Thanksgiving.  An American tradition that stretches cultures, ethnicity and religions bringing together every American to give thanks and eat…a lot.  What’s not to love.

In our family Christmas has always been the big event but over the years and now that I’m away more and my brother and sister have their families and in-laws Thanksgiving has become a three to four day event.

We usually have a nice dinner out together on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, then it’s Thanksgiving a day of rest on Friday and then the annual big University of Virginia vs. Virginia Tech game is Saturday and my Dad now throws a huge party at our house.  Biggest rivalry in Virginia.  I went to UVA, however most of my family are Hokie fans as we live a mere 20 minutes from the campus.  It’s a bit of a sore spot with me as I’m the only alumni in the family and shouldn’t they support my team?

We also now deep fry our Thanksgiving turkey and on game day just about anything else we can find.  If you’ve never had deep fried turkey, I highly recommend it.  Quite a treat and nothing like you’d expect.

So it’s a nice long weekend of family time.

We arrived at my Dad’s on Monday night.  Justin spent the rest of his “ultimate sports week” at Penn State and then watched Sunday football with some friends in Arlington.

I spent the weekend with my good friends from UVA at my friend Kirsten’s new home in Leesburg.  It was a house full.  On Saturday Katina and her daughter Bailey arrived early to hang out followed by my friend Wendy and her two boys, Tripp and Zach.  We all had a sleepover and enjoyed hanging out.  Stella loved all the friends to play with.

On Sunday Kirsten threw a brunch and my friend Tara came up from Charlottesville with her new daughter Olivia.

Was soo nice of everyone to take a lot of time out of their busy lives to spend the weekend with me.  It meant a lot and I was very thankful.

Which leads me to my list of things I’m thankful for this year.  I don’t think I’ve made a list like this at Thanksgiving since I was in elementary school.  Perhaps a tradition I should start!

1.  The time I’ve had this year with Justin and Stella on this whirlwind trip.

2.  The new addition to our family that will arrive in May.  While a big surprise, we are thankful that we didn’t have any of the agony of trying to have a baby that we had the first time around.

3.  The enormous amount of time we were able to spend with our families and friends while we went on our round the world trip.

4.  Owning my own business with Justin and the life it has afforded us.  While often times very hard and frustrating, we would never change it for the world.

5.  All the new additions to our families’ and friends’ lives.  Having so many children around has brought a new life and energy to our lives that we never imagined.  Seeing life through a child’s eye is incredibly eye opening and fulfilling.

6.  The many lessons I’ve learned this year in both business and my personal life and especially as a parent.

7.  Our parents who have supported us as we endeavored upon yet another adventure.  Without the help of Justin’s Mom and Dad; and my Dad, in many big and small ways we would not have been able to do what we did.

8.  The love of my Mother, while no longer here, I feel her love every day and am very thankful for the things she taught me and I hope I will be able to teach Stella.

9.  My husband.  The person who makes me laugh even when I want to kill him.  The smartest and best business partner anyone could ask for.  The husband most women dream of (OK, maybe not the sports part but…).  And an incredibly loving and doting father.

10.  My home.  We go home to Vancouver on Tuesday and I couldn’t be more excited.  While I love adventure there’s no better trip than the one you take home.

Travel Tip:

Many airlines are now code-sharing with other airlines.  I now book most of my flights with US Air because they actually allow you to book “infant in lap” tickets on line versus United who makes you call in and hope that when you get to the airport your reservation includes your “infant in lap.”  Well, when I flew from NYC to DC I nearly missed my flight as I just showed up at US Air thinking I could check in there for the flight I booked on their website…well, the actual flight was on United and I had to frantically run to another terminal, by msyelf with 2 suitcases and Stella…not fun.

So here’s a tip:  make sure you double check the airline you are flying on and check-in there even if you book thru another airline.

And…United…here’s a tip for you…please just change your on-line booking system to allow a booking for “infant in lap.”  You will probably save a lot of time and money without all the phone calls and actually lose less customers.

I so want to move to NYC!  I’ve always loved it here and would love to move here in, as they say, “a New York minute.”  Justin and I actually have dreams of some day having an apartment here when we retire or living bi-coastally…  I know, sounds crazy but it’s just something we’d love to do.

It’s been a great visit here.  We visited with some old and dear friends.

Jennie Koenig.  A wonderful person and good friend of the entire family.  She went to college with Brandon (Justin’s brother) and is like a sister to us all.  She has been putting the full court press on us since we arrived to move here…even bribing us with nice clothes for me and Stella and tasty lip gloss!:)

Seth and Hilary Auster.  Very good friends of ours who we love to get together with whenever we can.  They are foodies and love to travel so we always have something exciting to talk about.

Sandro de Carvahlo.  The always talented artist and man of fun.  He has to have the most inefectious laugh around.

We also got together with some of Justin’s college friends, Mike and Erik  for dinner at my favorite restaurant, Nobu.

We also hit MoMa The Museum of Modern Art yesterday and really enjoyed it.  Was nice to finally get to a museum her in NYC.  For me it was extra special as I took several art history classes at UVA and got to see some of the paintings we studied.  There was also a small Van Gogh collection including the famous The Starry Night. I was especially excited to see Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon as I studied this painting for weeks back in school.  It’s HUGE!

There were also several Cézanne, Gaugin, Warhol and Matisse pieces that I like on display.  A real treat.

Justin just set-off for the last of his “ultimate sports week” sporting events.  He and Sandro are driving back to State College for Penn State’s final game of the year and hopefully chance at going to the Rose Bowl.

Justin was lucky to get to Penn State’s game last week and then two Canuck’s hockey games this week with Seth.  Seth hooked him up with some great tickets and they had a blast.  I know that this weekend’s game at Penn State is going to be a lot of fun for Justin.

Stella and I fly out to Washington, DC shortly to stay the weekend at my very good friend Kirsten Schaefer’s house in Leesburg.  She just moved into a big house and had a baby so a bunch of our girlfriends and their kids are coming for the weekend so we can all catch up.  It will be an interesting and fun weekend with at any given time 4-10 children under the age of 5 running around.  Stella will have a blast I’m sure and I can’t wait to catch up with old friends.

It’s been a whirlwind week for the Lee’s.  We finished up the PSU weekend with a win.  Stella was lucky and got to spend the Saturday game day with Grandma Schnur (Justin’s friend’s Jason and Steve Schnur’s mother).  Stella absolutely fell in love with Grandma Schnur and we were lucky to have a day to ourselves.

We stayed the rest of the weekend with the ever gracious hosts, Steve and Amanda Schnur and their sweet daughter Olivia at their beautiful second home outside of State College.   Olivia was Stella’s best friend for the two days we were there.

Check out Daddy’s Little Nittany Lion!

On Sunday we headed to Bethlehem, PA to visit our good friends Chad and Kathy Harris.  Justin was Chad’s best man and Kathy and I have become very good friends over the years so it was a really nice visit.  We also got to spend some time with their new baby girl Addy which was a very nice treat.  Kathy spoiled us with homemade beef stew for lunch and lasagna for dinner.  Very nice to just relax and spend a quiet Sunday with them.

On Monday morning we were off to Long Island for Justin to catch the Canuck’s hockey game and for me to visit with my old college friends Laura Rose and Lee Ann McCoy.  We stayed at Laura and Brian’s and their daughter Ally was a great “big sister” (as she put it) to Stella.

On Tuesday it was on the road again as we drove into NYC…even though we missed the turn on the bridge and had to pay the toll twice…did you know it cost you more to go into NYC from NJ ($8) than to go into NYC from Long Island ($5)???

I love NYC.  The smells, the sounds, the accents, the food, the energy.  Everything.  Stella seems to like it as well.  She loves activity and this is the place.  We are staying in Midtown at the London Hotel which is very nice.  Every room is quite spacious.  We even had a gaggle of paparazzi outside the hotel today, still can’t find out who’s staying here yet.

I swear that Clive Davis was chatting with me and Stella this morning over breakfast but can’t say for sure…

We saw Barbara Walters today at lunch at BLT Market at the Ritz.  Very cool.  She’s soo skinny!

Yesterday we took Stella to FAO Schwartz and got her a nice book on NYC.

Many more things on tap before we leave the city so very excited.  It’s been a much different trip to NYC than ever before as we have Stella now.  Normally it was hit the hottest restaurant and clubs and then sleep until we did it again the next night and hopefully fit in a bit of shopping.  It’s a nice change.

Baby Tip:  don’t pack too many stops and changes in a trip.  This has hands down been the most exhausting portion of our trip.  All the packing up and moving and change of beds has really warn us out.  We are happy to finally be in one place for a few days.

The last few days have been spent mostly visiting with old friends.  We arrived at the Holst’s house in Pittsburgh on Tuesday and were treated to a homemade curry compliments of Seth.  It was fantastic.  Also very nice to spend time with Seth, Jen, Eli and Jonah.  I couldn’t believe how big Eli is, 5 and incredibly smart and adorable.  I remember when he was born.  Time flies.  Seth and Justin went to Penn State together and were Acacia brothers.

Seth and Jen are balancing demanding careers as Dr.’s and I’m impressed with how well they are balancing it all with family life.  It’s not easy.

Jonah and Stella had a great time playing as they are only a few months apart in age.  Sharing their blankies and playing together.

We were lucky to also get to have the famous Permanti Brothers sandwiches with TJ Ladner on Wednesday for lunch.  Great to catch up and always a good laugh when he’s around.  TJ was also a fraternity brother of Justin’s.

Wednesday night we were off to visit the Dee’s.  Stacy and Chris just moved back to Pittsburgh and are getting settled in with Grayson and Beckham.  Again, really nice to catch up with old friends we haven’t seen in quite awhile.  Chris and Justin became friends thru mutual Penn State friends years ago.

Chris and Stacy also have very demanding and high profile jobs and seem to be doing very well with doing it all and raising two very kind and smart boys.

Thursday we did a networking lunch with some local Pittsburgh real estate investors.  Actually took Stella along and she’s now called our little “closer.”  Who can resist a cute kid?  That’s what you call a family business.  Lunch was at Fat Heads…Yum!

Yes, we are on an eating tour of the East coast…stay tuned for some other classic good eats!

Today we hit Penn State and took Stella straight to the Lion Shrine for a photo opp and big Nitanny Lion “roar” (she’s mastered the skill quite well).  And then we hit the creamery to pick up some ice cream for the weekend- my personal favorite stop at PSU!

Arrived at Andrew Goldberg’s house and he treated us to a fabulous home cooked meal and was a very gracious host.

Thanks to all our hosts over the last few days.  Very much appreciated.

No real baby tips to share.  It’s been a sleepless night the past 2 nights.  Stella was in the room with us both nights and woke up and wouldn’t really go back to sleep. Tonight we have her in a huge walk-in closet in our room so we hope to get some sleep.  I know it sounds terrible but it’s basically her own room.  We all need some sleep.  Stella included.

Now that’s  a real sign of a working mother… Today during a break at our conference I had to grab some diapers.  They sat under my chair just about the entire rest of the conference….

It’s been 5 long days of non-stop information overload and learning at the Dan Kennedy Information Summit.  A room full of 900+ information marketers.  We learned a ton but now to really try to find the time to do something with it.

I continue to struggle to be a good mom, wife and entrepreneur… times like these (that is, incredible learning and networking opportunities) I realize how hard it really is to balance it all and do them all well.

Thankfully, my ever social husband, handled all of the networking for us.  Being pregnant did not really allow me much energy for socializing after the events ended each night around 8/9 pm.  And, Stella needed a little mommy time (and mommy needed a little Stella time) each night.

We were blessed to have Justin’s Dad here to help us out.  His girlfriend Teresa also came for a few days and helped spoil Stella rotten.  They made her fresh hand squeezed orange juice each day…need I say more.

I have been to St. Louis several times when I worked for Senator Bond from Missouri but this time I actually got to see the Arch, it was beautiful and we were lucky to have gorgeous and warm weather the day we checked it out.  The downtown area continues to be a ghost town which is quite sad considering that it seems to hold a lot of potential.

The travel is beginning to wear on us a bit but we were lucky and had a suite for the week here in St. Louis – which is one of my baby travel tips I’ll share with all you families out there.  When you check into your hotel, ALWAYS ask if they have a bigger room.  Quite often you will get a free upgrade.  We actually didn’t even ask in England and got a bigger room as they said we’d be more comfortable with the crib if we had a bigger room.  It never hurts to ask.

If I’ve learned one thing while traveling, overall, you get a lot of free upgrades, pass the line, etc. when you have a baby.  It’s a nice perk given how exhausting travel can be sometimes, especially with children.

Another tip is during cold weather months, is to be sure to bring a large carry-on bag to put all your coats in.  On our flight over from England, the bag I had only had room enough for Justin’s light coat and Stella’s so I just put mine in the overhead.  Well, 8 hours later and exhausted, I left mine on the plane…never to be seen again.  And it was new…nothing special but a bit chilly without it.  I’d actually recommend tucking a lightweight collapsible bag inside of your carry on that you can pull out after you get through security, etc. to store all the coats.

We are off to Pittsburgh in the morning to visit Seth and Jen Holst and their 2 little boys as well as Chris and Stacy Dee and their 2 boys.  We haven’t seen them in ages and we are looking forward to our visit!