Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!! I hope you have some fun plans for tonight, whatever that means for you.  We are going to our neighbours' for a party.  Looking forward to some yummy food, a few drinks, and good company (plus you can't beat the travel time to and from the party)!!

We have done the big party downtown (Halifax), house parties, and quiet nights at home with takeout and movies.  All of them were good for what we wanted at the time.  The one thing I have never had any interest in doing is going down to City Hall with the crowds of people, but to each their own.  One year, it must have been 2010, Dave and I were married and living in Toronto, but E wasn't born yet.  We went downtown to watch the World Juniors at Real Sports in the afternoon, and then we went home and Skyped Dave's cousins in New Brunswick and decided to do shots (eye roll) of Limoncello (double eye roll) as they did shots of Fireball (?).  Needless to say we were in bed well before midnight.  Fun times, right Adam and Amy?!!


I also wish you the best for a happy 2020.  It's always a time of reflection and resolutions.  But as long as you find the thing that makes you happy and then pursue it, that is all that's important.   This is my favourite version of Auld Lang Syne, it was in the Sex and the City movie so you may recognize it too.





You can read my 2019 year in review here
and my favourite things from 2019 here.

Monday, December 30, 2019

Resolutions

This year my goal was to spend more one on one time with people in my life - my husband, my children (individually) and my friends. I think I did a good job with that.  I met up with friends for lunch or dinner every month or so, and Dave and I did the same.  Usually we do a lot of things as a family but if I was taking one kid out for an errand, we would still stop and get a treat or something so it wasn't always just about the errand.  I would like to continue to do this and focus on making it a priority.
School show with E

Out with Q

Birthday dinner with Dave

Lunch with Janna

For this next year I also want to focus on continuing to make better food choices.  I do a pretty good job of this but I also get into ruts where I neglect to bring my lunch to work or eat lots of snacks at night time.  Last week we went to see Star Wars at the theatre and as I sat there eating my "supper" of popcorn, M and Ms, and Diet Coke, I realized I did not feel that great, and likely it wasn't just the food in front of me making me feel that way, but also the days of food preceding it where vegetables and lean protein were not really on the menu.   It's okay to have treats, but that means they are actually treats and not every day food.

I also want to reduce my plastic and make an effort to use reusable items. I wrote about that here and I got lots of Christmas gifts to help with this - some reusable bread bags and produce bags, beeswax wraps, reusable cleaning clothes (shame on us we usually use paper towels), and reusable covers for bowls and plates.  I know there are even more things we can do, but we'll start here.

I'd also like to go to a dermatologist and "fix" my skin. I'm not really concerned with wrinkles, but rather the brightness of it (okay, maybe some wrinkles/lines!). I don't really want to do any sort of radical peels or Botox or anything, but I'll see what they say.  Also everyone seems to be into collagen and other supplements too so I will read up on that and see how I can make use of it.

I also want to make more of an effort to go outside.  I do get to walk to and from the subway, but I could also do well to walk outside at lunchtime, even if it is cold.  I do always feel better when I've taken some time to be outside.

Another thing is to figure out how to alleviate the stress in the morning. I mean, I know how to do it, it means prepping food for lunch and breakfast ahead of time, showering at nights, and having the dishes put away.  I could also try getting up slightly earlier, which also means going to bed earlier too.

Oh, your New Year's Resolution is to eat healthy and be more organized?




Friday, December 27, 2019

Friday Favourites - 2019 Edition



Linking up with AndreaErika and Narci for Friday Favourites - 2019 edition. 


Song- Shallow by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper from A Star is Born.  It was my top song on Spotify too.


Movie - A Star is Born.  I think this technically came out in 2018 but I saw it twice in 2019.  I cannot say enough good things about this movie and soundtrack, which I basically listened to on repeat everyday (see above).

TV Show - When They See Us.  It is about the five boys arrested in Central Park for a rape the they did not commit and had no part of.  It will break your heart but has some of the best performances of the year.  I will think of this for a long time.

Book - I wrote about all of the books I read this year here, including my top three.  The best was probably An American Marriage.


YouTube Video - I enjoyed listening to the former Speaker of the UK House of Commons, John Berkow, keep control and decorum in the House prior to his retirement in October.


Meal - The OG Chicken Sandwich from Union Chicken.  This sandwich is exquisite, I cannot explain it any other way.



Drink - Brickworks Rose Cider. I got this a bunch of times this summer, so refreshing.


New Clothing - I bought some casual sneakers at New Balance last Boxing Day.  I wore them all over Lisbon and Barcelona, Canada's Wonderland, and San Francisco and my feet were never sore.  I have almost worn a hole in them already but they are good.


Toronto Moment - This is obviously the Raptors' Championship win.  This was so amazing, I still cannot believe they won sometimes.  What a time!  When I walked downtown the morning of the parade, I just loved seeing people from all walks of life down there to celebrate the same thing.  We live in the best city in the world.


Canada Moment - I'm still going to go with the Raptors for this too.  It was so fun to see people from all over the country gather to watch the game together.

House Thing - Dave renovated the basement this year.  The space was just an empty, concrete room, and he transformed it into a beautiful cozy place to watch TV and movies (and now play the Nintendo that E got for Christmas!).

New RestaurantBiff's Bistro on Front Street.  It is a French bistro and sort of unassuming from the outside.  Their menu is full of yummy selections and it was hard to choose just one thing.  The inside is cozy and there is a large patio for the warmer weather.

E Moment - I remember specifically being very proud of him during his cross country race this year.  He had to come in the top 50 to move onto the next round and he ran his heart out.  He tried really hard in the second race the next week, but came near the end.  But he was never too upset about it and never gave up even in the tough race conditions.


Q Moment - He grew up a little bit in the latter part of the year.  If he was in an unfamiliar situation with new people, he would get quite clingy and upset if we left him.  But a few times, starting in September, I would have a talk with him to say he didn't need to cry and we would come back for him.  And he understood what was going on and then was fine to go to Sunday School or Sportball or whatever.
He's a fun guy!
Dave Moment - Two things here - one is doing such a great job on the basement.  Not only did he do most of the work himself, he also came up with the design scheme.  Although I contributed some input, it was his project and it's pretty great.  Also he had a great year at work again, and like last year, we get to go on the reward trip.  We go to Hawaii next week! I really did pick a great husband :)



Thursday, December 26, 2019

2019 - Year in Review

One of my favourite posts of the year - our year in photos, just a sample of all of the fun we had:

January 

Dave and I started our year in Lisbon

and Barcelona

We shovelled some snow.

February

We tried Q out on some skis, he did not like it. 

I started a new job and traveled to Timmins.

E finished strong in his ski race.

March

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day

And Dave's birthday

And the trail by our house started to clear out of the ice and snow.

April

We enjoyed the first of many visits to High Park.

We saw the Blue Jays

And celebrated Easter in Sarnia.

May

We went to the Drake for Mother's Day

We went to Centre Island for the Victoria Day Weekend

Dave surprised me with a weekend at the Drake Devonshire for our 10th anniversary.

June

We celebrated my birthday

We spent some time at the t-ball diamond

I went underground in a gold mine.

Our Raptors won the Championship!


July

We camped at Sandbanks.

We camped at Arrowhead.

We did some bike riding as a family and I rode my bike to work several times.

August

We spent some time pool side

We went to Canada's Wonderland.

We enjoyed a few days in Lake Placid, New York.

And met up with some family in New Hampshire

September

E started Grade 3

And he finished up his t-ball season

We celebrated Q's 3rd birthday

October

We hosted family for Thanksgiving.

We enjoyed the fall colours at High Park

We celebrated E's 8th birthday

And we had a Harry Potter and Hulk for Halloween


November

I went to San Francisco with some girlfriends.

We hosted our cousins.


December

We celebrated Christmas with this angel.


2019 was a great year - we were very blessed.