At the end of August, Mike and I were thinking we were crazy. Life in NoVA was so simple. Predictable. We knew all the parks, playgrounds, restaurants, and neighbors. We loved our life–truly. The only thing missing was close family. We said “are we sure we really should do this??” a thousand times. Each time, we’d come back around to yes, yes, and yes. Now is the time, or it will never happen. Time is something you can’t make more…
Our family has had an emotionally exhausting quarantine period, with lots of challenges, but even more silver linings and moments of gratitude. My sweet mother-in-law entered the hospital in late March and shortly thereafter, Mike went to stay with his dad up in Lowell. He ended up bringing his dad down to our house for a week. We were all nervous about the trip but Mike’s mom was pretty adamant that he come for a visit while she was being…
After a whirlwind week celebrating our Birthday Girl, we headed down to Alpharetta, GA for a few days to celebrate Thanksgiving with Mike’s family. It was extra special because his parents joined us from Lowell, MA this year. They had had a rough year health-wise and while Mike had seen a lot of them this year, the girls and I had not seen Grandpa Harry and Nana since May. It was delightful to get to spend time with them. We…
2018 Christmas was everything the holidays should be: magical, busy, chaotic, exciting, and full of family, love, and laughing. Vivienne was so new we’d decided to stay home for the holiday instead of heading to Florida like we normally do, and at the last minute, both of our families decided to join us in Virginia for Christmas. My parents arrived first–on my birthday! We had a wonderful dinner out at the Del Ray Cafe and we spent the rest of…
When your little girl turns one on a Wednesday, you (of course) celebrate the day she arrived. And then you throw her a birthday party a few days later, on Saturday, the Official Day of Birthday Parties. But since you have family in town for a week, it winds up being more of an all-week long sort of celebration. No complaints here! Here is how the fun week broke down… Sunday: Here is Sugar Bear on Sunday (Kay Kay’s birthday!),…
Back in January, I just knew we were going to have a Classic Winnie the Pooh-themed first birthday party for Caroline. It just fit. First of all, we had been listening to the Winnie the Pooh stories on Audible for the last few months and they are fantastic. They are dramatized readings and are fabulously done. The voices! The characters! Just so good–Mike and I both adore listening to these stories. We typically listen in Caroline’s nursery as she has…
Patriots v. Eagles. This was the big showdown for the 2018 Super Bowl and we decided to fly Mike’s dad down from Lowell to NoVA so these two Patriots fans could watch the game together. To be honest, even though it would have been amazing to watch the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Super Bowl, I was really glad that Mike and his dad could share the experience. During last year’s Super Bowl, I know Mike was missing him when it…
Over the river and through the woods… Or in our case, Uber to DCA, fly to ATL, take MARTA to the suburbs, then drive to Alpharetta…for Caroline’s first Thanksgiving! We had an absolutely wonderful time. It sounds like a lot of planes, trains, and automobiles, but honestly, no complaints here. Logistically, the trip was seamless, thanks in large part to the wonderful door-to-airport service we were treated to by Mike’s brother for both legs of our trip. My favorite travel…