This week Jack returned to school and had his first day of 8th grade! Middle school has absolutely flown by and I can’t believe he’s already had his LAST first day at the middle school before he moves onto high school next year.
I had such a wonderful summer with him – with trips to Ocean City, North Naples, and NYC. We also had Cooper join our family this summer and we all love his ridiculous fuzzy face, especially Jack who has taken the title of Cooper’s Best Friend. Oh and at a recent doctor’s appointment, we found that Jack had gained almost 10 pounds and grew 1 1/2 inches over the last three months!
So, back to school we go. Last year was a really tough year for Jack when it comes to friends, so I’m very much hoping that this year he finds *his people*. In fact, I checked in with his guidance teacher a couple days before the first day of school and she assured me that 7th grade is typically the most challenging for all students, but especially boys. So, fingers crossed for an easier year!
{As previously noted here on the blog, all photos and/or posts about Jack are run by him first for approval. Jack has approved this message.}
You know how sometimes you promise your kid a prize for something, and then later have to figure out how to deliver on it? Yeah, that was us. Jack crushed it in 6th grade, landing on the honor roll all four semesters. As a little reward, we came up with the idea of an end-of-year prize. Then came 7th grade. Jack worked his butt off again and made the honor roll another three semesters in a row. By spring, things were looking a little shaky, so we sweetened the deal: if he could pull his grades back up to all A’s and B’s for an eighth straight semester, he’d earn something big… an overnight trip to NYC.
Which he earned! YAY for Jack!
The only problem? Summer got busy, and the thought of wandering around the city in hot, sticky, swampy weather wasn’t exactly appealing. So, we kept pushing it off. And pushing it off. Until… well, basically the very last minute. Jack and I finally squeezed in our NYC adventure over the weekend, just in time for him to roll straight into his first day of school the very next morning.
Where We Stayed: Motto by Hilton New York City Chelsea
This is our third time back at the Motto by Hilton New York City Chelsea hotel. As always, the check-in was easy, the rooms were clean, and the price was good by NYC standards. It is also about a 10-minute walk from the train station, and within easy access to lots of shops and restaurants.
What We Packed
When we do an overnight in NYC, we keep the packing to a minimum with just a backpack for each of us. This was Jack’s first time in the city in the summer, so it was so nice not to have to be bundled up in coats, hats and gloves! We each pack a change of clothes, electronics (Kindle for me, Nintendo Switch for him), and toothbrushes.
What We Did: Chelsea, Midtown, Chinatown & Little Italy
We arrived in the city around 2pm and walked over to the hotel. Our room wasn’t quite ready yet, so we ventured out to grab some food at Crompton Ale House (YUM!), then back to the hotel to drop off our backpacks and charge our devices.
We took an Uber to Midtown, to spend some time in Jack’s favorite stores – the Nintendo store and the Lego store. He was absolutely thrilled to pick out a couple new Lego sets to add to his collection.
Lots of streets were shut down for little street festivals, so we decided that instead of Ubering back, we’d just walk the 20+ streets back to Chelsea since it was a beautiful day. We poked around looking at stores on our way and had an energy-boost stop of some FroYo about halfway through our walk. By time we got back to Chelsea, we were ready to be lazy, so we grabbed some food at the nearby Whole Foods, had a bed picnic and enjoyed the sunset from our room.
The next morning, we made a quick run to a nearby Starbucks for coffee and breakfast sandwiches and headed back to the room to relax for a bit. Our check-out time was noon, so we packed up our backpacks and left them with the front desk for the day.
We took an Uber to Chinatown and checked out lots of stores in the Mott Street area, making our way from Chinatown to Little Italy. One of our favorites was Yunhong Chopsticks — because they have so many sets of beautiful chopsticks to choose from. We each picked out our favorite set, as well as a set to bring home for Travis for our next sushi or ramen night. I also enjoyed Senti Senti, which is a shop devoted to k-beauty products. With the help of a super helpful salesperson, I bought a couple items I can’t wait to try out!
Oh and we had some absolutely delicious crepes while walking around Chinatown as well. Jack had one with bananas and Nutella and I got a mini GF version which included strawberries, bananas, custard cream, whipped yogurt, chocolate pearls and crushed pistachio. So good! Absolutely would eat them again, but Jack recommends sticking with the mini version because his was HUGE.
We hopped an Uber back to our hotel, picked up our backpacks and then walked over to Eatly for lunch/dinner. I’m obsessed with their pesto gnocchi, so I will take any chance I can to get some in my belly. We didn’t have much time to spare, so we packed up our leftovers and power-walked to the train station, thankfully getting there with the perfect amount of time to use the restrooms and line up for our train.
And just like that our whirlwind trip to NYC was over. It was one of those last-minute plans that came together and a really fun end to our summer!
Well, this may be the most eclectic August style post ever. Let’s get right into it…
We spent a week in Florida (you can read all about it here) and I basically wore my swimsuit every day. I’m not kidding when I say we packed the bare minimum (we brought 2 carry-on suitcases for the three of us), with plans to be pool and beach slugs all week. As for this swimsuit, I’m not giving you the brand/store because I wouldn’t recommend it. It was great for the week — but certainly showed wear and tear from the salt water by the end of our trip.
Also, I love this photo because I feel pretty darn hot for no makeup, wet hair and my 48th birthday right around the corner.
Here’s my office day photo – I bought this eyelet dress from Nordstrom Rack last year and wanted to make sure to include it in my summer rotation. I topped it with a thrifted cardigan, brown leather belt and Rothy’s espadrilles. Loved this outfit and will absolutely wear it again and again.
Threw this outfit on to do some thrifting for National Thrift Shop Day. Ironically, nothing was thrifted for this look – which is MADNESS for me. I purchased the tee shirt when we were in Prescott, AZ in the spring and the skirt was an ‘I’ll just add this to the cart to get free shipping’ purchase from Old Navy.
I mean, COME ON! How fantastic is my Renaissance Festival outfit?! I’ve been adding to my costume over the years and I’m so, so thrilled with this year’s combo. The cream underskirt and blue blouse are from my original costume when I worked there 30 years ago. The corset is an Amazon find for just $39. As for the scarf, rainbow skirt, belt, purse and boots – those are all thrifted/secondhand finds from over the years and items that I wear in my ‘real life’ that got repurposed for the day. Oh, and I added some fabulous pink extensions to my braids, which I loved!
New vs Secondhand Tally
This month, I count 9 items that I purchased retail and 5 items I purchased secondhand. I think this is the first month that I had more retail than secondhand since I started keeping track… but in my defense, 2 of those items are 30 years old!
