The week between Christmas and New Year's is always tough in the news business. Between vacations and lack of anything happening, it can easily turn into the longest week of the year, especially if your stress-to-sleep ratio is out of wack like mine has been. In fact, I've been in a kind of funk for the past two weeks it feels like.

It all started when we had to miss my aunt's annual Christmas party and then Christmas with my grandparents because Alexis got a terrible stomach bug. To make it worse, we sent her to stay with my mom because she was out on winter break so daddy and I wouldn't have to miss work. Needless to say I was not focused on work those three days. Other than getting a touch of the bug myself, Christmas came and went pretty uneventfully (more on that in a post next week), but this past week has been bad. Bedtime has been a struggle all week, I haven't slept well, and work has been beyond stressful for a handful of reasons.

All of these things have combined to create an end-of-year funk I'm having a hard time breaking out of. I feel like I'm not being a good mom, wife, friend, or daughter right now, and all I want to do is burrow into the covers on my bed and sleep until I feel like me again. But of course I won't. Instead I'll do the laundry that's been piling up, organize all the Christmas gifts Alexis got that are strewn from one end of my house to the other, and take down our decorations before the new year. And while nearly everyone else I know will be out celebrating the end of 2016, I think I'll watch a movie with my husband and go to bed early. If nothing else, I'll start off 2017 with a good night's sleep.

Happy New Year.

I started the (Not So) Basic Journalism Skills series two years ago with the goal of sharing some of the things I've learned from the newsroom that weren't taught in school or are often taken for granted as something you should already know how to do. It's been over seven years, and I still haven't run out of things to write about.

Within the past year, I've trained two producers who don't have degrees in broadcast journalism - one was a print major like me, the other has an English degree. There's been a fairly big learning curve, much like during my first few months as a producer, so I've had to come up with unique ways of bridging that gap, which is what inspired this post.

I've put together a list of four tips to help new producers find their footing and keep their sanity during their first month.

1. Establish a Routine
In this business, deadlines are a blessing and a curse. They give you something to work toward, but, in the beginning especially, they can seem synonymous to failure. That's why it's so, so important to establish a routine early. I have a printout that I give all my new producers to help them get started. It's the exact same routine I've been following for the past seven years.

2. Time Yourself
I learned the hard way that having a checklist isn't always enough, especially when you're a brand-new producer. When I first started, I worked overnight by myself. There was no one there to hold me accountable or jump in and save me if I got behind, so I set myself deadlines throughout the night to get things done. I've found this to be very helpful for the last two producers I've trained.

3. Prioritize
My newest producer was having a hard time meeting final deadline, even with a timed checklist. Turns out, we hadn't allotted enough time for her to edit video and had it too far down her checklist. So we rearranged and blocked out her time differently. Basically, we reprioritized so that the hardest thing for her was higher on her checklist. Bottom line, do your hardest thing first. After you've picked your content, that is. It's kinda hard to do anything else before that.

4. Watch/Look Back
This may be the best piece of advice I can give you. Go back and look at past shows, both the rundown and the air-checks, to see how things are put together, how stories are written, etc. This is a visual business, so reading old copy and watching old shows will give you a strong visual of what your end goal should be ... at least in the beginning. Obviously, your goal should always be to improve upon the product.

All of these tips are tried and true. I've used all of them myself or have employed them when training new producers.

For more tips and tricks on surviving the news business, check out my other (Not So) Basic Journalism Skills posts.

It's been a hectic past couple of weeks at work, and I've honestly just been forgetting to take pictures of what I'm wearing. In fact, this picture is a direct result of me remembering during my toddler's bath that I hadn't done a Newsroom Fashion post in a couple of weeks, so I quickly snapped a photo while sitting on the bathroom floor.

There's nothing special about this outfit but it's so comfy and flattering. I'm so glad I splurged on these white jeans from The Limited this Spring and this sweater back when I was pregnant. Now that I'm normal size again, it fits like a tunic so I can wear it with jeans or leggings. Everything I'm wearing is at least six months old, proving once again that smart shopping is always worth it in the end!

I couldn't find anything really similar to my sweater, but I linked to some tunic-style sweaters that come in a similar color that are available at The Limited right now below.

Details:
Sweater: The Limited old (with fringe, textured cowl neck)
Jeans: The Limited old (similar)
Necklace: The Limited old (similar)
Boots: Target old (exact)

Being a parent is tough. I think we all constantly worry that we're not doing enough, that we're making a billion mistakes, that we're not there enough. That last one is what I've been struggling with lately - working-mom guilt.

I love my job. It is an absolute privilege to be able to do what I do every day, and I've worked very hard to get to where I am in my career, but opportunities get off early when you work in news, especially when you're a producer, are few and far between.

My typical weekday starts between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. If I'm lucky, it starts at 6:00 and Alexis sleeps until 7:00, which means I get an uninterrupted hour to get ready for the day and then another hour to spend with her. If I'm not lucky, she wakes up before my alarm, is grumpy because she didn't get the sleep she needs, and the morning is spent fighting to get ready so we can leave the house by 8:00. Alexis is at daycare by 8:15 so I can be at work by 8:30. I get off as soon as my show ends at 5:30, pick Alexis up no later than 6:00 depending on traffic, and we're home usually by 6:30. Her bedtime is 8:00.

Even on days when daddy is off, I still only get to spend a few hours a day with Alexis during the week. And even though I'm a big believer in daycare and the social skills Alexis is learning while there, I still feel guilty that some days she spends more than eight hours there.

When we get home in the evenings, there's dinner to be made, bath time to get through and the all-important bedtime routine to follow. It's 8:00 before I know it, and although Alexis' day is done, there are still things on my to-do list like dishes or laundry, but most nights I'm ready to fall into bed as soon as I know she's asleep. So then there's the guilt of daily household chores often left undone, not to mention the guilt that comes along with feeling like you don't have enough to give of yourself to your partner.

Is there no end to working mom guilt?!

I don't actually have an answer to that, but I am working on ways to feel less guilty about the things I can't or don't do. I'm also working on appreciating the personal time I get instead of constantly feeling like I should be doing something other than something that's just for me.

Are you a fellow working mom? What tips or advice do you have for overcoming working-mom guilt?

Better late than never, right? After a particularly long night with the baby, this Monday was one of the toughest I've had in awhile and definitely one which I have to remind myself that tomorrow is another day.

Happy Monday!

Here's my review of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in a nutshell: if you are a fan of Harry Potter, you need to see this movie. If you haven't seen it yet but plan on it, read no further than this paragraph or risk having the movie spoiled for you. You have been warned.


Here's the general plot line -- Newt Skamander (Eddie Redmayne) travels to the US from England to release a griffin back into the wilds of Arizona. He's traveling with a magical suitcase filled with magical creatures including a niffler. Some of those creatures escape in New York when Newt accidentally swaps suitcases with a muggle, or no-maj as Americans refer to non-magical people, aspiring baker Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler). Newt and Jacob, along with disgraced auror Tina (Katherine Waterston) and her sister Queenie (Alison Sudol) then find themselves in an adventure that's much bigger than recovering escaped magical creatures and keeping the magical world hidden.

The crux of the movie revolves around an American auror named Graves (Colin Farrell) and his secret search for an obscurus, a child that has suppressed his/her magical powers so that they manifest in an uncontrollable form. Graves has enlisted the help of a young man named Credence to help him find this obscurus, wrongly believing it to be one of Credence's adopted sisters. When Credence fails to deliver, Graves essentially tells the boy he's useless, prompting Credence to reveal that he is the obscurus and in the process expose magic to the entire city.

In the end, aurors destroy Credence, and Graves' true identity is revealed - Grindelwald, the evil wizard (Johnny Depp) - setting the scene for a sequel, which will be released in 2018.

Fantastic Beasts is the best movie I've seen all year, and, in my opinion at least, it was better than the Harry Potter movies, and I don't say that lightly but rather as an adult who now has a grown-up version of the magical world that's been a beloved part of my formative years. And just in case you weren't sure, I can't wait for Fantastic Beasts 2.

This is as close to a monochrome look as you're likely to see me. Blending shades of the same color into one outfit has always been tricky for me, but I do like how this oxblood sweater and blush jeans turned out. I was actually inspired to try this combination by a coworker who wore an all-blush outfit one day last week. The only thing I might change next time I wear this is my shoes and opt for wine-colored pumps instead of boots. (P.S. Both my sweater and jeans are on major sale right now, and my boots are 30% off. Links below.)

Details:
Sweater: ShoeDazzle
Jeans: Aeropostale
Boots: Target