Hi all, something different for me. Today at 1 p ET, I’ll be chatting about educating kids with music w/ @mommymasters @theMotherhood! Join in here: http://bit.ly/NnuN3m.
Talk to you soon!
Occasionally, when I tell people we are looking for a lifestyle with more walkability, I get a look that says something like, “why” or “what?” For a minute, I feel like I’m crazy until I remember that there are people who walk to work every day or ride their bikes and don’t even own cars. Granted, not that typical in Florida, but it is often the norm.
When I lived in D.C. after college I hated not having a car. I felt claustrophobic, missing the freedom of being able to go where I wanted, whenever I wanted. I liked taking long moody drives at night listening to music when I wanted some time to myself. But now, I have the best of both. A car when I want or need, and many options within walking distance.
A writer from the St. Pete Times is doing a walking experiment in tribute to Thoreau’s Walking essay. He is walking everywhere for a week. As I’ve read along, I love all the small things he has noticed while he walks, like the baby chicks or the hidden cemetery.
For me, it’s those small things that make the most impact. One day in Santa Fe, Mirabelle and I were walking to a book store when she stopped me, pulling me back and pointing to the ground. I’m sure I was rushing to story time and maybe a little annoyed to be slowed down, but I stopped and looked. She had found a perfect heart stamped into the cement in front of one of the store entrances. We found more as we walked, and since that day I’ve made a point to notice those things we often overlook, or that may seem like trash, or would have missed had we been in a car. In our new house in Tampa, we find pieces of Gasparilla beads everywhere – on the ground, dangling from tree branches, in sidewalk cracks – it amazes me that almost six months later, remnants remain.
I also like the sense of exploration I get from walking. I’m often distracted in my car and definitely removed from my surroundings. I also have a terrible sense of direction. When I’m walking I let that stuff go. I wander more than I would in a car. If I get lost walking, it’s unlikely I’ve gone too far and can easily turn back. I don’t have to worry about finding someplace to turn around, I can push through bushes, jump over curbs or walk around buildings if I must. All opportunities to see something I might otherwise miss.
This is the ideal. The reality is that we still drive a lot. July in Tampa is hot and although Mirabelle likes to walk, there are times when it’s not realistic. A wagon has helped, although that brings out a whole other set of issues where I feel guilty that she’s not walking, interacting with us, etc. Oh well. It’s the little things.
Until next time.
So our newest adventure is a little different from the last two. This most recent one – the sale of our house and rental of an urban (for Tampa) townhouse – is truly about living like a local because well, we are locals.
And for that reason, I’ve been debating on continuing this blog. But, I decided to continue because I love to write and this blog fills that need, and hopefully even in day-to-day life, even in the town in which we live, we can continue to find the new and interesting. So, this is our newest adventure. Welcome.
If you don’t know us well, it may seem that we make quick decisions without a lot of planning. We wait until the last minute to buy plane tickets or make hotel reservations, we take last-minute trips, and we are not the most scheduled family. But those of you who know us well, know that we spend a long time talking and considering and questioning, before we pull the trigger at the very last, seemingly spontaneous, minute. This was the case with the sale of our house.
We’ve talked about selling our house for more than a year, even meeting with realtors. Then it got close to the holidays, so we waited. Then we went to Santa Fe, so we waited longer. Finally, our realtor prodded us along until we got the house ready, got it on the market, and sold it after our first showing.
Yes, most of the country is feeling the effects of a slow market but South Tampa is having none of that, and houses were selling as fast as they did seven or eight years ago. After a long year of talking, planning, and thinking, we had to quickly clean, pack, and find a new home. Pretty typical scenario for us, but it seems to work so far.
We planned to rent until we could find the house we want to buy, hoping that this next house will be a longer term plan for us. In the meantime, we also saw the opportunity to find a place that was different from where we’ve been living and most likely, from where we will move long-term. Neighborhood was the priority as it always is with us. We wanted something with walkability, and possibly something a bit more urban that we would buy. We found a townhouse in a busy neighborhood. We are close to restaurants, school, Tampa Bay and a few parks.
We have dreams of walking every night to the park, like we did in Asheville, or to the bay to see the fish. We plan to walk to breakfast like we did in Santa Fe, to dinner with Mirabelle, and for drinks just the two of us – which we didn’t get to do on any of our travels. And we plan to look for new sites, new adventures and new opportunities. Even in our old town.
I’ll keep you posted.
Today is our last morning in Santa Fe. We leave this afternoon for Albuquerque and fly out Tuesday morning. I have mixed feelings about leaving, but do feel ready to get back home. I feel like we’ve done and seen almost everything planned. We’ve enjoyed the snow, walked a lot, ate more than we probably should have, and explored the surrounding areas.
We were talking last night about our favorite parts of this trip (I have officially become my mother who used to ask us this after our family vacations). For me, it’s been the day trips we’ve taken and being able to walk almost everywhere. Several of our day trips have ended in a random stop here or a side road there and we’ve seen some of the most beautiful sights.
It’s something we don’t do that often at home. Some of our family members or friends may think we are spontaneous because we often wait until the last minute to buy plane tickets, announce a trip (“we are going to Costa Rica in two weeks”…”our house is rented out for the month, now we have to figure out where to go….”), but in truth we have thought about these things for a long time, planned them in our heads and just been slow on execution. In reality, we tend not to be very spontaneous in our day-to-day lives. Yes, it’s harder when you have children, but it shouldn’t be that hard to travel across town to a restaurant we’ve heard about but never been to, or a park or walking trail that sounds nice. We fall prey to not wanting to venture far out of our five square mile comfort zone.
While here, we’ve spent an entire day driving someplace new. Or popped in our car at two in the afternoon to go to a monument or small town and end up spending the rest of the day and evening exploring. Were we are at home, 2 p.m. seems late to go anywhere too far – we have dinner and bedtime to think about.
So, maybe that is something we will take home with us.
In recent weeks we have done a lot. Mirabelle and I made a friend and have seen them every couple of days. That has been really fun and together we’ve explored art galleries on Canyon Road, story times, a church with an unexplainable winding staircase, and a tea house that I wish we had found earlier. I’m so glad Mirabelle has had a chance to play with another child. She really misses her friends from home.
We took Mirabelle skiing again. She is mastering the green slopes. It has been so much fun to see her out there and nice that she and Devon have this to share. I’m imaging future family ski trips where they can ski while I hit the spa. Ha, ha.
We went to the several galleries in the Railyard district. One had ancient artifacts for sale, which Devon loved. It is amazing to think that you could own something that could be found in museums.
The Railyard district was great. It has a much more urban, youthful feel and is someplace I could definitely see us spending time in if we lived here. I like the area where we are staying and it is perfect for walking everywhere, close to skiing, etc. But, for a creative community, I have a sense that Santa Fe seems to be already finished. I’m not sure if I can explain this correctly, but I like being in a creative community that feels like it’s still in the midst of the creative process. Most of the galleries we have seen have a very finished feel – they are slick, designed and marketed well. And while I really appreciate the aesthetics of a well designed space for viewing art, I also like to see a little bit of the process…some paint under the fingernails of the artist, a studio space in the back. I felt more of that in the Railyard district.
There is also a farmer’s market there, which we visited. We bought food and the three of us made a lamb stew. It was fun to have Mirabelle help and something we don’t do enough. I’m excited to get home and make more use of the farmer’s markets near us. I’m hoping to plan more dinners with friends and family using what we find.
We visited the Georgia O’Keefe Museum, which everyone urged us to see, but weren’t all that impressed. Part of it may be that they seemed uncomfortable having a young child there and that turned me off.
We also took a day trip to the small artists colony, Madrid. We loved this area – again, creative community seemingly in progress. Devon bought a handmade guitar made from a cigar box that he loves.
I’m sure there is more that I am forgetting but I will post pictures soon and fill in the details. And then we fly home and get back to our real life, which will be exciting as well.
Until then…..
It has been an interesting few days. We went to the International Folk Art Museum, which I loved. I love folk art and hope to bring some home with us. We traditionally buy art as a souvenir for us and for Mirabelle. In the afternoon we had our first Santa Fe playdate with a really nice mom and little girl. We have seen them twice since then and it makes such a difference having met someone.
Devon went skiing this morning, and Mirabelle and I went to storytime at the library and we all went to a magic show. We ate dinner at a tapas restaurant that was very good, and had a jazz band that was fun. Mirabelle ate mussels, bread and olive oil, olives and a scalp. Totally traditional meal for a three year old, right? All in all a fun few days as we wind down.
Until, of course, our car got locked overnight in a garage because we didn’t realize the garage closed for the weekend. And, as I write this, Mirabelle is laying in our bed because she fell out of her bed last night and hit her head and now we need to observe her for two nights. She is fine though, and it is just part of the adventure, right?
Now, if we can get our car back tomorrow we will go to the farmers market, and Taos and all those final things we want to see. Ten days left.
Until next time…
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Walking into town.
Folk Art Museum
Story time with our new friend.
Devon and Mirabelle listening to jazz after dinner.
Writing to you from the top of Ski Santa Fe. Yes, Mirabelle and Devon are back at it while I sit in the lodge with a cup of hot chocolate. Not a bad way to spend the morning. The slopes today are not crowded at all and it is really beautiful. I watched for about five minutes until Mirabelle got bored on the bunny slope and wanted to get on the ski lift. So off they went.
Today is exactly three weeks into our trip, with two left. There is a lot still to do and I know these next two weeks will go by fast. I think we’ll be ready to get back, though. We’ve had a great time but every once in a while Mirabelle asks if we can go home, “now, please,” and of course I feel bad. We’ve been keeping busy and doing as many kids’ activities as possible, but the community is definitely different as far as being kid-friendly. There are lots of big, exciting things to see and do, but it’s the day-to-day activities we seem to be missing.
A few days ago I read back on the blog posts from Asheville and I was surprised at the difference in tone. With Asheville I wrote a lot about the excitement of the journey and this new turn in our lives. Obviously, we are one year in so that excitement has worn off a bit, but I miss that feeling of “what’s ahead for us?” With this trip we had a better idea of what to expect, and of course we had a rocky start. But I think the biggest difference is that with the last trip I really got into the day-to-day living with Mirabelle. We met a few people, did story times, parks, etc. with some routine and we haven’t really done that here. We’ve focused more on seeing the sites (and there are definitely more to see) than living like locals, which was supposed to be the point. So, this time has felt more like a vacation.
I think Devon has felt that, too, which has been another difference. In Asheville, he worked a lot and Mirabelle and I explored on our own. This time, Devon has flexed his hours more and has been with us much of the time. Let me state up front that I LOVE having Devon with us as much as possible. Anyone who knows us knows how co-dependent we are – in a good way. And, I know we are extremely lucky that he is able to spend so much time with us. And, I know how lucky Mirabelle is to have her daddy around, and for all of us to have the flexibility that we have is pretty amazing. But, in Asheville it was a challenge for me to find my way around by myself, make a life for us and figure out a routine with Mirabelle. On my own. I haven’t had to do that as much and to be honest, I miss it.
Since I’ve stopped working I’ve often said that as a stay-at-home-mom you lose a lot of the short term rewards that you get working – the happy client, finished product, successful projects – that you get on a day-to-day basis. And, I miss that. I do get the satisfaction of knowing Mirabelle is happy with me home and I honestly love being with her, but many of the rewards will come later. So, in Asheville I enjoyed the challenges, and having accomplished that trip intact and happy.
So what I’m left with here is a sense that Santa Fe is a great place to visit, and this is definitely a trip of a lifetime with amazing art, beautiful scenery, and lots of fun things to do, but I feel more like it’s a vacation.
But, that is my impression now. Who knows how I will feel in two weeks or four weeks once we’re back in Tampa. I tend to have better perspective in hindsight. Who doesn’t?
So, we are skiing now and yesterday Mirabelle and I went to the park and went swimming, which was a lot of fun. I’ve actually cooked dinner two nights in a row now – so who knows, maybe we are more settled then I realize.
I know we’ve been busy doing stuff and I’ll write about them soon, but for now I think I’ll enjoy the view and wait to hear what Mirabelle thought of the lift and green slope. She’s already doing things I’ve never done. Pretty cool!
Until next time….
The big news this week is that Mirabelle went skiing for the first time. Devon has wanted to get her out there basically since she could walk, but last year when we were in NC she was still too young. We went to Ski Santa Fe, which is just about 45 minutes from our house. I think it’s only around 15 miles, but driving up a mountain takes a long time. Mirabelle was pretty quiet on the way up, although she said she was excited to ski. But, once we got there she was ready to go. Devon and I were both impressed with how patient she was going through the loooong process of getting lift tickets, renting equipment, etc.
We’ve actually been impressed with how patient and easy she has been throughout this whole trip. We’ve thrown a lot at her, things that make me impatient and frustrated, and honestly, haven’t even thought about whether or not she could handle it. We just assume she can, and we’ve been right.
Devon took her skiing first and although I couldn’t see them, he said she did great. She wasn’t scared and got right out there. After lunch we put her in a ski school for a few hours. There she was in a new city, doing a new activity, without having been away from us for three weeks and she walks into ski school without a look back at us. I’m not sure if I should be happy or sad. The school was pretty cool. It was basically a daycare program but they have instructors that take them out onto a small slope over and over, taking them in every hour or so for snack and break. We were able to watch her for some of it and she did great, but I think she may have gotten a little bored. She wanted Devon to take her back out, which he did, and has asked that next time she just go with Devon.
It is amazing how quickly young kids pick up new activities, with little or no fear. Mirabelle did way better than I did when I tried skiing, and we’ll definitely bring her back a couple more times before we leave. And no, I didn’t try it this time. It looks fun, but just not for me, although I hate to have to explain to Mirabelle why I didn’t ski. One, I don’t want to put my fears into her head, and two I want her to see me as a strong mother who tries new things. So, I just try to remind her of the things I do do. Devon got a month-long pass for himself and is planning to ski and snowboard a few times a week for the time we have left. I love that he has an unlimited opportunity to do something that he loves, but typically only gets to do once a year. Oh, and he got the doctor’s sign off and is healing well. Yay!
Another highlight of the trip so far was Bandelier National Monument. We went late one afternoon almost on a whim, and it was beautiful. It is a huge national park that includes an ancient pueblo and cliff dwellings. We were able to climb into some of the caves that were used as housing, and even saw petroglyphs carved into the rocks. There is much more to see so this is someplace we may try to return. On the way home we drove through Los Alamos. I remember this from my trip with Mark, and it still gives me an eerie feeling. It’s strange to think of an entire community built around the Atomic bomb. My memory of the city is that it had a very bland, 1950s feel to it – almost to belie the intent of the community. It was dark this time so we had a hard time seeing, but it seemed almost like a modern-day planned community. I’m not sure what that says about today’s suburbs. It was also a beautiful drive, and we saw coyotes, Elk and deer on the side of the road, which I loved.
We’ve also been to the Children’s Museum, which was fun but does make me appreciate Tampa’s children’s museum. Mirabelle’s favorite part was that they have a little station where you can paint your face. She wants to go back just for that. And, we went to the New Mexico History Museum and Palace of the Governors. I wasn’t all that excited to go here, but really loved it. I needed (and still need) a history lesson of this area and this helped.
Today, we’re planning to go to the Folk Art Museum, which I am really excited about. So, we’ve been busy and there is still so much to see. As much as I love the sites we’ve seen, some of my favorite times are the day-to-day. Like, walking to the park or the library, finding the good bookstores and coffee shops, or going out to dinner. Those are the things I want to repeat and will miss when we are gone. But, we have two more weeks and I also think we will also be ready to get home. Which will bring us to the next question – why don’t we do more of these things at home?
Until next time….
Tomorrow will be week two in Santa Fe and I’m interested to see how the city changes now that the holidays have ended. Christmas in Santa Fe is high season and so far it has been very crowded with tourists. In one sense that is fun, but in another we’re ready for the traffic to slow down and the restaurant lines to shorten, and now we can start going to the museums that we’ve been holding off on visiting. I’m also ready for everyone to stop assuming we’re tourists, although maybe we just don’t look like we’re from here. Who knows. But, the goal is to live like locals, which may be easier to do once things quiet down.
We’ve continued to be busy and have done a lot of walking. I love being able to walk around town – to the coffee shop, the local park, dinner, etc. That is the best feeling and I love the conversations Mirabelle and I have, or the feeling of us all walking home from dinner in the cold dark, singing the hokey pokey (to take Mirabelle’s mind off the steep walk home – ok mine, too).
There is a gallery that we pass every time we walk out the door and it has a huge abstract sculpture of a woman that also sort of looks like a tongue. While we walked, I explained abstract art to Mirabelle. Then the other day we were reading a book with a Jackson Pollock painting in it and she said, “that’s abstract art, Mommy.” I love that, and the walking is really something I need to integrate at home. In Tampa, we live within walking distance to several restaurants, coffee shops and the Y but I rarely walk them, even though Mirabelle often asks. So, that’s something I will need to try to take from this experience.
We’ve also been able to walk just a couple blocks to the Cross of the Martyrs, which we can also see from our living room window. This has been a nice way to get some exercise and let Mirabelle run around (in the mud, preferably for her) and the Cross is really interesting. Religious meaning aside, I’ve always been drawn to religious symbolism and religious artwork of any kind, so seeing this from our living room every day has been really cool. And, we finally found a playground within walking distance, so that has also been fun. It makes me feel at home and a little bit normal – a playground with a bunch of young kids running around is pretty much the same no matter where you are.
For New Year’s Eve we went to a local circus performance presented by Wise Fool. This is a local not-for-profit that teaches performance classes and also works to bring arts into schools and communities without access. The circus performance was very cool and included several cirque-style numbers as well as belly dancing, hula hoop dancing and more. We all loved it and it was a fun and different way to spend New Year’s Eve.
We went sledding NYE morning, which was a lot of fun. We found one hill out near the ski mountain that we stayed on for a while, and then went to a local place, Cottams, that rents skis, sleds, and tubes and has sledding and tubing hills. Mirabelle loved this and didn’t want to stop. Devon plans to take her skiing this week. Hopefully after he double checks with his doctor.
Tomorrow I’m planning to take Mirabelle to the Children’s Museum and then to her favorite lunch spot – Subway. I’ve heard they offer green chiles as a topping here.
So that’s it for now, although I should add that I’m writing this post laying in bed, looking at the fire burning in the fireplace in our bedroom. Yes, in our bedroom. The room itself, along with the bathroom and closet is probably half the size of our entire house in Tampa, so we are definitely enjoying that and especially the fireplace.
Until next time, goodnight….
We have had a busy couple of days exploring, which is definitely a good thing. Our goal with these trips has always been to “live like locals” and for me, much of that means finding some children’s activities for Mirabelle and kids for her to play with. I’ve done my research and found various activities that we will be trying. So far, that has included a trip to the library – easy walk from our house, yay! -, storytime at an adorable children’s bookstore called Bee Hive (next door to a boutique called Cupcake Clothing that I loved), and a youth Flamenco performance presented by the Institute for Spanish Arts at the Santa Fe Children’s Museum.
The Flamenco dancing was the highlight. This was a teenaged group and they were amazing. Mirabelle wants to take lessons now, which we should be able to find in Tampa if she’s actually interested when we get home.
What has struck me most though, is that besides the kids oriented activities, which I think are important, Mirabelle gets to have these great experiences that are not necessarily “kids activities.” Today, for the first time since we arrived, we walked from our house to see how far it was to the Plaza (8 minutes) and more importantly the nearest coffee shop.
We found a nice coffee and sandwich shop and sat there drinking teas for me and Devon and a hot apple cider for Mirabelle. As we watched the customers filter in and the street scene out of the window I wondered how many 3 year olds hang out at coffee shops on a Wednesday morning. I didn’t until college. While I know these experiences may be a little different from many children’s, I feel pretty lucky that she gets them. At the same time I try my best to give her some of the more traditional experiences as well.
In addition to the kids activities we’ve done a lot of walking around, took a long drive to check out the ski slopes (I know, I know Devon is ready to get out there despite my protests), saw the Santa Fe Model Railroad Club Holiday Train exhibit at the NM History Museum and checked out a bit of the museum itself. And, of course, we’ve eaten a lot.
Devon and I both love to eat out and I really think it’s part of the experience to try the local restaurants. So while I’ve cooked a decent amount, even making Posole for a traditional Christmas Eve dinner, we typically do one meal a day out and so far they’ve all been great. We’ve followed my friend Allison’s suggestions of the Tune Up Cafe and Bumblebee’s Baja Grill, which were delicious and can’t wait to try her other suggestions.
There’s so much more we want to do and this is where I also find myself beginning to stress. No matter how long we stay somewhere, I always start to worry we won’t get to do everything we’d like. A list will come soon for sure, along with more pictures and detail on our house.
Until then, goodnight.
Writing to you from cold, snowy, sunny Santa Fe. I’ve been asked by many people why we chose Santa Fe for our second adventure. Honestly, I’m not sure. I don’t have as good of a reason as our Asheville trip, Sisters McMullen Bakery. I have been here before – once, when I was around 18 my brother and I took a two-week road trip from Houston to Santa Fe and back. It was a great trip but that had more to do with being 18, on the open road with my brother, doing something I’d never even thought of doing before. I’ve always heard that Christmas is beautiful here, and really that was the big draw. Devon has never been here, but he liked the thought of unlimited skiing and snowboarding. So, decision made we went through a much more complicated planning process than for last year’s trip, but we got here easily.
At least we thought we did. Just over 24 hours after we got here Devon got a nose bleed that would not stop. It seems like a nose bleed should be no big deal, but we ended up in the ER, where Devon had to stay overnight. After it still hadn’t stopped by the 2nd day, we got out of the ER and to an ENT who has supported us through the ordeal, and we’ve now been over 48 hours nosebleed-free. Really, this telling is an oversimplization of an incredibly scary time. Being in an ER overnight with a sick husband, a 3 1/2 year old, snowy streets, and in a new city far from home is an experience I never want to go through again. And honestly, just writing this makes me nervous. But, here we are.
I’ll be honest, there’s a part of me that has wanted to come home since this started, but that part is slowly lessening. Today was our first day back out and I can see the beauty of the city and the adventures ahead of us. Hopefully, these adventures will be more fun and less dramatic than they have been so far.
Anyway, I just wanted to get this post out of the way. My next one will show off our really beautiful home, ventures out and the snowgirl Mirabelle and I made in our backyard.
Here we go….
 | Joel B. Freid on On Walking |
| Joel B. Freid on On Walking |
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 | Mark FreidMark on Old town, new adventures |
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Vocke Ventures - A Living Experiment 