Our first trip to Hawaii. I'm sure it won't be our last. Our little studio apartment that we rented off HomeAway.com worked out great. It was literally two blocks from the beach and most importantly, close to the wedding festivities. It didn't have the luxuries of a hotel but it was clean, adequate, and had a kitchen so that we could keep breakfast and snacks on hand. Highlights of our trip included renting a car for a day to hike Manoa Falls and drive to Kailua. Serendipitously, Sunset magazine profiled the town just last month as a great place to... Read more →

It always seems to take me a week after coming home from traveling to get back into the swing of things. To fully catch up on sleep if there was a time change, to get back to healthy eating habits, back to my workout routine and back to blogging. I love routines; I love our routines: Saturday morning yoga, grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s, spin class, low-key weeknights together, walking Drew two times a day. It’s the simple things, right? By the end of my week of travel a week ago I was pretty ready to back to our normal... Read more →

I alternate between loving to run with music and without music. Lately I've definitely been in awith music phase. Unfortunately I've never been a great playlist-maker and I'm pretty particular about what I listen to when I work out. The song needs to match the intensity of my workout so podcasts or audio books do not accompany me on my runs. For the most part I really like the music that's played in my RPM spin classes so I go to this website to check out all the RPM music. I spent some time last week reworking my running playlist... Read more →

One fall "tradition" that seems to have developed in the Wharton house is that on Sundays Chris usually watches football and I watch from the kitchen while making a big pot of soup for the week. I love Sunday cooking but as it gets hotter I fall out of the habit. Who wants to stand over a stove or oven when it's over 100 degrees outside? A couple of weeks ago, even though the temperatures were no where near fall-like, I just got the urge to spend the day cooking. I'm ready for fall *pout*. I came across Tracy's recipe... Read more →

Before I started reading Sara's blog I knew very little about the philosophies and practices of a Montessori education. My only impression of Montessori was actually through my mom. As part of her job, my mom visits different schools and she would tell me how much she loved visiting Montessori classrooms because they were beautiful and orderly and clearly designed with the child as the focus. They don't contain plastic toys and instead include toys made of natural materials, like wood and wool, as well as practical life activities like sweeping and washing. This approach to spaces for children really... Read more →

Hi friends! Last week got away from me between being busy at work, hosting a little dinner party, and never quite getting enough sleep. The three day weekend for Labor Day could not have come at a better time! In August we watched lots of Olypmpic coverage although I always forgot about the time delay and would hear the results on NPR on my way to work - dang it! I blocked out a weekend to work on my blog resdesign/conversion to Typepad and made progress. It's getting closer! I'm on schedule for an October launch so not too much... Read more →