The Fabulous Life of Stefanie

October first is here, so I think it is safe to say that the summer of 2020 has come to an end. The leaves are changing colors, sweatshirts are making their way out of drawers, pumpkin is being consumed in every way possible and Halloween costumes are a regular topic of dinner conversation. For us, our children are also back in school, but for all of us, a pandemic rages on, leaving sickness and sorrow in its path. A mixed bag, if there ever was one. I love, love, love the fall in New England, but it continues to be hard to enjoy it, or anything, to the fullest in a world full of so much anxiety, the unknown, constantly in the back of my mind. We had a really lovely summer. It makes me feel guilty to say, and I am fully aware that this summer's joy was not there for many others. Working from home gave us a flexibility we have never had as a family, we could meet our work obligations from anywhere, so we did. Cape Cod, Maine, New Hampshire - New England was our oyster and our bubble...

Summer 2019, you were so good to us! Two big trips down the Cape, lots of time on various beaches, a big kid who can ride her bike on two wheels like a champ, Annie's first summer camp and so much time outside, with each other and with our favorite people all summer long. Maddie heads back to school tomorrow and then Annie follows her in on Monday for her very first day of school ever. And just like that, we have both kids in school. Sweet, bittersweet and all the underlying anxiety for Mama to absorb the change, but I know it is going to be nothing but great. Annie is totally ready to be there and we still get the best of both worlds by having our glue/aka nanny in the afternoons with them. Life really worked itself out as best as could this season of life, and for that I am so thankful. I cannot wait to watch them grow and live their best little lives this next year. This fall is going to be a whole new world for us with new activities, different schedules and me having such...

Happy middle of the week, in the middle of the summer! I was just looking at a calendar to book some playdates and perhaps a rare just us date with the hubs, and I accidentally scrolled into September because *gasp* it isn't that far away! Oh, the horror! Good thing summer has been really good to us and we are headed to Germany at the end of September or I might cry a little. Thought it would be fun to do a little "currently" update and please, please share all recs for your currently goings-ons, too! Reading My new job means an 8 minute drive instead of a 45-450,000 minute red line commute, which sadly has cut into my reading time (the only sadly of that story). But I am making an effort to grab my book when I am eating lunch at work and pick it up as much as possible when no one is asking me for a snack or where their shoes are at home. Right now I am reading Courtroom 302 and am really enjoying the stories that come out of the busiest courthouse in Chicago (and ...

Ok, so it is overcast for the millionth day so far this year, but Monday was gorgeous and it was also the first day of NO SCHOOL for Maddie! Come August I will be begging for school to start, but right now it feels like a little slice of heaven. No dragging a kid out of bed at 6am. No packing lunches based on an increasingly complex algorithm of what my kid will eat that week. No running out of the house for 7:30 drop off then running back to get ready for work. It is the time for lax bedtimes, late dinners after soaking in all the extra daylight outside, reading together on the porch, beach bound weekend mornings. We have plans for a week down the Cape, a long weekend in New Hampshire and are looking into a long weekend in Acadia. We will be outside as much as possible and taking advantage of movies in the park, a beach we can bike to, the ice cream man and his incessant stalking of children at dinnertime. This is the time of year I LIVE for! In New England, we survive the t...

Happy Friday before another sunny weekend! Had to say that because my last Currently post was all about longing for summer, the Cape and bike rides to the beach and that is exactly what we have been doing each and every weekend. Awful winters mean making the most out of beautiful summers, after all. Just a light post after my not so light pos t to head into the weekend. We are heading down to the RiverFest near our house tomorrow to enjoy the outdoors and hopefully put our canoe in the water and then Sunday will be all about the beach. Hope your outlook is just as bright! Reading I am almost done with Manhattan Beach , which I picked up after reading an excerpt in Vogue. It started off great - very old New York mafia noir, with a woman at the center of it all (and writing it) but the end has me a little less excited. I'll see how the author wraps it up before a final judgement, but definitely recommend either way! I have I'll Be Gone in the Dark waiting for me in my pile...

Last year I wrote a post about how we were excited for our very first summer vacation, coming down from Maddie's first year in school. Now here we are again, and the excitement is REAL. Not having to get up at the crack of dawn to get in runs, prep for work and get two tiny people fed and dressed is going to be pretty fantastic. We have a solid routine and (somehow) run like a well-oiled machine, but a break from it is super, duper welcome, especially with summer weather actually starting to show its face and the desire to stay up just a little bit later coming on strong. We have three weddings this summer, all in different states, with one down as of last weekend that was in the beautiful finger lakes region of NY. Around that travel we will have Maddie in a couple different camps, time down the Cape and as much beach and outside time as we can get. Add in some Thursday night fun runs with my running club, track nights for Maddie and a few day trips around New England and this ...

This weekend was a quintessential summer in New England kind of weekend. Fun you can only find when you live in an amazing city with all the things to do for kiddos and yet are just a quick drive to some of the most beautiful beaches on the East Coast.beach. Add in good morning run weather, BBQ with friends, and you've got all the good things. The girls and I visited the Kite Festival at Ronan Park Saturday, which I cannot believe we were at with a tiny new Annie just last year . Maddie flew her kite like a champ after some help from the kite expert/volunteer who was gracious and led me back from a crisis when I could not figure out how to get the kite in the air. Maddie got that kite allllll the way up until the string ran out. We slid down the grassy hill on potato sacks, had a hot dog care of our local police station and indulged in a little self-face painting with Dot Art . We are already looking forward to next year's! Sunday morning we set our alarm for ...

The best part of Maddie starting preschool last fall is definitely the love that she now has for school, added to her already instilled love to learn and socialize that seems to have developed immediately out of the womb but the second best part? Summer vacay, y'all! No dragging the kid out of bed at 6:00! No more rushing to get everyone dressed, fed, teeth brushed, packed, and out the door at exactly 7:15. Not that the grown ups get to stop doing that but to take away the stress of doing it for the kiddo for a few months...hell to the yes. When you have a baby up at 4:55, one grown up running,  and one 4 year old who literally has to be dragged out of bed in the mornings, things can be, well chaotic. Couple that with my need to make sure beds are made and toys are picked up (I cannot leave a messy house, it will haunt me all day), I get in about 3 miles of walking around the house before I actually walk to the train for the day. But not after next  week, suckers! Sorry, I...