“Normal” Crazy

While in Charleston, my sister-in-law and I had a pretty funny conversation that has stuck with me for the last few weeks.  We were talking about the last few months and how crazy they have been.  Usually, well at least for Zach and I, things are already crazy.  But lately, things have been an abnormal amount of hectic and busy.  I kept saying that with my brother’s wedding, our Girls’ Trip to Charleston, some giant work projects, and with some big baby stuff out of the way – hopefully my life can go back to “normal” crazy.  Just the right amount of busy that you don’t go insane, if you know what I mean.  Unfortunately, this week was not back to normal.  But we did get a lot accomplished and checked some big stuff of our to-do lists!

Monday when Zach got home from work we rushed off to our breast feeding class at the University Hospital.  It was almost a 3 hour class and Zach braved the entire thing with me and didn’t complain once.  Even after seeing all the strange nipples in the instructional video.  Our only details on the class before attending were that spouses were encouraged to join and we could bring snacks if we wanted.  As soon as I mentioned snacks, Zach perked right up.  He asked if he could bring In N Out Burger to the class.  I am a horrible wife and refused.

Even without his double double, he was such a great sport…

Processed with VSCOcam with se3 preset

I have had the opportunity to work on some very fun projects the last few months, but some are still in the works.  Some, however, have finally come to the point of being public.  I got to design a fun Halloween Party invitation for a friend that I worked on the La Caille bridal shoot with.  She throws a giant bash every year and this Halloween the theme is Arabian Nights!

Screen Shot 2014-09-23 at 4.55.55 PM

Also, the company I have been helping with graphic work, Lemmon Lane, has officially launched their website and products!  I did their branding and also helped them create all the production files for their pillows and building blocks.  Their stuff is to die for!

Screen Shot 2014-09-23 at 4.59.02 PM

Screen Shot 2014-09-23 at 4.59.21 PM

Tuesday I taught a mini lesson at our Relief Society activity on design in your home.  I haven’t been to a RS activity since I was in the presidency!  I miss seeing the ladies in our ward outside of our three hour church block.  It was a lot of fun!

When I first found out I was pregnant I made a fitness goal for myself.  Sounds stupid, but without goals in my life I feel like I become stagnant.  So I set a goal for myself:  maintain multiple mile runs until I was 8 months pregnant.  I accomplished this goal Wednesday!  I ran a 5k (3.1 miles) on the treadmill.  I have been doing this a couple times a week up until now, but it has been gradually getting harder.  Not necessarily uncomfortable, just harder.  I was so happy when the treadmill read 3 miles that I started to cry.  Sounds ridiculous, but goals make me a better person…

photo 1

I looked pretty foolish to my random gym mates, I am sure, crying on the treadmill.

photo 2

Baby girl and I made it!  I even said to myself, out loud, “We did it!” and snapped a pic to commemorate my accomplishment.  I drank four bottles of water and then promptly drove to Swig to reward myself [and baby] with a sugar cookie!  My egg-shaped self managed to do it – and plan to continue to run – until I can’t anymore.  I think exercising has helped my pregnancy immensely and even though I get some weird looks on the treadmill, working out has been the best thing for me.

The nursery is almost finished.  At least the “big stuff”.  Other than hanging a few hooks, setting up a few of her random necessities, and washing and organizing – we are good to go!  I hung all the artwork for her gallery wall above her changing table this week.  It was my last difficult task to do on my nursery list.

photo 1

photo 2

Friday Zach and I went out on a date for dinner and a movie.  We are taking advantage of this last month [plus some weeks] by trying to go out on a date a least once every week.  We alternate on who gets to pick dinner and who gets to pick the movie.  It’s a good thing, too, because I would pick Mexican food every time if it were up to me!

Saturday I had my very first baby shower.  It was thrown by my closest high school friends and held at my friend Brittney’s house.  I was so overwhelmed by all that they did to make it so special.  I can’t thank them enough for all the work they put into it.  I feel so lucky!

And how cute are these Diet Coke cans…?  Britt is a vinyl master.  My friend Whitney also made all of these amazing treats – including homemade Swig sugar cookies!

photo 1

shower 1

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

Thank you to everyone who came and helped!  I know how much work goes into showers and it is not easy.  I teared up all the way home thinking of how blessed I have been all these years to have these girls in my life.

8 months down.  Feeling large.  Our hospital bags are almost completely packed.  I also filled out a birth plan this week and about had a coronary trying to weigh my options on what to do and when to do it.  And what to do if and when those things don’t happen.  I know I can do it as long as I have Zach there alongside me, keeping me focused.  Now if I can just keep him from sneaking away and going to In N Out Burger while I’m in labor…

32 weeks

I’ve Just Seen a Face

This week was a hard one for me.  I had my 31 week appointment and my doctor told me she wanted me to get a special ultrasound to check the growth of baby girl.  I am not measuring normal, and even though I know that it is because I am carrying her far in my back, I still was sick about it.  Sounds stupid, I know…I realize people get these all the time – some people get multiple growth ultrasounds during their pregnancies, but I still was worried.  Mostly because I had joked all this time about Zach and I having a midget baby and felt now that it was really happening.  Also, it seemed as though everything with this pregnancy had been going so well that something bad was bound to happen, eventually.  They scheduled my appointment for Thursday morning.

It was basically a replica of my 20 week anatomy scan.  It was much quicker and I got the same tech as I had at my previous ultrasound, who I loved.  Turns out all the heartache was pointless because baby girl is perfectly fine.  She is actually measuring a week early!  It was a huge relief to me knowing that all was well and I feel incredibly crazy for feeling so worried.

By complete coincidence I had scheduled a 4D ultrasound later that evening, weeks prior.  After the good news earlier that morning I began to get really excited to see what she looked like.  As soon as Zach got home from work we left for Fetal Fotos.

I’m a huge Beatles fan, thanks to my dad.  Baby girl has a few subtle hints in her nursery, even.  The first thing that came to my mind when I saw our little girl’s face was the song “I’ve Just Seen a Face”.  Zach grabbed my hand and I have never felt anything like this particular feeling before.  All this time she has been weird skeletal images on a screen, and now she was a really tiny human.  Our tiny human!  With eyes that could open and close, hands that were grabbing her toes, and HAIR!  My baby has HAIR!  I was completely bald when I was born (and Zach didn’t have too much more hair than I did) so I was elated at the fact that we could see her tiny tufts of hair on the back of her head.  No words can describe it, honestly.  That’s why the song kept playing over and over in my mind, I think.

I’ve just seen a face
I can’t forget the time or place
Where we just meet
She’s just the girl for me
And I want all the world to see
We’ve met…

Fallin’, yes I am fallin’
And she keeps callin’
Me back again…

HENDERSON_15

 

HENDERSON_57

 

HENDERSON_32

31 weeks

Charleston

0 Permalink 0

This year for our Hendo Girls’ Trip we had two pregnant chicks:  Siri and myself.  Siri is due two weeks before me.  Out of consideration for us “knocked-ups” they decided to do an earlier excursion.  We usually go in November when the boys are hunting, but since Siri will already have a newborn by then [she is having an induction date scheduled sometime soon], we planned it for September.  Last year we went to Chicago and we loved it so much we decided to go somewhere new again!  Charleston, South Carolina was the lucky host city.

It is a special place to Zach’s sister Lori – two of her birth mothers [Lola’s birth mom and Will’s birth mom] were from Charleston.  None of us had ever been and we were elated to explore a new place!

IMG_2841

Traveling while pregnant is sexy, no?  I’ve never felt more egg-shaped in my life!

IMG_2842

We arrived around 4:00 local time.  The street on which we were staying was closed down to regular traffic for a little shopping and dining event.  It was so much fun to see all the people out and about.

IMG_2828

We shopped for a bit before heading out for our dinner reservation.  It was my first time experiencing southern food.  Shrimp and grits – definitely worth trying!

Our first full day we went on a walking history tour of Charleston.  Our darling tour guide, Palmer, showed us around.  We learned a little bit about the Civil War, saw a lot of historic architecture, and even spotted some familiar landmarks [and when I say landmarks, I mean movie scenery and set locations].

Side Note:  Charleston is humid.  Hot and humid.  The first day was so much so that we all basically wore work-out attire.  I brought one of the only dri-fit shirts that actually fits these days – which happens to be a peachy color.  I deemed myself “Katie and the Giant Peach”.

IMG_2803

IMG_2793

IMG_2790

IMG_2794

IMG_2800

IMG_2809

IMG_2812

IMG_2840

If you’re a fan of the movie The Notebook [let’s be honest – what female isn’t?!] then you might recognize this mansion…

IMG_2820

charleston

That night we dined at another local spot called SNOB, where I tried Carolina gold rice.  Later we stopped for treats on our way back to our hotel.  Milkshakes, fudge, and for me – pumpkin ice cream!  It was my favorite dessert of the trip, to be honest.  We took our spoils back to our room to watch The Notebook.  The hotel we were staying at had Apple TV.  I hope the rest of the world catches on to this trend…

That night Lori got a call from the adoption agency she has been working with for the process of getting her fourth baby.  The birth mom that had picked her and her family had gone into labor early.  It was after midnight when she got the call and the Charleston Airport was already closed.  The sweet little baby boy was born less than an hour later.  Lori caught the first flight home in the wee hours the morning.  We were so sad she had to leave early, but so excited for her!

The next day we took a plantation tour.  We explored Middleton Place [the Patriot was filmed there] and spent the majority of the day on the property.  We had lunch – the homemade cornbread was my favorite, took a carriage ride, toured the house, and explored the gardens.

IMG_2857

IMG_2859

tree

When we returned back to the city we all got changed for dinner at Hall’s Chophouse.  It was only six blocks away from our hotel so we decided to walk.  The light drizzle we were in soon turned to pouring rain.  I’ve never been caught in a storm like that before.  It wasn’t so much rain as it was sheets of water coming down.  We were all drenched within minutes!

rain

The next day was unscheduled.  We had a lunch date at Cru Cafe – my favorite lunch of the entire trip.

IMG_2863

I then made all the girls walk over a mile to Sugar Bakeshop for some delicious cupcakes.  The blueberry lemon and almond were my favorite.  I hope they were as pleased as I was to try them.  PS – If you’re wondering why my hair is in a scraggly knot on my head in every single picture and also why we all have a slight sheen to our bodies, it would be due to the high humidity.  I’ve never experienced humid air like in the south before.  I have mad respect for ladies that curl and style their hair each day in Charleston, you are all my idols!

Processed with VSCOcam with m3 preset

We shopped for a bit together before all going our separate ways.  My favorite buys were some killer deal items purchased at Madewell and a Christmas outfit for baby girl at a shop called Kids on King.  Shopping for myself these days is not as much fun…being egg-shaped and all.

That night we had dinner at HUSK – where we all tried crispy fried chicken skins and deep fried catfish.

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

The weather decided to turn rainy again so we spent our last night in Charleston at a very unique movie theater.  Cinebar – where you could order brownie sundaes, chocolate cake, milkshakes, and popcorn and have it brought to your theater seat.  Which we did, obviously.  We stayed cool and dry that night and enjoyed the 100 Foot Journey.  It made me ache for Paris already.

It was such a fantastic long weekend.  I can’t describe how much I love being with my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws.  We know how to have a good time, no doubt about it.

As for southern food, I have made my ratings.

Shrimp and Grits: B / southern Cornbread: A+ / Carolina gold rice: A / southern Buscuits: A / Fried Chicken Skin: C+ / Fried Catfish: D

Sadly, we found out the birth mom had decided to parent the baby on her own that Lori and her family had been involved with.  It was devestating news and my heart is broken for Lori and Travis.  Hoping heaven sends another sweet baby [and a willing birth mother] to the Waylands very, very soon.  In the meantime, we are all sending prayers and positive thoughts their way.

I officially turned 31 weeks pregnant while in Charleston and am thanking my lucky stars that I am pregnant in Utah and not in South Carolina.  Dry heat is the way I wanna live, that’s for sure!

Paris Maternity Photos

Here are our maternity photos that we had taken in Paris.  I still can’t believe they turned out [considering how random and last minute it all was].  We decided to meet our photographer at the Pont des Arts.  We then made our way down to the water, then over to the Louvre, and a nearby garden plaza last.  Our photographer wanted to take the photos without all the tourists, so we had to meet her at 7:00 am.  The sun was barely up and it was freezing, but we are thrilled at how they came out.

The scenery and the locations are so special to the both of us, which make these photos even more meaningful…

maternity shoot Paris-19

Screen Shot 2014-09-14 at 1.41.42 PM

maternity shoot Paris-54

maternity shoot Paris-100

maternity shoot Paris-88

Screen Shot 2014-09-14 at 1.39.30 PM

maternity shoot Paris-107

Screen Shot 2014-09-14 at 1.42.10 PM

maternity shoot Paris-110

maternity shoot Paris-120

to insta

maternity shoot Paris-151

Screen Shot 2014-09-14 at 1.40.01 PM

Screen Shot 2014-09-14 at 1.40.42 PM

Screen Shot 2014-09-14 at 1.40.26 PM

maternity shoot Paris-161

maternity shoot Paris-189

My Brother’s Wedding + The Birthday Boy!

To say that the last few weeks have been hectic is a total understatement.  I realize leaving the country and coming home four days before my brother’s wedding was totally our decision, but to add to the mix – it was Zach’s 29th birthday this last week and I left the day after my brother’s wedding for a girls’ trip with the Hendersons.  But first, my brother…

His wedding dinner was Thursday of this last week.  My mom and I took on the centerpieces for the dinner ourselves.  My sweet friend, Martha, ordered the succulents for me from Ensign Floral and the day after we got home from Paris I picked them up.  Days prior to leaving for Paris I had been collecting mason jars, vintage books, and wooden boxes for the tables.  Tuesday of this last week we put all the stuff together and I arranged all the succulents in their appropriate containers.

IMG_2631

For our first time making floral centerpieces of any kind, we were all pretty pleased at how they turned out.

IMG_2660

The vintage soda pop crates my dad found were a total hit – by far my favorite pieces!

IMG_2661

Wednesday night Zach and I went out for his birthday dinner.  His real birthday wasn’t until Friday [which was the day of my brother’s wedding] and I didn’t want to skip his annual tradition, so we dined at Benihana Wednesday instead of Friday.  He has been going to Benihana for his birthday for as long as he can remember.  We also went and did a little birthday shopping before hand.

IMG_2674

He was such a good sport to spend his 29th birthday with all my crazy family members.  I couldn’t have hand-picked a better husband, honestly.

IMG_2677

Thursday was the wedding dinner.  It was held at the Gathering Place.  We spent the first half of the day setting up all the tables.  Luckily, my mom and I had organized it well so it was pretty efficient.  We had enough time to head home and all shower up before the whole thing started.

IMG_2682

IMG_2683

So many family members and friends came to support Blake and Brittany.  It was such a special thing to be a part of.  I couldn’t be happier with how everything turned out.  It was also wonderful to catch up with so many people we don’t see that often.  Two of my cousins are expecting babies as well – so we had to get a photo.  Carissa [on the left] was due 19 days from the time this picture was taken.  I am 30 weeks [plus a few days].  Kylee [on the far right] is 18 weeks.  And we all conveniently wore black – so we even matched for said photo.

IMG_2691

IMG_2718

The next day was the wedding at Magnolia Grove Reception Center.  The ceremony was held in the outdoor courtyard and the weather was a dream.  I am so excited for Blake to experience married life.  I have never seen him so happy.

IMG_2741

IMG_2777

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

Again, I was overwhelmed with the support Blake received from our family and all of our long-time friends.  As I type this he and Brittany are enjoying their honeymoon in Costa Rica!  It was a late night – which ended with Zach and I stopping at McDonald’s for some midnight nourishment.  We were so grateful that everything went so smoothly and we are all relieved to have all the madness over.  At least for a few hours…

Zach passed out minutes after crawling into bed and I stayed up to pack for a weekend in Charleston, South Carolina with my sister-in-laws and mother-in-law.

Sometime during the night (Paris appropriate time, I assume) I received an email from our photographer that took our maternity photos while in Paris letting us know our pictures had been edited and were ready for review.  I can’t believe how lucky we are that the only person that replied to all my many inquiries about maternity photos turned out to be so talented and so easy to work with.  She only sent me a few to preview, but I can’t wait to see the rest!

IMG_2786

30 weeks and still feeling great!  Less than 10 weeks until we get to see what this [very active] babe looks like!

30 weeks

Paris / NYC / Babymoon

It’s a long story – but to keep it short, Zach and I were torn when we started planning this so called “babymoon”.  Zach’s going through a quarter-life crisis and thinks that once this baby comes out of me that we will never, ever…ever travel again.  His fears are justified.  We’ve been so lucky to have had the opportunity to travel together over the last [almost] six years.  Trips will be far and few between in the future, and even so, they will be completely different.  So in an attempt to have a one last hurrah, we wanted to make this trip count.  We went back and forth between Hawaii and New York forever.  Totally last minute, we decided on Paris.  Mark and Jeanene joined us in Paris and then would go their separate ways to Switzerland.  We would stay in Paris for a bit longer before flying to New York before returning home.  It was meant to be, I guess, because everything just fell into place rapidly.

Saturday we boarded our direct flight to Paris.  I was a little hesitant to take an international flight being almost 7 and a half months pregnant – but I figured I would go into it with a good attitude and hope for the best.  I was envious of Zach – he took a sleeping pill and was out within 5 minutes of reaching 10,000 feet.

IMG_2363

With a stroke of luck, our row had an international outlet so I could charge my computer the entire flight.  45 minutes into the flight I decided I would try to sleep.  I figured if I woke up, then I woke up.  I had been asleep for about 30 minutes before I awoke to Zach battling with a bag of peanuts.  I opened my eyes to see him smooshing a bag of peanuts very noisily.

I asked him “Zach, do you want me to help you open those?”

He just stared blankly at me.

Then he continued to crinkle the peanut package in my face.  Words cannot express the annoyingness of this sound.  Not only to me, but to our fellow passengers.  I kept telling him, “Babe, that is really loud.  Do you want me to help you get those open?”  But to no avail.  He was dead to the world – doped up on a sleeping pill, making as much noise as possible with what he had.  Like flying with a five-year-old.

Needless to say I never got back to sleep.  Luckily I got a ton of work done and felt super accomplished by the time we landed in Paris.  Zach, on the other hand, has been permanently banned from ingesting a sleeping pill ever again considering he got sick in the last couple of hours in the air.  No need to reminisce about our flight to Africa…there was puke involved, but at least he didn’t puke on himself this time!  So it was a victory!

We took a taxi from CDG to the hotel and after ditching our bags we took a little nap.  As soon as we had all rested a bit we set off to observe the neighborhood our hotel was in.  This was the closest Zach and I had ever stayed to the Eiffel Tour.  It was a fantastic location.

Processed with VSCOcam with m5 preset

We roamed around the area and then had dinner at our local favorite – Pizza Amalfi.  The manager recognizes me every time we dine there.  He was elated to find out we were expecting a little girl and he told me to name her Lisa.  We went back to the Eiffel Tour to see her sparkle and grab our first of many crepes of the trip.

Processed with VSCOcam with m5 preset

The next morning I woke up to a zonked out Zach.  He wasn’t going anywhere, so I went down to breakfast by myself.  I brought some of it back up to our room in time to watch the sun rise.  The view was amazing…

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

Our first full day we walked down to the Seine River to take a boat tour.  Mark and Jeanene had never done the tour on the water, so we thought it would be fun.  The weather was perfect.

IMG_2438

We dined at a cafe near our hotel afterwards for a late lunch.  Later we took a taxi to the Montmartre for dinner.  We ate at a steak and seafood restaurant that didn’t mess around.  Mark and Zach shared a giant slab of beef on a hot rock.

IMG_2433

Jeanene and I got an incredibly moist fish baked in packed salt.  The meal was awesome.

IMG_2432

We walked up to the Sacré-Coeur and for the first time walked through it.  We walked down the steps before taking a taxi back to the Eiffel Tour for another crepe.

IMG_2532

Our second full day we took the RER to Versailles.  We stopped just outside for a McDonald’s visit – mostly for decent bathrooms and sodas with ice.  Once we arrived at the palace we were all stoked there wasn’t a wait.  We went straight to lunch at one of the palace’s cafeterias.  After our baguette sandwiches we went outside to the gardens.

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset

We grabbed ourselves a golf cart (seriously, so worth every euro) and cruised around the entire place.

Processed with VSCOcam with m5 preset

IMG_2468

Mark’s favorite was Apollo’s water feature.  This is also where we parked our golf cart and some Russian chick stole our directions off our golf cart.  Luckily Jeanene and Zach were brave enough to call her out and get them back.

Processed with VSCOcam with a6 preset

Our favorite was the Petit Trianon.  I haven’t seen the gardens in bloom since my visit with Zach on our Study Abroad trip.  I couldn’t believe how beautiful it all was.

IMG_2474

We obviously had to pay a visit to the farm – where Zach heckled the goats.

Processed with VSCOcam with a5 preset

Processed with VSCOcam with a6 preset

Mark lead us on a search for the Grotto – Marie Antionette’s swimming hole.  Zach was thoroughly enthused…

Processed with VSCOcam with m5 preset

On our way out of the Petit we had some freshly squeezed juice made from the oranges from the orangerie.  Mark loved it so much he made us do a drive-thru on the golf cart at the Grand Trianon – our next stop.

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset

We ate dinner at a random restaurant before crashing for bed.

The next day the men set off on a biking adventure while Jeanene and I set off on our mission:  to find a blessing dress for my baby girl.  On a previous trip to Paris, Jeanene and my sister-in-law Gina found some blessing outfits for some of my nieces and nephews.  She convinced me we could find something, and I was grateful for her patience.  We tried several boutique stores, but had no luck.  Since there are very few Parisians who know what a baby blessing is, we kept asking for anywhere we could find a “christening dress”.  Turns out people go all out on Christenings in Paris.  Hand made gowns made from antique lace were available, but unfortunately they needed a real baby to create one – completely custom.  So we kept on searching.  Meanwhile, the guys were riding their bikes through the Garden of the Tulleries, which is apparently not allowed.  They were chased down by some French version of a mall cop.

We retired before it was time to head to our dinner reservation at Little Italy.  It was my favorite meal of the trip.  Something about the pesto pasta at the place, I am telling you.  We walked around the neighborhood afterwards to look at the flower shops and saw the Pompidou all lit up at night.

Processed with VSCOcam with g3 preset

The next day we had some time to kill before our night at the Louvre, so I made everyone stop at Ladureé for a pre-lunch snack.  Since we were already on the Champ-Élyssé we did a little more baby shopping.

IMG_2531

We had lunch at the Paris London Cafe – Mark’s favorite place in all of Paris (mostly because they give you tons of ice with your Coke Zero) and all of us dubbed it was the best lunch of the trip.  Afterwards we walked through the Paris Opera House.  It was Zach’s first time walking through – it was just as beautiful and ornate as one would imagine.

On our way out of the Opera House we spotted a gigantic mall.  Jeanene and I did a little bit of shopping and the guys requested a stop at the indoor McDonald’s.

We then made our way over to the Louvre.  Wednesday is one of the nights the museum is open late and we wanted Mark and Jeanene to experience it at night – just like Zach and I’s first date.

We took our obligatory photo – the one we have taken on our first date, 1st year anniversary, 4th year anniversary, and now…our last trip as a family of two.

IMG_2530

The next morning we went our separate ways.  M & J left for the airport to catch a flight to Switzerland and I drug Zach out of bed at 5:30 AM to get maternity pictures.  I didn’t know it was happening until 2 days before that actual morning.  Since we were originally planning to go to New York for our babymoon, I had contacted a photographer to take some maternity pictures.  When our plans changed and we decided to head to Paris, I contacted everyone I could find (that spoke English) to take some maternity photos for us.  It was very last minute and I didn’t have very good luck.  It wasn’t until 48 hours before that I knew for sure we were going to do them.  A sweet English-speaking photographer local in Paris (with four kids of her own) agreed to take our photos for us for a killer price.  I still can’t believe how much she charged us, especially because the Euro is less than the dollar right now.  I told her our first date was the Louvre and she agreed to meet us there and take us around a few other nearby spots.  Her only stipulation was that we meet her at 7:00 AM so that she could take all the shots before all the tourists emerged.  It was kind of a wild card, but I am excited to see how they turn out!

After our photos I made Zach go back to Ladureé – this time for a BOX of macarons in our favorite flavors:  vanilla, chocolate, salted caramel, strawberry, raspberry, and lemon.

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset

When then made our way back to the Les Halles area to have lunch at a little Italian place Zach found online.  It was the best margherita pizza I have ever had – and I’ve had a lot of margherita pizza, sadly.  Funny thing about Paris:  all their margherita pizzas come with black olives.  It’s so weird, but I can’t hate on a great thing…

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

We walked around the neighborhood, walking through the Pompidou for a bit, and then went back to our hotel to change into something a little warmer for the evening.

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset

We had dinner at the same place we eat every single time we come to Paris.  Zach loves their French onion soup.  It was a delicious meal and we spent some time afterwards walking around a few stores nearby.  Zach enjoyed staring at all the fancy sports cars in the ritzy area nearby where all the designer shopping boutiques are.

IMG_2548

It was our last night in Paris.  We couldn’t resist getting one last crepe [Zach got cinnamon and sugar every time and I got Nutella and banana] and walking back to our hotel.

The next morning we went straight to the airport for our flight to New York.  We arrived in NYC late in the afternoon and went straight to dinner at Dos Caminos in SOHO a couple of blocks away from our hotel.

IMG_2552

The next morning we did some shopping in SOHO.  After walking up and down Broadway for a bit we made our way over to Shake Shack – my one request of the entire trip.  Not only is it the only time I eat a cheeseburger, but their beloved crinkle fries are back.  It was like heaven was shining right down on me…

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

photo 2 copy 2

We spent the rest of our afternoon roaming around – popping in and out of shops, relishing in any air conditioning possible, and then heading to dinner at Lombardi’s Pizza near Little Italy.  We both were starved after all the walking in the crazy humidity.

Processed with VSCOcam with b5 preset

Zach asked for Pinkberry afterwards and I couldn’t resist – besides, they had peanut butter flavor!

Processed with VSCOcam with m5 preset

The next day we packed up all our bags and checked out of our hotel before taking the subway to Yankee Stadium.  I’ve said it before and I know I will say it again, but my husband has incredible timing.  We always seem to be in random locations where specific sporting events are taking place.  Last time it was conveniently the Bruin’s ice hockey playoff game while we were in Boston.  This time, Derek Jeter’s retirement game was scheduled for our last day in New York.  I was happy to attend at Zach’s request.  My only request was that our seats were in the shade.  It had been hot and humid all weekend, but Sunday was slightly overcast and 10 degrees cooler.

photo 3

The event was such a blast.  All these special guests had shown up to celebrate Jeter – including Michael Jordan and Cal Ripken, Jr.

photo 1

photo 4

photo 2

They also had clips between innings of other celebrities that had filmed their messages of congrats for Derek.  It was so fun to experience and I am so glad we went.

29 weeks

29 weeks in Paris was an absolute dream.  Baby girl feels like she has doubled in size over the last seven days.  I don’t know if she had a growth spurt or if it was all the baguettes/crepes I consumed.

I’m so grateful to Mark, Jeanene, and Zach for letting a pregnant chick tag along with them on this amazing trip.  Paris pregnant went a lot better than I expected.  Even New York, with the wild humid temps, was really wonderful.  Thank you to everyone who made this trip possible for us, we feel very lucky.