December 11, 2015 by Jaclyn

Twelve Months Hiking Project: Letchworth State Park (October 2015)

Twelve months of hiking continues! I’m way behind on recaps – but not to worry, I did the hike in October; it’s just that I’m not writing it up until now. I saved Letchworth for October because I expected the foliage would be spectacular. And while we missed peak, it was still pretty fabulous.

Anyway, let’s look at pretty pictures of waterfalls.

When we visited Letchworth with our friends Zan and Paul, back in August of 2014, we walked up the gorge and checked out one waterfall. I wanted to see a different part of the park this time, so we targeted the other two major waterfalls.

It was a bit dreary and chilly out, but no matter – we bundled up and started our hike with the central waterfall.

(Note Nugget’s pretty purple jacket. I had actually forgotten his little sweatshirt that he was going to wear, but Peanut had an extra fleece, so he’s wearing that. It fit disturbingly well considering she is three years old and he was seven months at the time.)

We headed up a pretty path strewn with leaves, admiring the colors that still remained on the trees…

And up to one of the more breathtaking sights in Western New York.

I love waterfalls.

Back along the gorge, checking out more scenery and pretty fall colors.

We had such a nice (albeit a bit chilly) walk in Letchworth. I wish we hadn’t missed the peak leaf season – but even so, it was lovely.

(Oh, yeah – Letchworth was recently voted America’s favorite state park! I’m still partial to the Adirondack Park, myself, but Letchworth is pretty great. Congrats to them!)

Anyone else get any good leaf peeping in before the season ended?

December 9, 2015 by Jaclyn

If You Haven’t Got A Penny, A Ha’Penny Will Do, If You Haven’t Got A Ha’Penny Then God Bless You

I love this time of year – Advent, all it represents, and the lead-up to Christmas. All the fun of it – decking my halls, selecting the perfect gifts for everyone on my list, wrapping them in pretty paper, writing out and mailing Christmas greetings to far-flung family and friends, baking cookies and treats to share with local family and friends… all of it. It’s all so twinkly and sparkly and joyous. It’s all so expensive. Dolla dolla bills, y’all. So expensive.

This isn’t a post about how to save money on your Christmas shopping (goodness knows I have trouble sticking to my budget when I come across that perfect item that someone would just LOVE) or on your cards (man alive, those picture cards cost bank!) – but I do have some ideas to share about decking your halls. Now, of course, you can save money by re-using your decorations every year. I do – my tree skirt, pillows and holiday tableware all make repeat appearances year in and year out. And I like that – it’s like seeing old friends every December when I pull out the decorations.

Still, it’s also fun to change it up a bit. And there are ways to do that without breaking the bank or tapping into money otherwise earmarked for gifts. I’ve got four ideas to share with you, and all of them were accomplished with items found either at the grocery store or lying around my house. And none of them cost more than $15.00.

Homemade Advent Wreath

Starting with my favorite – a homemade Advent wreath! So, let me tell you a little story: I’ve always wanted an Advent wreath, and I’ve been holding out for the perfect one. I saw one I loved, years ago, at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. It was a simple ceramic vessel – a moat of sorts, which could be filled with greenery, with four wells for taper candles. I wanted it, but for some reason I didn’t buy it. And then, of course, I regretted it, and I looked for it every time we visited the Torpedo Factory since, and I never saw anything similar. So I’ve been holding out for literally years.

This fall I started listening to podcasts during my commute, and one of my favorites is “Sorta Awesome.” Most of the podcasts I like, I don’t feel comfortable listening to in front of my kids – they’re not bad, and I’m not embarrassed by any of the content (probably 90% of my podcast listening is about books or running) but they occasionally use words like “sucks,” or “crap” – words I don’t want Peanut repeating at school. (I’m less bothered by Nugget hearing those words right now, because he can’t talk.) But it’s very rare indeed that a word I’m concerned about pops up on “Sorta Awesome,” and I love the variety of subjects, the tips for living and mothering, and the “Awesome of the Week.” So we’ve been working our way through the backlist as the kids and I drive home from work and preschool at the end of the day. Recently, Megan hosted Jerusalem Greer, who talked about Advent. Jerusalem’s top tip – her place to start, so to speak – was an Advent wreath. And – this is going to sound ridiculous – it wasn’t until I heard Jerusalem talking about Advent wreaths that I realized, Eureka!, I could make my own and it would actually be really easy.

So, according to Jerusalem, an Advent wreath requires just a few components: something circular, like a plate, to represent eternity; something “living” (can be water, river rocks, greenery, anything natural); and four candles, one for each Sunday of Advent. They don’t even necessarily have to be the three purple and one pink that I grew up with. (If you want extra credit, you can have a fifth candle, the Christ candle, to light on Christmas.)

I grabbed the following materials from around my house:

Luna Garcia oblong platter (oblong can represent eternity, too, right?)
Four unscented dinner candles
Pink and purple yarn
Rosemary clipped from my garden (oh, yeah, I should probably bring that inside)

Putting the “wreath” together was simple. I just lined the four candles up on the platter, clipped four equal-length strands of yarn (three purple and one pink), wrapped one strand around each candle and tied them in little bows. Then Peanut and I tucked sprigs of rosemary around the candles and voila, our very first Advent wreath! Couldn’t have been easier, and…

Total Cost: $0.00, because I used all materials I already had on hand.

Rosemary Tree

This Thanksgiving, I mentioned to my sister-in-law that I’ve always wanted a rosemary tree for my kitchen, and she said that she loves those too. I don’t know why I’ve never bought one before, but with that thought in the back of my mind I kept my eyes open when I did my weekly shopping at Wegmans. No surprise, they had them – so I grabbed one for $6.99. It came in a pretty red burlap sack. I decked it with my snowman chef ornaments from Williams-Sonoma (although it would be really pretty with a string of fresh cranberries, too – maybe next year) and it’s making my kitchen smell divine.

Total Cost: $6.99.

Pomander Balls

I’m craft-challenged, but this year I got it into my head that even I couldn’t mess up pomander balls. I’m not even sure what put me on to the idea of doing some this year, but I grabbed a bag of oranges and a bottle of whole cloves from the supermarket and went to town while watching Supergirl. Six pomanders, in six different patterns, and they smell incredible.

Bag of oranges
Bottle of whole cloves
Knitting needle, stylus, or other sharp object (I used an inexpensive double-sided bamboo knitting needle)

Using the needle, poke holes in an orange in whatever pattern you like. Stick one clove into each hole. Dry in a 200 degree oven for a looooooong time – I did six hours. Keep in a dry location and enjoy all season, then pitch after Christmas (or whenever they get weird).

Total Cost: $15.00, but only because I didn’t have any whole cloves at home.

Fun Seasonal Soap

This one feels almost like cheating, but it’s something that never occurred to me before last year. Steve and I really like the Wegmans foaming hand soaps and we keep them around in the kitchen and the downstairs bathroom, in different scents. Last year they had a harvest scent for fall, and that was the first time I ever picked one up – and the first time it occurred to me to use something other than very basic Softsoap in the kitchen. We’ve been enjoying the different scents all year and I grabbed a “sugar cookie” flavor to make our December hand-washing more festive. It’s such a silly thing, but it’s fun. (If you don’t have a Wegmans nearby, I’ll bet you can find something similar at your grocery store, or there’s always Bath and Body Works.)

Total Cost: $2.69 – a steal!

How do you add festive flair to your house without breaking the budget?

December 7, 2015 by Jaclyn

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (December 7, 2015)

Well, my friends, ’tis the season of being completely frazzled and overwhelmed. I really, really love Advent and Christmas and I always intend to take lots of time to soak it all in and really enjoy the season, and I end up running around like a crazy person. It’s not just the holiday responsibilities – buying and wrapping gifts, addressing and mailing Christmas cards, not to mention the three office holiday parties I am attending – but somehow I always end up swamped at work, too. You’d think that things would slow down in the office, with so many people on vacation, but it never seems to work that way. (This happened in my last job too, so it’s not just my current place.) I’d love to spend lots of time doing things like decorating gingerbread houses, taking my kids to Christmas farms, and dancing to the Laurie Berkner Christmas CD, and I’m still holding out hope for a little more time in the next couple of weeks.

Last week was a crazy one. We were still in Colorado on Monday (oh, you guys, it’s so lovely there – expect lots of waxing poetic about the mountains when I get my vacation recaps together for you) and we flew back on Tuesday. No reading happened while we were out of town, and FORGET ABOUT reading on the plane. I spent the entire journey home working hard to keep Nugget happy so he didn’t disturb everyone on the plane. (Nugget got lots of smiles and pats from the other passengers on our flights, and I got lots of compliments about what a well-behaved baby he was. Mission accomplished.) Then I was digging out from my time away, which didn’t leave much evening time for reading. This week is going to be another doozy, as I’ve got multiple meetings, I’m giving a speech, and I am assisting a partner at a big event at the end of the week (and will be preparing for it all week).

That said, I did get some reading done. Last week I was all about whatever was going to get me quick progress on my library stack – and that meant comics. I read the third volume of Fables and the first volume of Gotham Academy, and enjoyed both, although I didn’t always feel as if I totally understood what was going on in Gotham Academy. Then I turned my attention to Carry On, which had been languishing on my “currently reading” list – I brought it on vacation and squeezed in a few pages whenever I had the chance, but that turned out to not be all that often. (I just wanted to hang out and talk to my sister-in-law, bicker fondly with my brother, and gawk at the view out of their big windows.) But I finally finished Carry On over the weekend (thank you, lap nap!) and I enjoyed it, for the most part. I did complain that it was as if I was tuning into the Harry Potter books with the seventh and final installment – there was clearly a lot of backstory that these characters had, and the reader wasn’t privy to it, which made it harder to get invested in their current story. Still, it was cute, and since I liked Fangirl I enjoyed Carry On too.

Now I’ve moved on to Browsings, Michael Dirda’s collection of essays about books and reading for the Washington Post Book World (I love books! And books about books! And Washington!) and I’m enjoying it so far, although I’ve only read a couple of the essays. I’m not sure how much reading time I will have this week (see above: meetings on meetings on meetings) but I’m holding out hope that I’ll at least be able to knock this one book out.

On the blog this week: four fun (and cheap!) ways to add some festive flair to your home on Wednesday, and an overdue recap of our October hiking project outing on Friday. Stay tuned!

What are you reading this week, my friends?

December 4, 2015 by Jaclyn

Thanksgiving 2015

Whew! Things have been a bit quiet here on the blog – with the exception of Wednesday’s reading round-up, I haven’t posted much in about a week. The reason – for those who don’t already know – is that we were out of town. (I like to fly slightly below the radar; I’ll share real-time posts of travels on Instagram, because my account is private, but I keep trips quiet on other social media, including here, until I’m back.) We spent Thanksgiving (and several days before and after) with my brother and sister-in-law in Colorado this year. I’ve got plenty of travel recaps to come in the next few weeks, but for now, a look at our Thanksgiving.

We woke up to snow! My brother Dan and sister-in-law Danielle live in a sweet log cabin in the Rocky Mountains, and they already had some snow, but on Thanksgiving we were blessed with an extra few inches of soft Colorado powder – and a visit from this absolutely gorgeous fox. (The dog went NUTS.)

Peanut stayed cozy in her fleece mittens and snow boots, even in the house. (Their house was perfectly warm and cozy – Peanut is just opinionated about her attire and she was on a boots jag last week.) Extra cuddles for Dan and Danielle’s dog Finnegan, who was a champ all week. He’s not used to having little kids around, but he was very sweet and patient with Peanut.

Let the cooking begin! Finnegan was very interested in all the activity going on in the kitchen. Dan and Danielle wouldn’t let us help at all – they insisted on spoiling us rotten with a delicious meal that we didn’t lift a finger to create. Talk about thankful!

Dan cured the turkey, and it was the best I’ve ever had – finally laying to rest the cure vs. brine debate that has been raging between him and Steve for years. Cure, all the way. (Look at that beggar dog!)

While our hosts cooked, Peanut napped, and Nugget and I enjoyed some FaceTime with far-flung family members. My grandmother, aunt and cousin all got the chance to video-chat with the little guy. It had been several months since they’d last seen him and they were all amazed at how big he’s gotten. He did lots of tricks for them – sitting up, playing with toys, and babbling and razzing for almost an hour. Little sweet guy…

Finally, time to eat! Homemade cranberry sauce, stuffing (I passed – not a fan), turkey, a MOUNTAIN of mashed potatoes, and mashed squash – plus unpictured homemade dinner rolls! Danielle is a star baker and is not scared of yeast at all. (Wish I lived closer – I’d beg for bread-baking lessons.)

My plate. Gravy added after the picture. I was amazed at how tender and flavorful the turkey was – even the white meat. I’ve never actually enjoyed turkey breast before. It was a new experience.

So thankful for this crew. Being together on Thanksgiving was the best gift ever.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, my friends! I’m thankful for YOU.

December 2, 2015 by Jaclyn

Reading Round-Up: November 2015

Reading Round-Up Header

Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby. I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book. Here are my reads for November, 2015…

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, by Sarah Vowell – I love Sarah Vowell’s work! This is the third book I’ve read from her bibliography and I am always impressed by the thoroughness of her research, the quality of her social observations, and the witty, wry sense of humor with which she approaches her subjects. Lafayette was no exception – in fact, it may be my favorite so far. Vowell observed that the Marquis de Lafayette, an adventuring teenager who ran away from his pregnant wife and overbearing inlaws to become one of the most beloved figures in American history, was pretty much the only thing that could unite an incredibly fractious country. Americans in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries couldn’t agree on much, but they could agree that they all adored Lafayette… and after reading Vowell’s tribute to the darling deadbeat daredevil, you will too.

Fates and Furies, by Lauren Groff – I loved Groff’s last book, Acadia, so was expecting great things from her newest work – and I was not disappointed. Fates and Furies tells the story of Lotto and Mathilde Satterwhite and their passionate, creative partnership over their decades of marriage. The first half of the book, Fates, is told with its focus on Lotto, a rich boy who is cut off by his odd bird of a mother after he marries Mathilde on a whim, but goes on to be a famous and successful playwright. The writing is excellent and the setting is brilliantly portrayed. If the book was just Fates, it would still be terrific – but then. With Furies, the focus switches to Mathilde, and everything the reader thought they knew about the Satterwhites’ marriage suddenly blows up. Revelations pile upon revelations, proving that marriage is a mystery, sometimes, even to the people in it. This book deserves all the acclaim it has gotten.

Honor Girl, by Maggie Thrash – I devoured this graphic memoir, about the experience of falling in love at summer camp, in one sitting. Maggie attends Camp Bellflower, a conservative Christian camp deep in the Bible Belt. At the start of the summer, fifteen-year-old Maggie is insecure, unsure of everything except one thing: her deep, abiding love for the Backstreet Boys, and Kevin. But then she meets Erin, a female counselor, and falls headlong into all the feelings. The art so perfectly captured the spirit and feeling of the story. I was rooting for Maggie and Erin to get together, even though I knew their feelings would never be tolerated at their conservative camp. I just found this book so sweet, so endearing, and so fascinating.

Fables, Volume 2: Animal Farm, by Bill Willingham – The second volume of Fables picks up where the first left off. Rose Red is sentenced to community service for the trick she pulled on the Fabletown community in the previous volume, and Snow White has a particular task in mind: a sisters’ trip up to the Farm, the secluded enclave where those Fables who are unable to pass as human live, presumably, a peaceful and idyllic life. Not so much – Snow and Rose walk right into a revolution led by Goldilocks, all grown up into a gun-wielding revolutionary, and the Three Bears. Best line of the series so far: “I’m Snow White, and I’m never outgunned.”

Kind of a light month of reading in November! It’s been a bit wild and woolly around here. I just got back (yesterday!) from a family trip to spend some time over Thanksgiving with my brother and sister-in-law in Colorado. Before the trip I was working every night, trying desperately to avoid having to take work with me on vacation. (I was unsuccessful and ended up doing a couple of hours of work each day. Ah, well. It happens.) Then the trip itself involved almost no reading. I brought a couple of books but barely took them out all week – between kids, work, sightseeing and family time there just wasn’t a moment to spare for reading. So, yeah, a light month. The good news is that I really enjoyed everything I did get to read this month. As for December – well, I’m hoping for a longer list of books read, but with the holidays and preparing for a move my next couple of months are looking quite full. Still, I’m sure I’ll read. When life gets really hectic, it always makes me feel more grounded to come back to a book.

November 25, 2015 by Jaclyn

Enough

This month, I have been participating in an Instagram challenge to post one picture each day showing something for which I am thankful. The challenge kicked off with the host’s posting of a quote that I’ve seen before, but that I sometimes forget: “Gratitude turns what we have into enough.”

We have been living with a degree of uncertainty for as long as I can remember, and it’s easy to get down about that. There are still big, unsettled questions about our living situation, and I’m not someone who likes big, unsettled questions. I like to be rooted, and I haven’t felt rooted in a long time. With all this uncertainty swirling around, it’s easy to get frustrated or down. And that’s just the big stuff. Little frustrations – family drama, job stress, everyday worries – eat away at me too. Sometimes I feel like I’m barely keeping my head above water, and I’m certainly not living as well or as contentedly as I wish I was.

But you know what? I have enough. More than enough, really. I may not enjoy the uncertainty, or the daily stresses of living and working, or the little outbreaks of drama that are part of everyone’s lives… but if I take a moment to be grateful for those things that are good in my life, I really do have plenty.

I have a wonderful husband, who is my best friend, favorite hiking buddy, and the person who can make me laugh more than anyone else. I’ve had ten years of marriage to him, with all of the memories that entails, and I have (I hope – health permitting!) many, many more years to look forward to with him.

I have two beautiful children (with said husband) who make every day noisier and wilder and more fun and much sweeter than my days would be without them. I have the amazing gift of being their mom. They’re healthy and adorable.

I have a roof over my head (a roof I’m selling, but still – when we sell this house, we will move on to another roof). I never have to worry about the rain coming in.

I also never have to worry about where my next meal, or my children’s next meal, is coming from. I have a job that allows me to contribute meaningfully to my family and to provide everything that my kids need – and then some. And it allows me to give back as well, which is important to me – especially at this time of the year, but really, anytime. My husband has a job, too. In this time of great financial uncertainty, we’re both currently employed in our specialties – that’s huge.

I have fabulous friends. I’ve gotten to spend quality time with all of my closest friends this year. And I’ve made new friends, too, mostly moms I’ve met through Peanut’s class. There is one family in particular that has become really special to us over the course of the year, and I’ve gotten the joy of watching the kids play together on many playdates and at school functions while I have the pleasure of talking to a mom that I think is really, really cool and sweet and just delightful. Mom friends for the win! (And when you’re an introvert, and not in a structured setting anymore, making these friends does not come easily.)

I have books! All the books I could ever want! Yes, that’s really true – because I have access to a public library that has most of the books I want to read right on the shelves. And as for the few books that the library doesn’t have, or the few that I read and love enough to want as part of my permanent collection, I have enough discretionary income to buy what I want (within reason). I get most of my books from the library, with a stray paperback coming home to stay from time to time, and I’m awash in literary riches as a result.

I have the money for other little luxuries that make life more fun. Nice tea and the occasional food treat. Fresh flowers from the market. Books and toys for my kids. Gas money so I can take day trips with my family.

I have had the opportunity to go on two big family vacations this year. Some people don’t get any vacations in a year. (I know, because that was me last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. Before this year’s trips, I had not been on a real vacation of a week or more since 2011. So getting the chance to unwind and spend time with people I love in a beautiful place not once, but twice, in 2015 is quite the blessing.)

I have hiking trails to explore, practically right in my backyard. Sometimes I get down on the hiking around here because it’s not as dramatic as I would like it to be. But the trails are there, and they’ve given my family hours of fun in the fresh air and sunshine.

I have the ability to run – slowly, but I can get out there – and I have the privilege of testing myself and enjoying my journey at races in my area. I have running friends who encourage me and inspire me and run across finish lines with me. I have a growing collection of race medals that remind me that I have worked for and achieved my goals in the past and that the postpartum period is temporary, and that I’ll be back and better than ever before too long.

I have so much! I might not have any idea what the future holds, but I know what the present holds, and so much of it is really, really good. And that is more than enough – it’s plenty.

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends. I hope you all have a wonderful day celebrating with your family and friends tomorrow.

November 23, 2015 by Jaclyn

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (November 23, 2015)

Look! It’s BB-8! Check it out, you guys! So, we’ve been having too much fun around here. Last week included my husband’s birthday, and the kids and I gifted him a BB-8. Peanut is craaaaaaaazy for it. She keeps chasing it and shouting “BE MY FRIEND, BB-8!” and BB-8 is all “Unidentified human life form detected! Unidentified human life form detected!” We’re basically dying from laughter. Which is good, because I’m so overwhelmed at work and at home that laughter is in pretty short supply otherwise.

Anyway, that’s my way of saying that I hope you’ll forgive me, but I barely have any books to tell you about this week. It was a week of starting and stopping. I started The Witches: Salem 1692, and then returned it to the library when I realized I would not have time to finish it and there was no way I would be able to renew it. (I ordered a copy, because I decided I wanted it for my own.) Then I started Sloane Crosley’s debut novel, The Clasp, and tossed it aside after 80 pages when the characters were annoying me too much to continue. (I love Sloane Crosley’s essays, but this fiction was not doing it for me.) Then I started My Brilliant Friend, the Elena Ferrante novel that started the Neapolitan series, and didn’t like that either. (Everyone is constantly getting wailed on or hit in the head with rocks. Why?) On looking back at my Goodreads, it appears that the only book I finished this past week was Fables, Volume 2: Animal Farm. (Now that, I liked.)

Current read: I’m finally working on Carry On, the new Rainbow Rowell novel about Simon Snow (the subject of Cath’s “fic” in Fangirl). It’s fun and cute and I’m doing my best to squeeze it in whenever I can. But with work and Thanksgiving prep, I don’t have much time left over for reading – and that’s okay. I’m not slumping, just having a little more trouble fitting book time in. I’m squeezing a few pages in here and there, whenever I can, and that will have to do until life settles down (maybe after the holidays). At the moment I care more about getting done what I need to do, and spending time with my family.

What are you reading this Thanksgiving week?

November 20, 2015 by Jaclyn

OBX Trip 2015: One More Day in Old Dominion

On our way back from the Outer Banks, we had one more stopover – just one night (not enough time – it’s never enough time) in Alexandria, Virginia, where we used to live. This time we didn’t make plans to see any friends – we’d managed to connect with just about everyone we wanted to on our way down to OBX, and since we weren’t going to be in town very long on this pass through we just wanted to spend the time enjoying our old haunts – which meant Old Town.

We spent our last three years in the DC area living just south of Old Town, a few miles downriver and down the G.W. Parkway, and Old Town was basically our neighborhood. We were there every weekend, almost all weekend. Our farmers’ market, our favorite brunch spots, our favorite walking trails, and our church were all in Old Town. I miss all of those places every day that I’m away, so we made it our mission to hit as many as possible.

First stop was Fontaine Creperie, which was probably my favorite restaurant in Old Town. (Well… maybe. It’s actually more like a three-way tie between Fontaine, Pizzeria Paradiso, and The Grape & Bean.) It was Sunday, around noon when we rolled into town, so the place was packed with brunchers and the post-church crowd, but we were able to squeeze our family of four into a table for two. I enjoyed every bite: latte, Moroccan crepe…

And the Bella (Nutella and strawberries!) for dessert, shared between Steve, Peanut and me. (Sorry, Nugget.)

After Fontaine, we were pretty much stuffed, but we weren’t done with the Old Town Food experience – not by a long shot. We swung by The Grape & Bean to pick up iced coffees to take on a walk through the town.

The Grape & Bean is pretty much unlike anyplace I’ve been in the States. It’s a wine shop and communal table restaurant that serves amazing coffee, delicious French and Spanish dishes, and lots and lots of incredible wine. It reminds me a bit of a restaurant Steve and I visited one night in Beaune, France.

Iced coffees in hand, we strolled down the street to Founders Park, my favorite green space, right on the Potomac.

I love it there. Our walk was haunted by the memories of summer weekends past – and holidays, too. Like one Independence Day, when we lounged on the grass with our friend Carly, watching the boats and eating cherry pie right out of the dish.

We walked back along the waterfront and stopped to admire the view of the docks. (And hello Chart House! I had my law school graduation dinner there. Yum.)

Nugget was zonked.

Back on King Street – the main drag – we stopped into Why Not?, a children’s store that had always intrigued me. Peanut was still really young when we moved away, and I had never really explored the kids’ boutiques. She’s definitely interested in the merchandise now, so we had fun checking out the toys – and then I got really excited when we ventured upstairs and found a roomful of BOOKS! And not just any books – USBORNE BOOKS! Usborne publishes some really cool and unique kids’ books and I’d been on the hunt for a few for Peanut for ages, but they’re not easy to find. I let her choose what she wanted and she picked a book about outer space and one about airports. That’s my little nerd! We also grabbed a gardening alphabet, Good Night Virginia (to add to our collection!) and a couple of Usborne books for older kids, which I’ve put aside.

After all the walking, Steve and I were both feeling pretty thirsty, so we made our way back to The Grape & Bean, for the grape this time. Yes, we went twice in one day. Don’t judge. It had been two years.

We both ordered a French rose, and it was crisp and refreshing and summery and perfect.

Obviously, there was one place we absolutely had to hit while we were in town, so we closed out the evening at Pizzeria Paradiso.

Couldn’t decide what to get, so we ordered two small pizzas instead of one large: a Paradiso with mushrooms and pine nuts, and the Genovese, a potato-pesto creation that is my favorite thing on the menu. (Well, second favorite. The free olives they bring to the table are the best thing ever.)

Love this crowd.

The next morning we were up bright and early, the better to squeeze in a bit more fun before heading back north. We started at Le Pain Quotidien.

I had the smoked salmon breakfast, and I split an avocado tartine with Steve. Both were out of this world.

Fueled by LPQ, we headed off for one final stroll around Old Town before we had to pack up and roll out of Old Dominion. I could never get enough of walking through the historic streets, drinking in the scenery and the beautiful old homes.

Before leaving, we stopped for one more meal (I know it seems like we did a TON of eating on this overnight, and we did, but it had been so long since we got to enjoy our favorite places – we decided to treat ourselves, not worry about it, and get back to eating like grownups when we got home – so that’s exactly what we did). We swung by our old favorite sushi place and enjoyed some fresh seafood. Even Peanut got in on the act:

She’s an extraordinarily picky eater, but she will randomly eat her weight in sushi (don’t worry – she’s old enough for it, and we moderate her intake). It was good to get some fresh food before our long road trip. (Which was miserable – Nugget screamed the entire time – so let’s just look at the pretty Old Town pictures and pretend that part never happened, okay?)

Until next time, Old Dominion! No matter where I live, I’ll always love you best.

Have you ever been lucky enough to live in your happy place?

November 18, 2015 by Jaclyn

Nugget: Eight Months

Another month gone! Where are they disappearing to? I realized the other day that Nugget is two thirds of a year old, and pretty soon he’ll reach that milestone of having spent more time out than in. It still feels like he just got here, but no – he’s well established at this point. (Of course, it took him all of a tenth of a moment to embed himself in our hearts.)

We’ve had another busy month of going, going, going! Nugget celebrated his first Halloween, enjoyed a visit from his Aunt Rebecca, went to the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester (and got to see the actual felt figures from his Star Wars Epic Yarns book!) and was baptized. Whew! I’m exhausted after all of that, and you’d think Nugget would be too, but he continues to boycott naps. Mostly…

(He fell asleep holding his foot while Daddy and I painted trim in the next room. It was possibly the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. But everything he does is possibly the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. Can you tell that he has totally stolen my heart?)

He’s such a happy guy – rarely complains or fusses. Bedtime is still not his favorite thing in the world, and he doesn’t like to get too hungry – but then again, who does? No, most of the time he has the biggest smile on his face. It’s impossible to be sad or upset around him – he’s just so funny and affectionate that he can have the entire household laughing in seconds.

I mean, he’s really, really affectionate. Although I’m usually the only one who gets the slobbery open-mouthed kisses. The day isn’t complete until Nugget has planted a couple of huge wet kisses on my cheek, chin, nose and eyeball. I’m not complaining, though. I hope he always loves his mom this much. I know I love him more and more every day.

Nugget at 8 Months:

Weight: 16 pounds even!

Height: 27.5 inches (grain of salt, please; I measured him myself).

Clothing Size: I have to admit that he’s in nine months now. I still occasionally squeeze him into six month pajamas and he does fine with them, but really he’s more comfortable in the bigger size. He has some really adorable nine months clothes, though, so I can cling to that when I finally bite the bullet and pack away the six months wardrobe.

Sleep: Not much of a change from last month. Still protesting a bit at bedtime and then settling in, usually with one wakeup during the night. We’re ticking along and doing okay. As for naps, Nugget doesn’t do those. He’ll occasionally nod off in someone’s arms – mine, or one of his teachers’ at school – but even those snuggly naps are getting more rare. (I will miss them so much when they’re gone completely. Hope he stays snuggly for a bit longer.) It’s strange because Peanut, even to this day, is completely dysfunctional if she doesn’t get a nap, but Nugget seems to chug right along whether he naps or not.

Likes: Big sister! Also enjoys TV, FOOD (both mommy and pretty much any solid food – unlike Peanut, who would only eat fruit and had to be tricked into that, Nugget will happily gobble up anything I give him), rattles, chewing on books, watching other kids, and listening to Mom sing silly Raffi songs.

Dislikes: Bedtime gets a big THUMBS DOWN – from the moment Nugget sees his jammies he makes his displeasure known. Sorry, little guy, but that nasty old bedtime comes around pretty regularly.

Favorite Toys: Currently, we’re into anything chewy. Actually, that’s anything that we can chew on, whether it’s actually chewy or not, but things like teethers and chewy rattles are big crowd-pleasers. Unfortunately for Nugget, Peanut has stepped up her toy-stealing game, and he’s lost quite a few teethers to her, which is pretty lame since she isn’t even teething.

Milestones: So many to report this month! As far as developmental milestones are concerned, the two big ones are also the sharpest… that’s right, folks, we’ve got TEETH. Two of them, bottom front and center, and man are they ever sharp. Nugget is actually pretty considerate about avoiding the teeth when he is gnawing on my fingers, but I’ve been bitten a lot this month even so. In other developmental milestone news, he’s doing really well with sitting independently, and he’s started to roll around. It’s super cute to watch him migrate around the family room. As far as other milestones are concerned, Nugget celebrated his first Halloween this past month. He dressed as Tigger (costume courtesy of Aunt Rebecca) and actually made it out trick-or-treating with his big sis. (He didn’t collect any candy, although people kept offering it to him.) And a week after he celebrated Mischief Night, we did a 180 and had him baptized. He was less than thrilled with the whole water on the head business, but he was a good boy. Getting that done was a major weight off my shoulders, because I’ve been trying to coordinate a baptism for months. We had a nice little family party, as is customary, and Nugget got a few sweet and thoughtful gifts from his godparents and from Nana.

Quirks: As Nugget gets older, it’s really fun to watch his little personality develop and learn the ways he’s different from his sister. One of those, which we kind of already knew, really came into focus this month: while Peanut is chatty most of the time, she enters some kind of cone of silence the moment you strap her into the car seat; Nugget, by contrast, is a major car seat talker. He doesn’t fuss as much as he used to do – now he just orates from the backseat. Pretty much the moment the ignition starts, Nugget starts too: “AH! Ehhhhhh, da! Da da da da! Behhhhhh. DAH. Unhnhnhnhnh! Ah ahhhh!” and so on, and so forth. We just listen, and occasionally wipe away tears of laughter. Actually, Nugget has two speeds in the car: talking, and asleep. The second the chattering stops, you know he’s taking his (likely one and only) nap of the day. It’s too funny.

Happy eight months, little man! Stop growing so darn fast.

November 16, 2015 by Jaclyn

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (November 16, 2015)

This past weekend was the first weekend in awhile that we haven’t had a big home improvement task on our agenda. We’ve done all the major projects that we wanted to do before putting our house on the market, and now we’re just keeping it in pristine condition in case of last minute showings – but the painting, sanding, staging, and major cleaning has slowed down for a bit. That doesn’t mean that I got to read much this weekend, of course – because if I don’t have house work to do, it seems, work-work flares up. I had to put in some time on the ol’ job this weekend, and although I didn’t finish everything I wanted to do, I did get at least one major task done. That probably didn’t cut into my reading too much, actually – I worked on it on Saturday afternoon while Steve took Nugget to the grocery store and Peanut resisted her afternoon nap. I really should have worked on Sunday, too, but Steve wasn’t feeling super great and I ended up on Nugget patrol all afternoon. Fine with me – I love hanging out with Nugget – but I’m going to be a bit up against it this week. I have a lot to do.

As far as reading is concerned, it was a slow-ish week. I finished Fates and Furies, the new Lauren Groff novel, which was just as outstanding as the book tastemakers I follow promised it would be. And then I picked up Maggie Thrash’s graphic memoir, Honor Girl, and read it in less than a day – it was really compelling and brought me right back to my own camp days. (Although my camp – being a Girl Scout camp in the Adirondacks – was a lot more open-minded and much friendlier than Camp Bellwether.) Then I started Sloane Crosley’s debut novel, The Clasp, but abandoned it after about 80 pages. I really love her essays, but the book just wasn’t doing it for me. I’ll return it to the library and who knows? Maybe one day I’ll pick it up again and enjoy it better on a second attempt. (Look at me abandoning books!) Now I’m about 100 or so pages into The Witches: Salem 1692, and WOW is it ever good. I don’t know what it is about the nonfiction that’s been published in 2015, but I feel like publishers are just killing it. Seriously, in what year do we get new Erik Larson, new Sarah Vowell, and new Stacy Schiff? It’s an embarrassment of riches, is what it is.

Up on the blog this week: a Nugget update on Wednesday (I’m thinking of making these posts private, or transferring them to a password-protected blog just for family and friends, but still writing them in the meantime so I figured I’d share) and our final summer vacation post on Friday. It seemed silly to be recapping fall hiking before I’d finished telling you about our summer travels, so I’m going to do that. I have some really cool posts coming up over the next couple of months, and I’m so excited to share with you guys.

What are you reading this week?

covered in flour

the adventures of a wandering reader…