Bugaboo Bee: Annals of the Luxury Stroller

So, my parents gave my sister and me both a Bugaboo Bee. A BUGABOO BEE. It is maybe the most exciting thing that has happened to me since receiving my jog stroller. While my jog stroller is amazing and has the capacity for strolling, it turned out to be an impossible ordeal to take to the mall, as it required some assembly once you arrived at your destination and was just WAY to large to wheel around the clothing racks at the local J. Crew, for example. Also, it is really nice to keep the jog stroller fully assembled on the front porch, so that you can grab and run. Ultimately, you just need to have some sort of stroller that is in onc piece that you can keep in the back of your car.

Now, when Ivan was first born, I ordered a Bugaboo Chameleon, which is the big product from the Bugaboo company. We had just gotten the jog stroller and my husband insisted that I send the Bugaboo Chameleon back, and he was right. We did not need the bassinet that comes with the Chameleon, and the Bugaboo Chameleon is always in two pieces, and has to be assembled to get into the car. We live in Nashville and Franklin, neither of which are walkabout towns as a general rule. You are always going to have to pack up your stroller.

In my dream life where I have a flat in London and walk to the grocery and pastry shops to bring home fresh rhubarb pies, a Bugaboo Chameleon is integral to my lifestyle. I keep it always fully assembled in the mud room that opens off my front entry foyer. I push the Bugaboo past the table in the foyer where I keep a vase of fresh cut flowers and a stack of recent novels that I read during the baby's 5 hour nap times. Ahhhh, my dream life.

Anyway, until my flat in London materializes, I need a stroller that I can keep in my trunk. Now, a friend had loaned me her Peg-Perego Aria stroller for mall and shopping excursions. To fully appreciate the Bugaboo Bee, everyone should be required to push the Peg-Perego Aria stroller for a few miles. It pulled to the right something fierce, the basket underneath the stroller seemed to leak shopping bags, the diaper bag. Nothing would actually stay in the basket. Plus the basket jutted out so that you stepped on it from time to time. Also, I had a permanent bruise on my left shin where it hit me every time I opened it. Finally, it was difficult to secure Ivan in the stroller. It was as if it was made for a much larger child.

Now, the Bugaboo Bee from my parents came today. It popped right out of the box ready to go. It has one step to pop it open (oh please, watch this choreographed Bugaboo Bee video)

and it is ridiculously easy to steer. Ivan is secured easily inside, and the storage basket opens to the front and is recessed on the back side, so you never step on it. The handlebar adjusts so that it is as the perfect height, so you don't have to hunch over the stroller like Quasimodo on a mall run. I whipped through J. Crew, Davis Kidd and Teavana with nary a thought to bumping people or displays or racks of clothes.

I've rarely had a better gift. I am so excited about my great gift. One day, I will wax philosophical about the lifestyle sacrifices made by my parents to which I attribute my rich childhood and functional adulthood, but now I can only luxuriate in my Bee!!!

Chariot CSL 15th anniversary: The Workout Remains Intact

So, today's workout started early, as it has every morning since Ivan was old enough to get in the jog stroller. Three to four miles with Ivan in the Chariot. The Chariot CSL is probably the most used piece of baby equipment that I own, and was one of the greatest gifts I have received. My husband did all the research on it, and decided on the CSL 15th anniversary edition, because it weighed 16 pounds, the lightest of all the jog strollers. Also, you can convert it to a regular stroller to take to say, the zoo, or a bike trailer. It navigates effortlessly, and came with a bassinet conversion system, as well as a 3 month to one year conversion system. The wheels snap in and out easily to become the strolling or jogging stroller, it has great brakes, and an adjustable sunshade, adjustable wind guard and mesh cover. There is a large pouch on the back, where I can put the mail when I run home and pass the mailbox, and there is a small pouch within the large pouch where I can easily secure my iphone when I am running and listening to Twilight on audio.

Also, there are inside pouches where I can stuff a bottle and a couple of toys for Ivan to grab at his leisure. It is incredibly reflective if I go running in the early evening, and has a leash to wear around my wrist so that the stroller cannot get away from me when I am running downhill.

While the stroller is compact, it is large enough on the interior for me to bundle Ivan up into all sorts of blankets and snuggle suits when it is freezing outside. It has allowed me to start up a really good routine like today, when I got up, got Ivan his bottle, out the door for four miles with the stroller and then back in for Gilad and Yoga.