2020 has been the year I don’t think any of us expected it to be. I certainly didn’t. We’re leaving 2020 behind, and I know many of us are eager for a new year and hopefully a fresh outlook. The year started out with an abundance of visitors at The Lodge. It felt like we …
Author Archives: Alison Allen
Christmas 2020
As with much of the rest of the world, our Christmas was a bit quiet and low-key. Despite not being together in person with family or friends, our holiday was very, very special. Ben and Hannah are at such a fun age for all of the holiday hoopla and were really into everything Christmas-related this …
Pandemic: Weeks 37, 38 & 39
It feels really strange to keep track of the pandemic “weeks” these days. It just feels like normal life at this point. Someday I’ll be curious to look back on this time and I’d love to remember how many weeks we were living in the middle of a pandemic. For now, I am struggling to …
Ben is 4-1/2!
Four has been such a fun year with Ben so far, and we’re only halfway through it! As with any age progression, Ben has grown up tremendously these last six months since I’ve done a big update on him. He started pre-kindergarten, can get himself dressed to go play in the snow and can make …
Ali’s Favorite Things 2020
I love putting together this post each year. It’s a compilation of several of my favorite random things. It gets harder and harder each year, though, because so many of my favorite things are the items I’ve already shared! Personal items Daily Planner page – I use this every day {and have for years!} to …
Pandemic: Week 36
Washington is officially locked back down. No indoor gatherings with people outside your household. Indoor dining is closed at restaurants. Outdoor gathering is limited to five people outside your household. Grocery stores and essential services are limited to 25% capacity. I am so hopeful with these new regulations we can get things under control again. …
Pandemic: Week 35
What a week last week was! We were on pins and needles for much of the week and happily eased up Saturday morning once we found out the results of the election had been called. We enjoyed sharing in some historic moments with our kids, explaining the presidential election to them and having the news …
Pandemic: Week 34
Time has been moving *so* fast lately. With Ben being in school our days are tied to his routine. We had so much fun celebrating Halloween this last week. The weather was really nice most of the week and we enjoyed a lot of extra outdoor time in the city. Our weekday routine is pretty …
Pandemic: Weeks 29 through 33
For the first six+ months of the pandemic I somehow managed to do a weekly blog post. I haven’t been able to keep up and fell about several weeks behind. So, here’s what we’ve been up to since the middle of September. Ben had a slow transition to doing in-person school. For the first four …
All Things Cozy
Coziness is a rather important feeling in our family. We love cuddling up on the couch in a big blanket or making sure we’re warm and toasty with a nice pair of comfy socks. Whatever it is, coziness is a real thing and it creates its own vibe for us. This year in particular we’re …