Introducing the DMB’s of Aubrey Moon

{DOWN WITH DETROIT}

I grew up in a small town along the St. Clair River about 50 miles north of Detroit. When I was young, I remember going to my first Tigers game with my parents and little brother and being in awe of the culture that surrounded old Tigers Stadium. My dad did business in the city, and still continues to this day; I think it was his knowledge of streets, buildings and the history of Detroit that taught me to appreciate the “Detroit hustles harder” mentality. I love the pride that Detroiters (those residing in the city limits and those like me who live in the ‘burbs) have for their city and I am working hard to instill that in my family.

My husband, Brian, was born and raised in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. He will be the first to tell you about the beauty of his hometown. It wasn’t until his college years that he even visited Detroit. It took a few Tigers and Red Wings games, along with cruises up and down Woodward for him to understand all that Detroit has to offer… I think I’m finally able to coin him a fan.

Together we enjoy heading downtown to check out the latest on the restaurant scene and occasionally meet up with friends and former co-workers of mine for happy hour amongst some of the coolest architecture in the city.  Detroit has so much to offer, and we’re just at the forefront of what it will be like for my son’s generation.

{MY LIFE}

Brian and I were both advertising majors at Michigan State, but it wasn’t until spring semester of our junior year that our paths crossed, and we found out that we shared nearly half of the same friends. We met in a media planning class; yes, I still remember the room number in the ComArts building and the desk at which we both sat. After a few group projects and classes together, we began dating, and I had a gut feeling early on that he was the man I would marry.

After graduation, we both worked in Lansing for a year before deciding we wanted to live the big city life together and move to Chicago. We lived in a high rise in the heart of the financial district, just steps away from the Sears Tower and Millennium Park. It was an ideal situation for two 20-somethings working in advertising. The day before Brian’s 24^th birthday we got engaged while taking our dog, Macy, for a walk in front of Buckingham Fountain. It was perfect: the proposal, the ring, and the celebration at our apartment afterwards.

As you can imagine, long distance wedding planning isn’t as easy as one would hope. It felt like we were driving home every weekend to meet with vendors or to go dress shopping. Brian was getting burnt out from his job and my cousin was expecting her first child; we made the decision to move back to Metro Detroit. We wanted to be closer to family and eventually start our own.

After we got married, which, by the way, was a perfect summer day (70* and partly cloudy); we moved our things from Chicago to our parents’ basements before moving into our first home. People say you should only make one life-changing event per year, but because we like a good challenge, we decided to get married, buy our first home and start new jobs within a month of each other. I even signed us up to be on House Hunters! (I was the “crazy” wife that didn’t want stainless steel. SPOILER ALERT: I’m not as passionate about stainless steel IRL as I appeared on the show). It was a whirlwind of a honeymoon period for us, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

We settled into our life as newlyweds just fine. I worked at an agency in Detroit handling the consumer-facing advertising for one of the Big Three and loved every minute of my 50+ hour workweek. On the weekends, I worked at my girlfriends’ fitness studio, The Barre Code, and began to take more of an interest in fitness. Brian is still at the same job today, as a sales manager for Premier Business Products handling the office equipment needs of Southeast Michigan.

{BABIES & BEYOND}

I bet if you ask my friends, they would say they had me pinpointed to be one of the first to have children. If you ask the same question to Brian’s friends, I’m not sure they’d have the same answer. Nonetheless, we were the first of our friends to welcome a sweet baby into the world. We chose to keep the gender a surprise (best reward ever, IMO) and Holden was born on August 12 during the torrential downpour of 2014. I’m mesmerized by how quickly he’s growing and fast he’s learning. He is such a lover and yearns to make people laugh. I know that one day he will make a dependable and caring big brother. Until then, he will continue his role as little brother to our sweet Macy.

While I loved my corporate job, I know I was meant to be a mom. Last fall, I stepped away from my full time advertising job so that I could be home with Holden. I now manage The Barre Code in Rochester Hills, and it allows me to live a healthy lifestyle with flexible hours.

TBC has changed my outlook on life tremendously, especially since having a baby. I take pride in the things I’m able to do and am always pushing myself to be a better daughter, sister, friend, wife and mom than I was yesterday. I’m excited to share my journey into motherhood with you all and hope you’ll bear with me as I learn along the way.

Connect with me on Twitter & Instagram @aubzim!