Molly of Still Being Molly shared a really fun post last week where she listed 50 random things about her that no one knew or even asks about, and then encouraged her readers to do the same.

I used to LIVE for these questionnaire-type surveys way back in the day when I was in middle and early high school. I would fill them out with answers that I thought made me sound super cool and then forward it to ALL of my friends. I basically answered the same questions over and over and over with enough XoXo’s and ~*~*~’s to make you want to vomit. But it was fun and one of my favorite things about the early internet, and now Molly has basically given me permission to do it again! So here goes 🙂

1. What’s your favorite candle scent?
Anything that smells like clean laundry. I don’t really care for super sweet or food scents so fresh laundry, or just clean in general, is the way to go.

2. What female celebrity do you wish you were related to?
Amy Poehler. She’s my spirit animal.

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3. What male celebrity do you wish was your brother?
Chris Pratt. He seems like he would be a fun and caring brother

4. What’s your favorite thing about marriage? (And if you’re not married, what’s your favorite thing about being single?)
Knowing that no matter what may come our way, Nick and I will face it together. There’s nothing I have to do on my own if I don’t want to, and vice versa. We’re always there for each other and it makes life a little easier.

5. What’s one thing you own that you should probably get rid of, but just can’t?
I have a box of old t-shirts that I never wear, but I don’t want to get rid of them because they’re very meaningful to me. For example, there are some from plays I did in college, sport teams, etc. I’ve thought about finding someone who can make them into a quilt for me, but I just can’t get rid of them.

6. Can you do a split?
Unfortunately, I cannot.

7. How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike?
I’m sure I was like 5 or 6. I don’t remember a lot about riding bikes when I was a kid because I lived in a very rural area so there wasn’t anywhere to ride them.

8. How many oceans have you swam in?
Sadly, only one. The Atlantic ocean.

9. How many countries have you been to?
Only this one.

10. Is anyone in your family in the army?
My grandfather was in the army, my father was in the national guard, and my aunt was in the navy.

11. What was your favorite TV show when you were a child?
I remember loving the TGIF lineup on ABC, which included Family Matters, Boy Meets World, Full House, Step-by-Step, Perfect Strangers, etc. I also loved a claymation series called Bump in the Night that featured a cute little green monster named Mr. Bumpy who lived under the bed of a little boy and ate his socks.

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12. What did you dress up as on Halloween when you were eight?
I think that was the year I dressed up as Princess Jasmine.

13. Have you read any of the Harry Potter, Hunger Games or Twilight series?
Yes, I’ve read all three.

14. Would you rather have an American accent or a British accent?
It would be cool to have a British accent but I don’t hate my American one.

15. Have you ever taken karate lessons?
No 🙁 But my brother did when he was a kid, so that’s cool.

16. Do you know who Kermit the frog is?
Yes. It ain’t easy being green.

17. What’s the first amusement park you’ve been to?
Ghost Town in the Sky, which used to exist in Western NC. And then after that, Carowinds.

18. What language, besides your native language, would you like to be fluent in?
I’m mostly fluent in Spanish but I would like to be even more fluent. Then I would like to learn French or Italian.

19. Do you spell the color as grey or gray?
Gray.

20. Do you know triplets?
Nope, sure don’t.

21. Do you prefer Titanic or The Notebook?
I have fond memories of Titanic, as it was the movie I was watching when I first french kissed a boy! I was 13 years old.

22. Have you ever had Indian food?
It’s some of my favorite food!

23. What’s the name of your favorite restaurant?
Mateos bar de tapas; Nanataco; and Chico’s. But I love food so I’ll eat pretty much anywhere!

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24. Have you ever been to Olive Garden?
Yes. The salad and bread sticks are worth it. Sorry not sorry.

25. What would your parents have named you if you were the opposite gender?
I’m not sure about the boy name, but they almost named me Heather Lynn… how’s that for a southern name?

26. If you have a nickname, what is it?
The friends I met through my last job call me Nikki Nicole. This is because, when I was younger, there were a few times someone would ask what my middle name is and I would tell them Nicole and they thought my name was Nikki Nicole  because they didn’t realize that Nikki is short for Nicole.

27. Who’s your favorite person in the world? 
My son and my husband. It’s a tie.

28. Would you rather live in a rural area or in the suburbs?
I’ve lived in both and I enjoy the suburbs much more than the rural area. There’s more to do, a greater sense of community, and less travel time to most places.

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29. Can you whistle?
Nope! I try so hard but I just can’t get it.

30. Do you sleep with a nightlight?
Yes, actually, I do. Sebastian still sleeps in our room with us and I like to have a little bit of light so I can see him when I get up to nurse in the middle of the night but I don’t want too much light that it wakes us all up completely, making it hard to fall back to sleep.

31. Do you eat breakfast every morning?
Yes. Sometimes it’s while I’m getting ready for work, sometimes it’s in the car, and sometimes it’s after I’ve already gotten to work but I eat every morning. The hectic nature in which I eat my breakfast during the week is why I value taking my time during breakfast/brunch on the weekends.

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32. How many times have you been to the hospital?
None up until recently and then twice in the past year. The first time to give birth to Sebastian and the second time to receive treatment for a postpartum heart attack.

33. Have you ever seen Finding Nemo?
Several times. The first time I saw it was at the theater on campus when I was in undergrad.

34. Where do you buy your jeans?
Old Navy, Gap, and sometimes Stitch Fix

35. What’s the last compliment you got?
How adorable my baby is, and how good I look since having him and/or since my heart attack.

36. Do you usually remember your dreams in the morning?
Almost always. Especially the ones with the same themes, which is most often that I’m in a new location (usually a hotel or place of business) and I’m trying to find my room/destination but I just can’t. The elevator never takes me to the correct floor or something else happens so that I never reach my destination

37. Favorite beverage that isn’t water?
Does coconut water count? If not, then I drink a lot of coffee and Pepsi.

38. How many pairs of shoes do you currently own?
Too many! I’ve never counted them but I would estimate I have around 30 pairs. One of my goals this year is to pare down my collection to only the shoes I absolutely love.

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39. How old were you when you found out that Santa wasn’t real?
Probably around 5? My dad says I was always asking questions about how Santa got into our house since we didn’t have a chimney so I probably figured it out pretty early.

40. What is one food that you used to hate but now you love?
Brussels sprouts. Especially when they’re roasted with a little bit of apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and pancetta. Yum!

41. What is a weird lie you’ve told?
Probably that I really like something when I actually don’t. Or maybe I just don’t care about it as much as I made it believe.

42. Heels or flats?
As I get older, I find myself gravitating toward flats… or at the very least, lower heels.

43. Do you have any weird phobias?
Phobias, no. Anxiety, all of them.

44. What is a phrase or word you always say?
“I love it.” Because I’m trying to find the good in everything, I suppose.

45. What is a song that you bast or belt out when you are alone?
Despacito (the original one, not the Justin Beiber version) “Firmo en las paredes de tu laberinto!”

46. What is one of your biggest pet peeves?
Lately it’s how everyone feels they can freely comment on my plans to have more children. They don’t realize how hurtful they’re being when they say, “you should have more kids!” or “when are you having another one?” because they don’t know my situation.

47. Do you sleep with your closet door open or closed?
Closed. I can’t sleep if it’s open.

48. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of bees?
Bees. I feel like I’d have a much better chance of survival with the bees.

49. Do you have any weird things you do?
I have a lot of weird things that I do.

50. What movie could you watch over and over again and still love?
To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar.

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Moana.

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And it’s not a movie, but I am obsessed with Parks & Recreation; it’s my favorite show in the whole wide world.

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The hardest thing for me about being a working mother is dropping Sebastian off at daycare every morning. If I had my way about it, I would cuddle him all day long until he was old enough to leave for college. But I can’t, so daycare it is. The next hardest thing is pumping at work. It isn’t really that difficult, but it is a pain in the rear end to have to stop what I’m doing every 2 to 3 hours to hook the ladies up to a machine to extract my baby’s liquid gold.

Surprisingly, my office does not have a specific lactation room where I can pump undisturbed. I say it’s surprising because I work for a women’s health organization that wants women to have all the choices. I supposed it’s hard to walk the walk sometimes, but I digress. For a while I was pumping three times a day in a vacant office but then they hired someone to fill it and I either had to get creative or pump in my team’s bathroom. So here’s what I do: I pump at my desk in my cubicle.

Cramped quarters, but it gets the job done

To do this, I purchased a tension rod and curtain panel to place in the doorway of my cubicle so I can have some privacy. This works for me because we have tall cube walls, and our office space used to be an apartment building. My team is located in an area that used to be a small apartment and there are only  5 people on my team who use the space, so I actually have a lot of privacy already. Add in the fact that we have very little foot traffic on our floor and I was able to create a little space for pumping.

Curtain door to provide some privacy

I placed a clip on either side of the doorway to secure the curtain in place so there aren’t any gaps between wall and curtain. I didn’t want to take any chances that the curtain would blow open or something like that when someone does walk by. It’s still a pain to have to have to stop what I’m doing to get set up, but I don’t have to leave my desk so my flow doesn’t get too interrupted.

Clipped on the sides to prevent gaps

I’m not going to lie, I would love to leave my curtain-door up all day long so that no one bothered me, but I can’t. So the rest of the time, I’ve clipped it to the side so it isn’t in the way, and to let my coworkers know it’s alright to approach me. Lately I’ve tried to fold it a little neater when I clip so it doesn’t look like a hot mess (like in the photo below) but as long as it’s out of the way, I don’t usually worry about it.

Clipped out of the way the rest of the time

Even thought we have tall cubicle walls, I’ve warned my coworker who sits in the cube right beside me to be careful when he stands up because he’s really tall and can probably see over the wall. That’s more for his comfort than for mine; it’s pretty amazing how little modesty one has when one becomes used to whipping out a breast to feed a baby. The only other con is that if my boss or other coworker isn’t paying attention, they’ll run right into the tension rod when they walk into my cube. But as long as they’re alert, it isn’t usually a problem.

So, that’s how I turned lemons into lemonade. I figure I only have to keep doing this for the next 9+ months until Sebastian starts eating PB&J sandwiches, right? 🙂

Have you ever had to get creative/resourceful for work?

Here’s a little secret: I haven’t always wanted kids. Even in high school when I was busy scribbling hearts around my boyfriend’s name and dreaming of his last name behind my first name, I don’t recall wanting to have children. My daydream then consisted solely of marriage and a good career, and that dream remained steadfast for many years. In college, I started to scoff at the idea of procreating and when I was in my mid-and-late-twenties, I had pretty much decided kids weren’t for me. And Nick was on the same page. We were going to focus on degrees and careers and our house and our dogs and all the other goals we had stashed up our sleeves. Besides, who has time for kids? They’re dream killers, and they’re so. needy, and you have to wipe their butts for them. Gross! 

And then I turned 30.

Hey everyone!

Things are looking a bit different around here but don’t worry, you’re in the right place. NCsquared Life is now Nikki by example, but you’ll still find all of my cute outfits, life goals, and then some, including a new name and *hopefully* improved content. I decided it was time to rebrand because life has changed so much over the past few months. Nick and I are no longer just the two NCs since we welcomed our son, Sebastian, into the world in April. Nick doesn’t participated in sharing his outfis or DIY projects anymore but that’s okay because I’ll still try to share them with you. Also, I’m looking to expand my writing and get a little more creative. With all that’s happening, NCsquared Life felt a bit limiting, and so Nikki by example was born.

My happy little family!

I chose this name as a play on the phrase “leading by example.” I believe it’s going to be really important for my son to see me leading by example the values and actions that I want him to live. I also felt it would reflect that my writing, outfits, life hacks, stories, etc. are me living my most authentic life. And in that same vein, I hope it inspires me to get out there, do more, take more chances, and to truly lead by example.

photo source

Welcome to my little corner of the world! If you’re a long-time reader, you’ll find the same – but improved! – content as before and plenty more where it came from. If you’re a new reader, I’m so glad you stopped by. I hope you like what you see and will stick around on this journey with me. So, here I am, Nikki by example!

I’m only 32 years old.

I’m only 32 years old and super healthy.

And yet I had a heart attack over memorial day weekend. It was a shock to everyone… me, my family, my friends, and my doctors.

I think it was this video – and a few online articles – that helped me recognize just what was going on. I really encourage you to watch the video, read the articles, and familiarize yourself with the signs because it just might save your life. Here’s my story:

I woke up on Saturday morning feeling completely normal. I nursed Sebastian and when I laid back down in bed, I immediately started feeling pain and a tightening sensation in my chest, jaw pain that felt like I had been clenching my mouth closed for hours, and a weird discomfort in my left arm. I didn’t know exactly what was happening at first but I knew something wasn’t right. I stood up and started pacing around my bedroom, telling Nick that I didn’t feel good and I was afraid it was something serious this time. I said “this time” because I have a history of anxiety and having panic attacks and, while panic attacks are very disturbing and certainly feel ominous, they aren’t usually life threatening.  This was different, though. It felt wrong. We decided to go to urgent care where they determined that I had really high blood pressure (which is normally on the low side for me) and abnormal EKG results, so the doctor sent me to the emergency room. He didn’t say it but it was pretty obvious that something serious was happening.

In the ER, several blood tests revealed elevated enzymes that are only present when there has been damage to the heart muscle. This really alarmed the doctors because they had never seen these results in someone so young and healthy. They moved me to the ICU, and after a procedure where they inserted a catheter into the arteries around my heart — and finding no clogs or other blockages — the doctors finally concluded that I must have had a small tear in the coronary artery, called a dissection. Due to lack of risk factors, they also determined it was likely pregnancy related, as pregnancy itself causes a lot of strain on the heart. Essentially, they think the tear caused the lining of my artery to flap up and block blood flow to my heart, resulting in the heart attack. But, luckily, the flap was pushed back down into place pretty quickly and began repairing itself. Good job to my body on that one!

Cuddling with my Sebastian monkey after being moved out of the ICU.

My official diagnosis is Coronary Artery Dissection. Apparently, while this type of heart issue is rare, it is a common type of heart attack/issue in pregnant and postpartum women. They’ve put me on several medications for the next year that will thin my blood, keep my blood pressure stable, and help protect my heart as it continues to heal. I will also have many follow up appointments in the coming weeks and months.