D.C. Archives - Weary Wanderer

From New York to Philly to Virginia & Back — a Trip East With My Little

Published on March 28, 2017March 28, 2017 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

^^ The most amazing turnout — with the most amazing group of women — for the MS fundraiser in honor of my Mom.

Heya friends,

So we’re back from our monster trip east, and Lotte & I had an amazing time. We saw so much family and so many friends, we covered miles & miles & miles in the car together (one of these days I’ll have to actually sit down and see how many miles we really drove), Lotte saw her first monuments in D.C., she spent tons of quality time with her Philly cousins, she was the hit of the MS fundraiser my sister & I held in honor of Mom at Wine & Design in Warwick, she attended her great-grandma and great-aunt’s 95th birthday party … and oh-so-many more important and amazing things.

Before we actually had Lotte, we weren’t exactly sure how much traveling we’d do with her. Traveling with kids is hard and at times very stressful, and let’s be honest, it’s not like she’s making lasting memories here. But you know what … we are. And I’ve come to realize as Lotte grows and goes through babyhood that that is just as important. These trips we take with her are some of my fondest memories, and I will never forget them. (Neither, luckily, will she, since I take extensive notes to put in her baby travel diary — complete with pictures! — and of course she’ll always have this blog to refer to, as well.)

The point is – yes, traveling with kids can sometimes make you want to pull your hair out, but so far, I am never sorry for the trips we’ve done with Lotte, and I only hope that continues.

Here’s a look at what we got up to over the past 10 days in photos. Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t give another BIG shout-out to my husband for flying out and surprising us last Friday to be there for my Mom’s fundraiser, my Grandma’s 95th birthday party and, of course, to help on the flight back home with Lotte. Funny how four hands are so much better than two when it comes to flying with Littles 😉

^^ All prepped and ready for our first solo flight as Mom & baby! In all seriousness, though, I know how lucky Chris & I got with Lotte. She’s a pretty solid, amazing little traveler, so things might be a tad different is she were more difficult …

^^ We don’t have a dog at home, so Lotte’s only real interaction with them so far has been at my stepdad’s house with Ranger. Honestly I wasn’t sure how Ranger would react to Lotte at first — he can be a bit of a loose cannon — but especially in his older age, he tolerates her quite nicely, which is nice, because she is obsessed!

^^ Quick pit stop at Aunt Steph’s & Uncle Brian’s on Saturday to pick them up on our way into Pennsylvania for Rory’s 4th birthday party.

^^ These two together = major cuteness! Peyton, on the right, is actually three months younger than Lotte, but she’s almost the same size. It’s really only when she gets with other babies that I’m reminded of what a tiny nugget Lotte is!

^^ Dad’s fancy omelette bar on Sunday morning.

^^ Jude!

^^ Rory seriously loves Lotte, and it’s pretty much the sweetest.

^^ Cuddles with my babe on our first day in Arlington, Virginia, to visit Lisa. I think I honestly was just so relieved the car ride from Pennsylvania went well!

^^ This bear was pretty amazing to use as a backdrop in many-a-Lotte photo!

^^ Driving into D.C. to take in the sites — don’t let this innocent face fool you, she screamed the entire way in and the entire way out! Those two car rides — which must have amounted to about 20 minutes total — and the one back to Newark airport to head home were the only ones she fussed (or should I say threw a tantrum) for. I guess that was … lucky?!

^^ Patriotic Baby.

^^ In front of the Reflecting Pool … not impressed!

^^ At the World War II Memorial … not impressed!

^^ Heading to the Lincoln Memorial … not impressed!

^^ At the Washington Monument … not impressed!

^^ Visiting good ole’ Abe … not impressed!

^^ I mean … you get it. Lotte was not impressed! But it was a gorgeous day, and I hadn’t been back to these places myself in many, many years, so overall it was a pretty fun day!

^^ Tuckered out from all her touristing. Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping baby??

^^ We were back in the car on Wednesday and back with Rory and Jude in no time (well, in about three hours, to be exact).

^^ I particularly love this photo from our trip. I took this after I opened up the back door of the car after our ride from PA back to New York (our FOURTH long car ride, mind you), and Lotte was just chillin’ in her car seat, giving me the BIGGEST smile when she saw me. Oh Lotte … how I love you.

^^ Deep conversations back at Aunt Stephie’s house.

^^ When your husband surprises you and flies to New York for the weekend and you can breathe because you finally have full-time help again. Single parents … I have never had more respect for you than I do after this trip! Oh and Lisa also got into town this day, too, so it was almost more than my little heart could handle, all my lovies surrounding me 😉

^^ Delicious crinkle cookies Lisa made for the MS fundraiser.

^^ Making sangria for the party!

^^ I seriously love this photo of Lisa, after we picked up balloons for the party.

^^ Lotte was a tad grumps during the fundraiser — girlfriend deserved to be! — even when seeing her future boyfriend Miles again.

^^ Between the paint & sip fundraiser and online donations, we raised more than $2,000 for MS research. Speechless. And oh-so thankful.

^^ After the fundraiser it was on to my Grandma and Great-Aunt Vicki’s 95th birthday party, which my aunt did a fabulous job setting up.

^^ Ugh these two cuties!!!! Can you imagine knowing — and liking! — someone for 95 years?!

^^ Lotte frequently gets this look on her face when she’s around her Great-Grams. I can’t help but feel like she honestly understands what this woman means to our family, and to her.

^^ Kisses after a little speech I made. I love my Aunt Vicki wasting no time before she downs her Prosecco!

^^ Not pictured: Aunt Stephie cracking Lotte up by blowing into a party noisemaker. It. Was. Amazing.

^^ As if that weren’t enough partying for you, everyone surprised me with an early birthday cake back at Steph’s house that night. Sigh. The love.

^^ Headed to the airport on Sunday.

^^ These two.

^^ So many toys to keep her occupied, and all she wanted to do was play with the free airplane cracker packet.

^^ Home. That makes six plane rides for this little 8-month-old.

And those were the highlights, my friends. Usually trips like these tend to feel like a whirlwind (I feel like I use that word a lot when describing my trips!), but this one actually didn’t. Sure it was busy and hectic and hard at times, but overall I felt really good about everything we did, and so happy about everyone we got to see. It was a trip I’d repeat over and over again, with my Little by my side.

Bis bald, friends! Till next time …

We’re Home From Our Trip Back East!

Published on March 27, 2017April 10, 2017 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Well friends, Lotte & I are home from our epic trip back east, and while it will likely take me at least a couple of days to go through all my photos, here’s just the slightest of tastes of what we got up to:

1. Lotte attended her first birthday party — it was for my nephew Rory’s 4th.
2. We traveled in the car a lot! Trips included from NY to PA, from PA to VA, back from VA to PA and finally from PA back to NY … not to mention to and from Newark Airport ;).
3. Lotte took her first trip into D.C.! We visited quite a few sites with Lisa (see above photo), but I’ll have more on that later.
4. CHRIS SURPRISED ME AND FLEW BACK TO NEW YORK ON FRIDAY TO HELP ME OUT WITH LOTTE & ATTEND THE BELOW EVENTS!!! If that’s not an awesome husband, I just don’t know what is.
5. My sister and I hosted an MS fundraiser this past Saturday in honor of our Mom, and it was awesome. We raised over $2,000 in total, and I think it’s safe to say everyone had a great time and our Mom would have been (is) proud.
6. After the MS fundraiser we went to celebrate my Grandma and her twin’s 95th birthday … how utterly amazing is that?!

I’m sure there is more I’m forgetting, but hopefully going through all my photos will jog my memory. For now, check out my one photo from the sad cherry blossoms in D.C. (a recent frost killed them all!), and a pic of Lotte checking out our landing back in Denver. That girl loves herself an airplane landing <3

Bis bald friends! And happy Spring!

The Year 2014: A Review

Published on December 30, 2014August 27, 2019 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Well, friends, it’s been quite the year! When I’m old and grey and looking back on my travels, this will certainly be one of my favorite years to reference. Here’s how our adventure-filled 365 days played out:

Continue reading “The Year 2014: A Review” →

Paddling in the Potomac

Published on May 6, 2014 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

Morning friends! Exactly one week and one day ago (aka last Monday), I hopped on a Tripper bus out of the city headed to Arlington, Virginia (a suburb of the D.C. area).

Here’s a little tip from a bus rider know-it-all: If you’re on a bus (or in a car or any other form of automotive transportation) out of the city heading through the Holland Tunnel, be sure to sit on the right-hand side, because you’ll be privy to this beauty of a view:

Anyway, as I mentioned in a post last week, when this particular friend and I get together, we generally do a whole lot of nothing. (Which is actually quite wonderful, as I’m sure most of you know.) I mean sure we eat and drink and chat and binge watch shoes (last week she introduced me to Revenge … why have I not been watching this all my life?), but there’s generally very little by way of activity, other than a walk here and there.

Last week, though, we got creative. On the heels of our very active trip to Marathon Key at the beginning of April, we were eager to try one activity in particular all over again in a new spot — kayaking.

So we headed into Old Town Alexandria (which is about the cutest little place you’ll ever go) and down to the Belle Haven Park and Marina, where we took a double-person kayak out on the Potomac River.

Let me tell you friends — it was something splendid, for sure.

^^ The water was pretty muddy after the torrential downpour we had the two days prior,
but it was still pretty splendid all the same.

^^I have to admit that this kayak adventure was harder for me, for some reason,
and I may not have been a ton of help when it came to rowing. Thanks for taking the lead, Lisa!

^^ We saw so, so, so many turtles on this trip!

^^ We may have ventured off the beaten trail into a tiny little area secluded by trees.
So peaceful.

So Lisa and I have pretty much decided this is our thing. Hopefully when she comes to visit me here in the city we’ll take some kayaks out on the Hudson as well. It’s always fun to have an activity to look forward to on a trip.

My time with Lisa was so fun, but it also went by so fast, and before I knew it I was back on a 2:30 bus on Saturday afternoon headed back to the city. After being dropped off near Penn Station around 7:30, I grabbed a ticket on the Long Island Railroad and headed back out, this time to meet up with Chris to spend the night in Long Island prior to his running the Long Island Marathon Sunday morning. My dad met us out there in the morning to watch, and we walked a grand total of 10 MILES around the course to catch Chris running at three different spots.

Oh, and Chris did pretty well, too 😉 I mean, he broke his own personal record with a race time of 2:49:26!

I could not be more proud of him.

Bis bald, friends! Warmer weather is headed our way, and I hope everyone is getting excited for whatever plans you’ve concocted for the summer …

The Year 2013: A Review

Published on December 31, 2013August 27, 2019 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Hi friends,

Well it’s that time of year again — the one where everyone takes a couple minutes to take stock of how the past 12 months have gone? This year has been a particularly important one for myself and Chris. It was our first year of married life. It was a year spent celebrating our marriage around the world with family and friends. It was a year that we made some pretty big decisions about our future (not yet shared here!), and one that had a lot of amazing traveling in it …

Continue reading “The Year 2013: A Review” →

A Sweat Treat in Northern Virginia

Published on August 13, 2013August 13, 2013 by Cheryl Lock3 Comments

Hi friends,

While in Virginia this past week, my friend and I picked up chocolate chip cookies for the baby shower from the cutest little shop called the Bakeshop. It’s located in Clarendon in Northern Virginia, and they had ice cream sandwiches, cookies, cupcakes, lemon bars, French Macarons … you name it.

It’s definitely worth a visit if you’re ever in the area.

Bis bald, friends! I’m going to go and dream about those delish looking cupcakes …

In Which I Become a Craft Blogger (From D.C.!)

Published on August 13, 2013 by Cheryl Lock5 Comments

Hi friends!

So no one needs to tell me that I am NOT a world-class crafter. However, I will say that over the past few years I’ve become more and more interested in the art of crafting. Particularly when it comes to giving gifts or throwing parties or asking for favors (like when I asked my sisters and Chris’s sisters and my BFF to be in my (never happened!) bridal party) — it’s always nice to add a little crafty touch. It just really shows how much you care.

Anyway, all of this is to say, this past week I was in D.C. with a friend to help her prepare for her sister’s “sprinkle”. (Here’s where I admit that, despite the fact that my journalism career has had me writing about parenting topics for the past 4+ years, I had never heard of that term!) Suffice it to say — Lisa doesn’t do anything halfway. So this “sprinkle”, if you will, was probably more effort (in the best of ways!) than most people would put in for a regular shower.

She’s one fabulous lady — I’m lucky to have such a fun-loving, caring, thoughtful friend in my life.

So back to the title of my post … ‘In Which I Become a Craft Blogger’. As I mentioned last week, I knew this trip wouldn’t involve much site-seeing (who needs that when you’ve got a best friend, a bottle of wine and tons of crafting to do!), so I thought I’d go ahead and share some details of the baby “sprinkle” here.

You know … just in case you’ve got one coming up and you’re looking for ideas 😉

^^The beginning stages of lemon bars for the dessert bar. Can you say yum?!

^^We also made these to-die-for apple crumble bar with cinnamon. The sign in the back was a piece of corkboard that Lisa painted with chalkboard paint and strung some twine across. People wrote notes on little cards and placed them on the twin for Alison and her new baby boy. — ^^We also made these to-die-for apple crumble bar with cinnamon. The sign in the back was a piece of corkboard that Lisa painted with chalkboard paint and strung some twine across. People wrote notes on little cards and placed them on the twine for Alison and her new baby boy.

^^ Chocolate & Vanilla Ice Box parfaits with graham cracker and whip cream.

^^ Blueberry Crumble for the dessert bar.

^^ We lined these cardboard boxes with white ribbon and stuck an adorable photo of Alison and her daughter on two sides. The photos were stickers from Shutterfly, and they said 'Thanks so much for coming!' Guests filled the boxes up with treats from the dessert bar as part of their parting gift. — ^^ We lined these cardboard boxes with white ribbon and stuck an adorable photo of Alison and her daughter on two sides. The photos were stickers from Shutterfly, and they said ‘Thanks so much for coming!’ Guests filled the boxes up with treats from the dessert bar as part of their parting gift.

^^ The box set-up at the party looked like this. The CDs in front were made with songs all the guests had sent to Lisa ahead of time that reminded them of their childhood, along with a key tied to the back and a sentence or two about their memories of the song.

^^ Honey Baked ham, spinach dip, fruit salad, pasta salad and Sister Schubert's rolls rounded out the desserts. — ^^ Honey Baked ham, spinach dip, fruit salad, pasta salad and Sister Schubert’s rolls rounded out the desserts.

^^ In lieu of gifts, each guest brought a onesie with a decoration that was indicative of something about themselves. Mine was the one with the bunny. We hung them on a string in the living room and Alison guessed whose was whose. She did a really good job!

^^ We also had cupcakes from Cake Love. Oh my!

^^ And of course, the star of the party -- Lisa's little niece, Abigail. — ^^ And of course, the star of the party — Lisa’s little niece, Abigail.

So that was about it, friends! A good time was had by all, and now there’s not much left to do but wait for Baby Boy Grantham to make his debut!

Here’s what Chris and I have on our plates in the next few weeks, in terms of travel:

* A visit to my sister’s new apartment and a trip to Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery
* A day trip to the beach for Labor Day, as well as hopefully out to Governor’s Island to see the vintage carousels they have on display there right now
* Chris’s Super Secret 30th Birthday Trip (Shhhh–I’m SO EXCITED about this!)
* Australia for our fourth wedding (awahooo!!!) and our honeymoon at the Great Barrier Reef!

And that takes us through September and on into the fall, my friends. Can you even believe it’s already half-way through August!? Hope everyone’s making the most of these summer days before they fade away!

Bis bald!

D.C. Bound

Published on August 6, 2013August 6, 2013 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Hey friends,

So I’m off to D.C. tomorrow for the rest of the week for a friend’s sister’s baby shower. (I’ll be taking the Tripper Bus. I even had one free ticket to redeem — Hallelujah!) I just received a text from said friend containing this photo:

Needless to say, there won’t be much sightseeing or galavanting about on this trip … but that’s totally fine with me! I’m there to help … and craft! After all, that’s what friends are for.

Check out my last trip to D.C. in March right here.

Bis bald, friends! Hope you all have fun week/weekend plans!

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Down in D.C.

Published on March 7, 2013March 7, 2013 by Cheryl Lock3 Comments

Hey friends,

So I arrived back from my trip to D.C. to visit Lisa last Sunday and I have to say, I love that girl a whole heck’uva’lot. We actually met back in college when we both worked for our school newspaper, The Breeze, and we’ve been besties ever since. We’ve both moved around a couple times in the, ahem, EIGHT years since graduating from college (good grief), but throughout it all we’ve stayed in touch.

So back when Lise first lived in D.C., we used to do a whole lot of sightseeing when I would come and visit. It looked a little something like this:

Yeah … we’re pretty cute 🙂

Anyway, these days there’s almost nothing we’d rather do together than sit around drinking wine, eating delicious food and talking until we fall asleep. We did a whole lot of that on this trip (Guapo’s in Shirlington is one of our fave spots), as well as taking walks, playing with Lisa’s insanely adorable niece and practicing with my make-up for Chris and my wedding party at the end of April. (Lisa’s doing my make-up for that, so I got my make-up done for the first time ever at the Bobbi Brown counter at Nordstrom.)

This trip looked a whole lot like this:

makeuplist — Lisa’s detailed notes from my Bobbi Brown makeover

All the makeup we used to replicate the look back at her apartment. She did a fabulous job, if I do say so myself.

Anyway my dears, that about sums up my trip to D.C. Oh, we also saw ‘This is 40’ at the Arlington Cinema & Draft House, where you can order beer and food while you watch your movie, and Zero Dark Thirty the following day. Lise also lovingly allowed me to visit World Market, since we don’t have a store here in NYC, and we ate at the Nordstrom Cafe before getting my makeup done, which I would highly recommend for it’s deliciousness.

Okay, bis bald, friends! Chris and I may or may not be snowboarding this weekend at Windham, and we’re in the midst of planning a little hike with some friends for my birthday (perhaps here). Plus, before you know it it’ll be London Marathon time in April! Lots to look forward to, my friends, lots to look forward to …

The Wheels On the Bus …

Published on February 27, 2013February 27, 2013 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Are taking me to somewhere with better weather than NYC!

I’m on my Tripper Bus right now on my way to visit a BFF in D.C. I’ve got my Wi-Fi, my computer, some movies and music and my bottle of water … I’m good to go for the 4 1/2 hour ride.

I’ll update soon about the goings-on in and around D.C. (although in the name of full disclosure, I have to admit that Lisa and I do a whole lotta nothing — happily! — on these trips, so there may not be much to report).

Bis bald, friends! Hope everyone has fun weekend plans.