As I mentioned last week, we headed up to Lake Tahoe for the past several days and it was absolutely beautiful. It snowed our entire first day, so we spent it inside, relaxing (loosely speaking with little ones), and watching movies… and the rest of the week lent itself to building a snowman, snow angels, snow ball fights, and outdoor walks… and while the time at the cabin was stress free, the drive up there on Tuesday turned relatively tension filled, quickly. 

Tuesday morning we managed to make it out of the house before schedule, which rarely happens with two little ones, so we assumed we’d make it up the mountain before the sunset and the snow storm arrived… 

TJ had to take a few work calls from the road which resulted in about a 40 minute delay, and then we decided to go through the drive through at In-N-Out (obligatory on any CA road trip)… which put us behind schedule about an hour… which was just enough time for the rain to start as we began our drive up the mountain…

My parents were about 45 minutes ahead of us on the drive and alerted us to the inclement weather, poor driving conditions, and that snow was starting to fall, so we were at least prepared for a relatively challenging drive…. but not expecting what ended up unfolding… 

TJ has very poor eye sight and wasn’t able to see the lanes with the intensity of the rain (and eventually snow) and dark roads,  so we had to pull off the interstate and I took over the drive. At that point, I assumed it would be relatively smooth sailing from there… as long as I drove slowly. Nope. The snow began to fall harder, visibility dropped, and they eventually closed off the road and required chains…. 

Being from Southern California, tire chains aren’t something we use regularly (maybe once every several years if snow in the local mountains is intense enough), but we purchased them for this trip as a “just in case” situation. TJ even mentioned, in passing at the beginning of the drive, that he had no clue where he actually packed them in the car….

Fast forward 9 hours later. It’s pitch dark, the snow is falling hard, we’ve pulled into a gas station off the I-80 (per Caltrans orders), and have ZERO clue how to install the chains on the car tires… fortunately there was a gentleman who makes a living off of installing tire chains for people just like us, and after about a 20 minute delay, we were back on the road again… yet, we drive an electric vehicle and both freezing weather, sitting idle, and driving uphill use up significantly more battery life… so I not only had no experience driving in snow with chains, we were now up against a dwindling car battery life (perfect storm, literally)…. 

Add to that a screaming toddler who was hungry and just wanted out of the car (Camille), a curious toddler who had question after question about the snow falling and that animals that might be out there in the dark (Harper), an incredibly anxious husband (who gets very quiet when he’s worried about something), and me who was irritated that we had the delays earlier in the day (hindsight is 20/20), you could have cut the tension in the car with a knife…. 

It was the craziest drive I’ve ever made… and when we pulled up to the rental property I have never been happier (oh, and the moment we drove into the garage the car battery flashed “dead”)… and we could eventually laugh about the tension and wildness of the drive later that evening (after a glass of wine…)…. 

So on Saturday night when we were talking about going home the next morning Harper said, “Mommy, do you remember saying ‘this is such a nightmare’ on the drive up here?” We all cracked up. One, I’m thankful that’s all she heard me say… and second, because it really was….. 

All that to say, our drive home was relatively smooth sailing (as good as a road trip can go with two toddlers) and it’s always nice to be back in our own home, sleeping in our own beds. I hope you all have a good, short, week ahead! 

Also, I wanted to mention that the link to the first People Helping People amazon wishlist was fixed and you can find it here (full blog post here).

(Wore my favorite Lou + Grey joggers + pullover for the long drive… mask lariat, mask, sneakers, coin necklace (10% off with code SHANNON10), Mama Necklace)

(Lazy snow day with Nana, blanket)

(Dipped in the hot tub during the snow storm, which was pretty amazing…. coat, beanie)

(Built a snowman with the biggest carrot I’ve ever seen…. faux leather puffer, leggings, girl’s jackets)

(Enjoyed daily morning walks with my mom and this beautiful view…. coat, beanie, leggings)

(The morning sunrises were gorgeous… and since the girls woke up super early every morning we were able to see them… mug)

(We did evening s’mores on the balcony every night… highlight of the girl’s days I think….)

(Basically wore a variation if this outfit everyday… leggings, boots, scarf, sweater)

(We ended up hanging out in the hot tub every afternoon while the girls napped and did quiet time…. beanie)

(Will certainly miss these beautiful views… pants, pullover, leotard, scarf, beanie, slippers)

(Packed up and heading home…. joggers, sweatshirt, girl’s outfits)

(IN-N-OUT, a must stop on any CA road trip)
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Didn’t workout much this past week, so looking forward to getting back on track… but ALO is having 25% off and they have so many of my favorite pieces… like these high waisted airlift leggings, Soho pullover, glimpse pullover, and cropped pullover.

SHOPBOP is having an entire week worth of cyber sales… today’s sale is 25% off of select shoes and bags with code STANDOUT. Not sure what will be included (since I’m writing this Sunday) but I love these snakeskin combat boots.

A few cute items on sale at Nordstrom right now include my ribbed henley sweater, this cute cocoon insulated coat (love the color), ribbed oversized cardigan, and this boucle free people pullover (I own it in cream and grey).

Tommy John gave me a 25% off discount code (expires today), SHANNON25… I’ve been wearing their items for over a year and highly recommend for yourself or as a gift (I’ve gifted my dad, sister, and TJ)…. our favorites include the second skin sleep pants, henley sleep shirt, and this soft pajama set… and for men these sleep pants, sleep shirt, and this hoodie…. also the second skin trunks.