I spend a lot of time on the road or hosting visiting family members and friends. My husband and I both grew up outside of Nashville, so we spend plenty of weekends with my parents or his parents in town visiting. On top of that, some of our best friends live in New York, San Francisco, or Washington State, which adds several visits a year to our calendar.

I certainly wouldn't have it any other way, but sometimes it's nice to wake up on a Saturday and realize that there's absolutely nothing on the schedule. The laundry is done. The house is clean. Work can wait until Monday (or, let's be honest, Sunday afternoon. Because that's freelance life).

This Saturday I had sole responsibility for my kid, since my husband was off working as a wedding photographer for the day. I met up with some girlfriends at a neighborhood coffee shop and we traded off holding Charlie while everyone ate and drank coffee. After a while the baby got fussy, so we decided to move on.

We're in our 30s now, so a carpool across town to shop at Trader Joe's and check out a local bookstore seemed like a good choice. My pal Courtney knows so much about literature that Sam and I let her guide us around the store and make some choices about what to read next. I bought City on Fire for me and Room on the Broom for Charlie. Then we went grocery shopping together. Again, because in your 30s, buying healthy food is somehow more fun than afternoon beers...most of the time.

Courtney and I took the scenic route back home, stopping to look at neighborhoods we used to live in and how everything has changed. Sometimes I feel disconcerted by how quickly Nashville changes. How our developers have no memory and no meaningful connection to the land and structures that I care about. But a day spent with two of my best girlfriends left me feeling grateful and cared for. Watching people you love love on your kid is magical.