Weekend Recap

 On Friday night we ordered some noodles and dumplings and I walked up to get them.  They were good as always.  Then we watched Raya and the Last Dragon and some Olympics.  

On Saturday morning E had a make up piano lesson so Q did one of his on demand art classes.  He did a great job!

Then I took the boys skating while Dave stayed home to clean and do a workout.  We had the ice mostly to ourselves and the boys enjoyed playing with the hockey sticks again.

After lunch we got out of the house again to go sledding at the golf course.  It was such a beautiful day. 

We picked up our grocery order and then went home to make supper.  We shifted pizza night to Saturday to accommodate the pizza dough making schedule and also so we could take leftover pizza for our ski lunch. 

We had another nice day for skiing, slightly warmer temperatures, but no sun.  The boys had their lessons and we got out again after lunch for a few runs before going home. 

We watched more Olympics (love the CBC Gem feature of seeing any event on demand) and were sad to see our mixed curlers lose.  We were all tired after a full weekend of outside weekend fun. 

Friday Favourites

 

Does anyone else feel like this has been the longest week?  This first photo was taken on Monday and I barely remember that I went to the office that day.   I had to walk over to Union Station at lunch and I thought it would be a good opportunity for a Starbucks (my new afternoon go-to drink is a cinnamon dolce latte made with almond milk) and I can never resist a sprinkle cookie!

I suggested to Q that he start his Valentines but I didn't realize how into he would be.  I used to have to bribe E with candy to do his Valentines when he was littler.  Q even wrote most of his classmates' names on them, except if they were over 6 letters and then I had to write them to make sure there was room on the small card.

We are currently into the Come From Away soundtrack and a couple of mornings this week E has been acting out the scenes while we listen.  This is both the plane and a bus. Q and I play along too. 

Dave and I walked up to get a coffee at lunch on Thursday.  It had snowed overnight but the temperature wasn't bad and it was nice to get some fresh air.

The Olympics have started!  We have been watching the first bits with the mixed curling and some moguls.  Love us some Olympics. 

In honour of the one book I read this month, Stanley Tucci's book, Taste, I will be trying his recipe for a dry martini tonight. My bottle of Bombay is Sapphire is already in the freezer :)

Weekly Menu

 Sharing our meals again for this week:

Sunday  - Steak, mushrooms, carrots, and roasted potatoes.  We make roasted potatoes in different ways but this new (to me) way is so tasty!  I halve small potatoes and toss them in olive oil, Herbes de Provence, and salt, and then bake in a 450 degree oven for about 35 minutes. I think it's the high heat that helps make them so good. 

Monday - Tacos, surprise, we eat tacos almost every week.  

Tuesday - Red Lentil Curry from Oh She Glows Every Day. We make this all of the time too.  It's vegan and the kids love it too. The best part is the mango apple chutney that accompanies it.

Wednesday - Salmon, sweet potato fries, and vegetables.  We used this lemon pepper on the salmon, instead of our usual cajun spice. It was really tasty.

Thursday - Lentil Soup (also from Oh She Glows Every Day) and Focaccia loaf.  I love a good hearty soup in the winter as a supper and then as leftovers.  Q is not always so keen on soup, so the bread fills him up.

Friday - It's pizza night again!  At the start of the pandemic we did pizza night every Friday and thank goodness for that, as we needed something to look forward to! But now we just do it every other week or so. 

Saturday - Order Chinese, as a belated acknowledgement of Lunar New Year.  Our Saturdays are busy with exercise, cleaning, and outdoor time (typically skating) and I like to keep dinner simple.

[Edit, we actually switched Friday and Saturday since I forgot to remind Dave about the pizza dough, which he would have needed to start on Wednesday.  Having pizza on Saturday means we get to have leftover pizza for skiing.]

January Book (and Media Wednesday)

I read all of one book for the month of January but it was a good one!  It was Stanley Tucci's book Taste: My Life Through Food.  

I've been fond of Stanley Tucci for years but his true love and enjoyment of food has cemented my love for him as I also love food and drink and it brings me some of the greatest joy of my life.  His writing style is conversational and when I read it, I heard it in his voice. I'm not sure I can really sum up this book other than to tell you to read it if you also enjoy good food.  It's an enjoyable read.  I have marked the recipe for his dry martini and a pasta fagioli which I assume will become staples in our home.  I often think about how I could be best friends with certain celebrities (I know, eye roll) but I have long thought that the perfect group to hang out with would be Stanley Tucci and his wife Felicity and his in-laws Emily Blunt and John Krasinski.  The bonus would be that Stanley and Felicity love to cook for others so it would be right up my alley. I'm excited to see a season two of Stanley's CNN show, "Searching for Italy" is coming out in March.     

And now onto the current media I am into:

Netflix - The Woman in the House across from the Girl in the Window, Archive 81, Queer Eye

YouTube - Yellowstone and Ted Lasso cast interviews and behind the scenes clips

Library Books on Hold - Of Marriageable Age, What I Remember What I Know, Anxious People, and The Strangers.  Time to get a start on my 2022 Reading List.

Podcasts - I'm re-listening the first season of Serial so I can finally listen to Rabia Chaudrey's podcast Undisclosed.  Rabia's pod examines how Serial handled the case and provides more details that Serial left out or got wrong.  I have been following Rabia on Twitter for years and have meant to listen to it but never got around to it.  I was recently reminded of this case again because Adnan just moved prisons so he could be closer to his aging parents. 

News Stories - Conservative Party leadership challenge, Olympics, Ukraine

Music Playlists - Encanto and Sing 2 Soundtracks, This is Ryan Bingham (Walker from Yellowstone), Flo Rida Radio

Peloton Workouts - Encanto with Robin, Eminem with Denis 

Weekend Recap

Our weekend was almost identical to last weekend.  We ordered food on Friday night and then watched the first part of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire since E had just finished reading the book.  When the kids went to bed Dave and I watched the movie King Richard (Will Smith movie about Venus and Serena Williams).  

I "slept in" until 8:00 and had plans of doing a workout or something else productive but instead I sat down to watch a movie with Dave while the kids were playing video games in the basement.  I then dragged them upstairs to get dressed and get outside for some skating.  The temperature was about -18 Celsius but the sun was out and it was actually a beautiful day to be skating.  The kids had a great time despite their initial protests. 

Taking a break!

Q is just learning to skate but he is improving each week.  Our friends brought hockey sticks for everyone and Q liked playing with the puck and his skating improved even more (but we're still not putting him in hockey!).

Dads.

We stayed for over an hour, then home for lunch.  I got groceries and did some laundry.  I made French Onion Soup for supper which always takes awhile but is worth it.  After supper we watched the rest of Harry Potter. 

Sunday was Race Day for E on the slopes.   It was also perfect snow conditions and slightly warmer than it has been. 

E did well racing but didn't come in the top three.  It was really busy at the lift lines but we stayed after lunch anyway and did a few runs.  It was a great day. 

Friday Favourites

 

I sort of can't believe it is Friday already.  This was the first full week with the kids back at in person school this month.  It was good to be back to a more consistent routine.  Part of what made it a good routine was that we started carpooling with one of our neighbours who's daughter is in Q's class and also goes to the YMCA.  We are going to switch off dropping off and picking up with them so we only each have to leave the house once a day. 

I think I finally found a good way to take a photo of what I'm wearing.  I have never been good at mirror selfies.  Here is a new sweatshirt I got last week at Nordstrom Rack from Zella.  I love the Zella brand of workout clothes and the Rack usually has something worthwhile to add to my collection.  I like that it is slightly oversized and the blue is a pretty shade.

We decided we should get some air purifiers for our house so we picked out ones from Mila.  I'm not sure if I've really noticed a difference since we got them last week but they do have a lot of data and of course it's all available to see on your phone and connects through the Google Home.  

We finished Yellowstone this week so now I'm all obsessed with all of the behind the scenes stuff since I don't need to worry about spoilers.   I see there is a YouTube show called "Stories from the Bunkhouse" so I'll be making my way through those. 

I wrote a fun post yesterday about Valentine's Day. I will dig out our decorations today so we can decorate over the weekend. I've already bought some heart candies from Bulk Barn.

Enjoy the last weekend of January.  The days are getting longer. 

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.

Monthly Musings

 

1. Favourite Valentine's Memory?

When Dave and I started dating, he made me a nice dinner and we ate it together in my room.  I know that sounds weird, but my apartment didn't have a dining area so we had to eat at my desk. 

A close second memory was in Grade 3 when I got the new New Kids on the Block cassette tape and brought it to school to play it at our class Valentine's Day party.

2. Chocolate, Flowers, Both?

Flowers

3. Favourite Romantic Date?

A leisurely meal at a restaurant (preferably Italian) where we can order all of the things - cocktails, appetizers to share, bottle(s) of wine, mains, and dessert.  

4. Any Valentine's Traditions with Kids?

We usually have pancakes or waffles with sprinkles and have a few heart themed gifts. 

5. How do you show love?

By making food.

6.  Do you decorate for Valentine's Day?

Yes, we have a few things, including a banner to hang across the fireplace and some hearts for the windows.

7. Do you wear Red or Pink on Valentine's Day?

Yes.

8. Valentine's Day - Big Deal or Small Remembrance?

Big enough deal, like most holidays.  We like to recognize it and have an excuse for treats, but we don't go all out.

9. Favourite Idea for School Valentines' Parties?

Uh, see my answer to number 1 above, NKOTB dance party, am I right? Haha. Our kids don't do parties at school for anything anymore but any sort of craft that requires pink and red construction paper is a win. 

10. Have you ever had a secret admirer?

I don't think so but who knows?  Maybe I was someone's cafeteria girlfriend at university and never knew.  The concept of a cafeteria boyfriend/girlfriend was this - at university I lived at Shirreff Hall at Dalhousie, and at that time, it was an all girls residence, but the co-ed residence, Eliza Ritchie, ate at our cafeteria too.  There were a few boys that we always had our eye on, and we would have our own cafeteria boyfriend that we would look for and try to maybe even speak to.  If you ever did speak to them then you were considered "broken up".  In first year I broke up with my cafeteria boyfriend (who was also in my English class) after I spoke to him at a party, and in third year I actually dated my cafeteria boyfriend in real life (incidentally we started dating on Valentine's Day).  

Linking up with Holly and Patty.