to continue (best you can) to work and function with new parameters?
As anyone who has raised new babies can attest, the first months are exhausting and ever-changing. Right when we were finding our groove with sleep schedules, school and friends for the older kids, help with housework, etc., COVID-19 flipped the table.
I wish I could say that I’ve found some slick methods to help me thrive in a “stay-at-home” quarantine environment, but the truth is that it’s been a brute force effort. With the above-mentioned family composition, it’s almost impossible for me to accomplish any task that takes longer than six minutes without being interrupted. For this reason, we have to work together to carve out blocks of time (usually 45min-1hr) that I can use for work.
While it’s hard to draw a straight line from one thing to the other, I will say that my life has been dramatically improved by limiting my consumption of Coronavirus news. My nature is to become very anxious about anything health/death related so I’ve benefitted by reserving my energy for the elements of this catastrophe that can inform me to make better choices, or help me be hopeful. Part of being the mother I want to be involves saving my overall energy and empathy for my children.
Have you explained what’s happening to your kids?
Given how small my children are, I’ve felt conflicted about how to talk to them about this and still leave them feeling safe and comfortable. If I’ve missed the mark on what to say to my kids, it has definitely been on the side of saying too little. Although it sounds a bit like an AMC horror series, we’ve branded it “the sickness” and told them that they can’t do those things “because of the sickness.” Thankfully I’m not having to show news articles or other stats to my kids in order to get them to comply- I just use the normal blend of bribes and threats to make it through each day.
Crisis Learning (not to be confused with “homeschooling”) is new to all of us… do you have any tips on how your family is handling it?
With my oldest being in Pre-K, we’ve been spared the rigors that I hear about from my friends with older kids. My hat is definitely off to those parents who are working with their kids to even attempt the distance learning program.
What fun things have you been doing with the kids while at home to keep them occupied and a sense of calm/normalcy? Share your “normal” routine…
Around my house, it’s essentially the twins’ world and we’re all just living in it. I try to keep my older kids engaged by involving them in my cooking processes whenever possible.
We ride bikes a lot. One of the greatest blessings of my life is that I live next to a huge park with bike paths.
We’ve got a favorite climbing tree that is a couple blocks away that we visit a few times a week.
I’ve spent a small fortune on craft supplies/projects for the kids and consider it money well spent. Sidewalk chalk, sticker books, all that.
Like all other parents out there the main goal of every day is to keep my kids from endless TV watching so we try to let them watch a little bit of TV while we get dressed and ready for the day. After we’re ready we try to get them ready for the day. I feel a lot better when I’m dressed and ready for the day and so I like to take the time to put everyone in real clothes.
Cooking has always been very important, but even more so now- how and where are you getting new ideas for meals? Can you share some of your favorites? Are you getting any takeout?
Cooking has been such a bright spot in this experience! I love to cook. My mother and mother in law are fabulous cooks and so it has been fun to have a chance to try out things that they make so wonderfully and see if my version cuts the mustard! When this all began there were a lot of carrot cakes, lemon pies and brown butter Rice Krispy treats happening but I’ve managed to reign that in in favor of more fresh and wholesome foods. It’s been so fun to combine flavors and think outside of the box in a way that normal grocery store access made impossible! Yesterday I roasted some potatoes and on a whim I squeezed fresh lemon and threw some leftover green onions on them. A new favorite snack I would have never discovered before this. Another thing that I’m obsessed with are the Masterclasses I signed up for a few weeks ago. I am completely smitten with Alice Waters’ lessons on being a Home Cook. If you’re in a rut, trust me and sign up to learn from her table. As far as takeout goes I’m very conscious about how we need to be supporting restaurants more than ever. One of my friends from New York told me that there is speculation that 75% of restaurants there won’t reopen. My husband and I love supporting our local restaurants and we get takeout at least 4 times a week to help offset all the consequences restaurants are facing during this time.
How are you taking care of your mental health?
Spending time off my phone and being outside are my best tools for improving my mental health. I’m always pleasantly surprised how good it feels to sit on the ground. I read somewhere that sitting on the ground outside is the fastest way to feel “grounded”.
What boundaries have you set with news and social media as well as conversations you’re willing to engage in to protect your mental health?
My husband can handle a lot more news than me so I just told him to tell me what I need to know. He is one of those people who thinks that everything will always be fine so, although it’s frustrating at times, he keeps me from going deep into the doom and gloom of it all.
The internet has made the world feel a lot more connected and that can be a double edged sword. We are now aware of more beauty and positive news from around the world. The other side of this is that you can feel the terror and know about all the tragedy that I’m not sure I’m built to handle. It may sound shallow or otherwise vapid, but I truly love fashion and can always spend time looking at/for beautiful things to keep my mind off the latest infection news.
How are you staying connected to your friends? Extended family?
Zoom, Marco Polo, and lots of FaceTime!
How long did it take for you to shift your outlook- in order to produce something meaningful like your work, or photography or something creative in the midst of a low.
My outlook is still shifting! Somedays I feel great posting about dresses and shoes like life is normal and then some days I just can’t. I don’t want the people who inspire me to stop creating and posting and so I try to tell myself that I might be helping someone when I do what I do and search for the things that speak to me.
Give us one of each of the following that you have vetted and can recommend::
Show: The Morning Show or Unorthodox
Movie:Jojo Rabbit or A Marriage Story
Book: The Dutch House
Podcast: The Pop Apologist Podcast!
Playlist: Nancy Meyers in the Kitchen
Craft: Diamond Paintings from Amazon with my 5 year old!
Dinner Recipe: Orange Salmon (see above)
Baking Recipe: Lemon Pie
Kids Snack: The ultimate comfort food around here is homemade oatmeal we make with half and half and then finish off with a little butter and brown sugar
Favorite IG accounts:
Favorite YouTube channels:
Online shopping:
What are you wearing on quarantine:)? Are you staying comfy casual in loungewear or are you getting dressed? Give us some of your favorite go-tos.
I don’t feel like myself unless I’m out of my pajamas! Now that the weather is warmer I’m breaking out all my springtime clothes and dresses I was saving for summer travel and just living in the moment. I’m loving biker shorts with a great sweatshirt and fun sneakers when I’m working out!
Have you taken time to do any extra pampering at night with a bath and extra skincare or other things?
Definitely! My favorite thing to do at night is a piping hot shower. I know it’s all the rage to take cold showers but the hottest shower I can handle always helps me reset and switch gears once my kids are in bed. My skincare situation has been moved to the couch where my husband and I will typically watch a show or try to have a few uninterrupted moments of adult conversation!
What’s the most fun thing you’ve done during quarantine?
The most fun thing we’ve done during quarantine is definitely having nightly dinners outside with the kids. There’s something about eating outside with kids that feels so much more relaxing to me. Kids have such a hard time sitting down for dinner with all their wiggles and I love watching them run around the backyard and swing by for a bite.
What are some silver linings you see coming out to the other side of this time?
I will be much less likely to take for granted the mundane activities of my life that I’ve missed so much. Walking into the grocery store unmasked or sitting next to my friend on the subway will feel like Christmas!
Give a piece of advice on how to deal with this current situation?… anything that has helped you.
I loved the quote at the end of Jojo Rabbit and I try to think about it when I’m overwhelmed, “Let everything happen to you / Beauty and terror / Just keep going / No feeling is final.”
How can we support you (and your friends if you want to plug anyone) during QT??
My amazing sister was laid off (along with 80% of her coworkers) and now has taken the time to gift us all with her wit and enthusiasm for pop culture. She runs The Pop Apologist Podcast with my other sister Chanler and their voice and chemistry is amazing. Everyone who listens to The Pop Apologist Podcast loves it and their Instagram is a bright spot in my feed.
Where can we follow you:)?