I just learned that Cracker Barrel sometimes stocks Calico Critters! The selection is admittedly small. My husband spotted the Chocolate Bunny figurines, the (singular) grab bag, some washing machines, and a few boxes of the Nursery Friends Rainy Day Duo. Elsewhere in the store were a Red Roof House, cat families, a kitchen set, bunny triplet care sets, and a mouse sibling bath set. The Calico Critters Nursery Friends Rainy Day Duo gives its owner a marshmallow mouse baby and a panda baby, with articulated limbs, dressed in raincoats with a puddle and their own umbrellas and boots. (I imagine…
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For an afternoon tea I was going to host, I wanted some macarons. My former favored macaron shop was Mille-feuille in New York City, which I am unlikely to visit for leisure until after Small Sophie is old enough to visit NYC for a full day and not have her short legs get tired. I looked up macarons near me and discovered le macaron (521 Main St, Bethlehem, PA 18018), a macaron chain shop where I found good macarons, hard beignets, and okay meringues. I called ahead to ask if I should order ahead or if I could just come…
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I applied late on July 29th, the package was received by the processing office on August 1st, and I received it on August 23rd. Overall, it took ~4 weeks. 2025’s wait time certainly beat the time my other first-time passport for a minor took to process in 2023! It went about as expected, except for one thing: Although the United States travel.state.gov website only mentions a marriage certificate under “Step 3: Show Your Relationship to Child”, the intake agent at the post office wanted the marriage certificate. The government website says under Step 3, “If your name is different than…
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In my family, three adults applied for Global Entry in 2024 and two minors applied in 2025. For the adults, conditional approval came in one day, two days, and five months. The two minors received conditional approval after seven months and three months. Adult One got his application conditionally approved the next day. I think it is possible the US government finds him less suspicious because he has a security clearance. He did his interview on the way into the US and his card arrived in the mail not long after. Adult Two got his application conditionally approved in two…
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In summer of 2025, I stopped at these eateries in Breckenridge, CO. Breckenridge is a mountain town that seems very tourist-oriented, but it is very nice for walking. It was easy to push a stroller around most of the time. I did have to drink a lot of water, probably because of the dryness at the altitude. The morning I woke up feeling best, I drank 64 ounces of water overnight. (Also relevant is that I was breastfeeding during this trip, which necessitates some extra water intake.) These are not necessarily the best places to eat, but they are places…
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In 2024, I signed up for “free” baby things from Amazon, Target, Macys, and Babylist. I checked my old Enfamil and Similac accounts. I was going to possibly sign up for buybuy Baby and Walmart, but both of those were out of stock every time I checked. Some of these are not available if you do not reside in the continental US. I originally thought I would skip free baby boxes this time, but I decided to sign up in hopes of getting a variety of pacifiers and bottles to try with my future child. In 2020, I received a…
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I will probably not be back at Salamander DC for afternoon tea after the ridiculous experience I had, but I might still book the hotel for its excellent location. It happened like this: I noticed that Salamander DC, my scheduled hotel in Washington, D. C., offers Afternoon Tea in their lounge. I would be in time for the very last day of Fall Afternoon Tea in 2024. The cost was US$95.00 per guest excluding tax and gratuity. I immediately ran into a potential problem: I wanted to possibly apply $100 of hotel experience credit (which I received for booking through…
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I decided to try the Gryph & Ivyrose Seal the Deal(TM) Moisturizing Balm after I had been experiencing a wrist rash for about half a year. It was suspected to be a metal allergy, but the rash unfortunately persisted months after I stopped wearing the suspected bracelet. The rash was annoying, a little embarrassing, and I was willing to spend more to try make the allergy rash go away sooner. I found this balm in the Saks Fifth Avenue online store for US$49 before tax. Gryph & Ivyrose is based in Miami, Florida, United States. The Seal the Deal (TM)…
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The Noon-Collins Inn, originally built in 1834 as a judge’s residence, was also a YMCA, a small library before it became the bed and breakfast it is today. In 2024, it cost US$122.10 for a night. I called to make the booking, but they requested that I just do it online through Expedia. When I booked, they asked us to call ahead to let them know when we would arrive. I told them in a note that it would be 7 or 8 and called on the day of to let them know 7:30. The parking lot belonging the inn…
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TSA PreCheck is wonderful to have at a US airport— unless you cannot actually use it. Whether you can or cannot use it depends on what airline you are flying on. To check whether your outgoing flight is going to let you take advantage of TSA Precheck, see if your airline is on this TSA list: TSA PreCheck® Participating Airlines | Transportation Security Administration. If your airline is not on the list, you will be unable to use the TSA PreCheck line. Why would TSA PreCheck be related to the airline? Because on your ticket, they mark who is eligible…