DC trip recap! + the rest of the weekend

Paul and I had a wonderful trip to the DC area to visit my sister and her family last week. It was a fairly brief trip - we flew out Wednesday morning and got home Saturday afternoon - but it was the right amount of time for us. I like shorter 3-night trips and really like having a one-day buffer before returning to work/school. I opted not to bring Taco on this trip since tickets were stupid expensive (since it was fall break across Mn for an educational conference) and it’s just simpler to travel with 6.5yo Paul. This was my 2nd solo trip with Paul. We visited my sister in the spring of 2022 in AZ. This time around Taco was very aware of the fact that he did not get to come so I promised him that we’ll do a solo trip together in the future. Anyways, here is how we filled the time! 

Wednesday:

My sister and her girls picked us up from the airport and we hung out at their house in Quantico. Her family relocated from Arizona this past summer as her husband is attending special schooling at the Marine Corp University on the Quantico base which is about 45 minutes south of DC. I had never been on a military base so was curious what it would be like. But aside from the gated entrance where she had to show her military ID, it felt like a typical neighborhood with lots of young families.

I thought I hadn’t seen my sister since last September but Abby reminded me we saw each other in April at my grandma’s funeral. I had blocked out that visit since it was so brief and I went by myself since Paul wasn’t feeling well and funerals and an active 3.5 yo aren’t a good combo. Abby is 7 years younger than me but our kids are close in age - our kids’ cousins are much older (they range from 10-20 years old!!). Her oldest is a little younger than Taco and then she has a 16 month old and is pregnant with #3 that is due in late April!

We laid low that afternoon/evening and played at their neighborhood park. 

Enjoying some McD’s pancakes at the airport. I had to text Kae since her boys both work at McD’s. And Paul was wearing a hand-me-down shirt from her boys!

My 3.5yo niece Maddy and Paul. She was a little shy around him at first.

Riding a remote control car at the park that belonged to another family! They really got a kick out of this.

It didn’t take long for Maddy to get over her shyness. She scooted right up next to Paul and he read some Dog Man to her. Hopefully he did not pollute her mind with potty humor…

Thursday:

We had breakfast at home, hung out for a bit and then went to the Smithsonian National Zoo mid-morning. Like most Smithsonian places in DC, admission was free although Abby did pay to reserve parking. 

I was amazed at Maddy’s interest in and ability to color! Taco has zero interest in coloring and scribbles when he does color.

They enjoyed watching the Orangutan eat popcorn!

Millie, Maddy and Paul! Paul rode in the stroller a decent amount.

After the zoo we came back home and the kids played in the backyard. Then we ordered pizza and the kids watched a movie - The Grinch! Turns out Maddy likes this movie as much as Taco does. 

Friday:

This was definitely the highlight of the trip - we went to the Mall and saw some of the monuments! Paul was SO EXCITED about this! 

Paul really loved being the ‘big’ cousin for a change. He was so sweet with both of his cousins, especially Millie!

Abby and me!

I love his ‘senior picture pose’ at the WWII monument. He came up with this pose on his own.

Paul and I on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Monument behind us

We ended up seeing the Washington monument, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and Korean War Memorial. We also saw the Capitol building and White House from the distance. There is soooo much to see in DC so we definitely need to come back as we just barely scratched the surface. But considering the ages of the kids we had with us, I think we saw quite a bit that day! My sister expects that they will live in DC for awhile and Phil has a cousin that lives out here so we have lots of reasons to come back!

When we got back the kids played in the backyard again and then we went out for Mexican. 

Cousin love! I love how Maddy is looking at Paul.

Saturday:

We had a noon flight so we had a slow start to the day and then Abby and the girls dropped us off at the airport. Paul and I grabbed some Cava (basically Mediterranean chipotle - it is so good!) and then boarded our flight home. 

I got a kick out of watching Paul carefully put hummus on each small piece of pita with a knife. 

Phil and Taco picked us up at the airport and we headed home. It was a beautiful fall day so we raked leaves and the boys jumped in the piles.

Pretending the leaf pile was their bed.

Sunday was the usual program - I ran, then we went to church/Sunday school and had swimming lessons in the afternoon. And we added in a visit to CVS for flu shots for both and a COVID booster for Paul (they couldn’t give one to Taco due to his age so he’ll get one at his 4yo appointment in December). 

Today I fly to NJ for work. I can’t say I am excited about this since I just got back from a trip but so it goes. I have another trip next week (to Detroit), get a one week break, have back-to-back weeks of travel (DC and NYC) and then it’s Thanksgiving. I only travel once in December (NJ again) thank goodness. I knew going to DC would add more travel to an already heavy season of travel - but it was worth it!! I just hope Taco sleeps better during my work trip this week. He was up 1-2 times/night during our DC trip. He tends to wake during the night when I travel. 

I’ll leave you with a picture from my run on Sunday and another leaf play pic from later than day! It’s so gorgeous in Minneapolis right now although it’s bizarre that it was 80F yesterday.

What I Wear When I Travel for Work

I’ve been meaning to do a post about what I wear when I travel for work. I travel quite often these days (typical twice/month, sometimes three times) so I have gotten good at packing. I nearly exclusively wear dresses because I feel most confident in dresses and they take up less space than pants, a top, and a jacket would. I do not own business suits anymore because I hate how I feel in them! 

I should preface this post by saying that I am not super into fashion (for fashionable content, see Lag Liv’s blog! She works with a stylist and has a very large, beautiful wardrobe.) I’m pragmatic about dressing - I want something comfy that won’t wrinkle that looks professional and ‘put together’. So most of these outfits are made of a fabric that does not wrinkle and feels good on my body. I’m also a minimalist when it comes to my wardrobe. I don’t have a capsule wardrobe but my wardrobe is capsule-adjacent.

For this trip, I flew to Charlottte for some client events. I had 2 client dinner reception events and I moderated 2 panels (and also did 32 zooms that week as it was a week that sales was encouraged to book lots of meetings). 

Here is what I wore that week with pretty crappy bathroom selfies which is the best I could do.

Night #1: client dinner reception 

I flew in, checked into my hotel, and quickly freshened up to meet 2 portfolio managers for a drink/chat before the client event started. I wore a striped dress from Boden. I have this dress in 4 colors (this striped version, black, navy, red). When I find something I like, I tend to buy it in multiple colors. I love that this dress has pockets!

Day #2: moderate panel + lots of zooms

I moderated a panel with the portfolio managers fairly early in the day and then had a day of solid zooms. I wore a dress I bought at a boutique in a suburb of Minneapolis last summer. I loved this dress so much that I ordered 2 more this summer (brand is Gretchen Scott). The fabric is wrinkle-proof which is key for travel. This is my favorite of the 3 dresses - I think it’s the most flattering since the pattern is a darker color. I didn’t have any post-work client commitments so I went out for dinner with one of the portfolio managers that was on the panel (she lives in Chicago, the other PM is Charlotte-based). 

Day #3: lots of zooms + another client dinner reception

Today’s dress is the same as yesterday’s, but a different pattern. This dress is my least favorite of the 3 as I don’t wear a lot of pink but I still like the dress. 

Day #4: moderate a panel, do lots of zooms, fly home in the afternoon 

Finally, the last day of this intense trip. This dress is the same brand as the other 2 but has a different neckline + pockets! 

I look so tired in this photo because I feel so tired. If I zoomed in more, you’d see circles and bags under my eyes. This trip was intense with all the meetings and client interaction! It was TOO MUCH. I am glad I am unlikely to have a trip like this again. It was the combo of in-person client interactions plus so many zooms that really pushed me over the edge into complete exhaustion. 

Shoes and accessories: I wore the same navy blue Rothy’s each day (I typically pack one pair of work shoes + running shoes for workouts). Since getting diagnosed with RA, I stopped wearing heels for the most part as I want to be extra kind to my joints.

The necklines of these dresses had enough going on so I did not wear a necklace. If I had worn a solid pattern version of the first dress, I would have added a necklace but it looked too busy when I tried a necklace with the striped pattern. A necklace is the only accessory I add to an outfit as I am not an earrings person (and wish I had never gotten my ears pierced!). Most earrings bother my ears so that is why I don’t wear them. 

***

And there you have it! These are the kinds of dresses I wear during the warm weather months. Now that it’s getting colder, I shift to wearing dresses + tights. I can wear tights with the last dress but the other 3 dresses will be moved to the ‘summer’ section of my wardrobe and will only be worn if I travel somewhere warm like FL or CA, etc. 

What kinds of outfits do you feel best in? How do you dress for work? The outfits above are what I wear when I go to the office, too. 

Weekend recap

We had a beautiful fall weekend! The temps have cooled off but it’s still beautiful during the day which is my favorite. 

On Friday Phil took Paul to the driving range after school since it was so nice outside. I met a former colleague that still works in the same industry as me for coffee before getting Taco from daycare.

Taco had been waking at night last week, probably because of the cough he picked up at daycare, but he slept through the night on Friday night and was up at 6:30! Phew! I needed a solid night of uninterrupted sleep. Once Phil was up for the day I headed out for a 6 mile run. I signed up for a 10k race on Thanksgiving morning so I plan to maintain 6ish mile weekend runs. 

One of the paths I ran on. I’m lucky that most of my runs are on dedicated run/walk paths.

Then the boys and I headed to the library where we ran into friends. The boys enjoyed playing with the camping toys. 

After lunch I had to pull data for work again - last time for awhile (hopefully) as my colleague who took this task over from me last spring is back this week. Then I laid down and took a monster 2 hour nap while Paul had screen time and Phil and Taco went to his mom’s. I have felt so tired lately and a couple of nights of Taco waking did not help so I really needed this solid nap. I so want to be a person that doesn’t need naps. But the reality is that I do between this demanding stage of parenting, my RA, and my intense schedule at work. 

We walked/scooted to the park that afternoon. The weather was gorgeous! 

Then after dinner it was time to head to the Pumpkin Spectacular at the zoo. This is an annual tradition for us and we had so much fun!!

There was a zoo employee taking photos so we got a non-selfie together!

Taco had a good day at Nana’s, too. They went to Costco where he basically wanted everything. 

All that fresh air, excitement, and movement meant everyone slept well. I slept until 7 and was the first one up! I went to bed with a sore throat so my body is clearly fighting something off, hence allll the extra sleep I seem to need. 

The boys were resistant to going to Sunday school so I got them out the door by enticing them with a Halloween scavenger hunt. We looked for a ghost, spiderweb, witch, pumpkin, cat, and skeleton. We managed to find and take pictures of everything! The ghost was the hardest to find.

It took much cajoling to get the kids out of the house for swimming lessons, too. Actually cajoling was really the word of the day for most interactions with Taco… Both boys are making good progress in lessons. 

This is a short week for Paul and me as we fly to DC to visit my sister and her family for fall break! I haven’t seen her since last September so we are long overdue for a visit!!

How was your weekend?

TGIF + so many appointments

Whew the word of the week in our house has been appointments! The boys had dentist appointments on Monday, I had a flu shot appointment on Tuesday morning (which was obv brief) and also had a twice-rescheduled haircut Tuesday afternoon, and then Paul had another doctor appointment Thursday morning. I never realized how much time I would spend making and attending appointments  - both for myself and my children. And yes, Phil can take the boys to appointments and has in the past but I prefer to handle them since I tend to have the questions/be the worrier. Of course now that I am traveling quite a bit, there are fewer days of the month to fit appointments in so of course they tend to get clumped together.

So TLDR; it's been a week. Here’s what else we did!

A book I am reading this week is ‘Shark Heart’ which is my selection for our October book club (which is being held the first week of November because - you guessed it - I’m traveling the last week of October when we typically meet). It follows Newlyweds who discover that the husband is turning into a great white shark… which is clearly bananas - but it works! 

The high of my week was going for a nice walk through the neighborhood with Taco to look at decorations. I made up a scavenger hunt (for a spider, witch, pumpkin, ghost, and skeleton). Paul had soccer that night so it was a nice 1:1 evening which is my favorite. 

We found a Mickey in a coffin which he was confused by. 

This was his favorite house!

The low of my week was dealing with a LUNATIC driver on my way to Paul’s appt on Thursday morning. Traffic on the freeway was especially heavy as there was an accident - and yet this woman was riding my *ss to the extent that she set off the beeping ‘you are too close to something’ sensor that I typically only hear when I get too close to something when backing up. It was so stressful and resulted in me swearing and making gestures to the lunatic behind me. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE!! Now I just have to hope that Paul does not repeat the words that came out of my mouth that morning… 

For workouts I have done nothing. Usually I fit weekday workouts in on my WFH days after Phil leaves with the boys for school. But all these appointments mean I lost that time slot this week. Womp womp. I'll get back on track next week, though. I do plan to run 5-6 miles this weekend. 

A show we watched was several episodes of The Receiver on Netflix which is a sport doc about wide receivers/tight ends in the NFL. Sports docs are one of the few types of shows that Phil and I both enjoy. Even though I am the least sporty person, I love watching/following sports!

The best money spent was on my haircut and color! I took a good 3-4"+ off because my hair was feeling overly long. I might have gotten a bit too aggressive but I was putting my hair up in a ponytail so much so that's a sign that it's time to lose some length. Here's a very dorky picture of me the day after the cut. Taco's daycare asked for pictures of parents at work to display in their classrooms so my colleague snapped this photo of me! You can see my cube is not at all personalized... but I do have pictures of the boys that are out of the view of this shot. I have their pictures displayed so they show up on zoom calls to give people a sense of the fact that I'm a finance nerd - and a mom of small kids!

As a point of contrast, this was my hair one month ago - this is a picture I took for a 'what I wear when I travel' post that I have yet to write... 

My plans this weekend include laying low tonight, as usual. Tomorrow I plan to run then take the boys to the library while Phil grocery shops. In the afternoon, Phil will take Taco to his mom's house. Paul and I are going to a pumpkin carving event at the zoo so we figured it was best for Taco to be out of the house so it's not so apparent to him that he's not included... I will take him next year, though. I did not see it going well if I brought him this year as I prefer to do this event without a stroller since it's such a busy event with lots of people along the trail and I envisioned him potentially running off at some point. All that said, I'm excited to go with Paul! It will be our 3rd year in a row of going! We have no plans on Sunday besides church/Sunday school and swimming lessons (which is plenty for the day anyways!). 

How was your week? Have you encountered lunatic drivers recently? Do you feel like the number of lunatics on the road has increased substantially since the pandemic?? 

Weekend recap

Marathon weekend is in the books! I love how excited the Twin Cities gets for the marathon. So many people come out to cheer the runners on. It’s such a well-spectated course. Here’s how the weekend shaped up.

On Friday I logged off a bit early to take Paul to his first chess club meeting at school at 4. Another dad organized a club at school and there were 32 kids there! We walked over there since it was such a nice day (inspired by Elisabeth's walking club) and I stayed to help out even though I don’t actually know how to play chess. I guess I will learn by volunteering. When we got there, I saw one of the kids that bullied Paul last week at his after school program and wow did I want to give him a talking to. Paul has brushed it off quickly and said one of the kids apologized to him. I’m a bit slower to forgive and forget…

Saturday I was awoken by Taco yelling for me but at least it was 6:30 so not too early. I entertained the boys until Phil was up and then headed out for a windy 5 mile run. Then I took the boys to Target where I needed to grab a few things and Once Upon a Child where we purchased winter coats for both boys and 2 pairs of snow pants for Paul for a total of $58. I feel like Elisabeth would have probably paid a fraction of this amount at her thrift store but it was still far cheaper than buying everything brand new. Now we are all set for when winter arrives (hopefully months from now!!). The boys were NOT GREAT on this shopping excursion. They were so loud and kept running away from me. I must admit I was staring a bit longingly at other parents out with their quiet daughters… I know some girls can be wild, but usually when I see parents out with their daughters, they tend to be so calm and compliant! 

Enjoying some cake pops at the SBUX at Target. The sugar probably doesn’t help their behavior but it’s a small treat and something they really enjoy. I got a grande skinny vanilla latte!

Some of my coworkers were out on PTO so for the first time in many months I had to pull data for our weekly newsletter and write the column for the taxable fixed income section (taxable fixed income (bonds whose interest is taxed) is my area of expertise). It is a pretty brief column - certainly less than 1,000 words - and yet it took me over an hour to write it. I used to write it weekly years ago but rarely write it anymore and wow I am out of practice. The guy that usually writes it is back this week so I will be reminding him how grateful I am that he writes this commentary. I bet he does it in less than 30 minutes!!

Having to work meant I lost my nap slot as we left for Phil’s friend’s house shortly after I was done working. The winds calmed so it was a beautiful afternoon. Our friends have a son around Taco’s age and the 3 boys played so well together. These friends are very into Halloween so Paul loved checking out their decorations. Taco was terrified of them and would not even walk by them! This is the first year Paul wasn’t terrified of the decorations.

All that fresh air wore the boys out so I had to actually wake them both up around 7:30. I woke on my own around 6:30 and felt rested. It was so nice to drink coffee and eat breakfast in silence!

We grabbed donuts and then headed to our friend’s house who lives along the marathon course around mile 9 to cheer on the runners. It was a chilly morning (in the low 50s!) and there was much complaining about the cold from the boys but all in all we enjoyed cheering on the runners! My coworker was in such a clump of runners since he was running around a 4 hour pace (9:09/mile) at that point which is a popular pace goal, so he actually saw me and yelled out my name as he was passing by! Often it’s easier for runners to spot spectators than vice versa! I also spotted 2 guys I used to run with when I was in a running club pre-kids.

Swimming lessons went great in the afternoon. Paul made good progress. I had just talked to Phil about enrolling him in private lessons rather than signing up for another session in the winter so now I am on the fence and will see if he continues to improve. 

Making some progress on his front crawl

After dinner that night I had to pull a teeth of Paul’s that has been dangling by a thread for well over a week. The boys have dentist appts this morning so he had until after dinner to get it out on his own. He agreed that it didn’t hurt when I plucked it out so hopefully he will take care of it himself next time he has a loose tooth! The tooth fairy came again but didn’t have any small bills so he gets $5 again. I guess the tooth fairy needs to plan a bit better and keep some singles around!

How was your weekend?

TGIF!

Yay! A week where I did not travel! I guess the good thing about traveling is that it makes me really, really appreciate the weeks that I don't travel! 

A book I am reading this week is ‘Forgotten on Sunday' by Valerie Perrin. This is a French novel that was translated into English with dual story lines. It's mostly set in a nursing home and is told from a 19-year old nursing assistant who really gets to know her patients. The other story line is a flashback of one of the residents who is in her 90s. I'm enjoying it so far. It is very much character-driven, though, so don't read if you need plot. 

The high of my week was just being home! It's nice to see my family, have complete control over what I am eating each day, and sleep in my own bed. 

The low of my week a situation where Paul was treated poorly by some other kids at the after-school program. The staff handled it really well so hopefully it's a very isolated incident that doesn't happen again.

For workouts I ran 3 miles on Monday and plan to run tomorrow morning. I wasn't able to fit another run in but I have been getting my 10+ minute walks in as part of the walking club that Elisabeth is hosting!

On Wednesday night, Taco and I went for a walk/scoot to look at Halloween decoration. Pumpkins are his favorite decoration!

A show we watched was the finale of the latest season of Alone which is a wilderness survival show. We also watch the competition part of Survivor with Paul on Wednesday night and I watched the first episode of the new season of the Great British Baking Show! 

The best money spent was on Paul's school photos! He's such a photogenic little guy!

My plans this weekend include laying low tonight as usual. Tomorrow morning we'll probably hit up the library after my run. In the afternoon we're going to the home of a friend that lives on a lake. Phil will help take their docks out. Sunday is the marathon so we will be spectating around mile 9. My colleague has been under the weather with a cold so I hope that doesn't impact him too much! The weather forecast has really improved and it should be pretty cool, albeit a bit windy.

How was your week?

What We Read in September

September was such a blur that had you asked me what I read during the month, I couldn't have told you without looking at my goodreads account. That is often the case but was especially the case last month since I traveled so much! Overall, the month was "just ok" in terms of my reading. I read 6 books, bringing the number of books read in 2024 to 74. Here is how my reading shook out. 

Good to great

You, with a view is a romance that was recommended by Stephany. It's about a granddaughter that discovered that her grandma had some secrets in her past that she doesn't learn about until her grandma has passed away. The book involves a road trip which made it extra enjoyable for me. The Guncle Abroad is a sequel to The Guncle which is a book I absolutely adored. I enjoyed being back with these characters but didn't like it as much as the first. After loving Rufi Thorpe's latest book, Margot's Got Money Troubles, I decided to read some of her back list and started with The Knockout Queen. It's a coming-of-age story about 2 teens that live next door to each other. I love that Thorpe's characters are so very "voicy." How We Named the Stars is a book I heard about on Sarah's Bookshelves Live. It's an owned voices coming-of-age story about 2 college roommates that are discovering who they are/their sexuality. Humor Me is the sophomore novel from Cat Shook. This one features a protagonist that works on an SNL-type of late night show. I enjoyed it while reading it but had to remind myself what it was about when reflecting back on my month's reading. 

Did not work 

I was drawn to read Absolution as it was about a group of expatriate wives living in Vietnam with their husbands/families in the early 60s when the conflict in Vietnam was escalating. I usually love character-driven novels but this one just did not work for me at all.

The boys' reading

We pulled out our fall books which Paul seems to have sadly outgrown. :( But Taco has really been enjoying them, especially Room on the Broom and Pumpkin Soup.

Paul has mostly been reading Wimpy Kid books. We are reading The Getaway together which is about a family vacation gone wrong. He also likes to re-read the various Dog Man books we own over and over and over so we are really getting our moneys worth on those books!!

Did you read anything great in September?