Friday daydreaming.

Today, I can’t stop thinking about Sicily (again).  Is it too soon to start the countdown? We leave October 27th.

And I finally got to use Welcome Beyond. To book here. It looks a little bit magical, don’t you think?

Even better than the location (maybe) is the owner’s story. He’s a complete inspiration to me, and I can’t wait to meet him. We wanted to stay here, but it was booked. Next time!

One car garage turned guest room.

This is amazing. A one-car garage turned guest room. And it’s lovely! (Thank you Gardenista for posting about this.)

And it’s 100% motivation to keep moving forward with tackling the barn renovation. We haven’t made much progress, as we’ve had to take care of a few things on the main house. That, and I’m completely overwhelmed with starting the project.

I did think it might be a good idea to bring in an interior designer to help us draft up a plan. My rationale being: We’ll have so many renovations in our future, perhaps it would be good to see how a professional would tackle this? All the while learning a thing or two for the future. But this comes with a rather hefty (more hefty than I thought) price tag. So we’re still weighing our options. I think the next step is to gather quotes from a handful of general contractors.

Any tips to pass along when working with general contractors? I’m all ears!

 

Pictures from Gardenista blog post.

On being a family.

I’ve been coming to terms with being a family of three for awhile. (O is almost one.) It took me awhile to come around to the idea that he’s not going anywhere. Don’t get me wrong, I love the little stinker. But I am quick to say I am not an instant mom. (A mom who seems to have a switch and knows how to be a mom from day zero.)  I wish I could be, but I’m not built that way.  So it took me a bit of time to (1) realize and (2) embrace the facts.

There are SO many other factors that go into this. But regardless I wanted to send a message out there to moms to say it’s OK to ease into family life. There can be lots of joy and laughter as you figure things out and move a bit slower than everything else around you.

What about you? Did you jump in and not look back? Or are you a one-foot-in-at-a-time kind of person too?

Photo taken by Dad. This is Owen’s introduction to falafel. (He loves it.)

Rustic pathways.

This title could mean so many things. But today, it’s about a company pioneering travel and service projects with a focus on providing unique and real-world educational  experiences. (Think interviewing elders in Laos.) Also, they have Gap Year programs. How cool is that?

Blair and I both dream about traveling across the country on “educational vacations” with our son. We’d, of course, travel in something like this. But I think we should add a Rustic Pathways experience to the dream list. And so, today I created a new Pinterest board, “Future adventures with Owen“. You know, just in case.

Do you keep a list of future activities for yourself or your family? How often to you add/update it?

PS A family of 5 and a cat traveling the country in a Airstream

 

Dining outdoors in New York.

This is a repost I take absolutely no credit for, but I have to share it. Thank you Tanja, for sending this my way. And thank you Harper’s Bazaar for compiling the list: Great Outdoors: 10 Al Fresco Dining Spots.

I want to go to every single one, but I’m especially excited to try #1 & #4. (Oh, ok and #3.)

Lavender Lake, Brooklyn

Friday daydreaming.

I’ve been day dreaming of a bike ride for the last couple months. Today it happened. Cloudy weather be damned. I haven’t been on a bike since last May!  And it felt so good. B & I clocked twenty-six miles with a stop for lunch in between. That’s a good use of day light, if you ask me.

We can’t wait to start bringing little O with us. When did you start taking rides with your little one? And what did you use?

Enjoy your holiday weekend. Hope it’s full of good food and good people.

PS Photo above is from a 90 mile Plymouth, MA to Provincetown, MA ride B & I planned almost five years ago! We’ve always said we wanted to do it again.

 

Repeat vacations.

Do you vacation at the same spots each year? I have never been prone to that philosophy. But I can certainly see the convenience of it. You don’t have to spend energy learning the area, figuring out where to buy essentials, wasting time or money on the restaurants not worthy of your service. We do end up heading to Bar Harbor most every summer with B’s family for a car camping extravaganza. And each year we go, we are able to explore a bit more. Two years ago we went rock climbing! And of course, there’s always one more hike, bike ride or swimming hole to explore.

One of my friend’s is exploring the idea of a designated vacation retreat now that she has a family of four to entertain. It’s not so much the physical spot as it is the idea of carving out intentional family togetherness — and not of the forced fun nature. She shared a story of one family who has been quite good at making this happen on a lake in New Hampshire. And even though her three boys are all grown up, they continue to be very comfortable and supportive of one another because they had so much time to bond and be themselves while retreating to their space on the lake. I think this is a beautiful idea. And as much as we race around to finish our errands, help out our friends, and keep up with our jobs, it’s more important that we are just as protective and determined to be still and enjoy just being together.

So maybe I’ll rethink the idea of go-to vacation. How about you?

 

Friday daydreaming.

Our neighbor’s (and our friend’s) just got back from Paris. I’ve only been once, but it was such a fun, dreamy, surreal experience. We had so much fun guessing what was on the menu only to find out it was nothing like what we were expecting.  Think lots of squid ink. (Oops.) My little bit of French only took us so far!

If you could go ANYWHERE right now, where would you go?

Ps If you ever find yourself in Avignon, you must eat at Numero 75. The owner of our B&B recommended it. And it was the only place we could find Marc! But the whole experience was perfect. It was our best meal in France.

 

Photo by Blair Morad.

Introducing a series: Life with incurable cancer.

There are few people in this world who have the privilege of knowing someone since birth. For better or worse, my life has been tied together with Kara’s from the very beginning. It’s now been 30+ years, and I don’t see things changing any time soon.  It is wonderful and lovely to have her in my life.

As you read in the title, I am introducing a series on living with incurable cancer, more ominously known as terminal cancer. Kara has agreed to let me interview her and share her story on Anywhere & Here. The facts are, Kara was first diagnosed with breast cancer at age 29. She went through an incredible litany of treatments, operations and medications. And lo and behold, it worked! For about three and a half years Kara was in remission. And then, the cancer came back with vengeance. It attacked organ and bone. It is living inside her and every day it has the power to remain constant or to grow and spread.  For now she is happy, feeling good and trying to make the most of each day.

I’ll be honest, when I approached Kara with this series, she very politely reminded me that there are numerous forums that exist with these types of stories. But I want to explore Kara’s story specifically.  And I want to share her story because I think there are a good many of us out there who are scared to ask our friends with life altering illnesses certain questions.

So keep an eye out for this series in the coming month or so.  It will be a series of interview-style posts exploring aspects of living with incurable cancer. And we’ll all get to know Kara a bit more, and you’ll discover her incredible strength, determination and downright grit.

PS Kara is organizing her own team for Tour de Pink this year. B & I have decided to join her. This is a three day bike ride from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. If you are interested in supporting the team, please consider a donation. If you’re interested in joining the team, please feel free to contact me. Encouragement and your own personal stories are very welcome too.

If I had to buy a wedding dress.

We celebrated three years of marriage not too long ago. We dated for just over four years before we were engaged. It’s funny though, it sometimes feels like we’ve been together so much longer than that. We had a great time planning our wedding. The process was almost more fun than the day — almost.

The dress I discovered was from a Boston based shop known for bridesmaid dresses and a smaller, curated collection of wedding designers.  I only went dress shopping there, actually. And the dress I wound up buying was the first one I tried on. I think it was a great dress for me. BUT, if I had to do it over again, I would hands down, without a doubt buy from Whitney Deal. I have followed her collections for the last couple years. They are simple, lovely and elegant. And I share them with most anyone I know who is getting married and won’t mind one more piece of advice regarding the big day.

Aren’t they lovely?

Catherine

Lorene

How about you? Were you in love with your dress? And, I’m curious, did you ever wear it in it’s original or a re-tailored form again?

PS This is my favorite picture of me in my dress.