Author: tiffanyraiford15

…moments I never want to forget. (If you’re here for my regularly scheduled humor and wit, you’re going to be disappointed today. This is not your typical Friday Four.) I’ve been a mom for almost 18 years now. Some weeks are rather ordinary. Some weeks are a chaotic mess. Some weeks are an endless to-do… Continue reading friday four…

Yes to all. The confidence that comes with getting older is absolute beauty. There’s something so freeing about it. It’s gorgeous. I’ve raised (and continue to raise) great kids, I’ve spent a quarter of a decade sharing a last name with the same gorgeous man, and we’ve built a life that young Tiffany only dreamed… Continue reading propaganda i’m falling for as a 42-year-old stay at home wife and mom

…little things that fill me with such gratitude. If you know me, you know I am perpetually annoyed because the world seems filled with people lacking common sense, and I run into every single one of those people each time I leave the house. If you know me, you also know that this means I… Continue reading friday four

Being liked is not a goal. Unfortunately, most people will never realize this. They want to be popular, well-liked, and universally approved of, and too many people fail to see this is not a good thing. Being like should never be the goal. In the interest of being upfront and honest – I’m not here… Continue reading i prefer being disliked

I’ve retired my customer service voice. I was never in the customer service industry, but you know the voice I mean. The one that’s all, “Oh my goodness, no worries!” When, in fact, I have worries. The voice that might be a little higher-pitched than usual. The voice that’s telling you it’s totally fine when… Continue reading honesty > sugarcoating

…things I’m so looking forward to in the coming weeks. I might have mentioned once or twice over the past year that I’m a little emotional about our oldest daughter graduating both college and high school next month. You know…the lasts and the end of an era and the beginning of her adult life away… Continue reading friday four

…but all four of them?! I don’t know exactly when it happened or how it happened, but somewhere along the way, we accidentally raised four overachievers. And now we are tired. Like…deeply tired. Exhausted is a good word for it. Not, “I stayed up too late binging Netflix” tired. More like, “We have an NJHS… Continue reading raising overachievers

…favorite kinds of wealth right now. Right now is a season of such wealth in our lives, and it has nothing to do with the tangible deposits that go into our bank accounts. You won’t see this kind of wealth on paper. It’s intangible. It’s a feeling. It’s the moments that make me sit back… Continue reading friday four

the sweetest easter weekend This Easter weekend was, honestly, the sweetest I’ve had in a long time. Not because of the perfect weather or the pinterest-worthy vibes. But because it was completely free of the stresses of hosting and trying to make everyone happy. This season is notoriously hectic as a mom of four. If… Continue reading the sweetest easter

…favorite places to eat on 30A. Everywhere Everywhere Everywhere Everywhere There. That’s all four. I made it easy for everyone. Fiiiiiiiine. I’ll narrow it down, but I’ll warn you it’s not easy to do that, considering we’ve never experienced a failed restaurant while vacationing on 30A. No matter how many times we vacation here and… Continue reading friday four…

I have no regrets. Vacation is not real life. Vacation should not mimic being at home, and I’m okay with that. It’s about being a little bit extra, a lot more relaxed, and remembering there are absolutely no rules on vacation. Vacations are not aspirational. They’re not where I’m my best self (…or are they?… Continue reading what i am and am not doing on vacation

I’m not interested in needing a vacation from our vacation. Hi, my name is Tiffany, and I’m an obsessive-compulsive, Type-A perfectionist who covets control of every single detail of everything. Especially vacation preparations. And I’m the problem. The first step is admitting it, right? Or is that strictly for drug addicts and alcoholics? Whatever, I’m… Continue reading how i make sure we don’t need a vacation from our vacations

…favorite things about spring. I don’t hate spring. I know you’re all thinking it. “Tiffany is always going on and on about how much she despises being hot and how much she loves the ‘ber months and how the rest of the year is useless, pointless, and not for her,” but spring is actually my… Continue reading Friday Four

Toxic Traits? I prefer to call them cute quirks. We all have them, and they’re not all toxic. Some might be…But I like to think of my toxic traits more like charming quirks that make my loved ones love me. Surely, they’ll all tell you the same thing. Regardless of what you call it, we… Continue reading my toxic traits

...sentiments that hit so hard when you have a child graduating. Living this weird existence between monumentally proud and feeling my heart break a little bit more with each passing day is a feeling I cannot explain using words. It’s meant to be experienced, though I wish I could tell you. ‘The days are long… Continue reading friday four…

Nordstrom – my favorite. I’ll admit I’m not super good at sales. I’m not a planner when it comes to shopping. I’m definitely a “I’ll know it when I see it,” as well as an “I need this now,” kind of shopper, and so I don’t always do myself the favor of saving money during… Continue reading nordstrom beauty savings event must-haves

...positive thoughts about the time change this weekend. A Friday Four that’s a real stretch for me because I feel an intense dislike for this time change. I love the evenings dark as early as possible. I love cozy weather, cozy evenings, cozy vibes. The endless daylight is rough for me. I can’t explain it,… Continue reading friday four

Otherwise, you’re just teaching your kids to be losers. I said what I said. I went on a slight rant on the ‘gram the other night because I heard a grown adult say that “It’s not about winning, it’s about being fair to all the kids and giving them all a chance,” and with all… Continue reading it IS about winning

I don’t. And I'm sure I couldn't if I tried. But I do keep seeing blog posts and videos with the title, “How I do XYZ for under XYZ every week,” and I’m just over here like, okay, good for you, but sure. $150 a week? That doesn’t even cover the items my husband packs… Continue reading how i feed my family of 6 for $150/week

…deep dive moments. This week came in hot in all the wrong ways. A sick baby. An under-the-weather me who wasn’t sick, per se, but also wasn’t feeling 100 percent. An exceptionally busy week for all. Cold weather that I’m over and done with because while I love the cold, I only love the cold… Continue reading friday four…

Life lessons that matter. Today is a day that falls into the bittersweet category for me. It’s a day I’ve thought about for a long time, but also a day that I thought I had a lot more time to prepare for. Spoiler alert: I did have almost 18 years, but those went by pretty… Continue reading what i’m teaching my kids

What’s going on 2026? I turned 42 in September, which means with math and stuff, I’ve lived a lot of Januarys and Februarys. And they’ve all lasted approximately 700 years each. Seriously. Over the course of my entire life, January and February have always felt longer than the entire remainder of the year. Two months… Continue reading it’s okay

...favorite things this week. Let me just preface this by saying that I am having the best time writing The Friday Four. It’s become such a great way to focus on the many good things in my life that I might otherwise overlook. It’s been a real dopamine hit. I like it. This week doesn’t… Continue reading friday four

My rich life. I love seeing these posts on the ‘gram because they’re so sweet and so uplifting. I adore it when people realize that the richest aspects of life are not what’s in your bank account (this is me making it clear I’m not going to tell you that money doesn’t buy happiness, because… Continue reading my rich life

Survival. Or as I like to call it: The current season of our lives. Television shows have seasons. The weather has seasons. The Raifords also have seasons. And right now, we are in survival season. I won’t even mention the fact that graduation parties, planning, college tours, scholarship deadlines, acceptance deposits, grad events, and everything… Continue reading sports season survival guide

…favorite ways to unwind. My favorite thing in the world is relaxing. And I mean relaxing – I think it’s because it’s something we didn’t do for years. Until just a few years ago, if it wasn’t sports and school activities for the kids, we were overscheduling ourselves socially. We wanted to rest, but we… Continue reading friday four

There’s an art to not losing my mind. And I’m not an artist. But that’s all right. I’m also not perfect, so on the rare-ish occasion I do lose my mind, it’s okay. I remind myself that I’m 42, I have four over-achieving academic-athletes and a husband who searched the entire house both upstairs and… Continue reading how i do it all

The luxury of knowing what works for me. It’s a very quiet luxury, and I think it’s one that comes in hot during this particular season I like to call midlife (even though I doubt I’m even close to midlife, considering my grandmother died at 102 and her sisters all died older than she did…good… Continue reading what works for me.

..favorite recent purchases. I do love to shop. Not, like, in person or anything. There are people in public, and you know I don’t like those. But give me my morning coffee and peace and quiet while my husband is taking the three littles to school in the mornings, and my phone and I can… Continue reading friday four…

The mental load of a mom… You know we do this to ourselves, right? Okay, give me a hot second to get to my point, because first I want to point out that right now the internet is absolutely trending with the concept of the mental load of a wife and mom. We have the… Continue reading the mental load.

It’s not about you. Unless…it is? But it’s not. Is it? I am exceptional at taking things personally. I’ve made an art of it almost my entire life, and trust me when I say it was not easy to unlearn to take things personally. But do trust me when I say it was, perhaps, the… Continue reading it’s not personal.

…things I loved about January. Spoiler alert – I actually detest January. It’s long, boring, and empty thanks to Christmas ending and being exhausted from like 10 months of constant go, go, go. January and February are not my favorite months. They’re my least favorite. January is not in a hurry. January isn’t worried about… Continue reading friday four…

Easy. In a year when nothing feels easy (hello, saying goodbye to our firstborn as she becomes an adult and leaves home for college), I’ve decided – literally just this morning sitting on the couch with my hot coffee, the doors open, and the sound of the rain falling into the pool – that this… Continue reading easy.

Forty-three. First and foremost: Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday to my favorite person in the world – my husband. He’s 43 today, and it’s the 25th year I’ve had the pleasure of wishing him a happy birthday on his day. Second…let’s talk about date night. Craig and I had date night on Friday night. It… Continue reading date night non-negotiables.

…feelings I loved this week. To preface where I’m going with this, Fridays are all about fun and fabulousness and festivities (and Craig’s famous homemade pizzas and a family movie). Fridays are naturally gorgeous. The week is over. Responsibility feels less important because it’s coming to an end (car lines and homework and school events… Continue reading friday four.

The little things… Size matters, my friend. And I mean it matters in a way that the absolute best things are often the smallest. Especially as it pertains to elevating your everyday life to make it just a little bit ‘more’. More luxe. More relaxed. More enjoyable. More of whatever it is you want in… Continue reading elevated.

Mondays…ew. There was a time when I fucking LOVED a Monday. Like, love love loved a Monday. When the kids were little, the weekends felt long and exhausting because there were double them as us. Yeah, I loved Monday. When they went back to school, I felt I could actually accomplish things around the house.… Continue reading monday.

No. It’s my second-favorite word after “fuck”. Which is absolutely hilarious because there was a time in my not-so-distant past in which the word ‘no’ felt hard. I had a difficult time saying no because I was afraid of offending people, hurting their feelings, and being perceived as the ‘bad guy’. It took me a… Continue reading what i am saying no to.

Fashion + 42 + 4 Kids = Effortless And I do mean effortless, as in I want to look fabulous without making an ounce of effort. It’s my own personal double entendre. Darlings, I’m 42 years old with four kids and a hectic schedule that doesn’t leave a lot of free time, so I certainly… Continue reading fashion at 42

Parenting is such a mind fuck. Pregnancy Infant Toddler Kid Teen Adult Yeah…okay. Maybe if you have one child. But I have four children. Which means the chapters of parenting are nowhere near neat and orderly. It’s like pregnant, infant, toddler, pregnant, infant, kid, pregnant with TWO HUMANS AT ONE TIME, toddler, kid, TWO infants,… Continue reading the four seasons

Go ahead and ask me how I’m doing. Oh, you didn’t think I was going to hit you with the generic, “Good, busy, taking it all in!” did you? Because I’m doing no such thing. How am I doing? Amazing, depressed, fabulous, and no longer wearing mascara because I cry a lot. Well. You asked.… Continue reading 2026…the year everything changes

Dear 2025 Tiffany, My friend, you did it. You did what you set out to do, what you said you wanted to accomplish, and what you felt was most important. You learned to slow down You learned to sit inside moments and appreciate them You learned to rest You were present You were unapologetic You… Continue reading dear 2025 tiffany…