Links! Philly Edition

First, some Friday music!

Artists : Lumineers
Song: Ho Hey

Now small selection of the new-to-us eateries in Philly::

I was introduced to the Lil' Pop Shop by a friend with kids. It's all popsicles, all the time, and the flavors are fantastic! I got a lemon, blueberry, buttermilk pop.

We had dinner at Tinto. The plates and hard cider left me wanting more, more, more... but I ended the dinner out on the sidewalk nursing and rocking a tired Alex.

We met up with Kris and Ryan for lunch at Panini's after our long walk through the city. This was one of those places where we ate before, but didn't realize it until we showed up again {both times it looked like a good choice when we were looking online, and it didn't disappoint!}.

Want some Greek food? Or a fresh fish made to order? Go to Zesty's!

Walking Philly

Long summer weekends in Philly put a smile on my face.

This one was that much more special because Alex got to meet his grandpa Frank for the first time (Little A's bucket list: meet all four grandparents, check!). 

This weekend was also different than other Philly trips in that we walked almost everywhere! We walked the 20+ blocks from our hotel in center city to the sites in old city, meandering through city hall and a few parks along the way. 

City hall, designed by the grandpa of Calder's namesake::

Once we were in old city, Alex was hungry, so we sat down on a bench for a snack. After the snack, it was time for the Little A show ~ he smiles, and talks, and keeps us entertained with the stories of all he has seen and heard. I'm soaking this in, knowing that in only a few short years, I'll be lucky if he tells me anything about how his day went!


Then, while his pops and grandpops did some work, Alex and I took a stroll around West Philly, visiting our favorite campus along the way.

Before that walk, I set up shop in the van and did a touch of work from the best mobile office a working mom could have! I was working, but I was also sitting there thinking about how amazing technology is that we can work online (without a line!) from almost anywhere.

Of course, all of that walking was fueled by long naps in the park, espressos at our favorite joint, and plenty of meals outside... And Chia Sarah will appreciate that both Alex and I were pooped on by the birds! 

I don't know if he could fully appreciate it, but Alex saw his first firetruck, and construction site!

And that, that was our weekend of walking around the city. 

Alex's First Northeast Corridor Tour!

Two weeks ago, Alex handled his first early morning international conference call like a champ {of course, it was so early that I took the call from bed and kept it on mute 90% of the time so that colleagues wouldn't hear his uber-cute chatter}::

... But before we could let the little guy think life is all work and no play, we decided to take off for a two-week tour of the northeast!

Stop #1 :: Shamokin, PA {the heart of the Northeast Corridor, obv}!

Alex donned his grey Pebble Vest for a day out manning Sarah and Jeff's stand at the town's heritage festival.

This vest and his grey Little Heaume hat were some of the smallest pieces I made, so while the weather was horrible, I was so excited for the chance to dress him in these hand knits at least once before he outgrew them! And of course, having little A around was the perfect distraction that keep everyone smiling as we suffered through the wind and cold.



Stop #2 : Saxis, VA! Saxis was four days of pure relaxation for the whole fam. We gave Alex his first beach day, granted he didn't touch the water and barely saw the sun {he made a valiant effort to kick the blanket off his feet and get some sun on those toes, and there was that trip to the water under C's shirt}.

Cash was treated to his own day of fun in the bay ::

Stop #3 : Philadelphia! We stopped in to visit Chia Krissy and to pick up some Sage {summer cocktail season is here!}.

From there, we did a drive-by of the NYC skyline ::

Stop #4 : Boston, MA!

We had a great time playing tourists in Boston. With beautifully sunny weather on Sunday, we drove through Salem for a day at the beach in Bar Harbor.

On Day 2, Calder and Alex indulged me in a bit of shopping, stopping in those cute shops that can only be found in the city.

And Day 3 was spent picnicking in Boston Common and riding the swan boats!

After close to 24 hours spent in the van for this trip, I have to say that I'm loving the road trip view {Calder and Cash handle driving and navigation while Alex and I hold down the back seat}::

And, those hours spent in the back seat are not wasted! I picked up some yarn during Stop #2 in VA and had plenty of time to start a new project {Little Arrowhead Shawl} while keeping little Alex company.

Ack.

A humble hi from the house with {previously} dirty carpets {we bought a steam cleaner and Sarah left us a message}.

It's been a while. I think we got caught up in the largest case of end-of-summer doldrums that ever existed. We've been lazing around, taking too many naps, eating out too often, and generally trying to avoid the start of the school year and regular schedules. But it's here, so we're setting our sights on fall with it's crisp weather, apple picking, and big pots of soup.

Goodbye to summer with it's crazy bugs, outdoor concerts, and mushroom-covered forests.

Next time :: a new sweater