Shoe Loves (Charleston Shoe Company)

Charleston Shoe Company's owner and founder.  Images via Charleston Shoe's website

During our vacation I discovered these awesome boots made by the Charleston Shoe Company.  I liked them because they looked like they would be sturdy but sexy. 

Happy Friday (August 15, 2014)

Image via Rate your Burn

What are you up to this weekend?  I'm going to take it easy and do some much needed unpacking from our vacation. 

I do plan on going to my first class at Soul Cycle's new DC location.  Like many people in Washington, I've been anticipating this opening for a long time.

Afterwards, I'd love to make these snow cones from Little Miss Party Planner.

The Muppets covering the Beastie Boys.

Since high school, I've been in the practice of wearing some type of sun protection on my face almost everyday.  Here's a great primer on sunscreen.

And in case you missed them here are my posts from this week: a recap of our vacation, packing your airplane diaper bag, and awesome baby sandals.

Airplane Diaper Bag

1. Changing Pad/ 2. Ziploc Bag/ 3. Dirty Diaper Bag/ 4. Snack Cup/ 5. Sippy Cup/ 6. Snacks/ 7. Board Book/ 8. Small Toy/ 9. Teddy Bear/ 10. Outfit/ 11. Blanket/ 12. Muslin Blankets and Skip Hop Bag.

We just got back from vacation and it was the first time I flew solo with my daughter.  In the past, I had my husband to help me out.  So on this trip I needed to make sure that I had as little as possible so that I could easily get on and off the plane with my very active new walker.

These were our must-have items.   

Shoe Loves (Saltwater Sandals)

I know it's August and you probably aren't thinking about summer clothes anymore, but I have to tell you about these wonderful sandals my daughter received from her great aunt for her first birthday. 

Return from the Green World

A grey morning in Menemsha on Martha's Vineyard. Photo by Handle with Karo

We are back from our first vacation as a family of three.

In college, I learned about a literary concept called the Green World.  In this world, a story's principal characters converge in a loosely structured, natural environment where their issues become resolved (think a Midsummer Night's Dream).

Oh the Humanity (Humans of New York)

Do you follow Humans of New York on Facebook or Tumblr?  If you don't, you should check it out.

For those of you that don't know about it, Humans of New York is a photoblog of street portraits featuring everyday New Yorkers.  It StoryCorps in photos.

I love the posts because they remind me that everyone has a story and that you never know what the person standing next to you is going through.  Some of the posts make me laugh and others get me teary eyed.

Did I mention this project was so successful the photographer, Brandon Stanton, turned it into a book?

Here are some of my favorites:

How to Hire and Pay your Child's Caregiver

If you live in the Washington Metro area, I don't need to tell you how difficult it is to find child care for children under 3. I also don't need to tell you how expensive it is.

In our case, I called three different day care centers the morning I found out I was pregnant. The waitlist for each location would extend far beyond my maternity leave.  This mean that I knew that I would have to seek out alternatives to a group child care setting (nanny share, home day care, in-home nanny).  After taking into account our different needs, my husband and I decided to hire a nanny. 

We soon learned that finding and securing in-home childcare is a bit more difficult than going the day care route.  You are responsible for making sure your child is in the care of a trustworthy and dependable person.  You also have to take on the responsibilities that other employers have which means that you need to set up your own systems so that you can properly manage this employee. 

Here is a guide that I put together based on my experiences of hiring and employing our nanny.