a day in HER life - Hannah

Hi there! I’m Hannah, a Brit living in Montreal with my husband Oliver, our 2.5 year old girl Cotton and a wee babe in my belly who may or may not be born by the time this post is online - due date is March 1st :)

 

For the most part of the week I am a mama, the rest of the week I do my part in growing our family business Carriage 44. I’ll start with a typical mid-week day spent with Cotton who is at home with me Monday through Wednesday.  

Every morning is off the ground running usually by 7am. Cotton is an ‘eat as soon as she wakes girl’, so soon enough the oatmeal is on the stove and that sweet black gold is dripping through its filter. Oliver normally makes the breakfast and coffee whilst I shower and get dressed before he heads out at 7:45am. Playtime pretty much begins right away and right now; Cotton’s imagination is developing daily. Its fascinating to hear what stories and scenarios these little humans come up with! We’re either flying her and her soft toys on a blanket hung aeroplane over her bed or setting up a pretend birthday party complete with candle blowing and singing. 

Around 9:30am I lay out some snacks for her to graze as she pleases in a hope I can buy myself 10 minutes to clean up a little here and there and make myself a second cup of coffee. Then we’ll move over to the craft table - Cotton’s favourite. She LOVES to create art with any medium and as a creative person myself, it brings me great joy to watch her delve her hands into the paint, mix the colours and spread them over her page whilst telling me what her imagination perceives it is that she is creating.

Lunch is up around noon and then its time to wind down with some reading before Cotton goes down for a nap at 1pm. During nap I like to prepare dinner. Every mom knows those 4-6pm hours are WILD, so if dinner is prepared, this frees me up to not have to try and accomplish this in the mix. In the afternoon, weather dependent, we’ll get out for a walk around the trails behind our house, picking up some leaves or pine cones and maybe hit the park if its warm. During winter, a quick 20 minutes making snow angels outside is about as much as we get around to but nevertheless, the fresh air is always liberating.

 

All this said, Cotton is a huge fan of all coffee shops that will sell her a buttery croissant, so our week normally involves one or multiple trips to a cafe for some fuel :)

Oliver is a freelance prop and set designer so its a bonus that some days he is home earlier than expected in the afternoons but usually he arrives home between 5:30-6pm and we’ll all sit for dinner. He does bath time whilst Cotton debriefs our day to him and I get the house back to normal ready for it all to start over the next day. Once again, we’ll wind Cotton down with reading before she goes to bed at 7pm… and then its adult conversation time. I’ll debrief my own version of the day to Oliver and he will the same of his to me. Our evenings vary depending on work loads. Which brings me onto how we incorporate our business into our everyday lives.

Carriage 44 is a handmade natural soap, candles and skincare company that Oliver and I run with Oliver’s mom. We’ve been growing this business for about 5 years alongside our various other full time commitments (set designing, being a mom, etc).

Our work space is the mezzanine of our condo - it isn't some glamorous warehouse charm-like space but it does the job. So evenings for us can often be made up of business related tasks. Answering emails, making product or preparing online orders to be shipped. 

 

On Thursdays and Fridays Cotton attends preschool so those days I also try to focus on whatever needs Carriage 44 has. I mainly make our candles, lip balms and run errands but I also try to take some time for myself - maybe grab a coffee with a friend or with my current situation being in the last few weeks of pregnancy, its a good time for all the nesting :)

Thanks Hannah!

Instagram - @hannahbethstenberg, @carriage44

Website - www.carriage44.com