Welcome to mid-February, friends! This year, as expected, is already breezing by. And this year, as expected, has already been filled with its fair share of ups and downs, highs and lows. Sadness and happiness. This is life, am I right?

On one of the happier notes, Lotte and I just returned from a solo mom/daughter trip back east to celebrate my niece Rosalie’s first birthday. I can’t believe how quickly that year flew by, so I can only imagine how her parents must feel. This trip was super quick — just Thursday night through Sunday — but it was so amazing. We got to celebrate Valentine’s Day with the fam, I got to visit my grandmother, we celebrated Ro at her first birthday party and saw so many friends and family<3 Going back east is always a whirlwind, but it’s never not worth it. And this solo trip with Lotte — our first since Grace was born, our third in total — was so much fun. At 3.5, Lotte is at, I believe, the perfect travel age. Despite the fact that she’s traveled quite a bit, flying on an airplane is still magical to her (as it should be!), and she has the best time eating snacks, watching shows, coloring, reading … basically all of her every day activities are made that much more fun when they’re done mid-air.

I hope you guys all had great Valentine’s Day weekends — and President’s Day weekends — as well! We’re actually back to New York again in mid-March, this time with the whole gang, to put on a fundraiser for my Mom and to watch Chris run the New York City half marathon. We have another fun trip coming up later in the year that I can’t wait to share details on. It’ll be our second international trip with the littles, and to a place that neither Chris or I have been to before. Adventure awaits!

Bis bald, friends!