Ilana Saul

Ilana Saul is a laurenconrad.com managing editor, LA native, and new mama to Eden. She adores word games, wild flowers, the farmers market, crafting, and spending time with her family, and we could not be more excited to feature her!  Be sure to follow her adventures on Instagram here.

How many children do you have? What inspired their names?
Eden Eliot is 9 months old and her birthday is August 30, 2014. I have loved the name Eden ever since I can remember. My husband and I have been together since high school, and I actually told him how much I loved the name back when we started dating. Her middle name, Eliot, is after T.S. Eliot. My mother is one of four children, and all of them have the last names of poets as their middle names. I was an English major, and I loved the idea of carrying on that tradition.

What’s your favorite way to spend time with your family?
We go to the farmers market together almost every Sunday. I look forward to it all week.

Are their any children’s brands you find yourself buying over and over again?
We buy a lot of pieces from Baby Gap and J.Crew, but I also love finding indie children’s clothing brands. Ultra Violet Kids is my new favorite. I just ordered Eden the cutest little bloomers and turban!

How has motherhood affected your personal style?
There is so much marketing out there for maternity clothes, but you really only wear them for 4-5 months tops. It’s so much harder to find nursing-friendly pieces, even though a lot of moms need those for a year-plus. I’ll be nursing Eden for at least a year, and it’s been a challenge so far since I used to wear dresses a lot and most of them aren’t nursing friendly. I purchased a couple cute button-down dresses from Paper Crown, and then have mostly been living in jeans and cute tops!

What is your favorite thing about being a mom?
There is so much more joy in everyday life with Eden in my life. I am able to appreciate the little things so much more and don’t take things for granted like I used to. Seeing the world through her eyes has made that possible. I just feel so lucky to be her mother!

What’s the hardest thing about being a mom?
I don’t have a ton of friends who are having babies yet—I just turned 28 and it’s very common for people in L.A. to delay starting a family until their thirties or even early forties. So it’s been a challenge to find new mommy friends or at least getting my old friends on board with our new schedule, which involves much more daytime fun and an earlier bedtime 🙂

Has your beauty routine changed at all since you’ve had kids?
The first few months I didn’t wear any makeup at all. I was just exhausted and didn’t have time for it. My husband is an actor, so I would actually joke that Eden had seen him in makeup many more times than she had seen me in makeup. But after we settled into our routine and she started sleeping through the night, I pretty much went back to my old beauty routine. I find that when I feel put together I feel less frazzled and can tackle the rest of the day better! I do wash my hair a lot less often though.

What have you learned from your kids?
I have learned to appreciate every moment. Everything is new and exciting to Eden, which inspires my own creativity and fuels my passion for life.

What is your favorite, easy, go-to recipe that your child loves? 
Eden is just getting into solids, and we’ve been giving her tastes of whatever we make. She’s not a picky eater so far, which is great! I actually started using The Fresh 20 recently, and they give you weekly meal plans where you can get a lot of the week’s prep done ahead of time. It makes things super streamlined. I highly recommended it for busy moms who want to cook more.
Get the recipe we tried out (Asian Nachos!) from The Fresh 20 here.