Wiles Family Update: The Apartment, the House and All Things Inbetween

It’s been awhile since we had a general Wiles Family update. And I have to say, after years of sharing every little thing as it happens, it’s a little strange having a bit more separation between what happens publically and what happens privately. I think it’s partly due to balancing what I share with what’s appropriate for my family, and partly because life just moves too fast for me to capture all of it.

I did have a very nice moment recently at a work event that I wanted to share. A younger guy came up to me, who looked kinda like a frat boy (backwards cap, gold chain) and said, “I love your content.” I was like, “Really???” Honestly, it’s pretty much all women and gay men who follow me, so he definitely did not fit my usual demographic. He said, “Yeah, I pay attention to mom content because I make fun of it. But you seem like a really good mom and are very thoughtful about how you share your kids.” If that is not the best compliment I have ever gotten about what I do for a living, I don’t know what is. Thank you, frat boy!

What else is happening in our world? Here’s some answers to the most frequently asked questions…

How’s the new apartment?

The new apartment is great. The move itself (and everything leading up to it) was super stressful, but once the movers put the rug, the couch and the credenza in our new living room, and I saw that it all looked great, I was so relieved, the stress faded. It’s funny to think that originally I thought we needed all new stuff, when in reality, my favorite part of moving day was realizing that all our old stuff made the new apartment feel like home. I also loved that when the kids came home from school to the new apartment, it didn’t feel that different to them. New space, same things inside it. Also having light and a view again is a total game changers. It brings so much happiness to our new home. There is still a ton of stuff that we want to do it, but we are working with a really great base and don’t want to rush it. I still have trust issues from the Home Polish drama which sadly takes away the fun of designing something new. But just last week, I bought a vintage vase with Mazzy and it inspired me to unpack the rest of our boxes and finally style our bookshelf. Now I can’t stop staring at it, it makes me so happy.

What’s going on with the summer house renovation?

Now that we are moved into our new apartment, we are back to focusing on the house. All the renovations are complete (kitchen, bathrooms, new staircase, etc.), we are now just furnishing and styling. That includes getting curtains, wallpaper, lighting, rugs, etc. which are all still big, expensive decisions so we are taking it slowly. Most exciting thing that finally got installed is the hood over the stove in the kitchen. Soooo pretty. Next up is ordering the necessary furniture like a dining room table and a couch for the living room so it will be ready to live in by summer.

How was Spring Break?

Great! We just got back from skiing in Park City. If you have followed me for awhile, you know that we have gone there for Spring Break many times before. As much as I would love to try somewhere new (I loved skiing Vail last year and really want to try a European ski vacation), the kids love skiing Park City and voted to go back. There’s been a lot of change in the last couple of years, so we thought a familiar vacation would serve us all well. We were right!

What’s Harlow up to?

Harlow is currently rehearsing for two musicals— Chicago in school and Music Man at an extracurricular class. She’s got a small role with some big dance solos in Chicago and she’s the understudy for Billy, so she is currently hoping the kid comes down with something before performance time. In Music Man, she is Winthrop, which is the little kid with the lisp who sings Gary Indiana. She never practices in front of us, but if it’s anything like her last performance in this troop, I have full confidence that she’s going to do awesome. I’m not sure I mentioned it, but Harlow played the mom in a play called Radium Girls back in the fall. It was a very serious play and she was fantastic. You can see pieces of her performance in this video.

What’s Mazzy up to?

Mazzy is on her second year of Varsity Golf, with the new season just starting a few weeks ago. She was also just invited into the advanced art program at school for next year which she is very excited about. She did oddly well on her practice PSAT, prompting her to scream, “Mom! I’m smart!” when she got her score. Which we knew, but Mazzy has not always been a great standardized test taker, so this was a huge boost of confidence for her. I actually think she was never a good test taker because her K-8 school didn’t believe in tests, and it took high school level academics and a more traditional grading system to help her step up her game. We continue to be so impressed with how serious of a student Mazzy has become at her new school. But perhaps more impressive than advanced art and an above average PSAT score was something she did yesterday. Mike picked up the nightstand she wanted from IKEA, but told her that he wasn’t able to put it together until the following day. Mazzy didn’t want to wait so she decided to put it together herself. It required a hammer, two different screwdrivers and the construction of drawers, but Mazzy was committed and completed it with no help whatsoever from either of us. I guess all those LEGO building sets really paid off! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mike so proud.

Is Lucy and family ever coming back to New York?

YES!!!!!! They are coming back this June and staying for good. Even more exciting, Skyler got into the same school as Mazzy, so they will be together in school again! Which means, Mike and I will have Lucy and Eric to hang out with at parent events too! They have not started their apartment search yet, but we are really hoping it’s somewhere close by so the kids can commute to school together. And, they have been renovating their summer house remotely, which is five minutes away from ours, so if all goes as planned, we’ll have two newly renovated houses to hang out this summer!

Did you ever decide to go on a birthday trip with your friends?

Kind of! We actually organized a trip to Miami for my friend Bianca’s 50th, which included half the people I would want to travel with, so that checked off the box for me too. I actually preferred that it wasn’t for me, because I was feeling too much pressure trying to decide who to invite, when it made sense to go and where would be worth the trouble. And then, to make things even better, my college friends decided to do a joint 50th birthday trip this summer. We are going to Portugal! All suggestions are welcome.

Do you have a promo code for….?

Every day people ask me for promo codes for my brand partners and I always have to go searching, so I decided to make things easier with a list. I also added a link in my Instagram bio called “Brand Partner Links and Promos” so you can always check there if you are looking for something! This months’ partners and promos are…

Gruns - 52% off, no code needed if you use this link, wait for the pop-up to populate

Farmers Dog - 50% off first box, no code needed if you use this link)

Woosh - 20% off everything on the site with code MOMMYSHORTS20, you also try signing up for their email list for an additional 15% off

Bombas - 21% off for new customers if you use MOMMYSHORTS21, 15% off for returning customers if you use MOMMYSHORTS15

If you want support me on my other brand partnerships, you can find videos I made for Instagram Teen with Mazzy, a Nintendo and JetBlue collab, a makeover from the founder of Woosh Beauty and a visit to Central Park for the 20th anniversary of The Gates.

Thank you guys as always for following as always. Remember to “heart” this substack so I know you are into the updates!