Vacation Plus One

I have recently started to appreciate the numerous blessings of travel. To see and experience new places and things, see how diverse our world is. To eat awesome food. Maybe the best part. Having the chance to spend the time traveling with my husband, getting to know each others' likes and dislikes, developing more patience for each other, as we work through the stresses that travel can bring. And finally to come home and appreciate all the comforts I have waiting for me. We have indeed been blessed to have the means and opportunity to travel over the course of our marriage. Not big trips all the time. But even a 1.5 hour drive to Mystic, Ct. was memorable in its' own way.

As the weather heats up in New Jersey, people around me are heading out on "holiday". I guess our generation is still young enough that we associate summer with vacation, as if we were still in school, and with June around the corner, the "summer vacation" bell is ringing loud and clear. My brother left today with his wife for Florida. My friend A.A. and her husband are traipsing around Italy.

We were very fortunate to have just returned from London with our daughter. It was a wonderful 6 days, and I like to look through our 500+ pictures every few days. I don't always do that with vacation pictures, but something's different this time. Our Plus One. Vacations in the past always felt like something was missing. The husband and I would take pictures of each other in front of landmarks, or shyly scour the crowd for a kind stranger who would take our picture, without running away with our camera. It was awkward. And sad, to come home from vacation but look at pictures of each of us alone, as if we were on the trip by ourselves. Where was the proof of all the cool things we did together?

At least this time we had the baby in our pictures, her face capturing the excitement and adventure of our London journey. We even managed a few family pictures, courtesy of my awesome host, A.A.

I thought having a baby would make the journey more difficult, but it was not the case at all. It was nice to plan things for the three of us, and wonderful to see her enjoy herself. It made us enjoy what we were doing even more so.

So to my brother and A.A., take your next vacation with a baby, I promise it will be even more fun ;)

(Noor seeing the world through her own eyes at the Museum of Science)

I was right.

I was right. I love London, just like I thought I would.

See everyone back home next week.

London Bound

I am going away next week, to see London, Big Ben, walk alongside the Thames River, and wish Kate and William well on their recent marriage (since I missed the wedding). What I am looking forward to most is spending quality time with my dear friend Areeg.

What Areeg is most looking forward to is having proper British afternoon tea. What is afternoon tea? According to a quick google search it is "a light midafternoon meal of tea and sandwiches or cakes; "an Englishman would interrupt a war to have his afternoon tea." I've always wanted to go and what better place to do it than the city where it all began.

It will be our first time, and our concern right now is "what to wear?" So I googled that too: The dress code for traditional afternoon tea is still smart. Ladies don't have to wear dresses, hats and gloves anymore, but gentlemen are required to wear a jacket and tie in most places. Whew, good thing we are not gentleman (and we will not be accompanied by our gentlemen on this outing), but we are fairly certain that our collection of sneakers and comfort shoes will not do. In fact most of my wardrobe is not "smart". It's more "mom." I wish I had a tiny violin right now to lament the state of my wardrobe.

After some thought I've decided to wear a long dress. I will now turn my attention to my sister's closet, since I do not own long dresses. Having sisters is such a blessing, for so many reasons, but I really appreciate the sharing of the wardrobe, the style advice and the often heard back and forth "You're wearing thAt?"

Having sisters is just one of the blessings I've had growing up in a big family. Like most kids, I did not appreciate my family growing up. Many times I was held back from things I wanted to do because my parents wanted to make an example of me. My siblings were able to do everything I did, about 5 years sooner. And I was usually angst ridden, focused on what I could not do, and overlooked what I could do.

In retrospect I was so blessed. I always had a friend (though we were not always friends). Between six children, we were never short on company. In fact, I know at times we desired privacy from each other.

Now that I am a mother, I sometimes tell myself what I would like to do different form my parents. But all in all, I loved the way we were bought up. While we were growing up it all seemed abnormal and crazy, I now see how it was more normal than I could ever hope for. I wish for the same, and even better for my daughter. I pray for a big family for her, so she always has someone by her side, Inshalah.