As I suspected, having June born in January was such a treat for my logical brain, as demonstrated so beautifully by this post. What a treat to watch her grow from a nugget in my belly to the cheerful, funny, sweet little girl she is today in just a few months! There will never be another year like this one, the year in which we welcomed our first child, and though sometimes that makes me feel like the sobbing emoji… it’s okay. The best is yet to come! Here are a few highlights of this very special year on Em for Marvelous and in our lives. Well, pretty much the first thing we did in the new year was have a baby!! (Oh yes, I did share my 2016 guideposts and vision board first.) June was born on January 7th, leading me to share “notes” from my hospital stay as well as the meaning of her name. John and I also celebrated our 11th dativersary, and I posted the first of many Marvelous Mama interviews! I celebrated a very sweet birthday with friends and chocolate raspberry cake in February. June also met her cousin Tegan and the rest of my family – such a wonderful week!! As we rounded out our first six weeks, I shared two more posts with newborn tips and tricks. The best part of March was celebrating Easter as a family of three! June also got to spend some time wearing matching headbands with her buddy Milly :) Even once John went back to work, I enjoyed every bit of maternity leave, especially our daily afternoon walks around a local lake! In April, we headed to Charleston for a last hurrah of my leave. We had the best time staying downtown, walking the city, and eating

Joanna Goddard is one of my favorite bloggers (…said every millenial tuned into the online world ever :)). Her posts regularly spark conversation between my friends and I (“Did you see what Jo said about cakes yesterday?”), and one of the highest blogging compliments I’ve ever been paid was a comparison between my Marvelous Mama series and Jo’s My Beauty Uniform. Anyway, I loved her post earlier this week on signature dishes (inspired by Jenny’s book, which I can’t wait to read!), and thought it would make for fun conversation here, too! Joanna asked, What meals do you remember from growing up? What recipes do you hope your own children remember? Everyday Occasions My Mom relied on a relatively small stable of tried and true meals throughout my childhood, and I loved most of them! My favorites included creamy chicken enchiladas (the smell of sauteing green peppers and onions = bliss), macaroni saute (I think a lot of people refer to this as American Chop Suey), and my grandma’s spaghetti sauce. The best of all, though, and my perennial birthday dinner choice, was beef nuggets: an inelegantly named dish from my paternal grandmother that John swears is as bland as a door nail but tastes exquisitely like love to me. There are meals that go with certain places and events, too. At the Island, we have Mrs. Beisiegel’s Casserole, Southern hash, and shepherd’s pie. At Christmas with my Mom’s side, we eat Aunt Barbara’s potatoes (which I only recently found out are red potatoes mixed with onion soup mix…). With my Dad’s, it’s chocolate cake with seven-minute frosting. It’s a little different now that I’m the grown-up. John and I cook new recipes all the time, rarely repeating meals more than once a month. There are 120+ pins on my

Today’s post will be less heavy on words than my first France installment! I wanted to split Versailles off into its own post because although it’s close to Paris, it’s definitely its own destination. We spent half a day on the grounds — about 6 hours — but could have easily spent a few more. If you’re planning a trip to France, I would most definitely recommend a visit to this tres belle palace. Let’s take a peek at why! Our tickets for Versailles were one of the few entertainment purchases we made while still in the States. We opted for the Passport ticket, which gets you in everywhere (the Main Palace, the Grand Trianon, the Petit Trianon, and the Hamlet). It was about $58 for two. I used these very specific instructions for getting us from Paris to the gates of the palace. However, I have one major bone to pick with Lauren’s advice, as well as others I read: everyone made it sound as though if you bought your tickets in advance, you’d breeze right in, bypassing all the suckers in line who still had to purchase theirs. NOT TRUE (at least when we went). There was one huge line of people waiting to enter, and then a much smaller line of people who still needed to purchase a ticket (and then join the big line). Anyway, we probably waited for about 45 minutes to enter, so just be prepared, since the line is in full sun! After making it through the turnstiles, we opted to have lunch before setting off to see the sites. There are several cafes on site that we felt were reasonably priced, and delicious! I think you might also be able to bring food in, but I’m not sure. When you’re ready to

I want to share something super special with you all today. For as long as I can remember (and even before I was born!), my Mom’s Mom wrote some pretty epic Christmas newsletters. (Actually, to be more accurate, she typed some pretty epic Christmas newsletters. On a typewriter.) After my youngest uncle went away to college, Bingie uprooted her life and moved from New Jersey to Maine to start a new chapter, and the newsletters were a favorite way to keep in touch with her wide circle of friends and family. They detailed her year as well as the happenings of her three children’s families with humor, wit, and candidness. Taken together, they’re a surprisingly detailed recording of our family’s highs and lows over 25+ years. For Christmas, my aunt and uncle compiled all of the newsletters they could get their hands on into a simple book and made a copy for all of the cousins. What a treasure! I love that they used her familiar signature on the cover – Mom to her children, Mombo (short for Mom Bogart) to her in-laws, and Bingie to her grandchildren. We immediately started flipping through the pages, and soon were making each other squeak with laughter over certain entries and lines, reminiscing about famous (and infamous) episodes in our family’s history. She was a great writer, and her dry sense of humor and unique way of seeing the world really shine through in her yearly narratives. One of my favorite moments below: As a lifelong secretary and correspondent for countless beloved organizations and associations, her writing and her handwriting are two of the things I associate most strongly with her, so this is an extra special memento – it really feels like having a true piece of her to keep. Makes me