There is a certain kind of beauty found in the everyday.

For some, it is found in the way we dress, in the homes we create or in the traditions we carry. For others, it is found in the beautiful world of motherhood.

For Ciera, these worlds naturally intertwine. Through her way of romanticizing everyday life, she reminds us that beauty doesn't have to be extraordinary to be meaningful. Sometimes, it is simply found in being present, embracing the moment and finding romance in the life we already have.

"I hope they remember that their childhood felt magical and warm, that they spent a lot of time outside, that their mom was present and that our house was a place where they could be fully themselves."


09 - The Romance of Everyday Motherhood

For Ciera, motherhood has become her greatest inspiration and one of life's most beautiful adventures. As a mother of four, she has spent the past twelve years capturing the beauty of ordinary life.

From the little traditions shared with her children to the moments of rediscovering herself along the way.

What began as a way to document her family's days has evolved into a creative world of its own, one rooted in nostalgia, femininity, and a romantic appreciation for the everyday. She invites her children into a world of imagination, dressing up, and playful expression, while her own style reflect a personal journey back to the woman she is beyond motherhood.

But beneath the beautiful imagery lies a deeper philosophy: that motherhood and womanhood need not exist separately, that taking care of yourself is just as meaningful as caring for those you love and that there is room for both softness and strength in the same season of life.

Her own health journey has also shaped the way she approaches her home, wellness, and the choices she makes for her family. 

In this conversation, we explore the romance of motherhood, the evolving relationship between womanhood and personal identity, and the beauty of finding yourself in the midst of a life so beautifully full.



The Conversation


Can you give us a brief introduction about yourself?

I'm Ciera, a mom of four, three girls and one boy, and I have been creating content for about twelve years now, since around 2014. 

What started as simply sharing our life turned into romanticizing motherhood, low-tox living, and Dress Up Diaries, and somewhere along the way it became my work and my way of remembering our days.


What is the most beautiful part about motherhood? 

Watching my kids love each other. There's nothing like seeing a big sister take her little brother's hand, or all four of them piled together laughing, and knowing that bond is something they'll carry forever.


What does being a mother mean to you beyond the everyday responsibilities? 

It means being the keeper of the magic in our house. Beyond the meals and the laundry and the schedules, I'm the one who decides whether our days feel rushed or feel like something worth remembering. That's a big job, and it's the one I care about most.

What has motherhood taught you about yourself?

That I have a much bigger capacity than I thought, for love, for patience, for starting over on a hard day. It also taught me to trust my gut. When something feels right for my kids, it usually is.

It also made me both softer and stronger than I knew I could be. I used to think of myself one way, and motherhood rearranged all of it. I see myself now as someone capable of a lot more tenderness and a lot more grit than I ever gave myself credit for.


What do you wish you could tell your younger self before becoming a mother?

That you don't have to have it all figured out, and that it gets more beautiful than you can picture right now. The hard parts won't break you and the sweet parts will be sweeter than you expected.


What do you hope your children learn simply by watching you live? 

I hope they learn how to love people well, how to slow down and notice the good in an ordinary day, and how to take care of themselves and their home. I hope they see that a life can be both full and gentle.


What surprised you most about becoming a mother? 

How much joy lives in the ordinary parts. I thought the big milestones would be the thing, but it's the everyday stuff, the car rides, the dress-up, the bedtime stories, that ended up meaning the most.


What part of motherhood has changed you the most? 

My heart, honestly. It got bigger and more open, and also more tender in a way that can ache a little. Loving four little people that much changes how you move through everything.


What has motherhood made you care about more or less? 

I care so much more about health now, about what's in our home and what we're putting on our bodies, especially after my own health journey. I care a lot less about perfection, and about what anyone else thinks our life should look like.


How has your definition of home changed since becoming a mother? 

Home used to be a place, and now it's mostly people. It's wherever my kids are, wherever the noise and the laughter is. We're actually moving into a new home at the end of November, and that feels right, because home is something we carry with us, not just walls.


What do you hope your children remember about their childhood and what values do you most hope to pass on to them? 

Kindness first, curiosity, gratitude, and taking good care of the people and the home around them. I want them to be the kind of people who notice others and who love well.

I hope they remember that their childhood felt magical and warm, that they spent a lot of time outside, that their mom was present, and that our house was a place where they could be fully themselves.


What is something your children have taught you? 

Patience, and how to find joy in small things again. They've taught me to stop rushing past the good parts and to actually sit in them for a minute.

"Home used to be a place, and now it's mostly people. It's wherever my kids are, wherever the noise and the laughter is."

What do you admire most about your children? 

Their wonder, and the way they love each other. My oldest and my youngest have seven years between them, and watching that bond, the tenderness of it, is one of my favorite things in the world.


What is your favorite part of an ordinary day with your children? 

Getting them dressed and out the door in the morning, and then that golden hour stretch in the evening when everyone's a little tired and a little softer. Those in-between moments are my favorite.


Is there a ritual or tradition you have created with your children? 

Every year we go to the canyon and take fall photos of the kids, and it's become one of our most treasured traditions. 

We also have our weekend dress-up time, and bedtime stories, little rhythms that make our weeks feel like ours.


What is something you do together that you hope never changes? 

Dressing up together. Watching them pick outfits, twirl, and get lost in pretend play is something I never want to lose, even as they grow.


What is something about motherhood that no one prepared you for? 

How all-consuming it is, in the best and hardest ways. No one really tells you how much of your heart will live outside your body, or how much you'll change right alongside your kids.


What has motherhood taught you about patience? 

That patience isn't something you either have or you don't, it's something you practice a hundred times a day. Some days I get it right, some days I don't, and both are part of it.


Has motherhood changed your relationship with time? 

Completely. Time moves so much faster now, and also slower in the sweetest moments. I feel the years passing in a way I never did before, which makes me want to be present for all of it.


Has motherhood changed your relationship with your own mother? 

Yes, in such a tender way. I understand her so much more now, the sacrifices and the love that I probably didn't fully see when I was younger. I appreciate her in a whole new way.

"Time moves so much faster now and also slower in the sweetest moments."

How do you make space for yourself within motherhood? 

I started a little series about finding my style again, because somewhere in the middle of raising four kids I forgot how to dress myself. Making space for that, for getting dressed up just because it makes me feel like me, has been really good for me.


What helps you reconnect with yourself when life feels full? 

Getting outside, putting on something I actually love, and turning on a good song. Even a few minutes of that, a little beauty in the middle of a full day, brings me back to myself.


Has motherhood changed the way you create? 

Yes, it changed everything about it. I used to create around my life, and now I create from inside it. My kids, our home, our ordinary days, that's the material, and it's made my work more honest.


Has becoming a mother changed your relationship with ambition?

It hasn't taken my ambition away, but it rearranged it. I still want to build and grow, but I want to do it in a way that fits around my family, not the other way around.


Do you think differently about success since becoming a mother? 

Completely. Success used to feel like numbers and milestones, and now it feels like presence. If my kids are thriving and I'm making something honest, that feels like success to me.


How do you protect your creative identity alongside motherhood? 

I keep my series going, even in small ways, and I let my work be part of our life instead of separate from it. Dressing up with the kids, filming our real days, that's how I stay creative without disappearing from my family.


Has motherhood influenced your aesthetic or creative work? 

So much. Everything got softer, warmer, and more nostalgic. I love warm outdoor light, romantic little details, and images that feel like a memory, and that's because motherhood taught me to look for beauty in the everyday.


Where do you find inspiration in family life?

In the kids themselves, in how they play and dress up and talk to each other. Some of my favorite ideas have come from just watching them be siblings, and from the small rituals we repeat without even thinking about it.


Has your definition of productivity changed since becoming a mother? 

Yes. A productive day isn't about how much I crossed off anymore. Some of my best days look quiet from the outside, but they were full of presence, and that's enough.


What does a successful day look like to you now? 

A day where my kids felt loved and seen, where I captured at least one real moment, and where I ended the day feeling present instead of rushed. That's a good day.


How do you make room for both ambition and presence? 

I try to work in seasons and to be honest about what season we're in. Some weeks are for building, and some weeks are just for being with my kids, and I've learned to let both be okay.


Has motherhood made you more intuitive in your work? 

Yes, I trust my gut a lot more now. If an idea feels true to our life, I follow it, and if it feels forced, I let it go. Motherhood sharpened that instinct.


What do you notice now that you might not have noticed before becoming a mother?

The small things, the light coming through the window, the way my daughter's hand looks in her little brother's, the sound of all four of them laughing in another room. I notice the details that make a life.

"Some of my best days look quiet from the outside, but they were full of presence, and that's enough."


How has your idea of womanhood evolved?

It used to feel like something you performed, and now it feels like something you live. Womanhood, to me now, is strength and softness at the same time, and it's a lot quieter and deeper than I thought it would be.


What does femininity mean to you today?

Soft strength. Romance without apology. Wearing something beautiful just because it makes you feel like yourself, not because anyone's watching.


What does being a woman mean to you at this stage of life? 

It means being in a full season, a mom of four, building a life and a home, and still finding the woman underneath all of that. It feels both grounding and expansive at the same time.


Is there a version of yourself you are trying to make more space for? 

Yes, the woman who forgot how to dress herself somewhere along the way. I'm making space for her again, for getting dressed up and feeling like me, not just like someone's mom.


What does freedom mean to you? 

Margin. A slow morning, a day without a schedule, the ability to choose presence over pressure. Freedom, to me, is having room to actually enjoy the life you've built.

"To me, femininity means soft strength and romance without apology."

How would you describe your personal style in three words? 

Soft, romantic, nostalgic.


What does beauty mean to you? 

Beauty is warmth and honesty. It's a woman who feels like herself, a home that feels lived in, a moment that feels real. It's never about perfection.


What is your ultimate beauty tip? 

Take care of yourself gently, and let your natural beauty lead. A little effort in the right places goes a lot further than trying to change everything.


What feeling comes to mind when you think of MOCHA? 

Quiet elegance, and a kind of everyday magic. It feels timeless and romantic, like something beautiful that belongs in a normal, lovely life.


What challenge has taught you the most?

My health journey after my youngest was born. Dealing with autoimmune issues changed how I think about my body, my home, and what I bring into it, and it taught me to listen to myself in a way I never had before.


What is a lesson you learned the hard way?

That you can't pour from an empty cup, and that ignoring what your body is telling you doesn't make it go away. I had to learn to slow down and take care of myself, not just everyone else.


What are you still figuring out? 

Balance, honestly. How to be fully present and still build something of my own, how to grow without rushing. I'm still figuring out what the next season looks like, and I'm learning to be okay with that.


What are you currently letting go of? 

The pressure to do it all, all at once. I'm letting go of the idea that every day has to be productive in the same way, and making peace with slower seasons.






THE LOOK