Applicant #14: Lindsay O'Neil

Lindsay O'Neil is a mom from Mercer Island.

My video application:

Find me online:

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A bit about me:

I was born in Cincinnati, and though my distinctive little voice still makes folks assume I’m a Midwest gal, I grew up in the suburbs of Seattle. From the start I was referred to as a miniature walking radio – my calling, clearly, was to communicate.

I moved from the tiny world of Mercer Island to Los Angeles with a dream to pursue acting. I graduated from USC with degrees in theatre, hoping to make it big while my parents hoped I’d make rent. Luckily, I emerged from USC ready to take on the world – one crazy project at a time.

As a young mommy and working performer in crazy LA, I kept my sanity by surrounding myself with other interesting, funny and feisty ladies. During my years there, I worked as an actress (film, tv & commercials), host, voiceover artist (commercial & animation), dance instructor, recording artist and songwriter. But hands down, the best thing I did in LA was become a mother.

I am happily married to a smart, talented and handsome man who supports all of my insane endeavors with a smile and a helping hand in taking care of our manic little redhead. We are vegetarians that flirt with vegan recipes, and though my husband is agnostic we consider our home a Jewish one.

So, I offer the perspective of (young) wife and (currently pregnant) mother, being a lady that loves everything from the Seahawks to The Real Housewives. I’m so thrilled to be back in the Pacific Northwest and can't wait to take many walks in the rain. I’m excited to make new friends and rekindle relationships with old ones – what better way to do that than to be the next Verity Mom!

My blog post:

Yesterday I sat down with the intention to write a lovely, meaningful blog post about how life-changing motherhood has been…and then my two year old woke up early, the phone began to ring and five work emails came in at the same time. And that, in a nutshell, is my “changed” life. So I’ll write about that.

Working at home is definitely different with a toddler running around, and girls’ nights out don’t happen nearly as often (nor do dates with my husband), not to mention a few other changes we’ve made ourselves. Little things like moving from our home of 10 years in LA back to Seattle, changing our career paths entirely, and the fact that I am currently 8 months pregnant.

Since the move we’ve gotten (somewhat) settled and fallen into a new routine. My little ladybug started part-time preschool and seems to grow older by the minute. And now that my husband is working at a fabulous new start-up, I’m realizing how spoiled I was to have had him working from home for the past two years. With all this change I feel like pulling my hair out on a regular basis, but I try to remind myself that it’s a good kind of chaos.

I sometimes wonder what we used to do with ourselves before we became parents. What did we do with all our time? More importantly, what did we do with all our money? Since having our bug I feel like we hemorrhage cash. I admit I love to shop (and am pretty good at it), but we’ve managed to keep our spending in check and make some sound financial decisions. Even so, we really are the poster family for our generation – thirty-years-old and in comfortable limbo.

Our unsettled situation comes from the unsettled market. We rented out our home in LA (after we couldn’t sell) and are currently staying with my parents while we save a bit and search for a new home. Living with my folks is not something I envisioned doing again (especially not married with a toddler and another child on the way), but that is where we are right now. It would be easy to be embarrassed, but what’s the use? I know that by taking our time to find a home that we love and can afford it will be worth it in the end. And in all honesty, I don’t know who loves this setup more, my parents or our little one. They can’t get enough of her, and vice versa. It’s a lovely reminder of the main reason we decided to make Seattle our home again after so many years – family.

So, back to the blog post I had intended to write… I guess the takeaway is that I am reminded on a regular basis that life is no longer about myself and my husband or what we envisioned it would be. Every decision we make is now influenced by our crazy little ladybug and her soon-to-arrive little sister. And as much fun as it would be to pretend I’m some super-powered mom that has a perfectly organized life with a perfectly behaved child and a perfectly fabulous wardrobe, it wouldn’t be accurate. I’m a mom that tries my best on a daily basis to simply do, feel and look my best. Sometimes that means pulling out stilettos, sometimes that means treating myself to Starbucks (for the 2nd time that day), and sometimes that means trying to find a way to feel cute in sweats. In any case, I usually end up with small sticky fingerprints somewhere on my person – and I wear them as a mark of pride.

It’s not glamorous, but it’s our reality, and while it is far from perfect, it is wonderful and fulfilling and a true blessing, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It should be a wild ride adding a second little bug to this crew…I hope you’ll allow me to share my journey with you!

Lindsay