Friday, December 30, 2016

Friday Favourites - 2016 Edition


Linking up with ErikaAndrea and Narci for Friday Favourites.  

A few favourite things from this past year:

Song - This is a tie between Work by Drake and Rhianna and Work from Home by Fifth Harmony (they have similar lyrics).  Unfortunately it looks like Drake and Rhianna have now broken up and he's dating J Lo?  Also one of the members of Fifth Harmony has now left.  
I love that this video was filmed in Toronto.

More ridiculous dancing in this video.

Movie - Like in 2015, I didn't see many 2016 movies in 2016, but I did catch up on some 2015 ones.  One of my favourites was Brooklyn, an unfortunate side effect is that I start talking in an Irish accent both during and after the movie.  I have also enjoyed the new Star Wars movies.   BB-8 is a great addition to the Star Wars landscape, and Rogue One was good too.  

E's birthday cake this year


TV Show - I loved Making a Murderer, in fact I think every conversation I started in the beginning of 2016 was "Have you seen Making a Murderer?", that's all I wanted to talk about.  Another great Netflix series is The Crown.  It has filled the void left by Downton Abbey.  I love the history, and of course the accents. 

Book - Of all of our book club books, I really enjoyed Requiem.  I wrote about it here.


Sport Moment - The Raptors had another great season and made it all the way to the conference finals when they inevitably lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers.  However they weren't swept in that series and we were lucky enough to go to Game 3 of that series when they beat the Cavs.  It was such a great atmosphere!


YouTube Video - I loved this video for the start of the Blue Jays season.  It got us all pumped up and the Jays did have a great season.  

Meal - Way back in January I made this Jamie Oliver dish of carbonara pasta with sausage and pancetta.  I just had it at a restaurant and was reminded of this meal, mine was better!  I am excited to make it again soon.  Another meal is the grilled pizza I made a few times this summer.  It was fun to put the dough right onto the hot BBQ grill.  I am still trying to figure out which toppings work the best with this method.


Drink - Being pregnant for most of the year meant I was relegated to lemonade and fizzy water (or sometimes fizzy lemonade, woot woot!).  When I was finally able to drink, I was happy I had stock piled some special wine, including a bottle of L'Acadie Blanc that my mom brought me from Nova Scotia.


New Clothing - As of this Christmas, I am the proud owner of a (baby) blardigan.  We finally got Nordstrom in Canada and I could go to the store to see what all of the fuss is about.  The blardigan (the term coined by Sheaffer) is so cozy and soft.


Toronto Moment - Drake Day.  This was the day Drake released the much anticipated "Views from the 6", the Raptors were headed for the playoffs, the Blue Jays season was underway and there was a buzz in the city.

Canada Moment - The nationwide CBC broadcast of the Tragically Hip concert.  I'm not a huge Hip fan but I know the songs and I appreciate the talent and how much their fans love them.  We tuned into the concert like everyone else and enjoyed the nostalgia.  Plus Ron MacLean threw to the concert from the Olympics, it couldn't get anymore Canadian than that.

One of my favourite Hip songs, an obscure one.


House Thing - Dave worked hard on our basement all year and it has turned out beautifully.  There is a beautiful clean laundry space with new machines, a cozy guest room, shiny bathroom, heated floors, a work space, bookshelves, and new stairs. Dave designed and implemented the plan by himself and I am very proud of him.  I did a house tour here including photos of the new basement.


New Restaurant - Buca.  This is not a new restaurant but this was the first year we actually visited.  I would say this is definitely the best Italian restaurant in the city, and probably in the top five.  I can't wait to go back now that I'm not pregnant so I can enjoy some of the unpasteurized things, not to mention the wine.
E Moment - The morning I spent with E in Ottawa.  We were there for the weekend so Dave could run the half marathon.  After we dropped him and his cousin Adam off for the run, we parked, got a coffee, watched the runners, and then walked up to the Parliament Buildings.  It was fun to walk with him and chat with him about things.  I wrote about our entire trip here.

Q Moment - When he was placed on my chest when he was born. It was pretty quick between the time they started the c-section and when he came out, but it was still a relief to hear his cry and know he was out safely. 

Dave Moment - When I thought back to all of the great things about Dave from this year, a lot of them were him taking care of E so I could rest.  Being pregnant was rough this time around and I wasn't able to do all I wanted to do this summer, but Dave would take E for a bike ride or swim or to the playground and it was nice to have quiet and rest time for myself.  However this doesn't seem fair to pick a time when Dave and I were apart so a favourite time of when we were actually together was the day after Q was born.  E was at school, the grandparents had come and gone, Q was sleeping, and we just got to hang out and watch the Ryder Cup on TV.  We noted that it felt like we were on vacation and it was like hanging out in the hotel room relaxing.


You can read my favourite parts of 2015 here.


Thursday, December 29, 2016

Monthly Goals - January

Last year I went with monthly goals rather than setting a few resolutions for the entire year.  This was more manageable and I could restart each month on something if I needed to.


My goals for December were:

1. Try out a fitness class at our local gym.  Done.  I've gone to four classes so far.  It is my plan to go three times a week. 

2. Wrap all of our gifts before December 20.  This was mostly done, I just had a few odds and ends to wrap up until Christmas Eve. 

3. Try some new side dishes with our Christmas Dinner.  Done.  I made Jamie Oliver's glazed carrots, and did a simple roasted brussel sprouts with bacon.  I also made a bread pudding (also Jamie's recipe) to enjoy in the days leading up to Christmas.

4. Apply for Q's passport and renew my passport.  Done.  And they arrived within one week of submitting the application, so it was all very efficient. 

5. Walk to school to pick up E.  I did this a couple of times. Once was when I volunteered to set up the book fair, another time was on the day of his school Christmas concert, and then another day we went skating on our way home.



For January, I'd like to accomplish the following:

1.  Swap out Q's clothes with some bigger sizes.
2. Get our vaccinations for our trip to Jamaica. 
3. Go for a run or two.  I haven't gone for a run for awhile and running in the winter is tough, but I'll start slow.
4. Try some new recipes from the cookbooks I got for Christmas.
5. Get a babysitter and go out for dinner with Dave. 
6. Clean the light fixtures in our house, they are all so dusty!

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

2016: Year in Review

Our year in photos:

January 

E and I went skating on New Year's Day

Then E's skiing lessons started on the weekend. 


We explored High Park in the winter


February

Skiing on the weekends

Renovations in the basement continued

March

A break from the snow

Celebrating Dave's birthday

Trying out some noodles at momofuku

New bike for Easter

April

We announced that E was going to be a big brother

Dave ran the Hamilton Round the Bay 30K

We attended the Blue Jays opening weekend

May

E started tennis lessons

We celebrated our anniversary

We hit a few balls at the driving range

We watched the Raptors in the playoffs

We visited with family in Ottawa and Dave ran the half marathon

June

We got our first ice cream at our favourite local spot

E and I went to Halifax and celebrated my birthday while we were there


Went sailing with Dave's parents

July

We went camping at Algonquin Park


My friend Cindy came to visit and we went to a Jays game

E went to some summer camps and we visited splash pads

E spent a week with Dave's parents and sister

We went to the zoo

We took a friend to the Toronto Islands

August

We went to Cape Breton for a family reunion,


Visited with my cousins in Ontario

September

Went camping at the Pinery Provincial Park for Labour Day weekend

E started Senior Kindergarten

Q was born!




October

We enjoyed some warmer temperatures

E turned five and we had a Star Wars party


We celebrated Halloween with some pumpkins designed by E


November

We travelled to Halifax for a family wedding.  Q's first airplane ride!


We raked all of the leaves


We got new windows and front door

December

We enjoyed the Christmas lights and decorations downtown.


We visited with Santa

Had lots of Christmas cheer

Held our 3rd annual Christmas party and hosted my parents for Christmas Day

Looking forward to an exciting year of 2017!