Harlem Lovebirds: It's a Week and a Half Past BlogHer (and Time for a MAJOR Brain Dump!)

We are hurtling towards Kindergarten over here, and if you follow me around social media especially on Instagram you'll see that yes, we now have a walker (and yes, I have video and Grayson's 1 year and 13 months update need to still happen - I have the pics just not the time!).

Things aren't slowing down around these parts, and once I take a moment to sit down and craft a blog post, like this one in the wee hours, there are 12 new developments! Anyway, pictures are fun and bullet points are easy to digest right?

Here we go . . .

First things first: did you see this week's news about Reading Rainbow?! Totally made my WHOLE week in advance when it was announced Monday

Next, BlogHer was FANTASTIC! My chill approach worked, and I'm still in awe of the awesomeness including this Wellesley shout out from BlogHer co-founder Lisa (I was also mentioned in Boyz II Men's RT!):

And about Wellesley: within 7 days I've been able to visit with 4 alums (and sometimes their children too); it's been awesome! Community is what you make it for sure

With one of my New England Wellesley sisters and our children (remember their first play date here?)

This video I quickly shot during our after-dinner walk capture what life is like in NH for us right now

Considering the above video, I stand in awe at the absolute beauty up here; it completely overtakes me at times and the way it's transformed my life outlook and mindset since leaving NYC metro is so therapeutic including this view at my church's women's fellowship this past Friday; God even blessed us with a rainbow!

Nia's birthday party just might be epic; she somehow thinks it's at Water Country and goes around telling EVERYONE they're invited including the children who are there with her when I drop her off at our Y's daycare while I workout

Speaking of Y, I'm trying to get back on track with working out but our travel schedule has made it difficult; shout out to Courtney who's helping me stay motivated to stick with PiYo. We're also swapping mom-biz services: I took photos for her over the weekend and she's giving me a much needed closet/wardrobe overhaul

We leave for Ohio next Thursday (I'm traveling alone with the kids~~, but I'm a pro at it~~), and I'm excited to partake in such State Fair delicacies as roast corn, ice cream, corn dogs and a whole host of other foods that will require me to wear stretchy pants during my entire visit! We'll be having a mini-birthday celebration for Nia; she selected this cake from my favorite childhood bakery (we added Tiana, and no they didn't have Anna and Elsa)

My 35th birthday is fast approaching and I've been stalking Vegas airfare for months so Mr. Lovebird and I can attend Life is Beautiful again, but it's just plain crazy! The line up looks amazing this year, but if we don't go we're thinking a trip up to Montreal will be good (we've never been, have you?)

I'm in the middle of updating my office with the items below; it's coming together nicely (teasers here and here), and so far it really makes a difference having a fantastic set-up to work from (plus it's all paid for from blog income - reinvestment is so important!):

Sources (clockwise from top left): Amazon, Holstee, Wayfair, Amazon, West Elm, Amazon, Ballad Designs

We're finishing up our summer focusing on swimming lessons (the kids go to free lessons our city provides 2x weekly throughout the summer) as well as our summer reading program; I have my own books I'm trying to get through including these

Going back to Kindergarten, Nia has two little playdates which her school is hosting including one tomorrow; I think that is so thoughtful and she's very excited!

Speaking of Nia, her observations have been so hilarious lately, but she's pretty serious when she share them with me and if I laugh she gets mad. Here's a gem: "At the end of praying over dinner tonight Nia asked why we say "amen" and I explained it's like saying, "The end." She replied, "Oh like 'happily ever after.'" Love how a child's mind works!"

Grayson is officially a train boy (check this out)! We went to Day Out with Thomas in North Conway (an hour and a half away). They asked that you come an hour before and with a 9a.m. train ride scheduled (~~dern~~ 10 a.m. was full and 11a.m. was too late for us) and a 1 1/2 hour distance this meant we were up and out by 6:45a.m. (we arrived 15 minutes shy of departure)

In addition to meeting Thomas before Mr. Lovebird left for a week on business this week, we also took some time to visit the tall ship El Galeon. We were rained out when the tall ships parade brought it in but were thankful to have mild weather when we visited.