Category: Favourite Things

January was a rollercoaster of a month; some great days and some not-so-great experiences, too.

Such is life.

Along the way, I made little notes of things that were making my life easier and/or bringing a smile to my face.

Dill pickle hummus

I’m a huge fan of dill pickle flavoured…anything. And this hummus is so, so good (if you like dill pickles; it would be pretty awful if you didn’t). Paired with some pillowy-soft mini-Naan bread, this is lunchtime perfection. Yum.

candles

I know I’ve written about these candles ad nauseum, but January is PEAK candle season for me. Christmas is over and with it most of the brightest twinkle lights. The nights are still dark and we’re huddling over warm foods at the table. I love, love, love having candlelit suppers most evenings.

IKEA paper boxes

Okay, so these aren’t going to win any awards for the most stylish storage containers. But they are simple, inexpensive (the black ones are being discontinued and were only $4.99 for the large size), shockingly sturdy, and absolutely fabulous for storing all sorts of miscellany up and away in closets. Huge fan.

IKEA PAX Wardrobe

Speaking of closets, this is another repeat mention, but I cannot stop marvelling at how wonderful it is to have a functional entryway. Where was this for the first decade of being a parent? Everything has a place! The kids can reach their own gear! We have exposed hooks AND closet space! I have a laundry tote for wet winter gear, I can keep my mop, broom, and outdoor play equipment handy. While the whole entryway is an overarching favourite, the IKEA Pax wardrobe is the star of the show. Putting it together was a nightmare, but I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. Especially the fact that at the end of the day I can slide the doors shut and ALL the mess gets hidden from view. So satisfying.

levi asking for picture books

At the end of 2022 I announced I was ready to let go. I wasn’t going to keep forcing picture books on the kids. Within a few days, the picture book bin was empty after I had returned the last set to the library. It felt liberating in a way, but still sad. Then Levi wandered over and said: Where are the books, Mom!? I think he believes they just magically appear overnight? As if they grow up out of the empty box and Voila! – a tote full of fun, carefully curated reads. I’m not ordering many books in, I’m not putting any pressure on myself to read all the books in the box before they go back and, overall, I’m bringing home a fraction of the reading material I used to, but it made me happy that he missed having a steady source of picture books when the urge struck. So I’ll keep filling the box and let the kids come to it on their own terms.

Kobo e-reader

I didn’t read as many books as I would have liked in January because of Levi’s sickies, but every single book I read was on the Kobo and it’s great! (I do find highlighting things to be a pain in the butt but, aside from that, I don’t have a single complaint.) I am especially loving the fact that I can look up the definition of a word while reading. Previously, if I didn’t know a word, I would just sail right on by. Now I stop, press on the word…and a definition appears. So handy! I also appreciate not having to keep track of my place in a book. And it’s so lightweight and can slip right into my purse (see below). In short, it has been wonderful.

A new-to-me purse

I disliked my leather crossbody purse for years. I bought it second hand and it looked great, but the way the zipper fastened was a proper nuisance.

I found a new one at a thrift store for under $10. It’s not amazing quality, but it has pockets of perfect dimensions that make storing and accessing important things (keys, wallet, phone) so much easier. Also, it’s big enough to hold my Sprouted planner AND my Kobo in the main pouch.

One line a day journal

I know, I know. Another repeat. But I really do love this thing. And I love it even more now that I’m on my second year of using it; each day I get to look back and see what we were doing exactly one year ago. It’s a fascinating daily glimpse into the past.

Okay, that’s it from me. Your turn. What are you loving so far in 2023? Any standout products or moments?

Header photo by Maddi Bazzocco on Unsplash

Happy 2023! It always feels a bit anticlimactic to turn the calendar to a brand new year. The kids are still off school (and fighting with each other). I still chew my lip relentlessly when I get nervous. I still need to call the furnace company to come check on the periodic (odd) smell emanating from our furnace. Levi is still sick (sigh). I guess what I’m trying to say is: January 1st doesn’t magically provide us all with a fully clean slate.

And yet…

The potential of a new year is invigorating!! So, once again, Happy New Year.

I’ve posted a lot of “favourites” this year but thought it would be fun to zoom out a bit and come up with some specific – albeit completely arbitrary – categories for the year as a whole.

Without further ado:

Favourite Movie: No question it was Top Gun. The whole viewing experience was wonderful. When we visited South Carolina in May, my sister booked tickets for the adults + my oldest niece/her boyfriend. The younger cousins babysat Abby and Levi. We had heated recliner seats at the theatre, still-warm homemade chocolate chip cookies (shhh: we may have snuck these in), and snuggled under fluffy blankets. Everything about the movie and the evening was so fun! My favourite documentary was the very long – but absolutely fascinating – The Beatles: Get Back docuseries.

Favourite Song: Joy by Andy Grammar. (Thanks to my bestie, Joy, for sending me a link to this song; I have belted this out at the top of my lungs many, many times).

Favourite (Paid) Experience: Aladdin on Broadway. This was a lot of fun. We were in NYC. Watching Broadway. Enough said!

Favourite (Free) Experience: Roasting hotdogs and marshmallows as part of an impromptu beach cookout with friends. No plates or napkins. No jackets. No shoes. Just warm ocean breezes, bare feet, and lots of giggling kids, and all of it arranged last-minute which only added to the magic.

Favourite Book: Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig, Keep Moving by Maggie Smith, My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout, Tranquility by Tuesday by Laura Vanderkam, the first three Anne of Green Gables books by Lucy Maud Montgomery, and The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles.

Favourite Day: A tie. The very first day of John’s sabbatical. I felt an enormous weight lifted off my shoulders; it literally felt like my body was floating. Christmas Adam; so many magic everyday moments (and lots of good food + a cheesy Hallmark movie).

Favourite Meal: The surprise Unbaked Cherry Cheesecake John and the kids prepared for a belated birthday celebration. I guess one dessert is not technically a meal…so, I also really enjoyed the seafood casserole I made for Christmas Adam (told you this was a good day), all the meals my sister made when we were in South Carolina, and our steakhouse date when we were in Toronto.

Favourite New (2022) Purchase: Eufy. Both Eufys to be more specific.

Favourite Old (Pre-2022) Purchases: My Yeti, my wringer mop, all of my Apple products, and my hoop earrings.

Favourite Personal Accomplishment: Running a 5K race. It wasn’t a big deal logistically (the race was held in our hometown), but it felt so satisfying to check this off my “bucket list.” Also? It was a lot of fun! And having the kids and John there to cheer me on was delightful.

Favourite Work Accomplishment: This is tricky. Work was fine. I did my job, I did it adequately. There isn’t much more to share. Finishing corporate taxes each year for our small business always feels relieving, but since our accountant does most of the heavy lifting, I’m not sure I can label that as an accomplishment. Being asked to extend my contract as project manager for another year felt affirming. I guess my favourite work decision (different from an accomplishment?) was signing off on a decade-long project that took a disproportionate amount of energy. What a huge relief!

Favourite Christmas Experiences: I really enjoyed Levi’s elementary school concert (a bit shocking to me). It felt so festive and jolly. I also loved the final night of the Live Nativity production. And walking into our living room and catching a whiff of Christmas tree mixed with the smell of my beloved Avon Mistletoe figurine. Even after a month of these decorations being up, that scent profile gives me a thrill every single time.

Favourite Place: Aside from home (in my pajamas), I’d have to pick my favourite local cafe. I love being in that space. Solo, with friends, for work meetings – you name it, I am always elated to be there.

Favourite Thrifting Experience: I’m really happy with how many Christmas gifts we got from thrift stores (at least 20-30% of items were thrifted or free). But the biggest thrift bang for buck, in my mind, was the rebate we received for the energy upgrades at our house!

Favourite Habit: Weekend at-home date nights with John. I am very bummed we missed out on these the last two months. Between travel, company, and sick kids this has not been happening regularly. But I always look forward to putting the kids to bed early (for a sleepover, usually with screens, by 5:30/6:00 pm), then we get takeout or John cooks, and we eat and watch a movie or documentary together.

Favourite Planning Accessory: My Sprouted Planner. I’m not convinced I’ll use this in 2024 (very expensive to ship to Canada + I’m not a fan of the bigger binding/thicker size this year)…BUT in 2022 it revolutionized how I organize my life.

Favourite Decision: Making the switch to intuitive eating. I eat when I’m hungry. Sometimes I eat when I’m sad or tired or bored, but mostly I don’t. I no longer feel obligated to eat if I’m not hungry. There is not a single food item off limits, but I pay attention to what makes me feel good emotionally and physically and try to prioritize those foods. Life is a lot easier to manoeuvre when I’m not counting out potato chips or fretting about having had two ginger cookies fresh from the oven. I also haven’t stepped on a scale since May. Liberating and life-changing.

And there you have it. A broad assortment of favourite things, experiences, and memories from 2022.

Your turn. What was your favourite: decision, purchase, meal, place, accomplishment, movie, song, book and/or day of 2022.

Header photo by Luba Ertel on Unsplash

This monthly Favourites list was especially satisfying to think through because October happened to be my favourite month so far in 2022! But…before I get started on my list, I want to mention a very exciting holiday event being hosted by blogger extraordinaire (and organizational guru) San. Yes, this is the same San who has organized things so wonderfully for NaBloPoMo. She is hosting her annual (this is the 7th year!) Secret Santa (Mug) Swap and is looking for participants from the US, Canada, and Germany. You do not need to be a blogger to participate; I joined the fun last year and you better believe I’m already signed up for 2022. You can check out all the details for this event and sign up here. A huge thanks to San!!

eufy

Okay, feel free to call me out on cheating. I know I listed our new robovac last month as the first entry in my September Favourites. But: my blog, my list. Eufy stays.

Last month I said – and I quote – “Several people commented that having a robovac was life-changing. I’m not sure if I’m quite to that point yet.”

Friends, I am at that point. It is life-changing.

My new routine is to run Eufy in at least TWO locations each day. MWF, this includes both bathrooms. It takes 2 minutes, but it gets all the dust and hair up off the floor which makes such a difference when you have white tile (which is aesthetically pleasing, but if I ever run into the previous homeowners, I’ll give them a piece of my mind about their colour choice because those floors show every speck of dirt and dust). While Eufy runs in one bathroom, I do a quick wipe-down of the counters and toilets in the other. There is no deep-clean needed and in about 15 minutes total cleaning time over the span of a whole week, our bathrooms are looking so much better.

One more Eufy story. Meatball, bless him, has so much fluffy fur and when we pull him out of his cage little flecks of mulch fall out of said fur onto the (dark) carpet in Abby’s room. It used to drive me NUTS. Now, I don’t bat an eye because I know Eufy will take care of it!

socks for levi

Jenny commented – back on my post about having multiples of certain items – how much she appreciated having a generous supply of socks.

Earlier this summer I bought the kids a jumbo pack of ankle socks in black and white. This would have been perfect if John and I didn’t own many ankle socks in black and white which are only marginally different in size. It was a sock-sorting nightmare.

Also a nightmare – Levi had a variety of patterned socks that were slowly wearing out. But having one sock that has brightly coloured dinosaurs and another sock that is brightly coloured basketballs don’t lend themselves to mix-and-matching.

Enter a jumbo pack of black and grey crew socks. They go with every outfit. No one else in the family owns the same style of socks. And, if one goes missing or gets a hole, since there are so many pairs of the exact same sock, I can mix-and-match.

This sounds like a small thing, but it has streamlined laundry and made mornings easier for Levi.

the weather

I love fall. Even if it rained every day, I would still find some way to love it. But this particular October outdid itself. We had fantastic weather. Clear skies. Crisp mornings. Warm afternoons. The leaves were beautiful. It was everything I hope for in a fall, but even better.

spotify

I spend a lot of time listening to music (and my kids happen to approve of my playlists, which does feel validating) and having Spotify elevates the experience. We don’t have subscriptions for many things and at first I felt guilty about spending money each month to access music that was freely available on YouTube…but it’s so worth it to me.

our front lights

For almost five years our house was a renovation zone. For someone who thrives on order, this was very, very hard. I dreaded driving up the street and seeing things that were so clearly in need of repair. I knew it was all going to get done, but waiting was tough. Five years can feel like a very long time!

As part of our exterior upgrades, we had pot lighting installed around the front of the house. Flipping the switch each evening always makes me happy, and pulling up the street now I smile instead of wincing – especially if it’s at night and there is the warm glow of lights leading me back to our cheerful little home. Those final details can make a big difference in a “house” feeling like a “home” and outside lighting was one such detail.

a minimalist wallet

John is a connoisseur of slim wallets. A few years ago he discovered – and loved – the one pictured above. Recently, he bought a new one (it had a slot to hold an AirTag) and I inherited his old wallet (FIDELO brand).

This thing is wonderful. It has a little lever that pushes cards up and out out of the main case. It has a slot for additional cards on the front and back, and an elastic to hold cash. It is very small and easily slips right into my pocket.

The downside – it can hold about 1/3 of the cards of my regular wallet, but I almost never use them anyway. Once a month (?) I go fish out a rewards card for this or that but, for the most part, everything I need will fit in this tiny wallet. I carry my health card (and the kid’s), a debit and credit card, and my driver’s license. That’s it! I’ve started using the rewards apps for points programs and just about everything else I need so infrequently (i.e. a small business card for mailing business packages), I know in advance that I should bring them along.

hair stopper

This might be a bit gross, but I shed an insane amount of hair. I have thick, wavy hair and no matter how much comes out when I brush (and it’s a lot) there is a limitless supply.

It is annoying for keeping floors clean, and it’s downright terrible for our plumbing.

I have a silicone hair stopper that suctions right over the drain and I put it down whenever I wash my hair. I clean it out at the end of every shower and put it back up on the ledge. I bought it at a Great Canadian DollarStore years ago and it still works like a charm (there are lots of similar options at hardware stores, too).

It’s easy to use, effective, and it always makes me feel virtuous to put the hair into the garbage at the end of the shower instead of clogging up our drains.

Your turn. Any favourite items or memories from October?

Header photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

I read the following quote in Gretchen Rubin’s Outer Order, Inner Calm recently:

If someone asked me what my idea of luxury is, I think my answer would be: flowers in the house all year round.

May Sarton

This would not be my answer. In fact, for the most part, I actively avoid fresh flowers because I find their ultimate demise depressing. (Now plants, I love!)

Some of my ideas of luxury:

• Not having to get up before 7:30 am (and not having to prepare anyone breakfast when I do get up).
• Buying tea at a coffee shop. It costs a lot more than preparing it at home and I only do it a few times a month, but it always feels luxurious to me.
• Whenever someone else cooks.
• A brand-new notebook with lux paper and a smudge-free pen. Oh the possibilities!
• Crisp, white linens – of which I own none, but perhaps this is why hotel stays always feel luxurious?

Your turn. What’s your idea of luxury?

Header photo by Edward Howell on Unsplash