I have become a multitasking machine with work, pregnancy, and toddler care duties - any other work from home moms out there trying to finish off a work call, type up their emails and notes, while putting their grouchy toddler down for a nap AND getting kicked in the ribs? 

To do all the things, I try to keep my energy levels up by either eating large quantities of food or eating quality food with lots of nutrients. At the beginning of the 3rd trimester, my cravings were for sugary foods - ice cream, pastries. Now, in my 36th week, I still want sugar, I still want dense energy rich foods, but there is no space for my stomach to expand to accommodate solid foods. On top of all that, despite the weather going below zero this week, I've been craving icy desserts, like smoothies, acai bowls, bingsoo... 

The closest smoothie source for me is Juice Truck: 

This is the Almost PB&J , which has the following: 

Blueberries, strawberries, peanut butter, hemp, banana, Body Energy Club Clean Vegan Protein, date, almond milk

Surprisingly refreshing, and could not stop drinking it until the last drop was slurped up. Their recipe is basically a peanut butter milk shake. This kept me full for about 3 hours, while I was on the road for work and things. 

Is the Juice Truck actually a healthier option, or is it just the marketing? I feel like it could just be marketing. 

The end of February has been busy, but not as stressful as the rest of the month. I skipped the To Do last week. Life became too hectic. I hadn't slept properly all week/all month. Blahblah, excuses. Anyways, here's an update from the week before last: 

1. Figure out how much RRSP I should purchase to avoid being taxed 
2. Don't eat out on weekdays, so that I can accumulate more funds to buy RRSP's
3. Make gochujang soup (this turned out really well! I modified this recipe, used pork neck bone and lots of carrots, and did not use perilla or basil leaves)
4. Reorganize the dining area so that my chair isn't always backing into the IKEA LACK shelf that's behind my usual seat at the tables
5. Wake up at 6AM every day (this was never going to happen, who am I kidding?)

This week!

1. Reorganize dining area and move the IKEA LACK shelves
2. Expand my knowledge of smoothies in Vancouver
3. Take walks every day for 10 minutes consecutively, not for work

 Lots of other things happening, will update next week!

Ended up going to three places this year for Vancouver's Hot Chocolate Festival 2022:  

1. BETA5 -

This was their second hot chocolate flavour for the festival, and it was inspired by their green curry chocolate. They tried too hard with this one - the green curry was innovative, and as I waited in line for my drink, I was extremely curious to see how they could make this taste good. When I finally took a sip, I realized they really couldn't pull this one off. I really did not like it. We devoured our cream puffs (passionfruit mango, I believe?), which lived up fully to BETA5's reputation, and dumped half of the drink. Perhaps I should've had it for dinner with a side of rice? 

Moral of the story is stick to the basics, keep it simple, and don't try too hard. 

2. Fife Bakery 

Not in the photograph is the teeny tiny chewy hojicha cookie that is paired with this jasmine infused hot chocolate. When we ordered, the barista didn't seem to know that it was jasmine flavoured, and was confused when we asked... Communication is hard. The glob of salted cream topping off the drink was a nice touch, the tea flavour was strong, but I still thought this was over priced for the quantity. 

3. Kafka's Coffee

We tried to visit Coho Coffee for hot chocolate, but the timing wasn't going to work out, so we ended up going somewhere more conveniently located - the new Kafka's Coffee on Great Northern Way.

The pistachio shortbread was very fluffy, melt in your mouth, and it went very well, dipped into the ruby hot chocolate. 

This was my favourite stop, look how happy I look as I dip. 

Maybe it was the sunshine this weekend, or perhaps a change in the chemical composition of my pregnancy hormones, but I am feeling more energetic this week! Capitalizing on this surge of energy to push harder at work last week, and get more things done:  

1. Finish Tales from the Cafe, Before the Coffee Gets Cold   
2. Fix the broken drawer on baby S's changing table
3. Go for hot chocolate at Coho Coffee (this might still be possible! One last day for hot chocolate festival tomorrow!!!!)

Did everything on the list get checked off?!?! Wow, pat on the back, L. For the upcoming week:                                                      

1. Figure out how much RRSP I should purchase to avoid being taxed 
2. Don't eat out on weekdays, so that I can accumulate more funds to buy RRSP's
3. Make gochujang soup 
4. Reorganize the dining area so that my chair isn't always backing into the IKEA LACK shelf that's behind my usual seat at the tables
5. Wake up at 6AM every day

I love Mondays. After a weekend of free time and no structure, it feels great to start the day off with a routine - coffee, put away dishes, breakfast, go to work. Especially nice when it's a sunny day, and I can take out the trash without wearing a rain jacket. Can you tell I'm over 30? 

Spending my Monday with a beautiful chocolate salted caramel donut from Punk Rock Pastries. Fluffy, stuffed to the brim, and a great balance of sweet and salty. I will be back for more funky pastries and cookie pies. 

I don't typically wear a lot of make up, whether it's Monday or Thursday, maybe a dab of highlighter, a swipe of mascara. It's extra nice to not wear any at all, so that I can rub my face whenever I'm tired. 

And let me tell you, I have been so tired this week - my energy levels from when I cleaned the stove on Monday to when I finally had time to get hot chocolate on Sunday are completely day and night. That's partly why I missed the post yesterday, because I needed a nap instead. Did I even sleep at all this week? Was I home at all this week? Did I do any of the things that I said I would? 

From week 5 of 2022!

1. Clean stove
   
   This was deeply satisfying, and it only took about an hour with the Easy Off oven cleaner. learning so much from GoClean's Instagram: 
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Organize spices, coffees, and teas in NEW PANTRY! Our new shelves are coming in this week!
   
   This was very exciting, but they ended up leaving flaws, so they'll likely have to come back to finish off a few things. I haven't had the energy to figure out how to put things back, but H has kindly started off the project, so I'm going to leave it with him. Lovely to have a useful husband. :)
   
   
3. Finish Tales from the Cafe, Before the Coffee Gets Cold. 
4. Fix the broken drawer on baby S's changing table
5. Go for hot chocolate at Coho Coffee, Beta 5, and/or Beaucoup. 
   
   We went to Beta5, and I'll post about that in the future. 

This week will be a continuation of last: 

1. Finish Tales from the Cafe, Before the Coffee Gets Cold 
2. Fix the broken drawer on baby S's changing table
3. Go for hot chocolate at Coho Coffee

One of our friends highly recommended Saku recently, so we took a trip out to the Broadway location. Parking is horrific there, because of all the construction and roadwork, so H dropped me off first to get a table. We arrived a few minutes before they opened, and lucky for us, it was completely empty, so they didn't make us wait for the whole group to arrive before getting seated. 

M and P were also able to join us, despite staying out late the previous night and probably feeling exhausted since they don't usually get up so early. I feel like I motivated them to get out of bed and make the most of their day - what else are friends for? 

H and I ordered the assorted the Zenbu Katsu set, which comes with everything - pork, chicken, tempura, shrimp, cheese! It was amazing: 

Great value here, especially because rice, soup, and salad are unlimited. The most mind boggling part of it was that the breading was extremely crispy, but not greasy at all. When I reheated the leftovers the next day (YES! We had leftover katsu because there was a generous pile of meat!) in the airfryer, the pork was still tender and not soggy. 

I can't wait to come back with baby S and the rest of the fam. Here's us at the restaurant. I'm trying to take my photos before we dig in, asking her not to stick her hands in yet. She's actually quite patient, and usually won't scream or whine while waiting for food or waiting for the rest of us to finish eating. 

Unless she's overtired. 

Lately, she's been fighting her naps, and it takes more time and energy to put her to bed than the actual time spent sleeping. She's gotten so strong and good at clinging to me, twisting her body into an angle where I can't maneuver her into her crib. She is clearly tired too, because she's resting her head on my shoulder and her eyes are drooping. I love the extra hugs and cuddles, but I also want my own time to get stuff done! 

This week felt super productive, but does my list of to do's reflect that? 

1. Download library books onto Kobo (I tried! I really did, but I couldn't figure it out, and have given up because it's the Kobo Touch and it lags too much for me to patiently fiddle with it right now)
2. Put up the shower hooks that were purchased at the beginning of the year
3. Sleep before 11PM, and wake up before 7AM every day (haha, this was never going to happen). 
4. Clean hood fan (before and after! this was extremely satisfying)

          5. Clean stove (doing this tonight, I swear)

          6. Organize spices, coffees, and teas in pantry

Week 6 of 2022 is the start of Tiger year... Lunar new year always feels more like an actual start of a new year for me than Jan. 1. I love reading my zodiac's predictions for the year, and so far, everything points go money! I wonder how that will work because I'll be starting mat leave soon, so that will actually be a significant decrease in income.

1. Clean stove
2. Organize spices, coffees, and teas in NEW PANTRY! Our new shelves are coming in this week!
3. Finish Tales from the Cafe, Before the Coffee Gets Cold. 
4. Fix the broken drawer on baby S's changing table
5. Go for hot chocolate at Coho Coffee, Beta 5, and/or Beaucoup

Cypress on the 30th. This is where I crashed and slid straight down the slope. Stupid moguls. I need a helmet.
It’s now 12:21AM, and I’m sorting through my photos from last year. What a tremendous year of changes – new job, new car, new hobbies, new relationships, new injuries, new prime minister. This year, I traveled mostly by car around BC and Alberta (Clearwater, Banff, Sunshine Coast, Whistler… I guess Whistler doesn’t really count). Horoscopes this year seem quite unreliable, but who cares what the feng shui masters say? I’m going to make 2016 great and full of more new things. Here’s a list of things I plan on doing:

• Travel to Iceland (tickets are already booked!)
• Travel to San Francisco (I should be going for work anyways)
• Ski on Mt. Baker
• Go snowshoeing
• Camp at Tin Hat Mountain
• Donate some money to a good cause
• Read at least 12 books (1 a month sounds reasonable)
• Invest in property (have you heard about the Vancouver housing market?)
• Protect the environment by using 0 disposable cups (this is going to be hard)
• Eat a lot and not gain weight  
• Blog more…

Yesterday, I made an egg boat for breakfast.

And now it’s 1:20AM, and I’m only halfway through the Gareth Emery Music That Made 2015 podcast. Listen to it here: