Monthly Musings

 

1. Tell is about your Memorial Day Weekend.

We celebrate Victoria Day weekend in Canada, and it was the previous weekend (15th-18th). You can read a recap of my weekend Here. A little golf, a little baseball, a little brunch. 

2. What were your summer jobs when you were younger?

I babysat and then worked at the genealogical society, helping people trace their family histories and keep records of births, deaths, etc. for our county, and then I worked at the local museum.

3. Ice cream or popsicles? Favourite flavour?

I like both but will choose a popsicle, if available, if it’s really hot out. Favourite ice cream flavour is mint chocolate chip. Favourite popsicle is the three flavoured rocket one.

4. What do you like on your burgers and hot dogs?

Burgers - the works. Hot dogs - grainy mustard, regular mustard, and fried onions

5. Beach, lake, or mountains?

Beach is always my first choice. I am from Nova Scotia and partial to the ocean.

6. Share travel plans for summer 2026.

Family trip to Northwestern Ontario and lots of baseball tournaments around Southern Ontario.

7. Do you visit amusement parks in the summer? Tell us your favourites.

Canada’s Wonderland is right in Toronto for us. E had a season’s pass last year and went a few times. If we can fit it in, we may try getting there as a family this year.

8. Do you enjoy dining outside in the summer?

Yes, any opportunity I have to eat outside, I will take it.

9. Favourite summer beverage?

Call me basic but I love an Aperol Spritz if the weather is warm. 

10. Favourite side dish for summer parties?

Homemade pasta salad. I recently made a kale Caesar pasta salad and it will be my go-to for the near future.  Just pasta, chopped kale, a bottle of Caesar dressing, bacon bits, and some Parmesan. I used Fusilli Bucati Corti, which is a little tighter version of fusilli and it worked well. I also made This lemon herb couscous salad and it was delicious. Fresh dill and parsley really elevate the salad. 

Linking up with Patty

What’s Up Wednesday

 Linking up with Shay for the monthly recap of “What’s Up Wednesday”. I love doing these recaps and sometimes I look back at the same month in years past to see how things have changed and what has stayed the same. 

What we’re eating this week…

Dave and I are away this week so lots of dinners out.

What I’m reminiscing about…

The last time we were in Vancouver.  E was about 10 months old and we tagged along on a work trip with Dave. We did the Grouse Grind with Dave carrying E on his back.

What I’m loving…

I think I can finally say the weather (?). Our warm sunny weather has been slow to arrive, but the other day I watched an evening baseball game in shorts and a t-shirt, only needing a sweatshirt to bike home, so perhaps our wait is over!

What we’ve been up to…

Watching baseball. We watch Q play baseball, we watch the Blue Jays on TV pretty much every night, and sometimes in person.

What I’m working on…

I’ve been at my new job for a month now and I’m still learning lots of things each day. There are many moving parts and players for me to get familiar with. 

What I’m excited about…

Helping Q pick out another walk up song for his house league team. He has one for the rep team, which he picked out with little interference from me, but maybe I’ll have more of an influence this time. Or he will just pick the same one, which I guess is fine, haha, I’m partial to the intro to Back that Azz Up or Bring Em Out by T.I. The lyrics aren’t suitable for kids, but the first parts of the songs work.

What I’m watching/reading…

As noted above, baseball! But also Landman, Rivals, and Friends and Neighbours. I also watched a few Netflix documentaries - The Crash, Should I Marry a Murderer, and the one about Moriah Wilson. 

I’m slowly reading a Jill Santopolo book. I want to pick up Carley Fortune’s new book soon. 

What I’m listening to…

Since I’m not spending as much time walking to and from the subway, I am falling behind on my podcasts! I used to try to go back and listen to all back episodes, particularly for The Bridge, but I’m giving myself and break and just listening when I can. 

What I’m wearing…

I posted last week of some new clothes I got. They are all great additions to my wardrobe.

What I’m doing this weekend…

We are away in Whistler for a few days so this week. Some golf, a massage, a hike or two, and some dinners are on the schedule. 

What I’m looking forward to next month…

June is my favourite month. It’s my birthday month for one thing, but also the weather starts getting good, there are some golf events, school events, a work trip, and two baseball tournaments. 

What else is new…

I got a new phone. It is an iPhone 17 and although I have put a screen protector on it, I don’t want to get a case, which I know is crazy.  I had taken the case off my old phone a few weeks ago because it was broken (the case, not the phone) and I kind of like the no case look and feel. I mean, I have smashed phones before so I’m not the best candidate for no case, so I’ll Pinango get one at some point.

Weekend Recap

Well, our weekend didn’t turn out the way we expected with some heavy rain happening on Saturday. We were supposed to go to Dundas for Q’s first rep tournament of the summer, but the organizers made the call to reschedule it for Sunday.  

So instead of the ball field, we hit up the indoor golf sim with some friends. 

Then we spent the rest of the rainy day watching sports - the F1, Blue Jays, and Canadiens.

It was Dave’s and my anniversary that day so we got some steaks and some special desserts (but shared them with teh kids and E’s friends that were over).

On Sunday, Dave and Q headed to the Dundas tournament and E and I went to the Blue Jays game. I had special tickets given to me as a gift and I was supposed to take Dave with me for our anniversary but it didn’t turn out that way. Luckily E was a willing participant. I was sorry to miss Q’s games but these tickets were pretty much once in a lifetime.

I like to take the Spadina streetcar down to the game when we have lots of time. It’s always interesting to see what’s going on up there. 

Then we made our way to the Banner Club for our seats located behind the Jays dugout. It has free ballpark snacks and non-alcoholic drinks. E was super excited and couldn’t believe he could just help himself :)

They have some cool memorabilia displays including Barger’s jersey from when he hit the pinch hitter grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series (which We were at).

Our view.

The Clover Club also has a view of the Blue Jays inside batting cage. We saw George hitting a few balls before the game started. 

We had front row seats for Ace and Junior’s number dressed as Shrek and Donkey.

And then again for the 7th inning stretch.

Dave and Q had a good day at the tournament despite the field being quite soggy from the rain the day before, but they one a game, Q had some good plays, and they had fun as a team. 

Friday Favourites

 It's Friday again! And for the Americans, I think it's a long weekend, so enjoy that.

This is a photo from last Monday night that didn't get included in my weekend recap. We enjoyed the local fireworks.

When it comes to sparkling water, I am partial to the Blue Menu brand, and they have a new flavour - Passion Fruit Guava, and it's good!

Yesterday I posted about some new clothes I bought, but while I was placing my Amazon order, I included this 4x6 frame for this photo I have of my grandfather. On the back he had written "pick your own grapefruit", which I believe was in Florida in the '80s.

Q got his haircut on Wednesday and when I said let's get a photo by the lilacs, he insisted on doing a few poses.

I golfed on Thursday evening for Ladies' Night. It was a little chilly but at least the sun was out. I golfed pretty well and enjoyed my group and dinner afterwards.

Keeping our fingers crossed for good day tomorrow for Q's first baseball tournament. The forecast is calling for rain but as long as it's light and intermittent rain, then we should be able to get the games in.

Hope you have a good weekend!

Linking up with Andrea and Erika

New Things

Aritzia, Athleta, and Amazon - oh my!  I did a bit of shopping for myself last week and so far I am happy with my purchases. I am a blogger but I am not an influencer and honestly I get a little sick of the people who are buying buying buying (and then probably returning returning returning). I asked one of these influencers one time how they have the opportunity to wear all of these clothes they are showing us in their daily lives and she said she is "obligated" to buy more than a normal person because she is an influencer and needs to make sure she has content for her followers. What a burden that must be! To consume more so others may consume as well, it's a bit disgusting isn't it? 

Don't get me wrong, I am a consumer as well and I like to buy nice things, but I do feel like there is a limit to that. I just went through my clothes as I switched over from winter to summer. I got rid of a bunch of things that were well loved, but now worn, outdated or do not fit. It was time to refresh some of my wardrobe so I placed some orders. 

Revive Poplin Dress - I have this already in a light green and it fits well so I thought it was good to get in black as well.

Archive Linen Shirt - I ordered this first in a large, but it was huge, so I returned it and got a small, so it's a more suitable size.

Breezy Tank - I got this in pink and black and I think I'll be wearing these a lot. They are comfortable and light.

Golf Skort - self explantory.

Golf Skort - This is from Amazon, and I rarely order clothes from there, but I thought I'd take a chance. It's a bit longer than I thought it would be but I like it.

And I'll spare you the photos, I also got some new bras. I have seen ads for these two brands on my Instagram for awhile so I took a chance. 

Honeylove Crossover Bra

Shapermint Truekind Bra

I just measured myself and used their size guides. They fit well and I am happy with them, although I think I prefer the Shapermint ones better. 

Have you bought anything lately?

Weekend Recap

 I went to the office on Friday and it was finally nice enough to eat my lunch outside. I tried a new place Bready  and enjoyed my chicken salad (and chocolate brioche bun later in the afternoon).

That evening Q had his first rep team practice. 

On Saturday we got to sleep in and then go for brunch at Yolks.

It was a bit chilly when we were walking home and then it started raining. But it did clear up by the time we were going golfing later in the afternoon. I actually forgot my phone at home so I had to get E to take some photos.

We ate our dinner on the patio and when we got home we watched Remarkably Bright Creatures. I did not read the book so I don’t know how it compares but the movie was excellent. And bonus it was filmed in Canada :)

Q had another baseball practice on Sunday morning and after that we hopped on the subway to get to Christie Pitts to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball team. (E was busy doing something so he met us there.)

It was a beautiful day and so many people out enjoying the game. We even saw some other people from High Park including Q’s house league coach. 

We wandered home after the game, stopping to get a box of Timbits so we could try out the new World Cup flavours, and then had a simple dinner at home. I watched the Martin Short documentary on Netflix. How fun would it be to hang out at his cottage back in the day with the crowd! (The kids go to camp on that same lake.)

Meanwhile Dave was in Myrtle Beach on a golf trip.

He got back on Monday morning. We went to Home Depot to get some construction materials for the backyard BBQ/pizza oven project, and plants. We all worked hard in the afternoon outside. It was so nice to be in the warm weather finally!

I had an iced capp from Tim's and it's amazing how it can remind me of summer in Halifax.  

We finished up our long weekend at our local social club for some fireworks.