A group of professional #bosslady women came over for dinner last week. I put together a simple, gluten-free menu with the flavors of early spring for our meal.  This kind of food is so simple to prepare, you only need about an hour to set the table and cook once the groceries are purchased. Everything…

Returning home from a long trip usually means trading a tiny carry-on bag for a closet full of clothes. At 5 months (20 weeks) pregnant, instead I returned home from New Zealand to find only a couple more things to wear and many, many more that I had outgrown. Time to get creative since being…

I’ve found maternity basics to be easy to shop for: leggings, t-shirts, tank tops, midi skirts…all fairly simple in basic black and white. But a pretty, flowery dress for Easter? Things get complicated quickly. Here are my five favorite floral maternity dress options for Easter to help you and the bump avoid looking like a…

Rob and I saved the biggest must-see sight on the south island of New Zealand for the last few days of trip. Milford Sound is world famous for its fjords, mountains and hikes (aka “tramps”). Most visitors opt for a tour bus to drive 4 hours each way from Queenstown, but that’s exhausting and doesn’t…

This is a popular drive on the south island of New Zealand for a reason. Not only does Highway 6 here connect two must-see areas, but it also gives you a snapshot of many of the different kinds of natural landscapes in the area in just a few hours drive. As we left Fox Glacier,…

From the rain forest beaches along Highway 6, it is just a short drive up into New Zealand’s glacier territory. For our visit, we decided to hike Franz Josef first and then drive on to spend the night in the smaller town of Fox Glacier and hike that the second day. Very lucky with weather…

Rob and I headed south along the west coast road from Motueka for the final few days of our trip. Highway 6 is known as a famously beautiful drive in New Zealand, with lush rain forests and beaches along the way. It’s also, in the classic New Zealand style, a fairly slow two lane road…

After Stewart Island, my favorite place in New Zealand was the sleepy town of Motueka, about 30 minutes north of Nelson on the South Island. The area is famous for being the sunniest in New Zealand with lots of beaches and kayaking in nearby Abel Tasman National Park. It is also a major center of…

When we first arrived in Nelson, I wasn’t sure that I liked it. Our campsite had mosquitos and sand flies, there were a lot of bohemian backpackers around…it reminded me of Santa Cruz which (scandalously) isn’t my favorite place. But the next morning – Monday in New Zealand, Sunday for our work schedule – the…

The word “Kaikoura” means “crayfish meal” – so it only makes sense that Rob and I would partake of the bay’s giant lobster-like crustaceans before leaving for Nelson. On our second day at the beach town, we drove around to the south side for a 3 hours loop hike along the coastline. The trail starts…