Every weekend, we always say we don't want to do anything, we'll take it easy, but we end up going out all day. This weekend, we visited the Lonsdale Quay area, had Mexican from Cilantro and Jalaleno for lunch at the food court,  and S went wading in splashpark at the Shipyards.

H ordered the burrito and the quesadilla for us. I was finding a table with S while he had baby P in the stroller, so I missed the experience of ordering from them. He mentioned the lady who took the order was not very helpful. 

H - What type of meat is in the burrito?

Cilantro and Jalapeno Lady (C&J) - *points aggresively to the menu*

H - Thanks but the menu doesn't mention what meat options there are. Is it pork or chicken or beef? (H doesn't eat beef)

C&J - What type of meat do you want?!

H - Chicken...

C&J - OK that's what we'll make it with. NEXT.

They're clearly too popular to care about customer service, and for good reason. All this food for $25, which is not bad considering recent inflation. 

S enjoyed the rice that was lying underneath the quesadilla, but did not touch the quesadilla at all. She finished most of the guacamole and salsa, which both tasted freshly prepped by the way. 

S is pickier with food these days, and I don't think we've ever introduced her to a wide variety of food from other cultures... Fingers crossed that she grows out of this phase soon and becomes more adventurous with food.

It would also be fantastic if she could pick up potty training quicker. It's been about four or five days since we've had to change a poopy diaper, but we still aren't confident enough to remove the diaper when we go out or sleep at night. The extra cleaning from accidents during the day has drained me of any energy that I reserve for taking care of the house or socializing. All I want to do is stay home and rewatch Mad Men. 

Every kid is different, and I've heard of stories where some kids learn within 3 days or less without rewards. Maybe we did it wrong by rewarding her with episodes of Cocomelon whenever she sits for a longer time on the can, because it only works half the time. The other half, I feel like she just wants to watch more Cocomelon. That show is crack for kids.

We were going to be near the Buddha-full Northwoods location for a meeting, a few days ago, and I thought it would be efficient to have a coffee/pick me up here beforehand:

They have an amazing assortment of healthful foods, which I normally wouldn't order, like salads and vegan cookies (I want that taste of full fat butter!). The thing I was craving was their smoothies, which are fantastic and filling. This one is their seasonal flavour, called The Orchard, which contains apples, almond butter, and "spices". I added in matcha to stay caffeinated and energized throughout the meeting.

I think that meeting was truly one of my best ones so far. Thanks to Buddha-full and mom energy? 

It's also the last one before going on maternity leave, which has officially started, and what a way to start! The baby had flipped over and was breech at my last check up (there was a bit of a kerfuffle about this, I think the doctor was concerned but tried not to seem too stressed), so instead of the usual 10 minute conversation, I had to wait for an ultrasound and it took over an hour instead. Then, I had to go back to the hospital yesterday before 8AM to get another ultrasound and an External Cephalic Version to try to turn the baby. The doctor came in, touched my tummy, and said, "I'll bet you that the baby is now head down."

And he was. 

I'm relieved, but I'm not impressed with how Baby 2 is starting our relationship. 

Hence, the delay in posting, and the lack of progress on the list!

1. Reorganize dining area and move the IKEA LACK and KALLAX shelves
2. Expand my knowledge of smoothies in Vancouver - continuing this for next week
3. Take walks every day for 10 minutes consecutively after breakfast, not for work - 2 out of 7 days? 
4. Pack baby bag 
5. Pack my hospital bag

For week 11: 

1. Reorganize IKEA KALLAX shelves
2. Create a new changing station on the main floor of our house, so that I don't have to keep walking upstairs to change Baby 2
3. Expand my knowledge of smoothies in Vancouver

Most importantly, I need to slow down and get lots of rest... Any guesses for when Baby 2 will be here?

Took H to Denny's for his birthday grand slam. I had the vegetable omelet: 

I was actually very impressed with the quality and quantity of the omelette. Stuffed with spinach, peppers, mushrooms, and cheese, no regrets with ordering this. For $15 though, it better be good, because I could probably make this at home for much less. The hashbrowns extremely crispy, and was a bit saltier than I'm used to, which didn't stop me from cleaning off the plate. There was a lot of toast, so we packed that home, along with one of the pancakes.

H's grand slam was not bad as well, and really, cannot complain about a free breakfast!

But I will complain about how dinky the sausage was - look at it compared to the size of H's pointer finger! I didn't even know they made breakfast sausages that skinny. 

I think this will turn into a birthday tradition for us. We didn't go last year because baby S had just joined us, and I wasn't allowed out of the house for 30 days (exceptions were made for visits to the doctor; it really sounds worse than it actually was!).

H and I have grown a lot over the past year, and baby S has helped us learn so much. I'm really looking forward to how the next year unfolds. 

The day started off with toxic glowing skies – smoke is back and so are my allergies. I haven’t slept properly in 3 days, but I knew that the best way to fix that lack of sleep was to do something fun. What is more fun than eating with a couple friends?

We went for sushi and then came to the Welcome Parlour:

There were a few creative ice cream flavours (peanut butter and jelly, baileys pecan, blueberry and raspberry TOGETHER). I had the apple pie (see photo above), which was a tad too sweet. However, there’s something about the bright cheery store front, with the 130 year old cash register at the counter that actually worked. Shiny and clean, great place to hang out with ice cream made fresh everyday. The store owner serves the ice cream, with his son helping in the shop, and he’s a whole other reason to visit again. I’ll come back to try some other flavours when I’m in the area.

I think my Instagram is broken, the world is drowning or burning, and I am choking on the wildfire smoke. On a brighter note, I’m going to Vancouver Island at the end of the month to find Nymph Falls.

PS, another bright note, Claire Marshall is doing a Vlogtember series!

J, P, S, and I came to the House of Dosas for a catch up dinner on a random weekday, after maybe a year of not seeing each other together. We ordered an appetizer and we each got our own dosa. What is a dosa? My description would be a thick, crispy crepe-like wrap filled with potatoes and meat.

Paneer 65

Paper Masala with the meat filling

The brutal truth is I didn’t like it. Maybe it’s not my type of food, maybe it was because the food was cold, or maybe I just thought the curry soup/dip in the metal tin on the 2nd picture above was way too salty (kidneys are precious). Maybe my tongue just doesn’t have taste buds for the spices in the dosa filling, but I thought it was extremely bland. The service was average, there’s a really nice lady there but the rest of the guys weren’t too useful, it seemed.

I have had a lot of time alone to think about things this past week… What do I want to do next? What do I want to continue doing? What do I think should change? H is busy with work, and his high stress job is rubbing off on me a bit, and stressing me out too, so I am very sorry in advance for snapping at anyone. It was nice to escape for a bit to Rice Lake on Sunday morning though, during the lull in the storm:

It’s very easy to get to, just off the highway, and straight down Lillooet road until you hit the parking lot at the hut. The fishermen were out already and it was just a breath of peaceful.

More about Rice Lake here:
https://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/rice-lake/
http://vancouverhiatus.com/hiking/rice-lake.html
https://www.outdoorvancouver.ca/featured-trail-rice-lake/


You cannot control the wind, but you can direct the sail.

What better way to wind down on a Friday evening than drinks at home?


Some people might disapprove of drinking alone, but I did open this with my family near me and poured them a little bit before coming back into my room to put this together.

Cracked open this Chocolate Milk Stout from Hearthstone Brewery (brewery in North Vancouver! Support the locals!), and slapped on a mask. AQ got me the Origins Bests – Mask Trio for Christmas, and I just got a chance to use the Clear Improvement mask:

Dries pretty fast. Feels nice, skin was smooth after. I might get this again, if there’s a sale. It’s only $31, but I’d rather try out some other masks (Glamglow???)


Here’s a bonus from the week. Popbar at Metrotown opened! I tried the matcha bar with dark chocolate dipped in hazelnuts:

Almost $6 for this little bit of sugar. Wouldn’t purchase again, even though it tasted good, it’s just not worth it.

I'm starting to feel more comfortable about the recent changes at the company. This week has been quite hectic, Traveling again in a month – Chicago! Any suggestions for places to visit/avoid?

Visited the Thomas Haas in North Vancouver. It would’ve been pretty easy for someone who isn’t directionally challenged to find, but it took me a good 15 minutes of circling around to give up and look it up again on my phone… The café was packed when I got there, full of high school girls who had just finished an exam at the school next door and office peeps from the surrounding areas.

Don’t bother with the PSL from here, doesn’t taste like pumpkin. Just get the pumpkin pie – it’s got an inch of whipped cream & adorable little chocolates.
Getting used to the pace at work. Went to a psychic with E following recommendation by G. Was told I’m too sensitive for this line of work, but I think she’s wrong. I love it. Also said that I’d marry a tall Asian man and have 1 child, but I’m going to fight against that too. I already know what I’ll name the child if female – Starla Marie. You better not steal it.
From The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell:

“Your fortune’s what you make it. Not what a stranger with a made-up name says.” – Ed Brubeck