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Caroline Rooney Serrano

@carorooney

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upstate mama to my 🇲🇽🇺🇸 girls / wardrobe stylist / formerly @kingfisher.mx

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Thank you @miczhenwen for this snap as I was leaving this week’s @jennikayne x @thisoakhouse event. As a postpartum mama of two, I’m slowly dipping a toe in to see what feels good, and how I can share my styling expertise in a way that feels valuable, without being on call 24/7 and across time zones like I have been for so much of my career. I’m looking forward to exploring & using my grown up brain, but still being home with my girls upstate ❤️ if you’re interested in following along, I started an account on @shopmy (link in bio) where I’ll post what I’m buying (for me, E & the girls), products I’d normally send off to clients, and recs with my stylist notes (free styling advice!) while I’m playing around with what’s next. ✨ taken in SoHo, New York by @carorooney

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a month ago

Upstate Mom ™️ Summer ☀️ by @carorooney

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3 months ago

Recently, my husband returned from Mexico and commented that “everyone seems so much happier there. It can’t just be the sun?”

What followed was a wandering conversation through the nuanced differences between these two places and cultures we love and call home.

In moving countries we felt a shift in general joy. In finding ease. In the definition of rush. Or the antithesis, sobremesa. Neither is perfect, and certainly, both are flawed.

I noticed my book shelf slowly expanding to include multiple self help style books, which have their place, but may I suggest… selectively.

What if, we started asking ourselves, instead of an obsession with improvement, we relished contentment. Acknowledged that life is hard and messy and imperfect but also just magical. That we can celebrate embracing a life worth living. Worth celebrating. Worth knowing. That we can do this for both ourselves, and for others.

This isn’t to say that unhappiness does not exist. That self improvement is inherently bad. But instead I just wonder if it’s the obsession with constantly improving that stops us from just being in the here and now. Embracing the little moments of joy. Rootedness. Listening to our deep knowing.

I’ve now approached motherhood in two completely different context. The first time, signing a commercial lease three months postpartum. Jumping on the first flight I could back to San Francisco to fit a client for their wedding suit. My pump 🍼 broke mid flight and knocked me quite literally in the chest. But I needed that. I loved being back at work. It was a dream and I loved every minute. I was mama but I was also a business owner, an employer, an entrepreneur.

With the birth of my second daughter I decided to become a stay at home mom. A title I was hesitant to say out loud, let alone embrace. What did it mean about me and my worth? My creativity. My independence. My ambition. My sense of self.

And yet, it’s the best decision I’ve made. To treasure the opportunity to live in service to my family. To lean into the little moments of joy. To slow down, to just be. To be our emotional backbone. To relish in this fleeting chapter. At least for right now. (cont…) taken in Hudson Valley, NY by @carorooney

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5 months ago

Happy International Women’s Day, especially to the mamas out there navigating a sea of change. Finding a new identity, patchworked together with who they were before and who they are as mama. Redefining ambition to something that looks different than they expected. Realizing they want different things than they thought they would, or maybe not, or maybe just for right now. Remembering that everything is a phase and each one is magic. Holding tight to babies they made, hoping to guide them while also guiding themselves. May my daughters be kind, be generous, and most of all, be themselves. With confidence, and grace. Healthy boundaries, gratitude, and empathy. May their hearts burst with love. And may they morph and change and soar, as they navigate whatever this beautiful adventure has in store 🌈 by @carorooney

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7 months ago

Spent the fall cuddled around my people, filling my passport, checking things off our bucket list, and generally just thrilled to be in my cozy era. 💛 by @carorooney

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a year ago

The last 18 months have felt like riding the millennium force, backwards (midwest!✋)

When we arrived in upstate New York I remember telling my best friend that I thought I needed six months to just sit quietly and recover. She gently suggested it was probably going to be more like a year. Turns out, a year and a half later, I finally feel like I’m coming back into myself. With a slower pace, a different perspective, and a deep and very clear sense for who I am, what I value, and what I want in this period of my life.

Running Kingfisher was the highlight of my career. I’ve never been as proud of something outside of my family. It was full of challenges but it was FUN. I still struggle to put into words the way walking into that quiet shop in the mornings made me feel. Maybe one day I’ll figure that out.

We moved to Mexico City with the intention of finally opening my dream store - a place where I could curate all of the amazing and unique pieces I’d spent a decade sourcing for my styling clients. A place built on customer service above all else. A place to just come and be. A break from the chaos of the city and the stress of daily life. To come in for a warm smile, a cup of coffee, a chat, and something beautiful. We never sold anything anyone needed. And it was magic.

Condesa, we miss you every single day. I loved your daily waves and hugs and smiles. I made incredible, talented friends, and I believe we made our neighborhood better.

I signed the lease for Kingfisher when Eames was three months old. I don’t regret a thing. I was deeply depressed from my pregnancy and I needed that store. I am deeply proud of what we built, while raising our sweet, independent little girl. Seeing her stroller round the corner into the shop every afternoon is the sweetest memory for me. I’m proud that my daughter got to see her mother building her dream.

I won’t go into all of the details of why we closed and why we’re in New York now, that’s a much longer story for the future. But we believe it was no longer safe for our team, ourselves, and our family, to operate, and that sometimes the bravest thing is knowing when to walk away.

(continued in comments) taken in Hudson Valley, NY by @carorooney

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a year ago

Merry Christmas from our family to yours 🎄⁣
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Baby Sister joining us on the farm this April 🎀⁣
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Photo: @anneraft taken in Upstate NY by @carorooney

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2 years ago

Invite us to your party. We’ll bring the dinner jackets. 🥂 taken in Baccarat Hotel New York by @carorooney

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2 years ago

Just arrived in Johnson City, Tennessee to support my dear friend @megradywood and @astepaheadtricities! I’ll be at their fashion resale event tomorrow styling attendees, helping people find the perfect piece, and answering style & fashion questions! Plus, I’m delighted to donate many of my favorite pieces from both my personal wardrobe and styling kits (fashion week outfits!✨) to the sale. ⁣
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All proceeds go to support the incredible work of @astepaheadtricities which provides FREE reversible birth control and comprehensive reproductive health education across Appalachia. taken in Johnson City, Tennessee by @carorooney

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2 years ago

In 2016, I sent a stranger on the internet an email asking how I could support the nonprofit she started in her college dorm room. In the 8 years since, I’ve have the massive honor of standing by @kyleelauren as she has built @momentofmagicfoundation into the incredible organization that it is today, both as a mentor and friend. To celebrate a decade (!) of providing creative programming to the pediatric cancer community and 150,000 children served through these programs, @nyse invited Kylee and A Moment of Magic to ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. I could not be more proud of this fearless woman, who time and again blows my mind with her grit, positivity, mission focused entrepreneurship, and sparkle. Thank you for inviting me & Eames to stand beside you on such a momentous day. We love and support you every day, but this was a pretty special one ✨ taken in New York Stock Exchange by @carorooney

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2 years ago

Yesterday was my due date for the child I’ll never get to meet. I’m not a religious person. But I do believe in energies, and signs and that we all have angels. ⁣⁣
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In November, we took a month away as a family, to grieve and to rest. We had just closed our store, and the company we’d always dreamed of building. It was a massive success and we had the time of our lives. But it didn’t matter. The universe taught us a valuable lesson - that you need to know when to walk away. That there’s hard work, and then there’s a line where it crosses into futile and soul crushing work. A series of very clear signs that a dream and a nightmare can exist simultaneously.⁣⁣
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On our second week of our month long break, I willed myself to head to the city to see some friends. I felt defeated but knew I needed to start easing myself back into the world after closing Kingfisher, bit by bit. ⁣⁣
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As I was leaving for the train, I miscarried our second child. The silver lining in the prior months of hell. ⁣⁣
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I deeply wish I was holding my healthy, safe newborn right now. That they would grow up with the beautiful babies my two best friends brought into the world these last few months. That we were all together Earth side. ⁣⁣
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I have my own private reasons to believe that while this experience crushed me, it was filled with lessons and signs that are leading me and our family. ⁣⁣
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I don’t believe in heaven or hell, but I do know for sure that they are with us. In fact, I visit her regularly because I can see her in the night sky. ⁣⁣
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We decided to stay, in this place far from the place we’ve called home for the last 6 years, opting for a quieter life for now, and because we never wanted to leave this place. The place that I believe represents a new chapter for our family, where we are building the next phase of our lives. This magical place. The one with our beautiful b shining in the sky above. This place that feels like it’s ours. ⁣⁣
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*continued in comments by @carorooney

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2 years ago

Had a very, very joy filled few days in Milan with quite possibly the loveliest, warmest, and vibe-y-est team in fashion. ⁣
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@jjmartinmilan congratulations on your extremely fun and energetic collection for @ladoublej. ⁣
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It was a special treat for this mom & shopkeeper to re-live my long gone modeling days at a carnival, on a carrousel , wearing flowers in my hair, and cuddling Pepper! 🌈🚀 taken in Milan, Italy by @carorooney

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3 years ago