We went to Chicago for my 30th. We had been wanting to visit this city for a while now and it’s really not that far from us at all so we booked a hotel, packed up the car and made a weekend out of it! Everyone thought we were a little crazy to take the twins with us but I wouldn’t have wanted it any differently. They get so excited for birthday’s and had known mine was coming up for a while now so I had to have them there celebrating with me. It was such a memorable weekend for all of us and I absolutely fell in love with this gorgeous city.

We arrived at our hotel mid-afternoon on the Friday and we knew we’d be eating deep dish pizza for supper that evening, so we made our first stop Garret’s for a snack to tie us over. (If you’ve never tried Garret’s popcorn, you’ve never actually had popcorn people haha) I ordered the jumbo size thinking we’d finish it between the four of us but we barely got through a quarter of the bag! That stuff is GOOD but so greasy and heavy. Two handfuls and you’re stuffed. So that jumbo bag lasted us alllll weekend long. We were still snacking on it on the ride home.

Since the twins had been sitting in the car for 5 hours that day, we made our next stop the park! This playground in Chicago isn’t just like any old playground. It’s huge and goes on forever and there are different sections for different age groups. The boys had a blast and it was good to get them active for a while. Definitely a must-do if you’re visiting the city with your kids.

The park was pretty close to the bean so we headed there after. We had talked about the bean before heading to Chicago so the twins were excited to finally see it. They were obsessed with their reflections. 

After deep dish pizza at Giordano’s that evening, we were completely zonked. We called it a pretty early night at the hotel.

The next morning, we started with coffee at Dollop. It was delicious and such a fun little spot. We then had breakfast at Yolk before we headed to Navy Pier. 

The twins are more on the cautious side when it comes to rides and such so we didn’t know if they’d be up for riding the big ferris wheel. But to our surprise, they LOVED it. It was likely because we were all together in the cart but it was such a fun thing to do together.

From way up high….

They loved searching for rocks and leaves to throw over the pier. 

This was the view from the pier. It was such a gorgeous walk and I forgot to mention what AMAZING weather we had while we were. It was the last weekend in October and everyone was wearing t-shirts and shorts. It was perfect for all the walking we had to do. But back to the pier, it was such a fun spot! There were some great restaurants with fun patios and food trucks along the way.  

Skyler was upset later when he saw this picture and realized he didn’t get to be the big hairy spider. bahaha!

Just as we got all the way around the pier, the twins both fell asleep which worked out perfectly. We headed towards Stan’s donut’s where we let them nap as we rested ourselves on the patio and grabbed some iced coffee for a pick-me-up. Everything in Chicago is walking distance but it’s A LOT of walking! It was shortly after, I realized I lost my favourite cardigan and realized it must have been back at the pier. I was sadly ready to let it go as I had little hope that we would actually find it but Ron insisted we go back for it. (awesome husband he is…but I know it’s because he knew I would have whined about it later and regretted not going back.)  Sooooo back to the pier we went, birthday donuts in hand for when the twins woke up from their nap. By some miracle, after A LOT more walking, we found my cardigan draped over a fence. Thank goodness. The twins woke up by that time and the donuts were a fun treat for them to wake up to. They sang happy birthday to me and I just remember taking in that special moment, feeling so thankful for all I’ve been blessed with. The donuts were delicious.

That evening we did supper at this amazing family style Italian restaurant that was recommended to us. (my fav!!) Real homemade pasta with giant meatballs and bruschetta.  So good.

We never stayed out very late in the evenings but I got this night shot on our way back to the hotel.

The next morning before we headed home, we hit up Heritage Bicycles. It has the cutest coffee adjoining coffee shop and it was the perfect little breakfast stop before we hit the road. 

Chicago is a fabulous city.  There were some things we didn’t get to see in the short time we were there that we would have loved to but that just means we have to go back! We would go back tomorrow if we could!

Thanks so much for reading! xo

Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. 

So good. There’s a season for everything.  For growing and learning, for hustling but also… for slowing. Right now, I’m slowing. And it’s a challenge for me you guys. A really big challenge. I am such a busy body. My mind literally never stops and my husband does not understand why I find it so so difficult to sit down and rest. Poor guy. He works a 40 hour work week and he wants to spend his down time having down time…relaxing with a cold brew watching football or hockey or just sitting in the backyard. I, on the other hand want to plan out what house project we’re going to tackle next, talk about what we’re going to do on our next free Saturday and brainstorm new business ideas together. Any entrepreneurial spirited friends out there relate?!?!

For those of you who are new to following, I’ll give you a little background on my story…I’m a teacher. Ron and I did our undergrads together at Western University before we got married and then I did teachers college the following year. While I was waiting to get on the supply list, I began to pursue photography, something I had been doing as a hobby for a while. After second shooting a season of weddings with a friend and begging my best friends to model for me, I began to book my first portrait sessions and then a wedding and it wasn’t long before I had a business up and running. I fell in love with working for myself. I loved the flexibility with my schedule and hours. I was the one who decided when I wanted to work and when I didn’t. We were talking about starting a family soon and I knew I wanted to be at home with my babes in their early years so this was perfect. My business was growing and I was setting myself up to do just that.  I was soon able to quit my part time job and focus solely on my business.

Photography has been perfect for this season in my life. It’s allowed me to be at home with my boys during the day when my husband works. We shoot weddings on Saturdays together during the spring-fall but we currently limit our bookings so we still have plenty of weekends to do fun family things during the warmer seasons. It truly has turned into a dream job for me.

But going back to my non-stop busy body self. There’s a lot of downtime with photography. I don’t shoot for most of the winter and other then editing, there’s not a lot of extra work to do when I’m not shooting. So once my boys got to a stage when they weren’t as needy and were able to entertain each other for longer periods of time, I began to itch again for a new creative outlet. Over the past 2 years, I have done a handful of other side gigs along with photography. From writing a mom blog with my best friend, to online fitness coaching, to teaching courses at our church and beginning to work on a podcast project with my husband…I’ve been hustling constantly. Obsessively chasing after my goals and not stopping until they’re reached (the dangerous side of a driven entrepreneur).

But then wait, my goal in being a work-from-home mom in the first place was so that I could watch my kids grow up. So I could work less and spend more time being a part of every new milestone, every new chapter, every fun new season of their lives. I long for my number one goal to be raising a family and I do not want to lose sight of this without realizing it while I’m hustling too hard at other things. I’ve come to the realization that I’ve been filling too much of any “free time” I’ve had with new projects, new goals, new dreams for the future. I truly didn’t (and still don’t) know how to just be. 

I don’t regret any of the past projects I’ve worked on as each experience has shaped me and grown me. I have learned so so so much about myself, about working along side others, about being a leader,  about the importance of personal development and I could keep going on. My most recent endeavour of fitness coaching helped our family to really get on track with a healthy, active lifestyle, something that has improved our quality of life in so many ways. It kept me accountable for 9  months which has really helped to solidify those new habits. But the crazy thing is that when I was telling my husband that I was feeling this chapter of coaching may be coming to an end for the time being, he said “oh so what will you be filling that extra time with now?”  That’s what got me.  He expected me to dive right into something new because thats what I always do. That is what my family and friends think of me. They know full well that I don’t know how to slow down. That I always have to be working towards something new and I don’t stop until it’s done.

I mentioned in my last post about minimalizing, that it included our calendar. So while my mind is currently exploding with new ideas and dreams, (HA) I am committing to press the pause button and just “be” for the next 5 months. To not fill all my time with working when I don’t have to, but to have more time to say yes to spontaneous hangouts with friends and family, to have more un-planned Saturday’s where we can wake up and decide hour by hour what we’ll do next. To really pray and seek the Lord’s direction for our family and for any future business endeavours. To read and learn and grow and read some more.

They’re will be more seasons of hustling I know.  More seasons to go hard with goals and chase after dreams. But for right now, I’m putting those dreams on hold and committing to a season of slowing down and learning to “be”.  Hold me accountable will ya?

Thanks for reading.

xo Natalie

I hadn’t left the twins for more then one night before. But back in June, I was really missing my family. We were packing and getting ready to go on our own family vacation to Boston/Cape Cod and I mentioned to my husband that perhaps I should someday take a 3-4 day trip out to BC to see my brothers as it would have been crazy expensive to fly all of us out there right now. (flights from Ontario to BC are insane!!!) I was thinking sometime in the fall or winter but he responded with “sure book a flight and go this summer”.  This summer. I didn’t think I could mentally prepare to be away from the twins for that long but he was telling me to go and that everything would be fine so after checking dates with my brothers,  I literally jumped online and bought my tickets that night without thinking twice. Gah! I panicked a little the next few days. This was a big step for a mama. But I did it and I’m SO glad I did. It was everything I needed and I came back feeling more refreshed and ready to tackle motherhood then ever before.

The trip was short but sweet. We restaurant/coffee shop hopped and spent a lot of time being active outdoors together.

My brother Sam and his wife Joryli met me at the airport the morning I arrived and our first stop was Revolver for coffee. We caught up over our iced drinks and then we spent the afternoon biking the sea wall. It felt so good to be active after 5 hours on a plane.

The next day we went hiking and it was glorious. The climate in Vancouver during the summer (when it’s not raining) is just perfect. Cool mornings and evenings and mid-day is just comfortably warm.   

I spent my third day there with my younger brother Josh and his sweet girlfriend Rebecca. They took me to their favourite shopping spots in downtown Vancouver and I learned a lot from Bekah’s skillful thrifting ways when shopping at consignment stores!  She’s a fashion queen. We stopped in at the Treasures and Travels studio that afternoon and it was great to finally meet Lindsay after following her blog for so long. She’s just as sweet in real life as she is online! Love that.

In all, it was such a great trip. We ate at Phenom Penh in China Town the night before we left and it was incredible! Good food, good company, so many memories tucked away until the next time I get to see them all again. Love this gang. Wish we weren’t separated by miles for most of the year. BUT it just makes the time spent together that much more special.

This was our first time travelling outside of Canada with the twins. We knew we wanted to hit up a beach in the U.S. but right up until 2 weeks before our trip we weren’t sure where and had nothing booked! Finally one night, we just went for it and used Air B&B to book a quaint little cottage in Cape Cod, MA for four nights. Since we had the full week for holidays, we decided to be adventurous and just grab a hotel in whatever city we ended up in for a night on the way there and a night on the way back. It worked out great! The first day, we drove for 9 hours with a couple stops along the way for food and play. I planned a full days worth of car activities for the twins and will be sharing that in another post this week! We stayed an hour outside of Boston that night. I was so thankful the hotel had an amazing gym and sauna after being crammed in a car for so long! The next morning, the twins were up bright and early and after grabbing breakfast at the hotel, we headed into Boston to explore the city for the day! After grabbing lattes at Cafe Paradiso in Little Italy, we had maybe been walking around for half hour when I decided I was IN LOVE with this city. Just a great feel. The people were friendly and the streets and buildings had so much character. The Boston Market was amazing and the harbour front was just stunning.

We grabbed lunch at Legal Seafoods near the harbour. It was recommended to us by numerous friends that had been to Boston so we knew we had to try it and gosh it did NOT disappoint! We split a seafood sampler ( I know SO much food!) and a risotto roll. It was to die for. Every time we look at this photo, we can taste the meal again. If you go to Boston, eat at Legal Seafoods!

We headed to the cottage we were renting later that afternoon and after a quick grocery shop and checking out the private beach, we called it an early night. Most of the rest of the week was spent at the beach and touring the quaint town of Brewster. There was so many cute boutiques, antique shops and the sweetest little old-fashioned general store. The boys got a kick out of all the penny candy to look at there!

One day we drove into Province Town for the afternoon which is the furthest part of the cape. It was beautiful, so colorful and very happening!  The main street, parallel to the ocean, went on FOREVER! There were so many shops and restaurants to choose from. We had heard that the lobster rolls at Canteen were amazing so we opted to eat there and again we were thrilled with our choice! The rolls were delicious and we shared a fish taco too!

Ok we totally splurged and bought a piece of fudge to split from this award winning fudge shop on the strip.

The twins LOVED the ocean. We weren’t sure how they would do with the beach as last year they were still a little unsure of the waves and such but we put life jackets on them and they wanted to swim and kick on their bellies. The high tide and low tide of the ocean was so cool because in the mornings, we could walk out on the beach for forever and the twins would just splash in the small streams and puddles while collecting sea shells, rocks and building sand towers. In the evenings, the water was 4 feet deep right at the start so we would all go in and swim together.

Other then my husband dropping our cottage keys down a storm sewer on the first day we arrived, and a couple normal toddler meltdowns, I’d say the trip was a pretty big success! It gave us the confidence to travel MORE with the kids, something we both love to do.