Pieces of Thanksgiving in Cape Cod

We traveled back to Massachusetts for Thanksgiving. We flew into Boston the night before and landed at 1am. Our first part of the trip didn't really go as planned. The rental company that we booked the rental car through 3 months prior gave our suv away!!! So we sat at the airport until 3am with crying babies waiting for them to try and figure something out. Ty may or may not have flipped out on the worker. And I may or may not have had to bring him back to calm. (Wow isn't that roles reversed!). Out of ALL of the rental companies at Boston airport, of course there wasn't one single rental car left. Families were sitting on the floor waiting for the next car to be dropped off. I was thanking GOD when the manager responded to my text at 2 am and somehow got us an SUV. I have never been so happy to see a vehicle in my life! Haha. 

Then we drove to Ty's sister's place in Boston who thankfully only lives 15 minutes from the airport. And from there everything was looking up. The next morning we headed out to Chatham Ma on the Cape.  The drive there was SO pretty. I forgot how much I love the colors and New England's beauty. I posted on Instagram about how easy it is to take for granted the everyday. And how when you don't have that anymore, you appreciate it a whole lot more. This was definitely what happened when we moved to Texas. There is so much about the east coast that I really DO miss. From the colonial houses to the colors. Even the way people talk! I went into Dunkin Donuts and just tuned into conversations going on around me. That Boston accent just made me nostalgic. When we were living in MA, we never noticed it but after being in NY for so long and now here in TX, going back really makes me realize that there definitely IS a "Mass accent". 

We spent Thanksgiving with Tyler's side of the family and with our soon to be brother-in-law's family! We felt SO welcomed as soon as we got to their adorable coastal house on the Cape. We had THEE best time. Sangria making, crafts for the kids, Christmas music, SO much food, Ocean views, games, football, beignet making, shopping the shops in quaint Chatham, Irish coffees and the most amazing clam chowder ever....or should I say, clam chowdah. ;) They brought us to see a real GIANT gingerbread house made of all candy that stood taller than me! Just so much greatness squeezed into a couple days. The kids were sad to go and all the way from the Cape back to western MA they were talking about how they wanted to go back! From there we went to my hometown. I haven't been there in YEARS but that is a whole other post since I have so much to share in this post already. So here goes the photo overload....Just gotta remember it all. I hope you all had a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving. 

Sending love to ALL of those that I was missing this holiday. I thought of every one of you...

    ....annnnnndddd this song was stuck in my head all weekend. This trip back to MA truly got me in the holiday mood. Can't wait to go back and visit again!!

Heading out for Thanksgiving tomorrow.

 The last 2 days the kids and I have been barricaded inside the house looking like the homeless in our sweatpants and top knots, sweatshirts and me with zero make-up. Kids are off for Thanksgiving break and there's been no reason to get dressed or bother with craziness like leaving the house. Ha ha. Although I did make a Target run to grab a few things. It was kind of nice to do NOTHING. I don't do that very often. I'm usually on the go or busy-busy doing something. We leave tomorrow to head back east and I figured a couple days of nothing was in order. I'm STILL recouping from this terrible stomach bug that I got over a week ago! It's definitely better but after a week of not eating and losing weight that I didn't want to, I was ravenous! On Saturday, I thought I was 100% better and I just ATE. ALL. DAY. LONG. Pizza, cheesy popcorn, smoothies, chips and guac, cheese, toast and peanut butter...I mean the list goes on. This was a really dumb idea and by the end of the day I was sick again. Needless to say, the last few days I've been eating very little because I WILL be better by tomorrow and plan to eat and drink savagely on Thanksgiving. LOL.

We are headed back to Boston to see Ty's side of the family and then then afterwards we plan to take a couple days to go back to our home town and see my dad and some long lost friends. Kids are pumped to see snow!! We looked at the weather for Thanksgiving in Boston and it looks like a chilling 0 degrees!! Our blood is gonna be in shock after a year in Texas. But I am just so excited to be with family this Thanksgiving since last year we were solo in TX. It was really quite lonely. I am such a party gal. I ADORE when the family gets together for holidays. I will miss my side of the family this year but we plan to see them on Christmas so all will be right.

My suitcase is absolutely ridiculous and may not pass the weight limit...I'm just stuffing it shut and praying. All that cold weather gear takes space!!! I'm also praying for no delays. We have a really late flight into Boston and any delay could mean zero sleep for us the night before Thanksgiving.....actually, I do believe I've had quite a few wild Thanksgiving Eves so I should be ok even with no sleep, right??? Haha. I am NOT a plane sleeper. Actually, I cannot nap regardless. Don't know why, just never was my thing. Even when I was younger I remember waking up crabbier than when I fell asleep.

As I pack up the last of my carry on items and sip this delicious lemon water, (can you hear the sarcasm?)  I am watching Scarlett smother Cubby (our Goldendoodle) to death with love since she is so upset that he can't come with us. I told her he will be fine since our babysitter (who happens to be our dog-sitter also) is taking him while we are gone and will give him LOTS of love. Whether you are staying home and hosting Thanksgiving this year or heading out on the road, be safe!!! And Happy Thanksgiving to you all!! I hope it's filled with lots of tryptophan, a few good cocktails and lots of love & family.

xo

Weekend Vibes: Date Days, Stomach Bugs & Travel Plans.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. The kids got sick this past week. The stomach bug hit our house in full force and let's just say it was not a nice one. Lots of holding kids 24/7, ER trips, scrubbing puke out of car seats and rugs and all the rest of the joys that come along with nasty bugs. Sigh...

Then it hit me on Monday and has not been kind to me all week. Want to lose a quick 7 lbs? Come visit me and catch the stomach bug!! I'm praying Ty stays well since we leave for Boston in a couple days. We have a week in Massachusetts visiting with friends and family and then another trip planned in December to New York. I just went crazy and bought the kids probiotics, vitamins, and even some natural remedy shots for us adults. Loading up on the water and spraying down the house with this stuff HERE.

Before the sickness hit the house and all hell broke loose, Ty and I took a date day by ourselves. I am the date night queen. It's super important to get time away without the kids. We love bringing them with us places and spending time with them but it's so easy to lose that spark between each other when you are focusing so much on kids and work and....ya know, cleaning puke. lol. So we go out alone as often as we can. This day we didn't have any plans really. We got a sitter for the whole day and just had a spontaneous day. I had to try on a dress for an upcoming wedding so we went to do that. Then we grabbed some food and drinks at Down on Grayson in downtown San Antonio which is a favorite now. Then we did some shopping. I do most of my Christmas shopping online but it's still fun to get some stocking stuffers and odds and ends. So we did that along with getting ourselves a few things. Because we don't do the Christmas gift thing for ourselves, we kind of just get what we want throughout the year. I'm honestly so spoiled all year long and am fortunate to have everything I need and more, that I don't want anything for Christmas besides spending time with family & friends, good food and watching the kids open gifts. The things I want can't be bought anyhow. Well, besides a really good food processor....I could use one of those to make some raw bars  ;)
We came back at the end of the day refreshed and missing the kids. We had a movie night with them and made some popcorn and snacks. On Sunday we took them and the dog to the Farmer's Market. The kids love visiting the Farmer's Market and have since they were very little. We are lucky to be able to visit it year round here in Texas.
Moral of our weekend: It's sickness season so load up on the immunity boosters & take a date day/night even if it doesn't seem possible. That is all.

xoxo

Weekend Vibes: Pumpkin Season & Our Next Move...

So late on posting this but it's technically still pumpkin season, right? Texas pumpkin patches are a little different than we are used to. Still there was no scarcity of pumpkins. And we found them and bought way too many of them. So many that I already had to clean up leaking, rotting pumpkins off of the front steps. Not a pleasant time or smell. Note to self, next year wash and preserve them. 

On this day it was 90 degrees outside. I'm still getting used to the fact that seasons are different here. So shorts it was. We also had a picnic and then took a little stroll down a nature path. Just a laid back weekend with the kiddos. 

We are getting ready to make our next step over here. Ty's work contract is coming up and we are deciding on what and where we are going to go next. Our original plan was to come back to New York, but things are currently slow in NY and so there may not be a need for us there right now. Which means we need to figure out what we want to do. And this also means that we could potentially be leaving in the middle of the holidays!  I tell you, there are SO many options and opportunities and ideas looming right now, including staying here a bit longer possibly. It's kind of overwhelming and it's kind of frustrating not knowing. We are ultimately looking for where we want to settle down and lay roots. And to be honest, we have no idea where that is right now. Thinking of leaving Texas at this moment, does bring a lot of mixed emotions. The kids have made friends and settled in nicely. Scarlett loves her horse lessons here, we've found Doctors that we love and found places that we will miss. It's hard to think about packing it all up and going elsewhere, especially if it's not back to New York. 

I think back to when we first got this opportunity to come here and how nervous I was about uprooting the kids. I didn't really know if we were making the right choice. And one morning I was driving in the car by myself and this song came on HERE

And I just remember thinking, screw it. Why the hell not?! I'm up for adventure. I live by this a lot lately. If it's meant to be it'll be.  Here we are a year later and it's ended up being a great experience for us all. We've grown a lot and I, personally, have learned to live in an area SO very different from where I was raised. I never travelled a lot or went many places during my childhood. I find it very eye-opening to see new places and a part of me wants more of that. With that said, I'm also homesick for my friends/fam and a permanent house. I have not made ONE friend here in Texas this past year. I realize that working from home has a lot to do with that. And the crazy part is that this extrovert hasn't been lonely at all. In fact, I've been SO busy that I haven't had time to even think about it. Working, the kids, working-out, trying to stay eating well, getting a new dog, planning vacations and then going on them, friends and family visiting....this year was a REALLY full and busy year. I can't wait to share a recap of this come December.
And yet, I feel there is so much more awaiting...

But until our next decision, here we are and I'm trusting that God will help us make a good decision. Something we want but more importantly, something we need. Whether that's bringing us back to the East Coast or staying here...or a whole new adventure altogether. Somehow things always come together how they should. 

If it's meant to be...it'll be, right?

Happy Halloween Two Thousand Eighteen!!!

Halloween was a fun one this year. I'm not sure why but the last couple of years I really wasn't that into Halloween. Last year Ty and I didn't dress up at all. Granted we had just arrived in Texas a day before. This year was different. I had costumes picked out a month beforehand, mums and pumpkins, bowls of candy for the trick or treaters and Halloween movies ruled the tv.  I let the kids pick what they wanted to be for their school parties and for a few Halloween events/costume contests that we went to. These 2 watch Moana at least once a week and then they reenact it for hours after. I suggested maybe they should be them for Halloween since they like them so much. They screamed "YAAA!!!!" and that was that. Scarlett had the hair and if you saw my Instagram a week ago, you know that Maxwell has "the bod!" Maxwell even had the most adorable preschool Halloween parade where they did some dancing to spooky music. 

 We also picked a family costume to wear together for actual Halloween. I mean, I didn't get my first choice on this round. I have wanted to be the Addams Family for like 3 years now. Scarlett would be the perfect little pale-faced, dark-haired Wednesday. I could pull off a great Morticia and Ty....well he could def be Fester with that big bald head of his. lol. Maybe next year....

This year Ty suggested Game of Thrones and since I do love using the "mother of dragons" term quite often, I figured that it would be fun. The kids were excited to be dragons too. 

There are lots of kids from Scarlett's school and even class in our neighborhood. This made for an awesome time. The temperature was perfect too! A nice 68 degrees that night. I love watching the kids light up as they go from house to house in their costumes shouting, "trick or treat!". I guess I live a little vicariously through them as well....just a little. ;)

When we got back to the house after their bags were bursting full of candy, the kids all played outside with friends while Ty popped open a pumpkin beer and chatted with the neighbors. I had clean-eating chili in the crockpot awaiting us. The fall candles I had burning throughout the house made it even more cozy. It just felt like a very festive Halloween.  This Halloween goes down in the books as a good time.