Kristen Kaza

Livin la Vida Mama. 🤹🏼‍♀️👯‍♀️ Jade and Nova made their magazine debut with Mommy in this month’s issue of @chicagomag (with a guest appearance by Squishie) and they did great! HAPPY #NATIONALTWINDAY to all who celebrate!! Thank you, @webbehrens for the thoughtful interview and giving a platform to this Party Mom life and my newest project, Mother Lover, my official entrance into the Mom Blog universe. It might have taken me three years but in the spirit of Mariah Carey, time is an illusion, anyway. You can follow along on ig @motherlover.world and my new substack : motherlover.substack.com (and link in bio). I’m sending my first newsletter next wk, eeeeek! 🫣 Im so scared but also so excited. Chi Mag asked me to wear whatever I wear working out and I took liberties with my interpretation because hello. 💁🏼‍♀️ Ngl it took weeks to pull this together, im no sporty spice and wanted to be authentic. All pieces are from Black, queer and/or women owned brands and shops. Photo by: @lpredko Earrings from: @storebvintagechicago - My very favorite vintage store in Chicago Shirt by: @bruceglen - Black TWIN designers! Pants from: @essentialelementschicago - Black woman owned on the south side. I get stopped constantly when I wear these! Shoes: Nike Be True Pride shoes when I did an event for them. Remember when they used to support gay shit? Shoutout also to @clubpilates where I was going 3x a week before my health took a big turn. I will get back one day. 💪🏼 and the incredible @firstcurveapothecary who make the BEST sleep tincture I mention in the interview. 😴 Mother Lover logo design by @gemini_rising (I love it so much!)

Still stunned. @cschicagosocial , you know how to make a mom feel good. ✨ I’m only as “fascinating” as the company I keep. The magic and success of these spaces is in the collaboration of the artists, attendees, venues, vendors, organizers and partners. I’m privileged and honored to have worked with so many incredible and creative people in the best city in the world, some in this issue. I love you and ride so hard for you, Chicago!! This photo by my dear friend @pauloctavious holds immense personal significance and I thought about sharing its story, but I’m still holding it close for now. I feel like this image reflects my power and internal knowingness back to me at such a specific time in my life when it was taken. A story for another time (or my book I’m deep in writing!). My kids however, were pretty unimpressed. (Swipe for the utter absence of a reaction.) 🤣 Children will humble you every day and Im grateful for that! Maybe one day they’ll share it with friends and say, My mom was (hopefully is still!) such a baddie. That we can dream of our futures is the best gift of all. On stands and at your local dentist waiting room now. Congrats @cschicagosocial on 30 years and to all the featured people, s/o to friend @nickcaveart @brendanfernandes @jamilawoods @campwandawega @donniemadia !

Our marvelous, miraculous family. Every moment from the beginning has been filled with wonders: My pregnancy survived a totaled hit-and-run car accident and COVID on Christmas Eve. We made it through when my own heart failure could have taken us all before the babies’ first breath. Lactating after life support and breastfeeding after three months of separation in the NICU; extraordinary.  But it’s the small moments that feel the most special to me: I’ll never forget the feeling of walking down the hall with Jade in my arms and realizing I could hold her for more than just the three feet around her hospital crib. I marvel at the babies discovering the joy of swings and the sweetness of summer fruit. Some days I have to remind myself we are on the other side of the trauma, something I’m still sifting through, understanding and continually healing from. Navigating this first year postpartum alongside my very public & active professional life has been an immense challenge I don’t even have the words to articulate. Sharing my internal world has taken some courage.   After many months of coordination and working through my own hesitation, @northwesternmedicine is sharing our pregnancy & postpartum journey on their Instagram stories (the entirety which is posted in their highlights if you wish to watch). Sharing this story has felt too big to contain to a few characters on an expiring slide. But while it’s tender to share something so raw, I’m grateful for this opportunity to start somewhere in weaving together this story. Last week Nova had what we hope will be the last operation for her, a hole filled in her heart that did not close after she came into this world so tiny and tender. They put a little wire mesh plug in a catheter through a blood vessel to plug the hole (referred to as Patent Ductus Arteriosus), which her heart will eventually grow over. It feels undeniably symbolic of how the heart heals, emotionally and physically. ❤️‍🩹 “We shake with joy, we shake with grief. What a time they have, these two housed as they are in the same body.” Thank you @northwesternmedicine for sharing a queer family’s journey and for ALL your care.

U-N-I-T-Y! 🏳️‍🌈☀️ Old Gold is back for our fourth summer season celebrating queer community connection, joy and healing under the Chicago sun. Featuring all-vinyl sets curated by the @goodgirlsdjs and friends (@djladyd @djloribranch @vitigrrl ) with hospitality by award-winning @littlelarkchicago feat. @donjuliotequila , Old Gold is hosted by @partymomchi and takes place Second Sundays June-September 2-7pm at the Little Lark at @guildrow . For the over 30 fam! This year, we are offering summer passes that guarantee entry to all four events for $95 ($150 value) and include a gift bag with gifts from us and our event partners. Passes and tickets to all four event dates are on sale now. We are thrilled to welcome back resident DJ Dad @hij0pr0dig0 to the decks joining the Good Girls for our season opener June 14. Advance purchase is STRONGLY recommended for this one! Full event details and tickets are available at the link in bio. About the illustration: Created by our graphic designer Kisira Hill @gemini_rising , this season’s poster is inspired by the 1990s queer culture movement of unity through art, music and activism. The iconography of openly gay artist & activist Keith Haring is emulated through the figures and bright colors. We can always look to our history and cultural lineage to know we can get through hard times together and create our own container of love, healing and positivity. 💓 We look forward to a reunion like no other this summer filled with line dancing, long hugs and deep joy. Thank you for co-cultivating a space truly worth treasuring. We love you, Chicago! 💋

For the muthas 💐 Sending love and deep bows to the moms and caregivers in our community today. Old Gold is mother powered across generations and it’s our pleasure and honor to help create a container for joy and security on our dance floors. You might say a maternal touch is part of the party magic. ✨ We know this day can bring on grief and pain too and for everyone feeling tenderness, we’re holding it with you. 🌷 We can’t wait to spend all summer with you. Old Gold summer series on sale this week. ✨ Photo by @erik.m.kommer

Mother Lovers. 🌷 We are living the dream we had once only imagined. Grief and joy are two sides of the same coin and motherhood will have you rich. Year four crashed in with ongoing unprecedented challenges but that only pressed us to make space for pleasure and beauty. When you edge of your own capacity on any given day, joy becomes the ephemeral antidote. It doesn’t take away the difficulty but it reminds you of how alive and lucky you are. Here’s a random collection of moments in momming since last Mother’s Day. Raising Gemini twin girls with Leo rising and Scorpio moons is a wild ass life and these ladies give us a run for our money. But I’m also convinced it’s not their first lap at life and that this round, they’re living it to the fullest. Jade and Nova, thank you for making me your mommy. I love motherhood and so much of that is colored by co-parenting with such an extraordinary mom that is Ma Lex (the girls’ chosen name for Alexis). One of the most important invitations in lesbian co-mothering is making room for each other to grow, exercise our autonomy, deepen collaboration and be a soft landing place for each other. I’m so grateful to do this life and lead this family with Alexis. My substack @motherlover.world is finally returning after an unplanned very long hiatus. Subscribe at my link in bio, I have written so much I’m super eager to share with you. 🫀 This first photo is by @mercedes_zapata when we popped in her beautiful studio a few weeks ago. I think the sneakers really make it a mom portrait. 💐

Intergenerational Lesbian Visibility: The power of seeing what is possible.🪞 There is something very unique about the energy and beauty of Old Gold: You look around the room and see people dancing together in their 30s to their 60s and beyond, a rare intergenerational experience that we really need right now to soften and remind us that we have been here and have so much more to look forward to. On this Day of Lesbian Visibility, we lift up the queer women, dykes, sapphics and all the people across generations and gender (trans and non-binary family, we see you!) that take a chance on our parties. Old Gold intentionally makes space for queer women and non-binary babes on the decks and dance floor. By purchasing a ticket you’re investing in lesbian culture, commerce and community and we thank you for collaborating with us to make it such a welcoming and vibrant space. May 3 is our last party of our spring season at Three Top Lounge and tickets are very close to selling out again so we recommend advance purchase; the word is out about our little day soiree! We’ll have 30 available at the door too; get there early. The whole @goodgirlsdjs gang will be on the decks for our finale! We can’t wait to twirl to the R&B, house, disco and more against the backdrop of the best city view in town. Summer is coming and we will see you at @guildrow Second Sundays June-Sept! So much togetherness to look forward to. 🌷 Photos by @erik.m.kommer & @cosmic_ghost #lesbiandayofvisibility #lesbianvisibility #lesbianvisibilityday #lesbianparty

Sensual Spring has arrived!🌷💦 Time to slip into something that makes you go, DAMN! and get yourself to Old Gold. We’re twirling to all-vinyl sets by @goodgirlsdjs and soaking up the beautiful city backdrop of @threetoplounge . @partywithdjgloria joins @vitigrrl & @djloribranch on the decks dropping r&b, house, disco and more til just past sunset. 🌆 For the first time after many years of requests, we’re hosting a mixer for 30+ single & polyam queer cuties in our community. If ever there was a place to catch a grown, gay and sexy vibe, it’s Old Gold! All you need is to RSVP: [email protected]. (Ticket purchase is required.) Happy New (astrological) Year, babes. May the renewal of Spring soften us and welcome joy and healing. ☀️ See you on the roof! Graphics by @gemini_rising

When I was in my element. One day soon she’ll get defrosted 🫶🏻Guys it’s almost March and forget a 2025 recap, I’m still processing 2022. Look, 2025 was equal parts beautiful and brutal but just the layup to the relentlessness of 2026 so far. I feel like I’m treading water with a weighted vest on, and I’m having numerous conversations with others feeling the same. So this is what I want to say: We are stronger than we feel sometimes. Joy and ease ARE on the horizon. And softness with ourselves and each other is essential. In 2025 I turned 40 and the next day I collapsed on the sidewalk and acquired a new chronic illness. Three months later, I announced the end of Slo ‘Mo. And I haven’t circled back on either; I haven’t been able to fully find the words. But they’re close. Despite dipping from @motherlover.world for six months, I have several essays waiting in the wings and promised myself this was my year of publishing so they’re imminent. So thank you for your patience and please sign up because I’m so ready to start sharing. I struggled with a LOT last year but one thing that’s ALWAYS felt right is Old Gold. It’s exactly the vibes I need to feel myself again, and I’m so grateful for the badass women and community who’ve come together to make it a reality. This Sunday marks the kickoff to our Spring season (and Women’s History Month) and then summer WILL come. ☀️ I am very ready for a reprieve from the vortex of hard life stuff and so excited to have some laughs, take some twirls and be with gorgeous and seasoned queer people. I would love to see friends and encourage you to come get your joy too. 💓 Here are some photos of me with my beautiful friends and collaborators at our season closer in sunnier times. Thank you @erik.m.kommer for capturing the moments that remind me of who I am and the resilience I always have available to me. Let’s BE together in all our messiness and gorgeousness that it is to be human. Sending lots of love. 💓

Happy Valentine’s Day from our love nest of beautiful chaos. 💕 It’s a wild life but I love my girls with every cell in my body and so grateful to move through the milestones and seasons together. 🌷 Sending lots of love and patience to all the parents but special deep bows and head nods to our compatriots in double toddler rearing. 🫡 May autonomy, romantic moments and deep rest find you soon! This was going to be a new year’s post but then the whole family got the flu and I swear we only recovered last week 🙃 what is time with toddlers, anyway? Photos by uncle @moll_jean_nye 🫶🏼

Springtime Sensuality! 🌷WE’RE BACK, BABES. Our beloved all-vinyl day party for queer fam over 30 returns to @threetoplounge with legendary @goodgirlsdjs and friends dropping the needle on jams to thaw out to. ☀️ We’ll be soaking up the sun on the roof of the Salt Shed the first weekends in Spring: March 1, April 4 and May 3 twirling to all-vinyl R&B, house, disco and whatever the funk we want because we’re grown! First up Mar 1 our cousin @djallthewaykay will be joining @djloribranch & @djladyd on the decks! 🎉 Tickets are available for dates and advance purchase is highly recommended, though there will be a limited number first come, first served at the door. Graphic by @gemini_rising Photo by @erik.m.kommer

My little fishies 🐠🐠 Sunday are for swimming! 🏊🏻‍♀️🏊🏻‍♀️Something special about raising kids is the reminder of how important and rewarding practice is. When I think about these little >2lb cuties only a couple of years ago! It’s been a joy to watch Jade and Nova grow in confidence and excitement at @goldfish_roscoevillage . The instructors are so sweet and gentle with kids - s/o to Emily, Sebastian and Alexa! 💙 Perfect soundtrack by my beautiful friend @jamilawoods #goldfishswimschool #goldfishswimschoolpartner #goldfishroswellvillage #2momsmedia