Weekend Open Thread

By the time you read this, Drew and I will have just taken Jackson on his very first flight. Early this morning we flew from New York to St.Louis to visit my extended family, including my maternal grandma and grandpa who are beyond excited to meet their first great-grandchild. It’s been nearly eight months since Drew and I traveled anywhere together, but in the coming months we’re going to make up for lost time. Besides this quick weekend trip, we’re also going to Austin next month for a friend’s wedding (and to see my sister, who lives there), and then maybe another weekend trip or two before going to Europe this summer. Drew will be covering the Olympics in London and I’m — bravely? stupidly? naively? — going to fly alone with Jackson for the tail end. We’ll give Drew a quick kiss and adjust to the time change and then head over to Germany to visit my parents for a week or so, and then when Drew wraps up with work, we’ll go to Paris for a few nights before heading home. Or, at least, that’s the tentative plan.

One of the things Drew and I have always loved to do together is travel and we’re anxious to see how well we can travel with the addition of a baby. I’m a little stressed about it — especially the part where I make an international flight alone with Jackson (and all his gear!) — but I’m also hopeful this will be an enjoyable new chapter in this parenting adventure. We’ll see!

Anyhoo, all this talk about travel has me thinking about favorite vacations past and dream destinations for the future. I have lots of dream destinations, including South America, Africa, and pretty much everywhere in North America that I haven’t visited yet (California, top on that list). What are your dream destinations, and what have been your favorite vacations past?

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by Wendy on March 30, 2012 · in Weekend Open Thread

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Who are you missing right now? Maybe it’s a former boyfriend or girlfriend. Maybe it’s someone who passed away. Maybe it’s a friend you had a falling out with or simply drifted apart from. Maybe it’s even a younger version of yourself. Who is no longer in your life whom you wish you could speak to once again?

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by Wendy on March 23, 2012 · in Weekend Open Thread

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By now, I have written ad nauseum about how awesome Drew is and what a great husband and father he is and how much I love him and yada, yada, yada. You’re probably sick of it. So, here’s something: we are not a perfect match. Oh, we’re a good match, for sure. We get along well, have a lot in common, share similar values and longterm lifestyle goals, enjoy the same types of vacations (lots of wine and cheese, please, and super luxe sheets, thanks), and like each other a lot. But there’s one thing on which we are not well-matched and that’s the fact that neither of us is comfortable driving. I should say that I at least have a license and many years of experience driving on all types of roads: city streets, highways, suburban sprawls, country roads, etc. I am more comfortable on some than others (country roads, take me home), but have always been happy letting whomever I happen to be dating or hanging out with do the majority of the driving. That is, until I met Drew.

Drew was born and raised in Manhattan and never learned to drive. He has a state ID rather than a driver’s license and though he’s now had a couple of lessons, he’d probably rather watch an entire episode of “The View” than take a spin around, say, Brooklyn, and try to parallel park on our crowded street. Unfortunately, that means if we’re ever to be the kind of family that takes road trips or even shuttles our kids to soccer practice or what have you, I’ll be the designated driver. Which makes me about as happy as the thought of a year-round football season.

So. If you were to ask me if there was anything I’d change about Drew it would be only this: I’d make him an awesome and enthusiastic driver. It wouldn’t hurt if he were addicted to giving be amazing back rubs either.

What would you change about your significant other?

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by Wendy on March 16, 2012 · in Weekend Open Thread

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The benefit of living of living alone was a popular topic on the web and TV this week, so I thought we could continue the trend here in our weekend open thread. In my single life, I had a total of five glorious years that I lived alone — the first time from ages 22 – 24 until I moved in with a boyfriend, and then again from 27 – 30 until I moved in with Drew. I loved almost everything about living alone: having full control of the TV, music, and temperature; eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted; having only my own mess to deal with (which has always been pretty minimal — I’m a neat freak); inviting whomever I wanted over to my home at any time of the day or night and not having to check in with anyone else first; painting the walls whatever color I wanted (my last solo apartment — pictured above with Miles and Simone — was painted gold, mocha, purple, green, and a little bit hot pink. It was prettier than it sounds, trust.);  no one around to see me in zit cream or unflattering tattered yoga pants; going to sleep at 9 PM without anyone teasing me; the Ben & Jerry’s was ALL MINE; spontaneous living room dance marathons to embarrassing music (Ace of Base, anyone?).

Don’t get me wrong, I love my life and living situation now (well, I could do without the 5 AM baby alarm…), but those years I lived alone were special times. I got to know myself  really well and be shamelessly selfish in a way one can’t when she becomes a wife and mother. There were some tears shed when I worried I’d be alone forever, but mostly I enjoyed those years for what they were and realized I probably wasn’t always going to live alone — that eventually I’d find a guy who was worth giving up a bit of my independence for — and I should enjoy my own space while I could, so I did.

What about you? Those of you who currently live alone, what do you love about it? And those who once lived alone and no longer do, what do you miss most?

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by Wendy on March 9, 2012 · in Weekend Open Thread

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