Yowzers, what a week! Â I just got back from a mind-blowing 6 day Leadership Retreat in beautiful (and rainy!) Sonoma, California. Â The course was an advanced Leadership Program put on by my...
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We are pleased to report that we made it (mostly unscathed) through the first 100 days with our little one. Â We attribute our success to 1.) Our parents’ assistance, 2.) Caffeine and 3.) These...
Nia and I recently started attending Mommy & Me Movie Days at the Regal Potomac Yard Theater in Alexandria. Â They take place every other Tuesday for the first showing of the day (usually around...
We’ve been in Lima for over a month now and decided it was high time we did some ‘touristy’ stuff and saw the rest of the city! Â We picked the oh-so-popular Turibus Tour (complete...
I meant to do a real write-up of our trip to Huaraz but this last week got away from me. Â Sorry for the delay! Â Here goes… We left Lima on Wednesday night at 11 PM on an overnight bus (Movil...
Peru’s Independence Day is coming up on July 28th. People have been showing their pride all month long, with many wearing pins, some adorning their car with a flag and EVERY house putting...
Seriously, who flies 6 hours to see big stone heads?! We do, as well as the other 50,000 people per year that get to Easter Island, the world’s most remote inhabited island in the world. I can...
Saturday was our last full day on the Island and Paul of Tekarera Tours had a real treat in store for us. He took us to Rano Raraku, which is the name of the volcanic mountain that the rock was...
I am a BIG fan of Christmas music, having amassed somewhere around 300 songs over the last 20 years. It all started when my family used to purchase the “Sounds of the Season†Album at Target...
What would Jenna’s visit to Peru be without a road trip? Especially a trip with a shrieking 1-year-old! Yes, that’s right. Bet you didn’t know Nia’s lungs have the capacity to sustain...
One of the activities Jenna was most excited to try during her stay in Lima was a Chocolate-making Workshop at the Choco Museum in Lima. This was my first time going as well, so we made for quite...
January has been plum full of visitors! My sister Jenna was here from January 2nd to the 12th and then my dear college friend Rachel arrived on the 12th and stayed until the 21st. Talk about non-stop...
It’s summer here and we’ve been capitalizing on the good weather by doing lots of fun outdoorsy stuff. Â One of our adventures this week was a trip to Granja Arriero (Arriero Farm), a...
 On President’s Day Weekend we ventured 3 hours south on the Pan-America Highway to Lunahuana, a country-esque area know for its adventure sports.  It’s located in the middle of a...
Nia and I decided to take advantage of our relatively-close South American location and join the family for the annual trip to Puerto Vallarta. My parents have owned a time share there for 3...
Today we took a family field trip into downtown Lima to see Parque de Las Reserva (or the “Fountain Park†as it’s called when you can’t remember the Spanish name). We’ve been meaning to...
Image Attribution: Conscious Design on Unsplash I discovered Yoga during my pregnancy with Nia (fyi, it was a Godsend for dealing with back and hip pain). I maintained the practice after her birth...
So, as I mentioned in my last post, I was a bit rattled after my sketchy cab incident and decided to *FINALLY* pick up this book, The Gift of Fear, after 5 years of it sitting on my shelf...
If I could only remember one thing about Montreal, it would definitely be the food. Amazingly memorable, mind-blowing cuisine. MEAL. AFTER. MEAL. AFTER. MEAL. Not planning to step on the scale...
Hey folks, I’m really late with this one, but couldn’t resist at least sharing a few photos of this stunning city. In hindsight, we should have spent more than 1 night here. We underestimated...
When winter starts to get long and we haven’t seen the sun in months, we hop in the car and drive to Cieneguilla. This city, while only one hour from our house, is technically considered the...
Each year, the best designers in Peru pool their talent to restore a historic mansion in Lima with the help of CasaCor, an organization that rehabilitates neglected historic spaces. This year’s...
One of the things my parents insisted on during their visit to Peru was a visit to the Sacred Valley and most importantly, Machu Picchu (MP). Having visited MP back in January with Rachel, I whole...
Can you believe it’s been 5 years already? Â I know, shut up, right?!? Â I feel like it was just yesterday that I was purchasing those piles and piles of ravioli and diet coke. Â In case you...
We took advantage of the long weekend for Martin Luther King Day and scheduled our final trip here in Peru. We weren’t originally planning to do any more travel, but we couldn’t pass up the...
One of the things I will miss most when I leave Peru is a group called Miramoms. This group grew organically from a desire to connect the Peruvian and Expat Moms of Miraflores. While originally...
In honor of Mother’s Day I decided to stretch myself and try something new. Â That something was Kirtan, which is basically singing meditation done in Hindi or Sanskrit in a call and response...
Nick and I have been hanging kid-free in Portland since Tuesday. One of our favorite things we’ve done thus far was the Epicurean Excursion Walking Tour with Portland Walking Tours. In the...
If you’ve lived in DC in the summer, you know that it’s a muggy, sweaty mess. There are only two sure-fire options to beat the heat. 1.) Run from air-conditioned place to air-conditioned...
Okay, I have to share a delightful little thing I’ve stumbled upon. Â It’s called FreeCycle and it’s basically a place where you can give or get things for FREE. Â You simply go to...
We decided to spice up Labor Day 2014 with a little trip to the countryside. We had intended for it to be a family trip, but Nick had to bow out at the last minute because the hot water heater was...
Last weekend we took a family road trip to Philly. Â This was a very kid-centric trip and we had 2 specific destinations on our agenda. Â The first was Sesame Street Place, a Sesame Street theme park...
Hard to believe, but we are already halfway through our child-free getaway to the Mexican Riviera. Â We’re staying at a beach house in Akumal, which is located between Tulum and Playa del...
Last night we had the amazing good fortune of seeing MN-based singer/songwriter Peter Mayer perform in concert. My first introduction to Peter was back around 2000 when I saw him in a coffeehouse...
As many of you know, Thursday was my birthday. The big 3-5. WHOA. To celebrate this momentous day, I crammed in a whole bunch of my favorite things – Caribou mocha-drinking, garage-saling...
So this happened last Sunday! Every year the White House opens the South lawn to the public for a Spring or Fall Garden Tour. Having never been beyond the fence of the White House, I must say, it was...
Remember back in 2009 when I was newly married and getting ready for our first overseas adventure? Funny how long ago that seems. Well, back before we shipped out, one of the posts that prompted a...
6 Months ago today I started something that I honestly wasn’t sure I could complete. I decided to join a program that would help me cut sugar out of my diet and more importantly, help me free...
This is part 2 in a series about my experience giving up sugar 6 months ago. If you haven’t read part 1, you should really start there for some background info. This post is going to focus on...
This is my third post in a series celebrating my 6 month anniversary of going sugar free. If you’re just starting to read, you’re best off reading Post 1 and Post 2 first. In my second...
Hard to believe, but today’s the big day. 9 months of waiting over. Now all that’s left is to make it through the 20 hours of flying with the 4 year old. Fear not though, we’re...
Hi all – We’re back from Cape Town and settling back into our daily routine. I now understand why everyone gushes about Cape Town. It was stunning! Reminded me of a combination of Hawaii...
Cape Town is an animal lovers dream. Not only can you see all sorts of creatures, but you can have personal interactive “encounters” with many of them as well. Our little animal lover...
We’ve done a lot of poking around on Airbnb in the past but for one reason or another never pulled the trigger. Well, Cape Town changed that. We did Airbnb for the entire week (two different...
We’ve been fortunate in that during our first 6 months here we’ve managed to go on 1 – 2 hour boat safari, 1 – 4 hour walking safari and 9 – 4 hour driving safaris. Not...
Happy belated Valentine’s Day, my beloved blog readers. Just think about this – if you’ve been reading the blog since I first started – we’ve been ‘in a relationship’ for nearly a...
Hi everyone – Sorry for the break in posting. We’ve been busy showing my parents the best of Africa. Of course, no trip to Africa would be complete without a safari, so after a few days...
We recently got back from Cape Town, one of our favorite places on earth. This was our third time there, but this trip was markedly different because for 11 straight days we were kidless in wine...
Seriously people. It just keeps getting better… Yesterday I joined a shopping tour that our Community Liaison Officer (CLO – my former job) put together. It consisted of 3 shopping stops + lunch...
Twas a week of firsts, dear readers! The highs continue to be very high and the lows, while less frequent, still feel very low at these early stages. I will prevail though, so don’t you worry...