Well, our new routine is in full-effect with the girls and I holding down the fort in Columbus, and Chris getting settled in to our house in Claygate. Last week was Easter (which Chris was home for) followed by spring-break. Caroline spent a few days with Chris's parents and had a fabulous time, so a special shout-out goes to them! Thanks grandma and papa for spending some extra special time with Caroline! I met Chris's mom on a weekday for lunch at the outlet malls in between Cincinnati and Columbus to "exchange" Caroline. Before meeting Donna, I did something I'm not really accustomed to doing...I became a fierce consumer! Here's the background story....Chris and I bought running shoes at the Nike outlet last fall. I have been wearing mine at the gym consistently, but not doing a ton of running in them. Well, my feet HURT constantly, which I thought was weird since I'm not wearing them that hard. I knew I needed to either get a new pair of shoes, or some inserts. So, we went to Fleet Feet last week to look for inserts. To make a long story short - I had the BEST experience there. The CEO of Fleet Feet, Tom, happened to be visiting this particular franchise store, and since they were short staffed, he waited on me. (Tom was super cool, and yes, I did end up getting a new pair of shoes which I absolutely love!) But, the point of this whole story is that Tom encouraged me to take back my shoes to Nike, b/c Fleet Feet would absolutely take them back if a customer were that unhappy with them. I never would have even tried this since I had bought them months before, but I was able to leverage my foot/back pain, with my wonderful experience with Fleet Feet to get a store credit at the Nike Outlet - with only minimal resistance from their management. Clearly, this was a very empowering moment for me or I wouldn't be blogging about it!
Anywho, moving on...Chris's work permit is finalized and we will work on getting our visas completed when he is home next week. I think that is the final step before we can make the big move. We're still sticking to our early-June move date though, to complete the school year here, dance recital, weddings, etc...Speaking of school, the English school process couldn't be more complicated for getting your child into a local/public school! It has been quite a challenge figuring out which school Caroline will attend next fall for her "reception" year. We're leaning towards not getting a second car, so it is important for whatever school she attends to be near the train or bus station. We shall see.
I had a fabulous night out in Cincinnati last weekend with some girlfriends. First I attended a "wine" bridal shower for my friend Sarah Walton who is getting married in June. It was at a fantastic new restaurant and wine bar in Over the Rhine called Lavomatic. I knew the area was an up and coming one, so I felt comfortable wearing my newly inherited mink jacket from Chris's grandmother. Not sure that GiGi would have approved of me wearing it with jeans, but I loved the look!
Later that night, I met up with my friends Heidi and Suzanne. We attended a local party where the median age was about 25, so thankfully I didn't wear my mink inside, as I don't think they would have appreciated it! (Or stopped their beer-pong game to even notice!) We capped the night off, just as it started, at a wine bar in Hyde Park. It was so fun hanging-out with all of my girls.
The picture on this post is of the four of us on Easter morning. Sadie will be 8-months old tomorrow, and is crawling all over the place, babbling a ton and starting to fuss when mommy leaves her sight - a phase I'm hoping will pass soon! I really missed Caroline when she was away on "spring break." On our way home, we again stopped at the outlet malls so I could feed Sadie. We stopped at a McDonald's which had a massive play area. Caroline played for awhile after we ate, and made a little friend. What I love about my little girl, is when it was time to leave I gave her a 2-minute warning, and instead of saying "no - I don't want to leave!" she said to her friend, "friend - I have to go in two minutes!" It just struck me as sweet and responsible - our little Care Bear....
