Happy New Year, my friends! I hope you all had a safe and festive night last night and maybe some mimosas this morning. This is just a quick wave hello for the new year, via my phone, from somewhere in New Jersey. We’re heading home from five days at my parents’ house in upstate New York, which we filled with family and friend visits and even some skiing in western Massachusetts. I’ll be back on Wednesday with my December reading round-up, so for now – toss one back for me!
Well! What a year it’s been. Laying aside the state of the world – which is completely horrifying – for us personally, it wasn’t too bad. Our first full year back at home in northern Virginia, and we packed it full of friends, family, and lots and lots of fun. Highlights of the year included trips to California (for a dear friend’s wedding and a family reunion on my mom’s side) and Florida (for another dear friend’s wedding, in which Peanut and I both participated as Maid of Honor and flower girl, respectively), and our fabulous friends Zan and Paul’s return home to the D.C. area. But beyond those top three things, there was so much joy and fun in every month.
In January… we spent a quiet month recovering from the holidays and chipping away at lots of chores and tasks around the house. I shared my two-part reading retrospective for 2016 and spent a lot of time thinking about how to deal with the new national reality we found ourselves in after the Inauguration. We did make it out to the zoo once, meeting up with my friend Carly and her family, and we hit the trails at Riverbend Park – Steve’s favorite Great Falls trail.
In February… there was some unseasonably warm weather – like, in the 70*s! We felt a bit guilty about enjoying it (because: climate change) but we made the most of it, hopping from playground to playground and spending a beautiful sunny morning on the trail at Lake Accotink Park in Fairfax County. Later in the month, we had to drive up north for a wedding. It was a looooooooong and pretty painful drive, but we were able to squeeze in a visit to my parents, which brightened us up!
In March… we celebrated TWO YEARS of Nugget! Seriously, how is he two? (Actually, how is he almost three? I’m about to start planning his third birthday party. What is that about?) Having a March baby is so much fun – before Nugget came along, March was my least favorite month of the year, because it always seemed so long and blah. But now March is all about my sweet little boy and all the joy and fun he brings to our world. In addition to celebrating our favorite small guy, we started our patio garden for the season, watched the restoration of the Apollo 11 command module out at Dulles, and explored the trails at the National Arboretum.
In April… we did All The Spring Things. Our hike for the month was the Bluebell Trail at Bull Run Regional Park, and it was a magical fairyland of blue blooms to which my camera did no justice at all. We also visited the baby animals at Mount Vernon, where the gardens were a riot of color, and we spent a morning out in Haymarket, gathering up armloads of the brightest tulips ever at Burnside Farms. Spring has always been my fourth favorite season, because it’s bleak and cold in New York, and my allergies run wild in Virginia. But in 2017, for some reason, my allergies really weren’t bad (even though the pollen was as prevalent as ever) and I was able to enjoy the season for the first time ever. I can see why people love it.
In May… we kept up the spring fun. Almost every Saturday morning found us walking to the farmers’ market and coming home with a big bouquet of fresh flowers from my favorite vendor, who always presents Peanut with a rose and often tells me to grab another bouquet for free (love him). We could feel summer’s approach in gradually hotter temperatures, and we cooled off on the trails. On Mother’s Day I requested a hike at Mason Neck State Park, which was gorgeous and wonderful, and I mused about raising kids on the hiking trail. We spent our weekends bouncing between the waterfront and the garden center. Peanut and I marveled at the green sprouts shooting up in our little patio garden, and I had a painful incident with some cayenne pepper in an attempt to repulse squirrels right before I left for an overnight business trip to Philadelphia. Whoops. We finished the month with a Memorial Day weekend packed end-to-end with fun – including a visit to a lavender farm and exploring Jones Point Park for the first time.
In June… summer began in earnest. The big event of the month was a weekend visit to my best friend, Rebecca, in Virginia Beach; we also squeezed in our June hike that same weekend – just under the wire – at First Landing State Park. Those visits to the beach are moments of true peace. Peanut enjoyed playing mermaids with Aunt Rebecca (who loves merfolk as much as her niecelette does), and Nugget had a blast driving the golf cart, cheering Uncle Eric in the tuna fishing competition, and wandering around with his hand buried in his belly button all weekend (what a weirdo). My other travel for the month was a business trip to Chicago (for an all-hands meeting of my practice group at our firm’s headquarters), but I squeezed in a little fun while I was there, in the form of a sightseeing run around Chicago’s biggest tourist attractions. We spent Father’s Day enjoying a recent discovery – the splash pad – and put in some quality time at the neighborhood pool, which opened mid-month. And I celebrated the beginning of summer in the best way I know – by talking about BOOKS.
In July… we basically lived outside. We started off strong with a Fourth of July visit to my parents in Albany, which was everything a weekend should be. We enjoyed a cookout with some of our dearest friends, a hike at Grafton Lakes State Park with Christine, two days of fun at the lake (kayaking, sailing, blowing bubbles, pretending to fish, and splashing in the baby pool) and – to top it all off, quite literally – a climb up our third Adirondack high peak, Giant Mountain. Back home in D.C., we still didn’t go inside, like, at all. We continued to tend our garden and splash at the pool and splash pad; spent a morning picking blueberries with Peanut’s friend C and her mom; and cruised the mighty Potomac in kayaks. July was everything I love about summer – long, hot days, starry nights, and a life lived out-of-doors.
In August… our adventures took us clear across the country! We packed up the little ones and jetted off to California for the wedding of a dear friend in Huntington Beach, followed by a family reunion two hours up the coast in Santa Barbara. It was an epic trip – one for the ages. We hiked in Joshua Tree National Park, Channel Islands National Park, and Carpinteria Nature Preserve; kayaked the sea caves at Channel Islands National Park; and enjoyed an incredible day out whale-watching with my parents. We also celebrated twelve years of marriage, five years of Peanut, and one year back home in northern Virginia. We bid goodbye to August, and hello to September, from the sunflower fields at Burnside Farms. A busy month, indeed.
In September… we turned our attention to fall and fall things. Peanut headed back to school, and Nugget to another year with his nanny (we adore her, and are already breaking out in cold sweats about his leaving her and starting preschool next year). We dove right into fall fun at the apple orchard, hiked at Piscataway Park, and continued to tend our garden all through September. The best part of the month was the last weekend, when we headed down to Florida for a wedding on the beach! My best friend, Rebecca, married her longtime love in a beautiful sunset ceremony, and Peanut and I were proud to be by her side as flower girl and Maid (not Matron!) of Honor, respectively.
In October… we were in The Room Where It Happens! My mom flew down to D.C. for a weekend so that Steve and I could slip away for one night to see Hamilton on Broadway! The show was every bit as spectacular as you’d think – more, even – and we also squeezed in visits to the NYPL and Morgan Library, and a night at the Library Hotel. Lucky us! It was a Hamilton-heavy month for us, because Peanut and Nugget dressed as Eliza and Alexander Hamilton for Halloween – and most of the rest of our weekends were devoted to carting our miniature Treasury Secretary and his Mrs. around to various children’s Halloween parties. We also trick-or-treated – and Peanut visited her first haunted house, hosted by our Senator, Mark Warner – and picked pumpkins out in Loudoun County. I celebrated my birthday on the trails at Sky Meadows, and we hosted my parents and friends for a flying weekend visit that included a swing by the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum (of course!) and wine touring. October, you were good to us.
In November… we ended up on top of a mountain! My parents came down for Thanksgiving, and after spending a cozy day at home on the day itself, and decorating our Christmas tree on the Friday after, we all headed out for a weekend in Little Washington. The main purpose of the weekend was for Steve and me to use a gift certificate to the Inn at Little Washington that his sweet and generous mom had given us the previous Christmas – we did, and it was one of the most fabulous meals we’d ever tasted. The next day, we worked it off with a climb up Stony Man Mountain in Shenandoah National Park, and drank in the views from on top of the world. We also celebrated Steve’s 40th birthday with a trip to the Kennedy Center to see The Book of Mormon, and I participated in Naomi and Sarah‘s readalong of The Blue Castle, musing on the power of names in LMM’s work.
In December… we have been feeling festive! We started the season with the Scottish Walk – Old Town’s answer to the Christmas parade – a trip out to Little Washington for the annual Christmas parade there, and a snowy walk around Old Town after we got a surprise dusting. We did lots of Advent reading, Peanut made her first visit to the Kennedy Center to see Mr. Popper’s Penguins, and we celebrated Christmas by watching the big guy in red fly down the Potomac on waterskis, then opening presents the following morning – Santa was good to those little rugrats. And now we are warm and cozy, getting ready to ring in the new year with our family around us, and feeling grateful for the blessings of friendship and love that we enjoy every day.
Happy New Year, friends! I hope you’re ringing it in somewhere fabulous, and I wish you a happy, healthy and joyful 2018!
Merry everything, my friends! If you were celebrating this weekend, I hope that you enjoyed a lovely, warm and cozy Christmas with your family – and maybe a white Christmas, if that sort of thing blows your hair back. (We didn’t have one – the picture above is from a couple of weeks ago – but my parents did. The kids were jealous when they showed us their snow via FaceTime!)
A Pre-Christmas Kennedy Center Treat
To give you the full picture of our Christmas, I have to rewind to Saturday. Old friends may recall that last year, I took Peanut to see The Secret Garden at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in D.C. We had such a fun time on our little mother-daughter outing that I decided to make it a tradition. (Steve is jealous and has said he wants to get the whole family in on the theatre action when Nugget is old enough. We’ll see.) This fall I scouted around the performances at all of our major local theatres and there was a clear winner – Mr. Popper’s Penguins at the Kennedy Center!
Miss Peanut was all dolled up for her first trip to the Kennedy Center. I made the mistake of playing Hamilton, disc one, in the car on the way to the show, and as we walked through the garage she announced: “Ohhhhhh, I am SO excited to see Hamilton!” Oops. A bag full of wooden ballerina figurines made for a welcome distraction. (Hamilton is coming to the Kennedy Center in 2018, and now we are thinking that instead of making it a date night, we might need to bring our budding theatre geek along.)
Mr. Popper’s Penguins was in the Family Theatre, which I’d never seen before. We wandered around looking for about ten minutes, then finally found our way to our seats.
Ready for an adventure in Stillwater!
There was a cute little playbill insert with facts about the show, penguins, and Antarctic exploration.
Peanut loved the show. She was cracking up at the penguin puppets, laughing and applauding throughout the performance. A definite hit! After last year’s show was a bit beyond her, I was glad to see her have so much fun this year. Now I’m more determined than ever to make a Christmas theatre production part of our family’s holiday traditions.
Christmas Eve with Friends
The fun continued on Sunday, with back-to-back social engagements. A few weeks ago, Zan texted to ask if we’d like to get together for another football Sunday, either on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve. Since New Year’s Eve doesn’t work for us, schedule-wise, I responded that we’d love to see them on Christmas Eve. Plans were laid for Zan to bring lunch (a generous gesture that I really appreciate!) and we would provide the TV, drinks and appetizers. As we were finalizing our football plans, our day suddenly got noisier, cuter and more complicated when I realized that it would be my last opportunity to hang out with my law school BFF, Carly, before she and her family moved to Asia for two years for her husband’s job. Carly and I quickly planned a morning playdate, and I was thinking that we’d be bidding them goodbye as we were welcoming Zan and Paul over. But Zan mentioned wanting to see the waterskiing Santa down by the Old Town waterfront. Since the waterskiing Santa was one of our favorite activities last Christmas, I immediately said we’d love to do that, and Carly liked the idea too. A friend date mashup!
Carly and I took the kids to the playground first – she has a three-year-old girl and a one-year-old boy – and then met up with Zan, ate a quick lunch and headed down to the waterfront to catch Santa and friends cavorting on the river.
Just as we walked up to the river, the festivities began! The Grinch on a jetski, elves in a skiff and Cindy Lou Who on a tube, and the main event – Santa and the reindeer on waterskis!
Our little pod was wildly impressed.
(Even Peanut enjoyed herself, although she was just as belligerent as ever when the camera came out.) Eventually we rounded up our gaggle of children, negotiated meet and greet sessions with a polar bear, a panda, and Rudolph on our way off the dock, and went our separate ways. I hugged Carly as hard as I could, to squeeze two years of hugs into this one goodbye. And then Zan and I brought my own kids back for a cozy afternoon at home.
Eventually Zan and Paul headed off to church, and Steve and I tucked the kids in for an early bedtime. When we were sure they were safely asleep (Peanut) or contained (Nugget) we got to work. Errrrrr… I mean… Santa came!
I made sure to stay hydrated, which is very important. After rewarding ourselves for a job well done, we turned in early, expecting a very early wakeup in the morning.
Christmas Morning
The early wakeup came at 6:00 when Peanut crawled into bed with us. I was really worried that she would go downstairs and start ripping into the presents, but I needn’t have feared. She was a good, patient girl, cuddling between us until 6:45 when her brother woke up. He’s still little enough that he didn’t really understand what was going to be waiting downstairs on Christmas morning – but 6:45 is sleeping in for him. He’s usually up between 5:30 and 6:00, but often earlier. Sleeping until 6:45, even with his sister’s feet buried in my kidneys, was a nice Christmas gift.
Eventually we found our way downstairs and the kids tore into their stockings. Santa was very good to them! They got some necessities – sleeping bags for camping; some school uniform shirts and headbands, and rain boots, for Peanut; snowpants and snow boots for Nugget – but they also got a lot of fun stuff. Peanut received a doll bed that is an exact miniature replica of her big girl bed; a mermaid tail blanket; a Melinda the Mermaid doll that was very hard to find; and a sweet fairy cottage with its inhabitants from her Grandma – among other things. Nugget’s loot included a space shuttle adventure cape; a volcano play set with six little fabric dinosaurs and two palm trees; a ferry boat and submarine for the bath; and a beautiful wooden fire station play set from Grandma.
Mom and Dad did pretty well, too! Steve got camping gear, books and his favorite socks, and I received three new attachments for my GoPro and a huge stack of books. Santa made sure that everyone enjoyed all of their favorite things for Christmas!
If you celebrated this past weekend, I hope Santa was as good to you as he was to us! Of course, the best gift is being home as a family, and surrounded by our friends. Here’s to more happy memories in 2018!
Merry Christmas to all of my friends in the blogosphere! How did you celebrate?
Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king:
Do you know what I know?
In your palace warm, mighty king,
Do you know what I know?
A child, a child, shivers in the cold,
Let us bring him silver and gold.
Let us bring him silver and gold.
If you’re celebrating today, have a warm and wonderful Christmas! And on Earth, peace.
Silver bells, silver bells, it’s Christmas time in the city…
It’s one of my favorite times of the year, and there is no better place to celebrate the season than my beloved hometown. Alexandria – and specifically, Old Town – has made it onto “best holiday towns” and “best Christmas towns” lists of such august publications as USA Today and Country Living, because we KNOW how to do this season. Multiple parades, gorgeous traditional decorations, and Santa waterskiing down the Potomac on Christmas Eve to cap it all off – right?! There are so many events in Old Town, D.C. and the surrounding countryside that it’s legitimately impossible to do everything, not that we don’t try every year.
The Scottish Walk
This year’s season kicked off with a tree-trimming party with my parents on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but we really got things underway the following weekend at the Scottish Walk. For the past few years, there have been two parades in the same day in Old Town – the Scottish Walk during the day, and the Holiday Boat Parade of Lights at dusk. Maybe one of these years we’ll make it to both, but that’s a lot, even for us. Last year we hit the boat parade; this year, to mix it up, we checked out the Scottish Walk. We had planned to go with our friends Jimmy and Rachel and their daughter, who is Peanut’s BFF, but Steve wasn’t feeling well. Not wanting to disappoint the crew, I bundled the kids into their stroller myself, and we set off for the parade minus one adult.
Jimmy, apparently, is a parade connoisseur. Also he and Nugget liked the same cars.
The parade was a ton of fun. We saw our Congressman, Miss Virginia, some marching bands, antique cars, and–
Darth Vader! Nugget shouted, “HEY, IT’S MY BUDDY!” when he saw the Dark Lord walking down the street all decked out in his holiday finery. Don’t you love the candy cane-striped lightsaber?
It wasn’t just Vader. The whole gang was there – looking appropriately Scottish in their kilts. Chewbacca…
Stormtroopers…
Even R2-D2 got in on the kilt action! I’m guessing he’s carrying spare robot parts in his sporran?
A Snowy Walk in the OT
The following weekend – it snowed! Before-Christmas snow is a pretty rare occurrence in northern Virginia, so clearly we made the most of it with a walk and some playtime in the park by the river.
The kids were over the moon. And Mom much appreciated the opportunity to make a list of outgrown winter gear to be replaced – before Christmas. I think both kids will get another season out of their coats, but Peanut’s hat now perches on top of her head like a pillbox, and Nugget’s mittens are a travesty. I can tell you that Santa made good use of the early warning.
Being a little taken by surprise – and lacking in the mitten, snowpant and boot department – didn’t stop us from running around and having fun in the snow!
We tacked the walk onto the back end of a Christmas tradition that Steve and I have had since we first moved to Alexandria in 2010 (after five years in the comparatively less holiday-obsessed Arlington). We used to spend a day wandering the streets of Old Town hand-in-hand and checking out the beautiful Christmas decorations on all of the houses, then have something boozy to drink before heading home. We skipped the boozy drink part this year, but it was fun to rekindle one of our favorite traditions from the pre-baby days, this time with our little sidekicks.
Snow made it all the more festive.
We started at our favorite place – the fire station! They had a nod to the season with a little lit sled and reindeer on top of the garage. So cute. Smile, boys!
The thing that makes an Old Town Christmas so magical is the history. People definitely go all out with their decorations, but the whole neighborhood is so historic – it predated the United States of America, after all – that people who live here are committed to maintaining its character. At the holidays, they do so with lots and lots of decorations, but everything is very understated and traditional. There’s plenty of fresh greenery and candles in the windows, lots of lovely wreaths, and the occasional strand of twinkling fairy lights. Taken altogether, the effect is spectacular.
We walked and played in the snow until the sun started to go down, and then headed home by way of King Street, which was lit up like a fairyland.
And stopped to say hi to the big tree on Market Square.
Spectacular!
Christmas in Little Washington
The next day found us bundled into the car, driving out to the mountains for our second parade of the season. Last year, we attended Christmas in Little Washington, and it was so much fun we knew it had to be a holiday must-do. We had hoped to squeeze in a hike at Shenandoah National Park before the festivities got underway, but thanks to the snow, Skyline Drive – the main park road and necessary to reach the trail we were planning to explore – was closed. So no Shenandoah for us. Instead we slept in (sort of) and had a leisurely breakfast at home before driving out to our favorite mountain town.
Our first order of business was lunch! We had packed food for the kids, and Steve and I picked up sandwiches from a vendor for ourselves, and enjoyed an al fresco meal in the snow. Of course, it was a complete circus. What meal isn’t, these days?
Then we wandered around town looking at the greenery. The Inn was looking gorgeous, as usual. Can’t believe that just a few weeks ago, we were actually eating dinner there, thanks to the world’s most generous mother-in-law!
We (and our wet boots and loud children) didn’t go inside this time.
But we did find a magical frozen fountain.
It wasn’t long before the parade began! We staked out the same spot we’d claimed last year and watched Rappahannock’s finest march by. Redcoats opened the parade, as usual. (Steve leaned over to me and whispered, “We’re supposed to boo, right?”)
Checking out the parade route on the map.
There was a tinsel-bedecked tractor…
And another tractor festooned with wreaths and bows…
The sherriff…
Lots of animals (in addition to the Lil Sebastians – which is what I must call all miniature horses, everywhere – there was a posse of riders on regular-sized horseback escorting a tumble-down pile of puppies)…
Nugget’s buddy, Rappahannock 1…
And Santa and the Missus! I have to admit, I liked their last year’s ride (a vintage green pickup truck) better. But it’s always a treat to see them.
A Visit to Aladdin the Christmas Camel
Another holiday must-do is a drive down to Mount Vernon to visit with Aladdin, the Christmas Camel. The short backstory is that George Washington used to procure a camel to entertain his stepchildren, and later his grandchildren, ever year at Christmas. The estate keeps up that fun tradition and for as long as we have been visiting at the holidays – and this is another tradition that predates children – the camel has been Aladdin. We saw Aladdin when he was just a baby, for his very first Mount Vernon season, and have come back every year since then (with the exception of our three years in New York, of course).
He’s gotten pretty gigantic! This year, the estate took the precaution of an extra fence, which I can only imagine is intended to serve as a buffer between Aladdin – who is a very chill guy – and overly inquisitive children. Not that we know any of those.
After saying hello to our friend Aladdin, we checked out the other fun around the estate. They had some big cauldrons set up for a cooking demonstration later.
The kids raced around and played tag with a new friend, then we bid Aladdin adieu and wandered off to check out the other creatures on the estate.
Sheep are always a hit.
Walked down to the little beach. Peanut asked to go swimming. Ummmmm… NO.
Wandered around the “George Washington: Pioneer Farmer” site for a little bit and then headed back up the dirt road, hoping for a bit more time to spend with Aladdin before we had to go home for lunch.
Unfortunately, someone didn’t want to ride in the double stroller, and he also didn’t want to walk fast (or at all). He alternated between squatting down by the side of the road and digging in the dirt, and asking for “uppy.”
I finally convinced him to keep up by giving him a “hiking stick.” Should’ve known from the beginning – if there’s anything the kid loves, it’s hiking. My nature boy! He declared that he was “in Shenandoah.” Oh, yeah – all outdoor spaces are “Shenandoah.” (And I do mean all outdoor spaces – earlier this week, his nanny took him on the metro to check out a new play space, and he pointed out the trees speeding by in the very suburban neighborhood and informed his [very tolerant] nanny that they were in Shenandoah. Ha!)
Such a fun morning in one of our favorite places! We come to Mount Vernon all year round, because we love it so much, but it’s especially magical at Christmastime. Like all of northern Virginia, really.
We have many more fun activities planned before this Christmas season comes to a close – I’ll have the rest to share with you after Christmas! Happy holidays to all of my friends, no matter what you celebrate. And if you’re a Christmas family, like us–
What are your favorite Advent traditions?
With Christmas around the corner now, I can’t let any more time go by without sharing one of my favorite holiday posts of the year – the kids’ Advent book haul. Adding a few books to our Christmas library has become a beloved holiday tradition in my house. (Show of hands: who is surprised that book-buying is a holiday tradition around here? Nobody?) When I was growing up, we had a stack of books that my mom would pull out for the holidays and I looked forward all year long to the Christmas books reappearing. (My favorite, The Littlest Angel, was also my first experience of book-induced sobbing.) Naturally, I have made sure that my kids have a robust Christmas library of their own. When Peanut was a baby, the Christmas books appeared on my doorstep in veritable floods. Once I felt that we had the basics down, I slowed the acquisition action and for the past couple of years have been adding three books to the library each December: one for our family library, one for Peanut, and one for Nugget. Want to see what we’ve added this year?
For the family library, I picked up The Twelve Days of Christmas in Virginia, by Sue Corbett. I first became aware of the series when I spotted the charming The Twelve Days of Christmas in New England and added it to Nugget’s Amazon wish list – but when I realized that there was a series covering pretty much every state, there was no question which state had to be the first on our list. Perhaps in future years, I’ll pick up the states that we visit on our travels through the year (I considered grabbing the California and Florida books this year, but decided not to) – but we had to take care of our home, first.
Peanut’s book is another one that I have had my eye on for years, but – full disclosure – we haven’t read it yet, although we’ve had it for a few weeks. The illustrations are gorgeous and I have high hopes for anything written by Rumer Godden, but… it’s really long. Nugget doesn’t have the patience to sit and listen to such a lengthy book (he’s got a great attention span, but – guys, I’m not kidding when I say this book is REALLY long) and Peanut’s longer evening storytimes are currently dedicated to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. We’ll get around to it. Keepin’ it real.
Nugget’s Advent book, by contrast, we have read MANY times already. The kid is a gigantic Richard Scarry fanboy and there was no question that we were going to have to have The Night Before The Night Before Christmas for our Advent library this year. It’s funny, silly and charming – everything you’d expect of a Richard Scarry book. My only complaint is that Lowly Worm is completely absent from the story! THE PEOPLE WANT LOWLY.
So, there you have it! I love the tradition of adding a few books to our Christmas library each year, and I spend months trying to decide which we should acquire next. I hope the kids continue this tradition on to adulthood – both for their own children, and for themselves. Thanks to kindle deals (which I don’t count toward Project 24, sorry if that’s cheating) I kept the tradition going for myself, too – hello Hercule Poirot’s Christmas and Christmas in High Rising!
What’s your favorite holiday read?
Oof. I’m so sorry, you guys! I totally flaked on you. I promised that last week I’d show you the kids’ Advent book haul and some of our seasonal fun to date, and then I went completely dark. Everyone’s fine, by the way. (I have friends who still remember that time in 2012 when I went dark for two weeks because I’d had a surprise baby. That hasn’t happened – swear.) I don’t have a great explanation for you, just a parade of excuses. It was a crazy week at work. One of my colleagues is leaving our firm (heading to a dream job, and we’re all delighted for him!) and I’m probably going to be the one who will be absorbing most of his work, so it was a bit of a whirlwind of a week. (This is a welcomed professional development for me, too.) And then at the end of the week, Steve went up to Buffalo for a work obligation and took our family laptop with him. I had my work computer, so no trouble working, but I don’t blog from there, and my plans to get my posts scheduled in advance went awry. As did my reading – it’s been that sort of a week.
As weekends go, this was a pretty good one. I didn’t get everything done that I’d hoped for – my garden, which died in the first frost of the season, still desperately needs cleaned up – but I did a ton of food prep on Saturday, and finished my Christmas shopping on Sunday. (A few small tasks remain – like getting something for my secretary, and having Nugget make a gift for his nanny – but the main list is done.) And in the meantime, we fit in a trip down to Mount Vernon to visit with Aladdin the Christmas Camel. The season is never complete without a trip to see Aladdin, and the kids had fun racing around the wide green lawn, playing tag with a new friend, and admiring the cows, sheep and hogs on the farm. And now it’s just one more week until Christmas! There’s so much I need to do – I haven’t wrapped a single gift, and I need to get packages mailed out – and so much I want to do, like checking out the holiday trains at the Botanic Garden and squeezing in one last play date with my law school BFF and her family before they pull up stakes for Malaysia in early January. I’m trying to take some time and soak in the fun stuff, too. It’s all good.
Reading. Bit of a slow week, which should not surprise anyone (see above). I finally finished The Shell Seekers, which was delightful. (I recommended it to my BFF, Rebecca, who immediately downloaded it on audio and twenty minutes after I’d originally texted her recommending it, texted me: “This Nancy character is a trip!”) And then I went back to my kindle, and Christmas at Thrush Green, which is gentle and slow and warm and comforting and everything that I have been needing.
Watching. Is there any question what I’m going to say? We are enjoying the hell out of The Crown and already dreading it ending. How will we ever wait until Season 3? I know – I’ve been itching to re-watch the Africa episodes from Season 1, so we’ll probably do that.
Listening. Podcasts, as usual, but the most fun has been – I found our Laurie Berkner Christmas CD, which we’ve had for a few years but which was AWOL last year, and the kids and I have been having a ball driving around and singing along loudly to the carols. (Parents: if you haven’t discovered Laurie Berkner yet, you’re missing out.) The only bad thing is that I admitted to the kids that the song Do You Hear What I Hear makes me cry sometimes, and now Nugget asks me if every song on the CD makes me cry.
Moving. Uhhhhh, well, I haven’t really done much. It has just been such a hectic week with the school Christmas concert, all the changes at work, and the impending holiday – I haven’t had time. Unless you count running up and down the stairs after Nugget, which I suppose should count.
Blogging. Let’s try this again, shall we? Kids’ Advent book haul on Wednesday and our December fun to date on Friday. I promise for real this time. Check back!
Loving. Can I brag about this mom hack, guys? I had about 250 extra breastmilk storage bags left over from my pumping days, and a ton of homemade broth that I needed to portion out and freeze, and I’ve been scratching my head trying to figure out how to store the broth in small enough receptacles that it wouldn’t take three weeks to thaw when I wanted to make soup. How about killing two birds with one stone? (I hate that phrase.) On Saturday, as part of an epic food prep marathon (that seriously went on for hours, you guys) I portioned out and froze about twenty five-ounce baggies of homemade broth, thanks to Medela. Moms: if you have four boxes of breastmilk storage bags knocking around your pantry, as I did, DO THIS! I am so excited, I’ve been peeking into the freezer about five times a day. It’s almost as satisfying as seeing all of those bags full of breastmilk (I imagine; my supply was terrible so I never had that many bags in the freezer at any given time).
Asking. What are you reading?
Hello and happy Monday, friends! After the weekend I’ve had, I’m actually sort of glad to be heading back into the office. It all began as I was slumped in a seat riding backwards on the Metro, heading home on Friday, and my text messages beeped (interrupting The Book Riot Podcast‘s holiday recommendation show, to add insult to injury) with a text from Steve: “We’re at defcon 3 with Peanut.” (Except – he used her name. But you get my drift.) It was all downhill from there and the rest of the weekend was a spiraling mess of timeouts. Nugget contributed several meltdowns of his own, too, including a truly epic one on Sunday night. So – I’m looking forward to a quiet day of reading through internal workplace investigation reports. It wasn’t all bad, though. On Saturday, it snowed (!!!!!) – before Christmas, which is a huge treat around here, since it almost never happens. We spent a cozy morning playing trucks inside (and having tantrums, but you can’t win them all) and then went out for a lovely snowy walk around our neighborhood so we could all blow off some steam. On Sunday, we had plans to hike at Shenandoah National Park, but Skyline Drive was closed, which meant that – for all intents and purposes – the park was basically closed, too. So we slept in and had a leisurely breakfast before heading out to Little Washington for the annual Christmas parade. Opened by Redcoats, as usual, and featuring the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, the local marching band, the mayor, the fire engine, a raucous-looking lunch club, and a farm for miniature horses, among other delights. I whispered to Steve that I was pretty sure we’d found Virginia’s equivalent of Stars Hollow, and he laughed and agreed. I love my urban neighborhood, but I sure wouldn’t mind living in a small town with as much personality as Washington has.
Reading. Bit of a light week. Earlier in the week, I finished Rich People Problems, the third in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. It was a lot of fun, and a satisfying conclusion to the series. Then I turned my attention back to The Shell Seekers, which I’d set aside to read Rich People Problems, and to Christmas at Thrush Green, which I’m reading on my phone. Kinda hate reading on my phone, but I have reached my quota of twenty-four books for the year (and then some – I’ve handed one airmail box to Steve and will probably be handing him another one with instructions to wrap and put them under the tree, and thanks for the present!) so I couldn’t buy a physical copy. I’m looking forward to adding the Thrush Green books to my library over the course of next year, though, when I will not be restricting myself to twenty-four. The freedom to come on January 1st…
Watching. One of the reasons that it was a light reading week was – season two of The Crown dropped on Friday! So, clearly, everything had to be set aside. The costumes and jewelry and sets are amazing, as expected, but three episodes in I am gritting my teeth at all of Phillip’s whinging. Sincerely hope he shuts up in season three, because I can’t take much more of his “poor little rich boy in a gilded cage” nonsense. Not sure why the showrunners thought this would be a compelling storyline for the A-plot of the season, when there were so many interesting things happening in the world and they had two fascinating and strong royal women to feature (more Margaret and less Phillip, I say!) but I’m still watching, so there you have it.
Listening. Catching up on holiday podcasts! I’m almost done with the two-part holiday recommendation show, which is one of my favorite parts of The Book Riot Podcast‘s year. And then I have a slew of holiday-themed episodes of The Mom Hour, The Home Hour and Sorta Awesome waiting for me. It’s the most wonderful time of the podcasting year, apparently!
Moving. Another slow week. This week, I’m going to be back at yoga on Tuesday and Friday, and hopefully back at Barre as well. I’ve let work stress and home shenanigans derail my me-time, but I plan to be back on the train. I really need to have that time to do something for myself, especially during the holiday season.
Blogging. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I have a super-mistletoe-bedecked week coming up for you. On Wednesday, I’ll show you the kids’ Advent books (always one of my favorite posts of the year) and on Friday, I’m recapping some of the holiday activities we’ve done so far this season – so as to avoid dumping a massive photobomb on you all after Christmas. Check in with me then!
Loving. So, I don’t live in the PNW, never have, and never say never but probably never will, and I’ve not even visited (yet) but I can’t help loving the cozy sweatshirts from Wish You Were Northwest. I don’t have anything PNW-themed, because that would be silly, but I love my soft and warm “Coffee, Mountains & Cabins” and “Clear Skies Wool Socks Can’t Lose” sweatshirts, which look just as appropriate in the Adirondacks and the Blue Ridge. Seriously, though – they’re soft, they’re warm, they fit perfectly. Everything I’m looking for in a sweatshirt!
Asking. What are you reading this week?
(I think that’s the first time I have typed “2018” at the top of a blog post – yikes, are we really doing that?)
Anyway – it’s time! Time to think ahead to the holidays, which are just around the corner, and then to the winter months stretching ahead of them, to set intentions and make plans. This month, I’d like to…
There – ten things, and I think a very doable list. I am not feeling particularly ambitious. I just want to enjoy my weekends and make some headway on a few projects. Not too much to ask, right?
What’s on your winter agenda?
Well, we are full-swing into the holiday season now, so I suppose it’s time to say goodbye to my favorite season. (Although there are still some orange and yellow leaves on the trees around here, and apple cider will be in the grocery stores all winter, so I can have a little bit more fall – right?) We always try to make the most of the season, and I think we did a pretty good job of that this year. There are some activities that have become fall “musts” for us – apple-picking, for one, and visits to the pumpkin patch – but we also leave ourselves plenty of room for new experiences.
Yay, fall! I think I did a surprising amount this season – well, maybe not surprising, because I always pack a lot of activity into fall; it is my favorite season, after all. The highlight, of course, came right at the beginning – Rebecca’s wedding! We all had so much fun traveling together to Florida and it meant so much to us to share in her special day – especially for Peanut. Peanut loves weddings and brides, and it was clear that she felt so special and so loved by her Aunt Rebecca, who so obviously cherishes her. Rebecca already had a special place in my heart, but “make my girl happy” is a surefire way to ensure that I’ll love you forever. Anyway, enough gushing over my fabulous and kind BFF. The other highlight of the season was finally seeing Hamilton on Broadway after listening to the soundtrack on almost a daily basis for the past two years. Seeing the show performed live was everything I hoped for – and more. The rest of the season was great, too! We squeezed in our must-dos – apple- and pumpkin-picking, the children’s Halloween party at Lee-Fendall House, trick-or-treating in Old Town. And we enjoyed some new experiences, too – trick-or-treating at Mount Vernon, the Alexandria Turkey Trot, and sharing Shenandoah with my parents. I’m never ready to say goodbye to fall, but I can feel peaceful about it if I’ve done the season justice, and I think that this year, I definitely did.
What was on your fall agenda? Did you get it all done?
covered in flour 