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The Nation's capital, Washington DC is home to much history. Museums, monuments, music, and chicken pot pie is what comes to mind when I think of this beloved city.
I've been here few times. I've attended the March for Life rally in high school, watched the Nationals play, run the Rock N Roll half marathon, and explored the National Mall with my cousins. On one occasion, we have dined at Elephant and Castle and all ordered the chicken pot pie randomly. Now, it has become a tradition to go to that restaurant and order chicken pot pie. I haven't ventured much further than the downtown area, but I will give you a summary of what I did there. 
My Itinerary
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I’ll be honest. I thoroughly enjoyed breastfeeding, but I never expected to one day be sitting on the grimy floor of a supermarket bathroom squirting milk out of my overly full breasts. That would have been a hard pass for me in the Places To Pump Department, and I had already found myself pumping on the sweaty seats of a high school bus at a cross country meet as the bus driver blocked teenagers from climbing aboard. But if you are like me, you’ve had to or will be away from your breastfed child because of travel for work or pleasure. And also like me, the idea of pumping and traveling might be daunting to you, but I have lived and survived pumping on the go, even when I was pumping on the floor of a bathroom, and I am here to tell you what you need to know. 1. Know Before You Go Even before the plane takes off, there is a lot of work to be done to ensure that things go smoothly once you arrive at your destination. First, make sure that whoever is watching your child has enough of a milk supply to feed your baby. If your little one is like my son and you have a diva on your hands, then you know your bougie baby spits out anything other than breastmilk. My son did this until he was about 9 months. This means that you have to have a well-stocked freezer with a supply of breastfeed, which means that you have to do double duty for a few weeks leading up to it if you don’t already have an ample amount. You should have 25-30 ounces per day for your baby. Probably more. Of course, you can always ship your milk back home, but when I looked into it, I found it was way too expensive for me. In addition, you can have the childcare provider mix breastmilk with a little bit of formula to make the supply last longer. Or finally, you can buy breast milk from someone, which is what I had to do for one trip because I just couldn’t find the extra time to pump on top of my normal pumping and breastfeeding. I found a trusted person and bought her breast milk. It worked, and I wasn’t so stressed! Second, pack your supplies. You want to make sure you have everything you need before you jet out of town. What you should take with you is the following:
My encounters with the employees have been all pleasant. Most people want to be accommodating and helpful. Also, call or check your airlines rules and regulations regarding traveling with breastmilk. Again, my experiences were easy and non-stressful. I simply informed the TSA agent that I had breastmilk. They took it aside and looked in it without tampering with it too much, and I was good to go. Some restaurants inside the airport were also willing to give me extra ice to keep my cooler staying well, cool. Finally, see if the places you are going to have a place for you to pump. Airports and baseball stadiums all have lactation rooms from my experiences. Look on their websites to see where they are ahead of time in order to plan accordingly. If there are no places to pump, find out if there is at least a quiet, secluded room for you to utilize. I know all the prepping can be overwhelming, but when done, it makes the trip a lot less stressful when you are prepared. 2. Manage Expectations Whether you are traveling alone or in a group, you need to let yourself know and everyone with you what the expectations are. Be clear and firm that you have to pump when you have to pump. When traveling in San Francisco, I had to excuse myself from a wedding to pump and also while we were in the middle of sightseeing. On another occasion, we had to delay going to dinner because I had to pump. You do not have to feel guilty about this. You do not have to feel rushed. You do not have to apologize. If you are upfront about your need to excuse yourself to pump with all parties involved in your travel, then that is the best you can do, and if someone gets annoyed or irritated, that is on them, not you, because you laid out your expectations. Also, go easy on yourself. Pumping isn’t going to be like it is when you are following your normal routine. You might go a little longer between pumping sessions because you got caught up in the travel. You might have to pump more since you don’t have a child hungrily draining your whole milk supply. You might have to pump in strange places. You might even have to, God forbid - don’t say it, gasp, throw away some milk because you underestimated how much storage containers you needed. Take a deep breath. It’s okay. Give yourself grace. 3. Have a sense of humor Things will go wrong. Sometimes disastrously wrong. Like you might find yourself and your engorged breasts squatting over a toilet in a stall at Starbucks with a line out the door furiously trying to squeeze milk out of your tendered breasts. It happens. All you can do is laugh and learn for next time. Pumping while traveling wasn’t easy, but it’s not impossible. Know before you go, manage expectations, and have a sense of humor even if you find yourself on the dirty floor of a supermarket. You got this, Mama! 
Being a cool mom on my trip to SF!
Welcome to Chi Town, The Windy City, and the Paris on the Prairie. That's right, today, we are discussing Chicago, Illinois' largest city and the third largest city in the U.S.
Situated on Lake Michigan, Chicago is known for its skyscrapers, museums, and deep dish pizza. I've been twice now. Once when I traveled with some friends after high school in 2007 to stay at my one friend's sister's place. We packed a lot in in a little bit of time, and I must say this is a place to go back to. My husband and I were supposed to go back for our 5th anniversary to see the Cubs, Whitesox, and Brewers all play, but COVID ruined that. Fingers crossed for next year. *Update* James and I were able to go to Chicago in July 2021 to visit all the baseball stadiums. 
1st Time Itinerary
2nd Time Itinerary
Logistics:
Day 1
*What I wished we could've done*
Originally posted on The Mighty.
Hello there, Moms.
I see you out there, doing your thing and being all confident and owning motherhood like a straight up b-o-double-s BOSS. Then, it comes along and steals your joy. It creeps up on you, slaps you on the face, and leaves you wretched with remorse, shame, and despair. That’s right. I am talking about “Mom Guilt.” There is already a laundry list of things for you to feel guilty about. I am not here to tack on a few more. I am here, instead, to remove some.These are five feelings that you should absolutely not let “Mom Guilt” rule over anymore. 1. Parental decisions. This is a given, but it doesn’t hurt to restate it. Moms, you should not feel guilty about a parental decision if it works for you and your family. If you choose formula over breastfeeding or breastfeeding over formula or breastfeeding and formula or whatever combination, do not feel guilty. If you choose to work and not stay home or if you choose to stay at home and not work, do not feel guilty. If you choose daycare, a nanny, or family to watch your child, do not feel guilty. If you choose to keep your child on a schedule or not to keep your child on a schedule, do not feel guilty. If it is working for your family and causing nobody any harm, do not feel guilty! I am someone who likes a schedule. I get it honestly, just ask my mom, and I am a teacher. Teachers live for schedules. I try to flexible and not rigid, but oftentimes I rearrange my day and schedule events with friends and family based upon my son’s napping. I used to feel guilty and like I was being crazy, but I don’t anymore because it works for us. So, Moms, relax, and stop questioning your parenting decisions. No one knows more than you do about your child. 2. Missing your old life. Ladies, it’s OK to wistfully reminisce about your old life when you could lie around watching TV, or devouring books all day one weekend and then the next going out to some bar until the crack of dawn. Missing that freedom does not mean you love your children any less. It doesn’t make you a bad mom. It makes you normal. I miss the carefree days of being a child and running around outside with the neighbors when social media wasn’t a distraction and I had no real responsibility. That said, I wouldn’t want to go back. I miss the days when my friends and I would walk the hallways of high school, go to football games on Friday, and hang out on each other’s porches on lazy summer days. But, nope, don’t take me back. I miss the days of cross country and track practices and spending hours in the cafeteria and then the nights walking arm and arm with my friends to the main street during those college years. However, I wouldn’t trade anything to go back. Finally, I miss the days on the couch with just my husband and me and spontaneously deciding to take a trip. That’s over though. My life with my child is so much better, but sometimes I miss what was. And that’s OK. 3. Neglecting an area of your life. Just because you are now a mom it doesn’t mean the other parts of you disappear. There is still the Working You. Friend You. Spouse You. Domestic You. Hobbies and Exercise You. It’s all still there, but sometimes one of those areas gets neglected for a certain period of time. Maybe you don’t spend as much time talking on the phone and texting back your friends as you used to. Don’t sweat it. On the other hand, maybe your house is a mess and take out slowly becomes the norm. Don’t worry about it. Maybe you and your spouse skip date night for the second month in a row. Give yourself a break. For me, I find that I don’t spend as much time on my teaching career as I used to. I often leave school the minute we can. My weekends rarely consist of lesson planning anymore. Where my students once occupied my thoughts in the evening hours, my son has replaced them. I felt guilty that a lot of my focus shifted away from my career, and my friends would get texts back from me a whole day later, but I soon began to realize that this is just a season of my life. My other selves will get nourished again one day, and for now I am content on growing my Mom Self. 4. Not picking up your child right away. I think we can all admit that we have done this one. Work ends or a doctor’s appointment finishes up, and instead of driving right away to fetch your child from daycare or to head home, you give yourself a few minutes (OK, more like an hour) to just do something you want to do. Linger in Target. Sit in your car and scroll through social media. Take a nap. Read a book. Squeeze in a run. Because of this, you are not a bad mom. I repeat. You are not a bad mom! 5. Letting little things bother you sometimes In the mad house that is motherhood, little things start to bother you sometimes (key word being sometimes, not always). You know it’s completely insane, but you can’t quite let it go. I’m here to give you permission to carry on, Mama! It’s 10 minutes past my child’s bedtime, and we (see I) are cleaning up his toys. I can’t find Tiger in his set of five animal finger puppets. Rational me would let it go. But, in this moment, I can’t. It is my life’s mission to find Tiger, so he can be reunited with Monkey, Elephant, Giraffe, and Zebra. I scour the living room. My son grows increasingly frustrated. I know I should let it go, but…I need to find Tiger, so he can sleep with his other pals. If I don’t rescue him now, we might forget about him, and he’ll be lost forever. I’m looking under couches, throwing pillows, tearing apart drawers until I snap back to reality (oh there goes gravity) and come crashing back to earth. I abandon my search, shake my head, grab my son to head upstairs, and question my sanity. I should feel guilty about my momentary lapse of judgment, but I don’t. Motherhood demands a lot, and if sometimes we act a little silly, so be it. What are some things you don’t feel guilty about anymore? Tell us in the comments.
This red rock Arizona city isn't in the top 100 of most populated cities, but I have been twice and just love it, so I decided to feature it. Sedona is where Hippie meets Native American and they combine to make this quaint, tranquil town. Picture stepping into a spa and they have the trickling water and peaceful music playing. Add in the red-rock buttes, canyon walls, and pine forests, and you have got Sedona. I have gone twice. Once with James over Labor Day. I essentially won a "free" trip at a bridal show. Free if you count paying for airfare and sitting through a 2-hour timeshare presentation to get the room comped. But it was worth it. The second time, I went with my mom and aunt as we drove back from San Diego to St. Louis. Sedona is a city where you'll want to pack layers. It is the desert but temperatures are comfortably warm during the day and brisk, borderline chilly, at night. Three to four days is a perfect amount of time to say. That time will give you a chance to hike, explore, visit a spa, do yoga, eat, shop, and go on an adventure. You'll be sure to leave Sedona invigorated! 
My Itinerary
I am not a huge fan of gambling, exorbitant drink prices for fancy cocktails, clubbing, and staying out past 10 PM, so on the surface Las Vegas isn't for me, but I have been twice, and I have enjoyed it both times although I am not clamoring to go a third time.
The first time I went was in the summer of 2010 with my parents and brother. We started and ended our Out West road trip to the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, and Zion National Park from here. I was a couple of weeks shy of 21, but I was in awe of the intricate details of the casino hotels, and really just enjoyed wandering around and taking in the sights. We stayed at the Parisian and upon our arrival were upgraded to a suite. The only problem was that it only had one bed for four people, which began a running joke on the trip. The second time I went was in the winter of 2011 with some high school friends. We went while we were on winter break from our college classes. My one friend's parents had a timeshare on the strip, The Polo Towers, and we decided it would be a nice hurrah to end our senior year of college. This time I was 21, and could fully access the casinos, bars, and clubs. Vegas is a city where, in my opinion, you only need to stay for 2-3 days. After that, drive out to some of Vegas' close by destinations like the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam, and Zion National Park. Read on to see what happened in Vegas which will not stay in Vegas as I will give you a brief synopsis of things I did here.
My Itinerary
“I was in the National Guard, and I was trained with sleep deprivation, and that doesn’t compare to how little sleep you get after having a baby.”
I stared back at my coworker with fear and anxiety in my eyes. My pregnant belly and I were just passing by in the hallway and in return we got this unsolicited story about how little sleep I would be getting in the first year of my baby’s life. I let out a half-hearted chuckled and made some trite remark, “So I’ve heard. I am doing all the sleeping I can now.” Then, I walked away and probably sobbed a thousand tears. As it turns out, a lot of people like to warn new moms-to-be how drastically their lives will change in the sleep department. Well-intentioned, I am sure, but as if I didn’t have enough (food) on my plate to begin with, I now decided my life mission was to learn all I could about baby sleep. I bought books. I read sleep experts’ blogs. I acquired DVDs. I took classes. I downloaded music guaranteed to soothe a baby. I took detailed notes. I briefed and trained my husband like we were preparing for battle. And it worked! Our son was born and immediately we began implementing what we learned. Sure, we had our fair share of exhausting days and even more exhausting nights, but I could not be more thankful for these sleep experts and all the wisdom they bestowed on us. It became a joke in our household. Our son would have a slight hiccup in his sleeping, or his napping would be off. I would furiously scour the blogs and books, and say, “Well so-and-so says… or (insert sleep expert’s name here) says….” It only took one night of little to no sleep and my husband would be desperately begging to know, “What do the books say?” The months ticked on, and as our son grew older, the bedtime routine grew shorter. One day, he grew out of his swaddle, and no longer was Mommy needed for those precious minutes of wrapping him snuggly up. Not long after, he learned to self-soothe, and no longer was Mommy needed to pick him back up and rock or bounce him back to sleep. Eventually, he stopped breastfeeding, and Mommy was no longer needed to hold and feed him goodnight. Now at 18 months, he hands me a book, we read it, say our prayers, sing a song, and I can plop him right down in the crib. We are thrilled with how well the sleeping journey has gone. But some nights I hold him just a bit longer. Read to him just a bit more. Sing to him just a bit extra. And then I put him down and walk out. I stare at the monitor, watching my baby squirm around as he slowly starts to drift off. Longingly, I crave to walk right back into that nursery and rock him to sleep. The books and blogs, though, say nothing on this. There is no handbook on what a mom should do when her child no longer needs her to fall asleep. I glance back at my peaceful baby one more time. And on some nights, perhaps when the house is particularly quiet and the moonlight shines in through the window, I go back in, and I rock. And I’m okay with that. 
San Francisco is an absolute pleasant city. A food lover's paradise. A cyclist's dream. A baseball enthusiast's heaven. It has delightful weather with little pockets of microclimates scattered about.
I've been fortunate enough to go twice in a year. Once on a California road trip to see baseball stadiums and the other time for a wedding. I'll lump everything we did on both trips into one list. We flew into San Francisco, rented a car from the airport, and stayed at an Airbnb both times. The first time we stayed for 5 nights and about 4 1/2ish days. The second time we stayed for 2 nights and 2 days. I thought that was plenty of time to really see and do a lot. I hope you get a chance to go here one day! 
The Itinerary
To my childhood, high school, and college friends. To my new, old, near, and far friends. To my work friends. To my neighborhood friends. To the friends that came into my life for a little bit, served their purpose, and now are gone. To my friends who will be there forever. I am thankful for you.
To my friends, I care about your lives, your jobs, your kids, and all the little things that go on in your day. We don’t get to see each other as much as we used to. We don’t even get to talk on the phone that often. And sometimes it takes a day to even respond to a text because of Mom Brain and how easily I get distracted now. But I delight in your Instagram posts. I love seeing your travels and how much your kids are growing. I want you to continue posting. I smile at the texts you send me. The one where you bring up an old story of something that happened back in the day or a simple picture of you living life. Keep sending them to me. I relish in the rare phone calls where we can talk or Zoom and update each other on our lives and maybe just laugh as we reminisce about our high school and college days. As the precious minutes tick down, I wish we could talk for longer. Continue to call even if I can’t answer. One of the days, we will get it right. I dance for joy when we get to see each other in person even if it is talking to each other from the porch 6 feet apart or a quick 20 minute chat because we are both just passing through. It will never be an inconvenience or a waste of time for me to see. I squeal with delight when we get to do a friend’s trip maybe once every 5 years. The ones where we drink wine and talk for hours and laugh until our sides hurt. Let's never stop planning these even if it takes an act of God to align our schedules. As life will have it, we grow older, move apart, and forge our own paths with our new families and friends. We get busy. Our kids and jobs demand our attention as they should. It sometimes seems as if our lives don’t have time for one another in it. Missed calls, unanswered texts, broken plans, conflicts in schedules, and distance can all seem like our lives are moving forward like two parallel lines. But the bonds we formed growing up will always exist. Our lives forever intertwined with one another. Because something as simple as a jogged memory, a death of an old teacher, or needing some advice can send me right back to you, and it’s like we picked up right where we left off, easy, pure, and carefree. My life has changed. Yours has as well. But I still care. And I always will. After all, you are my friend.
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