Date Night In: Encouragement, Yes!

this past friday night i dragged my husband to a three hour couples yoga class. keith wasn't convinced this was a good idea and made me promise that we could bail two hours in if he was not feeling it. i agreed to the compromise, but had all intentions of ignoring his cues to jump ship. he ended up loving the class, time went by super fast and there was no shortage of giggles (keith could not resist the opportunity to quote the movie couples retreat "encouragement, yes!") i have been waiting patiently for a gentle partner yoga class to come to our area. i think it makes a great date night alternative to dinner and movie or dinner and drinks. this class unfortunately is not offered regularly so i thought a yoga date night at home would be easy enough to pull together. besides most of our date nights are spent at home anyway. here is all you need.

no. 1 easy to follow yoga book (with pictures), dvd or yoga youtube playlist / no. 2 mexican yoga blankets / no. 3 lifefactory water bottles / no. 4 madewell tee and ae joggers

xo, beth-ann

Remembering Paris

every year around this time i think of our trip to paris in hopes to return someday. several months before leaving i read an article about taking vacations and how the human brain responses to time off of work. the article contained a study (every article i tend to read always has a study) about what really makes people happy about going on vacation. the results were people enjoyed the anticipation of going away even more so than the vacation itself. in conclusion, the article recommended taking several shorter vacations throughout the year verses one longer holiday. the idea of serval shorter vacations is novel, however, for the budget traveller it is not ideal. prices of flights and gas keep this traveller on the longer less frequent holiday schedule. what we do practice from the article is maximizing the anticipation period by making an appropriate themed date nights out of planning and listening to fitting music several weeks before leaving. edith piaf was played quite a bit before, during and after our time in paris. the best part is now when i hear her music it brings me right back to that blissful vacation state of mind. you can check out our whole paris adventure here: paris calling

xo, beth-ann

Winter Walks: Sachuest Point

several weeks ago, when our winter was still on the warm side we jumped in the car, picked up my nephew ben and headed to middletown, rhode island for a short afternoon hike around sachuest point national wild life refuge. the sun drifted in and out of the clouds as we walked, spotted light houses and collected treasures on the shore. the wild life refuge is wonderful place to bird watch, exercise and take in the beautiful views that surround you on all sides. their visitor center houses rest rooms, info about the area and even a cute frog in a observation tank. here are a few photos from the day. the quality is not so good, because i forgot my camera so we used our iphones.

 

 

where is your favorite place to spend time outside? i would love to here from you. sachest point was a great recommendation from a friend and we will be definitely heading back soon.

xo, beth-ann
plan your trip: sachuest point website

Base Camp Lately: December

can you believe january is over?. i have no idea where the time went. december was super busy as i assume was yours. our little guy turned two, we prepped for christmas and took a train to the north pole. i find december to always be a little overwhelming, never long enough and so emotional. it maybe because we attempt to jam as much holiday fun as we can into three and half weeks and we now have someones birthday added to mix. this year was no different. but i have to admit the holidays are even more special with a little one. he just makes everything better. here is our december in photos. 

found our tree

birthday gifts for our cub

feathers

appropriate shirt for a little music man

singing with the mini guitar puzzle piece

always likes the paper more than the gifts

new ride

had to be chocolate per request

someone was upgraded 

can't believe he is two

watching the world go by out of the train car window 

the view

ticket to ride

perfect company

love these boys

pretty happy with that bell

oh my god that is santa (he has just grabbed the concept of santa… sort of.)

still not willing to sit on his lap though

keith and i patiently waited for this little one to wake up

the holiday season was so fun this year. we are really looking forward to next year.

read

xo, beth-ann