Every time I go on a trip, if at all possible, I buy a Dan Brown book. Go ahead. Laugh out loud. Gasp! Judge me in your head. I do not care. You can give me a little credit here because I did call it a book, not a novel. But before you write me off and get all judgey, let me tell you that I will be the happiest person on that beach.
Do you know how I describe Dan Brown books? I say they're like chips for your brain. You know the feeling when you open a bag of chips and you start chomping on them and they're just so yummy and crunchy, and if you've chosen well then they have that crack salt all over them and you're just like, more, more, more?! Well, that my friends is your brain on a Dan Brown book. It's unadulterated, page-flipping goodness and if you've read any Dan Brown at all (no, watching the movies does not count) then you know you secretly love it, just like you love Justin Bieber but pretend that you don't.
Well, pretend no more! I have no shame. I ordered Dan Brown's latest, Origin, which I have been saving for a special occasion involving air travel such as this one, and I cannot wait to read it. It arrived yesterday afternoon, and I have to say that it was a total game changer for me. I was beginning to completely freak out over leaving the kids behind. I've been losing sleep and imagining the worst. But when I held that Dan Brown paperback in my hands, our trip flashed before my eyes and I remembered how totally awesome and good for us this is going to be.
On the way there, sans children, our first flight is a 45-minute Horizon Air flight, which offers free Northwest beer or wine to all passengers. That will be the ideal way to give a toast and kick off the celebration of not only my little brother's epic wedding, but also our first vacation since having kids! Then, after a layover in Seattle, we'll be on a red-eye to Miami and I will be taking an Ambien and checking out, because again, no children. Already this trip sounds like a trip to the spa.
Once we arrive, it will be an ungodly hour on the west coast, but with no children in tow, it will be easy to get ourselves to our hotel, check our luggage if the early check-in my brother's wedding planner requested isn't available, and then go grab some breakfast. No car seats, no crying. After breakfast, I figure we'll head down to the beach if our room still isn't available.
It shall be there, on my beach chair, that I open and begin my Dan Brown
In conclusion, Dan Brown forever. Be looking for that hashtag in my Instagram posts and stories! ;) And does anyone know when Dan intends to publish his next book? I've not come up with anything in my Google searches. But he does have a Masterclass. Eeek! Should I take it?! Probably not.
Tell me your favorite Dan Brown book in the comments below. Do not even think about criticizing him. Brain chips, remember?! Books, not novels. Writing, not literature. Just to get things started, I will say that I think Da Vinci Code and Inferno are my favorites. But it's so hard to pick just one! Angels and Demons was so good, too. And The Lost Symbol. But, Paris! I'm sticking with Da Vinci Code.
Are you an out-in-the-open Dan Brown lover; or a closeted fan? You can always comment as "anonymous" if the latter.
(Photo via Hyatt Hotels)
February and March are the weirdest time of year. So I'm keeping myself going by dreaming of summer days with strawberries and rose water vanilla whipped cream. Life has been so busy and demanding lately that I haven't even really been able to get excited about Miami. But, in ten days, J and I will be in the sun and I've never needed it more!
I hope you're up to something good this weekend, and here are some links for you:
9 of the Best Alternative European Cities
A must-listen!
Do you believe in psychics?
These dinner pancakes look amazing.
The Power of No.
How gorgeous is this Swedish summerhouse?
Have better conversations.
I need to try this snail ampoule ASAP!
When you mix AI and storytelling.
LOL.
I hope your weekend is a good one! See you back here soon, my lovelies.
(Strawberry illustration via Tracey English/Pinterest)
Recently I started having the nagging thought that we needed to get a landline. So this afternoon, I'm setting up our three-handset cordless phone (with answering machine!) and plugging in my old Sony phone from high school and I am quite relieved to have a home phone. I decided that we needed a landline for several reasons, including being reachable at night, Coco and Theo being able to call 911 should the need arise, and Coco is getting old enough to want to talk on the phone and call her friends.
It bothered me that with our phones in airplane mode in the middle of the night, if someone needed to get ahold of us, they wouldn't be able to without coming over and pounding on our door. Now that we have mobile phones and apps that are lighting up our screens and setting off bells 24/7, our modern devices have set up the opposite problem to what we had 20 years ago. It used to be that none of us were reachable unless we were home. Now we're not reachable at home overnight because if we want any sleep, we have to turn our phones off!
A few weeks ago, I tried to show Coco and Theo how to get to the emergency call screen on a locked iPhone. It was so convoluted and confusing for them, I knew it would never work if we were in an emergency situation and they had to call 911 without help. So, really that sealed the deal for me on getting a landline. It's something I hope will never be necessary, but an ounce of preparation, right?
Coco is a total social butterfly and has many friends in the neighborhood. She loves running to our next door neighbor's house and to the little girl across the alley's house and asking them to come play. But she's also becoming more interested in the phone and I think learning phone skills is a really good thing, especially this day in age. But I do not want her using our mobile phones. So enter the landline! And I think she'll find it fun to answer, too.
Do you have a landline at your house? Do your kids know how to call 911 and answer the phone? These are basics we take for granted having grown up with landlines, but our kids aren't necessarily phone-as-a-talking-instrument literate the way we are. What do you think?
Are you guys watching Derry Girls?! It is one of the most hilarious, compelling, and original series I have ever seen. I love it for so many reasons. Obviously, given my time spent there as a child and as a student, I love that it's set in Ireland. That scenery! I also adore it for the Irish humor, which is irreverent and dry and surprising every time. And the music is top notch with truly excellent editing that adds a lot of depth and texture.
The show follows 16-year-old Erin Quinn and her group of friends in Catholic high school in Northern Ireland during the 90s (read: The Troubles.) But the fact that there are bomb threats and armed bus checks on the way to school doesn't take away from the hilarity of the show one bit - at least, not so far. J and I literally find ourselves doubling over laughing and I actually laughed so hard I cried in one episode. Derry Girls is outrageous in the best possible way. I love the Catholic school and angle, the show's writers have finessed the art of poking fun at the many quirks and idiosyncrasies of Catholicism and Catholic school in the most accurate and laugh out loud way! It's a delight to watch. We're about half way through the first season on Netflix and I cannot recommend it enough. The second season is airing now in Ireland and the UK, so hopefully it will come to the US soon after.
What shows are you watching right now? We don't (and can't with how busy we are) watch TV every night these days, but I do love an evening of wearing comfy clothes and zoning out on the couch. Isn't being an adult and parent so sexy?! ;) Let me know if you're watching Derry Girls and why you love it (or don't) and hit me up with your show recommendations in the comments below.
(Photo via RadioTimes)
I am so ready for spring! Even though the snow is ridiculously beautiful and we're in a veritable snow-globe-winter-wonderland, I am so over it. Spokane got over 30 inches (76 centimeters!) of snow in February. I just want to wear a pair of ballet flats and jeans. You cannot walk through 2 1/2 feet of snow in ballet flats, and even if you could, you'd slip on the ice everywhere. Not to mention the 7 Fahrenheit (-14 Celsius) temps when we walk out to the car in the morning. The cold would freeze your feet into little ice stumps. So, needless to say, this photo is like a dream to me! Speaking of, J had a dream the other night that he woke up and went outside and there was green grass all around. It was so real, he woke up and ran to the window and then he was totally disappointed. But. It was light outside until nearly 6pm today, so it's coming! Spring is coming. Thank goodness.
And here are a few links for your weekend:
Snowiest February since 1894.
Man gets arrested for epic IKEA store prank.
Best pillow for back sleepers ever!
Cool Instagram vacation idea. (It's not what you think;)
LOL!
Spring travel goals.
Workism is making Americans miserable.
Do your kids love with The Runaway Bunny? If so this McSweeney's re-write will have you in stitches.
Ditch your phone and un-break your brain.
Eight Dates (Can't wait to read this!)
I've been so jealous that spring has sprung in Zurich, but then my friend Nina reminded me that along with Zurich spring, she has Zurich allergies and I do not miss those. So there is a silver lining to everything! Even eternal winter. Hrmm. Have a great weekend and see you back here soon!
(Photo via Sugar/Tumblr)
I am dying to cut my hair. Ever since I weaned Theo nearly a year ago, my hair has become less wonderful: It's thinner, and duller, and greyer. Sigh! So the urge to go shorter came on pretty hard, and last summer I cut it into a "lob," or long bob. I instantly regretted it! This may be silly, but particularly at this weird post-baby point in my life, having longer hair makes me feel more feminine and pretty. It all goes back to when I completely whacked off all of my hair and got a super short pixie style cut, like Gweneth Paltrow in Sliding Doors, when I was a freshman in high school. While Gweneth is slender and chic and blonde, I was skinny and awkward and trying to get rid of the last of the rebellious black hair dye. I also had braces. It did not go over well. I got made fun of, and called a lesbian, which makes me laugh now, but deeply wounded my sense of femininity as a 15-year-old girl. That wound went pretty deep, because despite being able to laugh at it now, I'll never deliberately go that short again, although I have had a few overzealous hairdressers get pretty close! Drrh. Now, my hair has grown back since my lob last summer, but even with the length, it's still looking pretty mediocre. So I had to ask myself, how much is long, feminine hair really doing for me?!
I had short-ish hair off and on all throughout my life, but with the change in hair after having Theo combined with getting older and feeling less fit and toned, I just have felt weird about hair and feeling pretty. But since the new year, I have started to notice more and more short haircuts everywhere I look. Much to my delight, they are very pretty, and feminine and most certainly better than what I'm rocking at the moment. The last Boden catalogue comes to mind. And then, my gorgeous, always-ahead-of-the-trends friend, Alicia, chopped her hair off, too! I think it's settled. I'm going to go short. Now I just need flatiron recommendations to get those effortless messy waves. And don't you love the messy tie-back with the hair pins all in a row? I'm definitely swooning over here. Best of all, this look will be perfect with the over-the-top gorgeous dress I got for my brother's wedding - the actual reason we're going to Miami! I feel so sophisticated and beautiful in that dress and I do not want mediocre hair to ruin it.
Are you a short hair person, or a long hair person - or do you go back and forth between both? Hair is a pretty big thing in Western culture. I would love to hear your thoughts on hair, and how it affects how you feel about yourself, in the comments below. Thank you for being here, and thanks a million for chiming in! That is the fun part, after all.
And, if you're looking for some cute short hair styles or up-do's, pop on over to my Beauty Board on Pinterest. :)
Photo via Pinterest.
J and I leave for Miami in one month! I just ordered this swimsuit, which is a total mom suit with "compression" but also looks super hot, so I'm excited to get it. It comes in dozens of color combos, and solids, but deep greens and navy are my colors. I feel like this suit was made for me - and my mummy tummy compression needs.
We are deep in the joy of anticipating our vacation (remember this article?) and it's surreal to see the Miami forecast for swimsuit weather on my phone each morning and then look out the window and see a foot of snow all around! I cannot wait for a dose of sunshine. I'm also increasingly nervous because this will be the first time we've been away from Coco and Theo for more than an overnight. Speaking of travel, I actually wound up cancelling my trip to Zurich last month because starting in late October, Theo was just more attached to me than usual. It made my mom hairs stand on end and I could not see how 12 days apart would possibly work.
I did not feel good about putting him, or J, in that position. And, really, I didn't want to put myself in that position because when you're that far away, you're completely powerless to help should the need arise, and I'm sure in my heart of hearts that it would have been hard for him. So I didn't go. That was at once a huge disappointment, and a total relief, too. I was so sad to cancel, but then once I had done it, I realized that I wasn't really ready to go to Zurich just then. My poor heart is still so tender when it comes to missing Zurich, and yet, I've begun to find a sense of normalcy and stability and comfort here for the very first time since we repatriated in 2014. I can imagine that going to Zurich a few weeks ago might have knocked me off balance and made it harder for me to be present and to enjoy my current life. And that would be a shame, because life is pretty dreamy lately, and something I would not want to miss out on because I'm distracted by comparing it to something else.
More soon.
Photo via Summersalt.
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