a lifestyle, family and travel blog
We're back from Turks and Caicos and I'm not kidding when I say it was the most relaxed we've been in almost four years! Between COVID times and "family trips" [not vacations, as the saying goes], it's been difficult to sneak away just the two of us and really disconnect so this time together was much needed and quite special.
We’ve now tried three different Christmas tree farms in the Chicagoland area in an attempt to find one with good quality trees and all the bells and whistles to put you in the holiday spirit. I don’t know if any are “the one” but I’m happy to share what we liked and didn’t like about each and will continue to update this post each year as we try new spots out.
Most of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales started early this year so wanted to compile a list of the ones that I think are worth shopping! I'll be sure to monitor them through the weekend and into official CyberWeek to see if any brands up the ante.
It's that time of the year again - fall family photos! Each year we try to take ours in October to capture the beautiful changing leaves and also have them ready to go for holiday cards come late November. I don't know about you all but for me, selecting coordinating outfits for the entire family can be stressful so I wanted to share a few ideas for inspiration.
We arrived in Paris mid-afternoon via train from Amsterdam Centraal to Paris Gare du Nord [almost 3 hours]. By some miracle, the girls had their best train ride of the entire trip. They played quietly with their toys and then Isla fell asleep without fuss for the entire second half. We also had an almost private car literally next to the baby changing station - win win. The rest of our travels were not nearly this smooth. From the train station, we caught a taxi right out front to take us to our hotel in the 7th Arrondissement of Paris. There we quickly dropped our bags, freshened up and set out to explore Paris.
Father's Day definitely crept up on me this year! Kevin can be so hard to shop for and always claims to need nothing so I wanted to share a few gifts ideas that I'm considering for him.
It's been a while since I read a historical fiction book and I was excited to jump back in with The Rose Code because I had received so many positive reviews from friends.
We are back from what we hope will become an annual family trip to Harbour Island in the Bahamas! This is our second trip to Harbour Island - we were last there in 2019 for our baby moon when I was pregnant with Palmer - and while I'm typically all in favor of exploring new destinations, we purposely chose to go back knowing we were traveling with the girls.
Sharing some Easter basket inspo since I finished Palmer and Isla's early! Check it out below!
This is my second year doing a roundup of all President's Day weekend sales and I have to say, it's fascinating to see how the sales fluctuate year to year. For the most part, sales aren't as good this year but a few brands are consistent including adidas, Aerie, Gap, Janie & Jack - just to name a few.
KARA VALLARI 