Yikes, we’re leaving already. (Next week!). On my “TO DO” list was: Get Mateo some summer clothes! I wish he could still wear his sweet clothes from last year but the kid won’t stop growing! Aki needed a few T-shirts as well.

Of course there are clothes in Croatia, but it’s such a bother to HAVE TO  go shopping. As much as I love clothes, I don’t love shopping. I’d rather shop when something strikes my fancy. So I prefer to deal with our list here and leave fun extras for when we’re in Croatia and elsewhere.

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Errands in general are a little trickier these days because we don’t own a car. What?! Yep, we sold our car a few months ago and have been taking public transport since. Busses and trains are a part of Mateo’s daily vocabulary. We’ll probably get another car when we get back from our trip, but these few months sans wheels have gone surprisingly smooth. We miss it, but we get by. Aki has always taken the train to work (faster, cheaper, and more relaxing than sitting in traffic and then paying $20 to park). I don’t care for driving much, but I was the main driver in the family during the week.

We live in a city (Chicago), so although cars are super convenient, it is possible (even with a young child) to get by without one. Busses, trains, taxis, zipcars, bicycle, rental cars for weekends, FEET. If I have to get somewhere that hovers around two miles, I usually choose to walk it. It’s been nice to do so much more walking. I like walking. When we lived downtown I walked everywhere.It’s been a compromise but worth it. If it was up to Aki, he would have bought another car as soon as we sold the last one. I really wanted us to try it out for a bit though. I know we’ll get another car soon, but it’s been an interesting experiment. I also think it has freed us up a bit and made it possible for us to live/work from Europe for the summer. Imagine if we got rid of our house! just kidding. :)We took our TO DO list and had a little shopping adventure this past drizzly Thursday afternoon. First Gap Outlet in the city (eek got some adorable PJs and Mateo’s first tank top, ha) and then decided to take the train downtown to meet Aki after work for dinner. And then Zara!

My boys, My city! <3Mateo loves trains. He loves how the doors open and close, seeing them WHOOSH past in the opposite direction, and well, flirting with passengers. Oh boy.Shopping was a success! If you follow us on Facebook, you already know I made the best shopping purchase of my ENTIRE life. Pretty sure. Oh man, cannot wait to see Mateo’s chubby little thighs on the beach in his new Euro swim trunks! :) Yep, I think we’re SET. Let’s GO already! :)