Miami Moms Blog Welcomes: MIA Mom Sandra Jacquemin

First and foremost, hats off to all of the Miami moms out there. My name is Sandra Jacquemin. You can call me San, all my friends do.  I couldn’t be more thrilled about joining the Miami Moms Blog team as a contributor and events team member!

MIAMI MAMA

I was born and raised in Miami, daughter to a Brazilian mother and French father with Italian and Lebanese backgrounds, which speaks to my diverse appetite for life, soccer, and food! I speak four languages fluently. Marketing is my passion, so I eventually made a career of it turning down a job right out of college to pursue an entrepreneurial dream forming a boutique agency that helped clients navigate the world of brand building and marketing strategy. Even in the role of a business owner, I never imagined what the biggest role of my life would be–a mom.

IT WAS WRITTEN

I never really imagined what my life would be like as a wife, a mom. I used to say to friends, “I just don’t see myself in the white dress, but I can see me with a bump.” Today, I am all of the above (and yes, I eventually wore a white dress).  My father passed away in 2015, of a very sudden heart attack. Among many things, there is one that stayed with me after his passing: maktub. It is an Arabic saying. Whenever I faced any hardship, boyfriend break-ups, obstacles with a client he would say, “It’s maktub my dear – don’t worry.” It seemed all so simple like it is what it is, let’s eat.

He explained to me maktub meant it was written, in the stars. While it was always comforting to hear, I didn’t realize the cosmic meaning of that in my life–past, present, and future. Then all of the pieces started to fit and make sense. My father passed away, enter my husband three short months later. Losing my dad wasn’t expected. Nor was my husband. It was written in the stars, and Dad was now among the stars. Eight months later we were engaged (with mom’s blessing of course!) 

COSMICALLY CONNECTED

We now have a son and by the time you read this, he will be almost one. He was not planned or expected. He was written.

Let me tie this all together for you. Nearly fifteen years ago, my parents and I were in São Paulo, Brazil visiting family. While traveling through Rio de Janeiro, my father purchased a beautiful aquamarine stone for me. It wasn’t my birthstone, it had no significance to me other than my favorite color being blue. Staring at the glimmer of all of the colorful stones, my father asked me to ‘pick one.’ I was more focused on getting a coconut Caipirinha on the beach and wasn’t even sure I wanted it. He was resolute, so in true form, he said: “I’m deciding, just give me the biggest one and wrap it up, let’s go eat I’m hungry.”

I held on to that stone for more than a decade in a jewelry box assuming one day I’d turn it into a ring or pendant.

Enter my son, born March 13 2019. The birthstone for March is the aquamarine. Chills, right? (Oh and the stone is blue and we had a boy.)

On December 31 2018, I finally put on that white dress (a cute Free People one I got on sale, linked a similar one), laced up my white Puma sneakers and at 9am on New Years Eve, we got married with our son in my belly and nobody else. We decided we wanted fireworks on every anniversary so we could tell our son the world was celebrating our love. Afterward, we went to Greenstreet Café in the Grove, where we had a our first date and our favorite local spot. Is this considered eloping? I guess so. We enjoyed breakfast then headed over to the park to take selfies to surprise all of our family.

But the surprise in store for me was much greater. My husband sat me down under a tree and presented me with a push present. It was my stone, the aquamarine from my dad, but it was now a ring. And he said, “It was written.” Did I mention that my husband is also a former Marine? Is that aquamarine stone connecting the dots now? Oh yeah, our son also came out with blue eyes. (P.S. Both mine and my husband’s eyes are brown. Guess who’s eyes weren’t… Dad’s, they were blue.)

SO MUCH MORE

This is our first child and hopefully not our last. Not only was Marcelo Joseph a surprise to myself and my husband, but he was our birthday gift to my mom for her 70th birthday (no idea how to top that one)! There are so many more layers to peel back from my onion.

I’ve been on a vegan journey for about 2 years now which has been equally fun and challenging, especially during pregnancy and post-partum. I’ve learned A LOT about getting the necessary nutrients for me and baby as he grows while transitioning my carnivore husband. (P.S. Here’s a great recipe to try out). I’ve also gone non-toxic from my food, to cosmetics and people. I continue to do brand strategy and marketing with many exciting ventures to come. If you see my social media, you’ll soon learn I am all things Disney as a passholder.  It’s all a balance. Let’s get into this mom thing together!