Scotland has been on my travel bucket list and it exceeded my expectations after our spring break family trip to Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands! Admittedly, it felt extra special just be traveling anywhere after a long adventure hiatus over the past two years. We started our trip in Edinburgh and explored for a few days before taking the Scotrail trains out to Inverness, and then ended our trip back in Edinburgh for one more day before heading home. In between we packed in lots of site seeing and some seriously delicious meals, all while soaking up some unseasonably perfect, sunny spring weather in beautiful Scotland.  

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A few weeks ago I was confiding in my mom about my secret guilt that I never made a baby book for Jane. I’m so type-A and generally obsessed with paper products so it’s strange I never started one. My mom reminded me though that I have a much more detailed account of Jane’s life than most people have of their kids — right here on the blog and on my instagram page. She was so very right! I do cherish looking back at old posts and seeing our travel adventures, and try to share funny anecdotes in my captions too. Last week we spent a nice stretch of time down on Cape Cod with our close friends and had the very best time — splashing in the ocean, eating all the fried seafood, and making memories. So this post is my summer vacation addition to the “baby book” full of all of the pictures I would have tucked inside! read more

A few weeks ago my husband and I were sitting on the couch and chatting about our weekend plans. We started throwing around the idea of going to the beach and after a few minutes we were deep down a rabbit hole discussing how the worst part of beach days is all of the lugging and hauling of our stuff to and from the car. Sometimes the idea of packing everything up almost deters us from doing the trip (and we live a 5-minute drive to the beach, so it’s not much of a trip at all!). We came to a determined agreement that we would refine our beach-packing process this summer and hone it down to only the essentials, the best of the best. After a very serious inventory of what we actually use at the beach we have a new system down, and I’m happy to report the last few beach visits have required much less schlepping. I thought I’d share a few of our refinements, and the favorite beach gear items we use again and again that made the beach bag cut! read more

Last week I took a foggy little ferry ride on the Hyline to Nantucket for the day, where I met up with a few other bloggers to tour the island with @ShopNantucket and check out some of the best shops and bites on the island. I was pumped because the rain cleared up as we pulled into the dock — and shopping is one of my favorite things to do in Nantucket with so many unique shops and brands to explore! After our fun day on the Grey Lady, I thought I’d round up a mini Nantucket Shopping Guide with a few of my favorites to keep in mind if you ever find yourself on the island for a day of retail therapy! read more

We spent this past weekend in Newport, RI for a little getaway to celebrate my birthday! The idea to head to Newport came up when Hotel Viking invited us to come stay at their beautiful property, and thanks to my wonderful in-laws that offered to watch Jane, we were able to jump at the opportunity and plan a little overnight excursion! With 24-hours of kid-free weekending ahead of us, we packed in lots of eating and drinking and window-shopping. Before we left I polled my instagram followers for recommendations and I received so many great ideas. I was worried that we might be challenged finding things to do there on a cold January weekend, but we had the best time — thought I’d share a few of our weekend highlights for anyone else venturing to Newport in the winter!  read more

I’m back from a little blog hiatus after the most amazing week at the beach. We stayed with friends at their family beach house on Cape Cod. It was a gorgeous week, we couldn’t have possibly been more lucky with the weather – nearly 6 straight days of sunshine! It was our first real family vacation and Jane took quite a liking to the beach – we collected seashells, dipped our toes in the water, and did lots of digging in the sand.  read more

After quite a few journeys under my blogging belt, I have gotten accustomed to scribbling down notes when we travel now to help me compile these destination guides! It’s sort of like my own little scavenger hunt when we visit a new city; I love finding special spots that I can report back on. We lucked out on this trip in so many ways – the flights were easy (we got a great deal on Norwegian Air), we managed the jet lag well, and we had amazing weather. Locals kept telling us that it was rare to have that much sunshine and warmth the first days of May, and the timing had been perfect to see so many of the spring flowers in bloom. The trip gave me a fresh case of the travel bug, and as I write this recap of our week in London, I’m already scheming our next adventure! read more

Please note: This post was created in partnership with Marshalls; all opinions are my own.

I am currently suffering from a major case of wanderlust, and have been browsing flights, daydreaming of new destinations, and mentally packing my bags for a new adventure. I don’t exactly have the vacation booked yet, but once we decide on where we’re going, I’m going to be ready! When it comes to prepping for a trip – big or small – I have developed my own system for staying organized and making packing a little bit less of a hassle. read more