Mom is definitely the one to go to if you have a boo-boo, are
hungry or need help with your science project. But she can also be
pretty styling, and if she can put that sense of style to good use,
so much the better. Just ask local resident Kelley Adams.
Hollister – Mom is definitely the one to go to if you have a boo-boo, are hungry or need help with your science project. But she can also be pretty styling, and if she can put that sense of style to good use, so much the better. Just ask local resident Kelley Adams.
Raised in San Jose, Adams attended West Valley College as a student of fashion design, but decided upon a career working for a Silicon Valley electronics firms.
Careers often provide opportunities for more than setting up one’s nest egg, and it was at work that Adams met her husband, Chris Adams, an engineer.
“I was his secretary,” Adams said. “We really hit it off. We dated for maybe two months before we moved in together, and that was maybe 10 years ago.”
The two were married shortly thereafter, which brought Alexis, Adams’ young stepdaughter, into her life as well as marital bliss. Two years later, the couple had a son, Trystan.
“Having a kid makes you grow up a lot, it really puts things into perspective,” Adams said. “But I get to look out for people and be this new, nurturing person and no one thinks it’s weird because you’re a mom.”
Adams decided to go back to work after her son was born, but when her husband’s company moved to Orange County nearly four years ago, they had no desire to go so far south. On the advice of friends in the area, the Adams family moved to Hollister, choosing to commute to work in San Jose. In July, however, the stress of commuting every day and a desire to spend more time with her son prompted Adams to quit.
“I have the best husband in the world, so I decided to stay at home,” she said. “I thought to myself ‘When I’m 50, I’m going to really regret it if I was never around for my son.'”
Adams tackled domestic life head-on, learning how to cook and bake from scratch using cookbooks from the 1950s and 60s.
And while she may not be working the nine-to-five, Adams says the rigors of keeping the household harmonious are tougher than they seem.
“I was an only child and my parents were divorced, so keeping a marriage and a family together when I don’t really have that in my background is hard,” she said. “But you have to relax and to think of the other person and be ready for a lot of compromise – even if you’re the one that’s always right.”
Leaving the workforce has also afforded Adams time to devote her energies to another love in her life – vintage fashion. She and her husband are in the process of opening “Shopping with Lulu,” an online shop devoted to vintage clothes and jewelry – named after a character from a favorite 1920s film.
“I’ve always been attracted to the vintage style,” she said. “I think it’s classier, and very respectable looking.”
Aside from getting her online venture on its feet, Adams’ immediate goals include helping her stepdaughter decide which universities to apply to and furthering her involvement with her sons’ cub scout troop.
“I love what I’m doing right now,” she said. “I pack my son’s lunch, I’m there to pick him up from school. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”
