Travel

My biggest fear, is simple. I’m afraid of forgetting. Always have been. It’s maybe why I’ve been documenting my life through pictures since I was a kid.

Now, I often say that my memory is photographic, but what I mean is that if there is a picture of it, I can pull the memory.

I’ll never forget one summer, while away at overnight camp, I used 17 disposable cameras. I currently have boxes, hard-drives and over 30 000 photos on my phone and there is nothing I like better than going through them and looking back on the memories and moments.

The process of documentation has been been a critical part of my life and as I’ve gotten older I find myself investing in creative ways to capture moments.

At our wedding, I invested in an amazing photographer from Mango Studios, an inspiring cinematographer from Elle & Be Films and an illustrator Danielle Final, who live-painted the ceremony, reception and photography session. The combination of these three methods of documentation have kept the memory of this special day vivid for me.

By Danielle Final

Since Sterling’s arrival, my world has exploded with pictures, but I’m not complaining. I find myself often picking a month, from the past 17 and reviewing the special moments I captured. With Trevor and I both photographers ( 2Boo Studio) we are always with a camera on-hand.

When Sterling was first born we invested and took photos at about 6 weeks with the insanely talented Scarlett O’Neill. With these shots, we’ve printed giant poster size wall art and created hardcover books for our families to remember this quick moment in Sterling’s life.

So during our recent trip to Miami, we decided to invest in memories and capture this moment in time, Sterling at one. So we began to arrange for our second session of family photos. I found Emily Prada, a Miami local known for her breathtaking wedding photography, who uses nature to highlight her subjects via Instagram and fell in love with her aesthetic. Because she shoots locally, she had lots of recommendations for locations and we picked John U. Lloyd Beach State Park as it’s filled numerous scenic backdrops. Check out some of the photo session below.

I cannot wait to print these photos out and put them on display. I’ve already gifted a set of family ones to my grandparents for their hospitality and love during our trip to Miami.

If you are a Toronto local and looking to capture memories with your children, check out my photography business 2Boo Studio. I’d love to create special moments for you that you’ll cherish for a lifetime.

Sterling: Hat: Target, Outfit: Carters Barbara: Dress: Zara, Sunglasses: Clearly

At the end of last month, our family escaped the never-ending, shitty winter weather, to beautiful Miami for two weeks. And I’ve got to tell you, it was probably one of the healthiest decisions we’ve made as a family in a long time.

Winters are hard for everyone, but I think it’s especially hard for those who work from home or spend their days raising little ones. Between the cold and winter storms, being trapped inside for months can feel isolating, so this escape was very much needed. The weather for each of the days we were there was 27 degrees and sunny.

Hat: Rag & Bone, Glasses. Clearly, Dress: Target, Shoes: Loeffler Randall

We split our trip into two sections, the first 5 days we stayed at the beach in a newly built hotel and then for the next 10 we were with my grandparents.

Sweater: Alice & Olivia, Skirt: Tanya Taylor

Last year, Sterling and I came down (I shared about my trip with a 7 week old, traveling alone, here) but as my grandparents weren’t there, I knew this trip would be much more special. I also thought it was really magical that the ages of the people on this trip are Sterling: 1, Trevor and I: 31, my grandparents: 91. 1, 31, 91. A truly special trip.

Flights
We planned our flights around nap-times and found great success with Sterling. Our flight to Florida departed at around 6pm, and although Sterling didn’t sleep on the 3 hour flight he was easy and calm due to the late hour. The minute we landed he fell asleep in our ErgoBaby until we picked up our rental car. On the way home, we arrived at the airport at 10am for our 1pm flight, and Sterling made some friends with the people around us, and passed out on top of his dad until we landed.

We took our ValcoBaby Stroller to Miami. Diaper bag is Skip Hop

Hotel
We spent the first 5 nights about a 20 minute drive away from my grandparent’s place in Aventura, at the newly built Costa Hollywood Beach Resort. We decided on this resort for a few reasons:
• their proximity to the beach and boardwalk
• A full kitchen. As Sterling goes in and out of picky stages with food, preparing and having essentials on-hand is key
• A separated living space and bedroom. Sterling is a great sleeper but goes to bed around 8pm, so having a space for us to be in was key

Sterling’s & Barbara’s bathing suit: Old Navy, Barbara: Sunglasses: Clearly, Hat: Target

The location was truly amazing. A 1 minute walk to the beach where you could spend your days on the touristy but family-friendly Hollywood Boardwalk which is lined with restaurants, ice cream shops and little stores. On the Friday and Saturday nights, most of the restaurants had live music and the streets were filled with people.

The hotel staff were friendly and knowledgeable about local restaurants as well as the area. Our room was great, very modern and sleek. I did a room tour and it’s saved to my Miami 2019 Highlight on Instagram. They also had a small breakfast available each morning, which was great because croissants are key for Sterling and coffee is mandatory for this mama and both were delicious.

Food
The first few days Sterling had a hard time adjusting to the break of routine around meal time. So we focused on simple meals and invested in an Ikea highchair so he could sit properly with us during family meals, and almost immediately he started eating better.

We didn’t really go out to eat much so unfortunately we didn’t hit many of the spots on our must-eat list, but rather ate where it was convenient. Feel free to DM me on IG or leave a comment if you want more details of the spots we did go to.

For Sterling, we brought a bunch of his favourite food pouches PC Organic Banana Kiwi Strained Baby Food and once we got to my grandparent’s we made his regular smoothies for meal times, which consist of blueberries, bananas, peanut, nut or seed butter, yoghurt and whatever else we have on hand, like spinach or strawberries.

Overall, traveling with a baby (almost toddler) is never going to be easy, but being flexible with your schedule and rules can allow for a painless trip. I really enjoyed the extended time-off, typically vacations are one-jammed-pack-week of sight-seeing and activities, but this trip to Miami for 15 days, meant that we could keep each day light and enjoyable.

Make Memories

Traveling with a one year old