May 2019

On May 30th it’ll be Dave and my 15 year wedding anniversary! We don’t typically do much of anything for our anniversary, but this year we decided to take a short trip. We’re also both turning 40 this year, so it just feels a bit more significant all together. We decided on South Beach – we’ve both never been there, it’s a quick direct flight, and nice and warm. We had a blast! The weather was beautiful, the people are insane, and there’s great food. We enjoyed it all (although Dave will tell you it was all a bit too much for him).

It seems to be the town of selfies, so we got in the spirit ourselves.

We spent one afternoon in a neighborhood called Wynwood Walls, which was previously a blighted area and was recently (relatively) developed into a hipster/artsy neighborhood. We ate some amazing ice cream at a place called Dasher & Crank and saw some very impressive graffiti and large format art, including an exhibition of Kobra, whom I love.

And then we did what I guess you do in South Beach – lay by the pool, drink straight from a coconut, listen to amazing latin jazz, and meet ladies who juggle fire at a bar late at night.

It was a lot of fun and felt much longer than just three days (just long enough I think). The icing on the cake was getting upgraded to first class on the way home. One of the few perks of Dave’s crazy travel schedule.

For a quick blast from the past, please enjoy this! Look at those babies!

Here’s to the next 15!

Summer is almost here! The girls are wrapping up their school year activities with end of the year celebrations.

Lauren took her last kindergarten field trip to the Japanese House in Fairmount. Each month the kindergarteners took a different trip and this one was sort of the culmination. They learned all about Japan for about two weeks and then experienced it for themselves at the House.

Sophie had an art show of the different works that she did at the Narberth Handwork Studio. She took a fiber arts course where she sewed some pillows and a sewing machine class where she made a skirt. She loved that one so much she’ll be heading to a fashion camp this summer.

And Sophie also had her first Girl Scouts camping trip. Her troop went to a camp ground about an hour from our house where they earned badges hiking, learning how to use a compass, cooking dinner, and learning about nature. Dave was a chaperone… and Lauren and I slept wonderfully in our beds at home 😉

Sophie also did a program called Girls on the Run this spring, where, for two days each week for an hour and a half each day, she learned to run as well as did a lot of girl empowerment activities. The culmination was a 5K in May. She needed to have a running buddy with her so that was me. It was a hot day and she was tired, but we did it in 48 minutes. She was really proud of herself when it was done, and so were we. We can also definitely say she is not the runner in this family – at least not at the moment.

A few days later I ran in the Philly Broad Street Run, which is a 10 mile race. This was the 6th time I’ve done it and I got a personal best time, with a time of 1:22:55! It rained the whole race, but wasn’t that cold, so not so bad.

And finally Dave and I got dressed up for a black tie fundraiser for Temple University Trauma Center. We were invited as guests of the Gift of Life Family House, a board that I sit on.

Still up – Lauren’s spring ballet recital and Sophie’s spring choir concert – which are of course are at the exact same time in just a few weeks. We’re going to have to draw straws to decide who goes to which.