6 Tips for Road Tripping With a Baby

Tips for Road Tripping With a Baby.
We took a family road trip this week down to St. Simons Island, Georgia. Stevie has a work conference, so Everett and I decided to tag along and enjoy a mini vacation somewhere that we've never been before. We are never ones to turn down a new adventure, especially when there is a beach involved. I'll post more about the trip next week, but I did want to go ahead and share a few things that have worked for road tripping with this little guy. He's only 9 months old, but he is developing into a lovely road trip companion. I'm sure there will come a day where he just won't tolerate sitting in his car seat for so long, but right now, we are able to convince him to ride along with us as we hit some drive-able destinations. I'm not saying he is perfect during the entire trip, but we have found some helpful hacks for coercing him to be a pleasant ride-along car buddy. In light of summertime and everyone's upcoming travels, I thought I would share what has worked for us.

1. Leave at the Crack of Dawn.
I learned this one the hard way. I left at 10am for a 7-hour road trip, and my little babe was awake for most of it. Which meant he was bored, which meant he was LOUD, which meant everyone in the car was exercising their patience. For the next road trip, I decided to leave at 5am, in hopes that he would sleep for a good portion of the trip. And that is indeed what happened. Hallelujah. Here's how the 7-hour trip broke down: I woke up at 4:30am and got myself dressed and ready. The car was already packed the night before. I gently woke him up, changed his diaper, kept him in his pjs and placed him in his car seat. I did all of this in the dark. I was on the road at 5am, and he slept for the first three hours of the drive. At 8am we stopped at a Starbucks, fed Everett in the parking lot, then grabbed a coffee and breakfast sandwich to go. He fell back asleep until about 10:30am or so, and I started handing him toys in the back. One by one. Which brings me to my next point...

2. Pack Toys. A Lot of Toys.
Pack more than you could ever imagine you would need. An obnoxious amount. Once the novelty of riding along in the car gets old, those toys are your lifeline. I purchased this set of toys specifically for roadtripping and it has proven to be a worthy investment. The other thing is, everything can be a toy! A plastic water bottle, toilet paper rolls, Styrofoam cup, plastic sunglasses, you name it! I've started passing the strangest things back there to him, and it amuses him for a bit. My kiddo is a curious soul. Why wouldn't he want to stare soulfully into my hat? Sure.

Gotta stop to feed and change. But these stops are actually kinda fun! LOOK AT MY BABYYYY.

3. Pack Travel Food.
I make Everett's baby food for whenever we eat at home (which is most of the time), but when we travel it's a different story. I admire those ladies who lug around their canisters of homemade blended baby purees - but I just cannot do it. I've tried and it's just too much mess to pack up and take home, to then clean up again later. No thanks. Not for me. I stock up on easy travel food when we hit the road, and Everett LOVES it. I think he feels like it's a special treat :) Our favorites are these by Earth's Best, these by Happy Baby and these by Plum Organics. He is also really loving his appetizers by Happy Baby :) (I've been reading that French parenting book that recommends feeding children in courses, so Everett gets fancy these days with his appetizers).

4. Pack More Clothes/Diapers/Wipes Than You Think You Will Need.
Some weird things have happened on our road trips. Some weird, weird things. Blowouts, showering urine, gassyness that leads to... solidness. I'll leave it at that. But I always pack Everett THREE changes of clothes when we go anywhere. Three. Yes. Three.

5. Budget Extra Travel Time.
The days of blazing down the road, NO STOPS, is over. Man, me and Stevie used to tear up some mileage on road trips. I reminisced about my favorite all-time road trip with him the other day, when we used to drive from before the sun was up until late in the night. Those days. Are over. In the new era, with a baby and gear and breastfeeding breaks and diaper change breaks and YOU NAME IT breaks, we stop often. There's just no way around it. So budgeting extra travel time is a must, especially if you're super type-A and you like to "race" your Googlemaps estimate. Not like my husband does that or anything. Needless to say, we've had to make some expectation adjustments.

Sleeping baby. Makes for a very happy mommy.

6. Enjoy it!
This is so important. I'm continuously learning about how much life has changed with Everett's arrival in my world, and everything is truly, infinitely better with him. It is. Everything is also really truly different. Vacations look different, my idea of rest looks different, and certainly the way I roadtrip is so so different. But he is also so much fun, and I find myself staring at him wondering what I was doing with my life before he came along. Like, why did I wait so long to have him?? Well, actually, I know the answer to that. But still! My baby is the best. So grateful that I can take him along for journeys and adventures!

And bonus tip - Coldplay does wonders for putting a baby to sleep in the car. THAT CHRIS MARTIN. Okay, there it is, folks. All my road trip tricks in a nutshell. For all of you planning to road trip and travel this summer, I hope this helps!

Favorite Things Tea Party at the Ritz Carlton!

Favorite Things Tea Party at the Ritz Carlton!
It's no secret that I am a sucker for a good tea party. It's the little girl in me. So when my darling anglophile friend Alyson invited me to a tea party in honor of the new royal baby, how could I resist?? And when I found out it was high tea at the Ritz Carlton Buckhead, well, you kind of pull out all the stops to make that kind of affair come to life. Babysitter? CHECK. Good friends? CHECK. Awesome dress from my stylist sister? CHECK CHECK CHECK. Oh, and perhaps a little frou-frou head gear, a la Blair Waldorf. Checkedy check. Gang's all here!

To amplify the fun of high tea, Alyson decided to make this a "favorite things" party, where you bring a gift for each person at the party that is one of your favorite things. $5 limit. You know, one of those fun items that you love picking up at Target, even though you don't really need it. And so everyone goes home with a new favorite thing! It's super fun and girly. LIKE HIGH TEA IN HONOR OF A BABY PRINCESS. I hope that little Princess Charlotte knows that she is being partied for around the world. She's a little angel from Heaven. Loving babies is a relatively new thing for me. Since having my own, you know. And a baby princess?! Well, that's just all the more reason to celebrate babiessssss. Princess babbbiieeesssss.

We three. Wait - four!!

She's the raddest of them all. Look at those pearls. That fascinator. The woman the legend.

Aw macaroons make pregnant friends happy.

I'll have them all, thanks.

How gorgeous is that arm.

I want to put that on my head and be coronated.

With Kate, the gang's all here!

That's my lipstick. I'm officially a grown up.

Pinkies Out!
Okay so tea time. It was decadent. It was fancy. It was fruity. Tasty. Ruffled and spritzed and I might have sipped with my pinkies out. I blame the head gear. And I applaud sweet Alyson, because this girl really knows how to celebrate the great joys of life. And how about Janelle? Is there a hotter pregnant chick around? Well, I know a lot of preggos lately, so I can't choose favorites, but oh Janelle! What a babe, inside and out. The Ritz put on a delicious tea, complete with champagne and strawberries riddled in a bit of Grand Marnier. Yeah, I might have left tea time a little toasted. Those Brits really know how to make imbibing a gallant afternoon affair. The old-fashioned dining room was finished with oak and burgundy leather and crystal chandeliers - all things that make a tea party feel positively princessy. Which was occasion-appropriate, if you know what I mean.

The other great tea times of my life include that time at Fortnum & Mason in London, that time I surprised my sister at The Plaza in New York, that time I was surprised at Alice's Teacup in New York, the time I was ripe with pregnancy at Dr. Bombay's in Atlanta and that time I celebrated Downton Abbey's new season with my insane family.

First Trip to the Zoo!

First Trip to the Zoo!
Last week I took my little Everett boy on his first field trip to the Atlanta Zoo. I'd like to tell you it was the MOST SPECTACULAR THING EVER. I'd like to tell you that Everett was flabbergasted with joy by the animals and clapped his hands with glee and howled with precious laughter and said his first words in the form of, "Mommy, did you know there are nine subspecies of Giraffes?" (because obviously I think my child will be a science-fact-spouting whiz and somehow I think he would say this in a clipped British accent, too.)

No. Just no.

Everett kind of didn't care about the zoo. He didn't hate it. He was just... indifferent. Couldn't be bothered to lift his head up from it's very relaxed position in the stroller to actually glance at the giraffes. And that wasn't the only unexciting animal, in his book. The toucan didn't thrill him. The flamingos made him sigh and look away. The red panda bored him to tears (literally). And the black bears put him to sleep.

Not an animal lover? We won't go there quite yet. He might have just been sweaty or something.

But I had a blast! I got to hang out with my BFF and walk around and eat zoo snacks (we packed lunches and shared our goodies) and stare in wonder at all the animals caked in Georgia red clay. I got to stand in the sunshine and wear shorts (WHAT!?) and take pictures and ogle at the cherry blossom trees. I got to have GIRL TIME. So so necessary. Everyone needs a BFF to dream with. Thanks for being mine, Trish. Oh, and I got to watch her daughter actually enjoy seeing the animals, which was suuuuuper duper fun. She's obviously at the right age for animal adoration.

Everett will get there.

We hope.

// I'm all, "THE ZOO! THE ZOO! THE ZOO!" and he's like, "I mean... sure.'' //

// Can you not, mom? //

// I mean. //

// Let's eat or something. //

// Or we can just... Zzzz... //

// THIS IS HOW A CHILD SHOULD LOOK AT THE ZOO. //

// But I'll keep him. Because THOSE CHEEKS. Nom nom nom. //

Anyone have any advice for when it's appropriate to take a baby to the zoo? Because I didn't think that there was a "too soon" when it comes to exposing kids to educational-ish activities like this. But I'm thinking that I was wrong. I mean, I'm not too sad about it or anything. In fact, this kid is just making me laugh more and more these days because he does not hide his feelings! And I kind of love that about him.But seriously - thoughts on fun "out and about"-type activities for babies? Because the weather is putting a pep in my step and I'm all ears for great outdoor ideas!

Also, Everett's onesie is c/o Lucky Palm Tree and you can find it here.

A Blustery Getaway at Serenbe. Part 2.

A Blustery Getaway at Serenbe. Part 2.
I just had too many great photos from this fun little getaway. See part 1 HERE.

For me, the beginning of the year is such a cleansing season. Everything is sort of bare, torn away, and a little bit unbeautiful. Almost a little too raw, a bit uncomfortably vulnerable. And yet I really love this wintery season. Of course, it's a lot easier to love it in Georgia than in Boston or New York :) Seeing the dirty sleazy snow turn a million shades of sick can really throw your stomach off for a day. But here, the trees are stripped to their skivvies and tenderly hold up their branches in a "raising the white flag" kind of way. Like, here we are, world. Ready to start fresh. Start over. Dream again.

Am I crazy? That's just what February is to me.

I had to include a few more Serenbe photos from last week. I couldn't possibly choose my favorites so I just pretty much chose them all. Seeing my little boy interact with my strapping husband is making me feel alive and happy in a new way. Maybe it's the whole February thing. Maybe it's a new mom thing. Maybe it's a clear-headed thing. Or a "I've finally slept, booya!" thing. But I'm having a small moment in the sun these past few weeks. Life finally doesn't feel so gosh-darn hard. I don't feel so bare bones tired. Or ragged. This little getaway to Serenbe couldn't have come at a better time. It was cold, but so what? I've had colder winters.

// I love setting up Everett's little bed when we travel. I don't know why. //

// I like to tease him that he's my muse. He. HATES. It. //

// 7.5 years. I'm a lucky lady. //

Happy February to you all!