This random Friday post is part travel diary, part house-visit, part Clara cuteness, and part Jewel sighting. Ready?
We started with a weekend trip to Washington, DC to visit my best friend Cat. (John and I set her up with John’s cousin Travis years ago — they married and now have two kids — so yes, my best friend is family.) Cat, Travis, and their kids Elsa and Edison live in Arlington, Virginia and took us into the city to visit the National Aquarium. John’s sister Katie, her husband Martin, and their sons John and Ben joined us. The aquarium was a hit with the kids; the baby alligators were a favorite.
Actually, the Nemo and Dory look-alikes stole the show. Clara and Elsa were completely enchanted.
Then, unexpectedly, we saw Jewel. She was doing a book signing a block or two from the aquarium, and we were walking by and thought, “Wait — isn’t that Jewel?” I had to fight not to burst into song, but I managed to resist. She looked sweet, and I snapped a quick photo.
After that we headed to Gravelly Point, an amazing spot where planes fly incredibly low as they land. The kids went wild — fist pumping, cheering — it was adorable.
Elsa and Clara are best friends, which completely melts my heart. It’s wild to think about all the connections — my kid possibly marrying my other friend’s son someday, our long friendship that led to family ties, and the new friendships made through blogging. Life feels random and lovely all at once.
Clara’s existence feels like a small miracle, and I’m grateful that John and I crossed paths in New York when we did. Sorry for the sentimental tangent — now back to house things.
Cat’s playroom features a chalkboard wall painted over magnetic paint, so magnets stick too. Clara loved playing with the animal magnets.
Cat also scored a Pottery Barn-style book rack on Craigslist for Edison’s room — a great secondhand find.
I loved the original chandelier in their dining room. Cat isn’t attached to it, so I might inherit it someday when she replaces it — a thought that makes me gleeful.
You can see more of her house in an older BFF visit post. We’d love to do a full house tour someday, but with so many kids around it’s always chaotic — in the best way.
One organizing success that stood out was Cat’s photo albums. She grabbed a bunch of the same style of albums, sorted photos from mixed piles and old albums, and organized them roughly chronologically without being overly meticulous. The result is calm, cohesive, and inspiring.
Now for the mini-project: Cat had been eyeing the candle sconces over her mantel after seeing an image of them online. She tracked down the photo — which happened to be from an old post on our site — but the sconces were sold out. Coincidentally, we had the sconces in our storage since we never used them in our house, so we brought them on the trip and installed them for her.
We came prepared with anchors, screws, and a drill — no excuses. The only thing we forgot was two matching candles, so one looks taller than the other in the photo. Cat also made a charming little leaf wreath and used pretty leftover wrapping paper to cover stacks of books on the mantel, which gave the whole arrangement a soft, warm glow.
After a weekend of fish-watching, a surprise celebrity sighting, plane-spotting, and sconce-hanging, we headed back to Richmond with exhausted kids and a car full of memories.
So that’s this random Friday update — a little bit of everything. Any road trips in your plans? Ever spotted a famous person while out walking and wanted to sing at them? Ever packed a drill and screws just in case you needed to hang something in someone’s home? It’s funny how those small adventures make the best stories.