A 'nothing to do with Halloween' post on Halloween day!

 

 

When you're an adult without kids and living in a condo (so no trick or treaters), Halloween doesn't really feel like anything other than a normal day. How boring, right? It will be nice when we have kids and a house and can make Halloween fun. It will be fun buying half off candy tomorrow though!

I feel like with our vacation coming up next week, I am just counting the days at work. It quickly got cold here, so coming back from Winnipeg was really just coming back to a different kind of cold. I can't wait to be in Miami!

To prepare, I bought some shorts online because I don't really have shorts (I don't wear them aside from exercise or comfy lulu ones), But since all things have to be wife appropriate for these trips, I got some online at the Bay. Unfortunately, with it being October, they are really just selling off whatever they have left from the summer. So I got a nice white pair that fits well, and a denim part that is quite big, but will have to do. I know I could have looked elsewhere, but the Bay is just so easy to shop at and so close to home if you need to do a return. I pretty much buy anything I need there related to clothing/shoes/accessories/home ... if they sell it, that's where I get it. Our superintendent must think we have a shopping problem, since he always accepts our packages. Funny thing is we return half of it. Shopping at the store is absolute torture, but they've got their online world down pat!


So pretty

I also bought a new purse, because sadly beige doesn't hold up well in my world. I'm not a purse girl, so I usually get one and use it until it dies. I loved my beige coach purse, but unfortunately it became very dirty and the drycleaner wanted $150 to clean it. I can buy a new purse for that price! And I did!
So I bought this new CK purse. I love it, but it's bigger which I'm pretty sure just means I'll be cramming more into it. Ah well.

Last night I made beef and broccoli for dinner.

Delish!

I packed my cook books, so I didn't have access to my tried and true recipe so I used this one from Jo Cooks. I didn't use the cooking sherry, because I didn't have it, and for the vegetables I also added some carrots and red peppers but otherwise I followed the recipe. It's so easy to find gluten free soy sauce and chicken stock these days, so I didn't even really have to think about edits/changes to make it gluten free, because those ingredients already are in my home. This is why I firmly believe in using regular recipes with small adaptations. It's so much easier to stay close to the original intention of the recipe without adding a plethora of extra ingredients. I know gluten free cookbooks can be useful, but I just found them to be frustrating with a page and a half of ingredients. I like simplicity, especially on a Monday night!
I think I'll be using the slow cooker this week - I feel like enchiladas. So that's coming up. My simmers cookbook has some excellent recipes, seeing as she's southern. We'll have to say what tastes are presenting later in the week.

Have a happy Halloween!

Friday Favourites

Lord help me. How is it Friday?! This week has completely flown past me. I swear life is on fast forward right now. We had a huge work event in the community last night which has been sapping my time for awhile. It went SO well, but man am I glad to be done with it! Last night I didn't even leave work until 10:30. 14 hour days FTW! Sigh. I ended up eating perogies around midnight because let's be real. I was starving by that point.

But we are here for Friday Favourites so here we go!

1. This scarf

I look weird in this photo and I am totally "bag-ladying" it up, but whatever. You can't really see my coat, so I need to work on a better picture of that (it's my new Karl Lagerfeld coat), but this scarf is my new favourite. My mom got it in a monthly subscription box and didn't like it, so she gave it to me (haha). I love it though! I've been wearing it at least twice a week! Also, grey manicure still going strong. It's been almost two weeks with nary a chip. Guess that's what happens when they stick you under the UV light 15 times because of screw-ups. Sigh.

 

 

2. Royal Botanical Gardens of Ontario

 

I went to a conference earlier this week at the botanical gardens and it was so beautifully decorated for fall. There were pumpkins EVERYWHERE. So I went to the bathroom and ended up lingering for a good 15 minutes taking pumpkin photos #oops
Y'all know me and pumpkins. I couldn't help myself. I was lucky enough to get free passes, so I will be forcing husband back with me to see the gorgeousness. I want to go a little closer to Christmas in hopes that it will be decorated with little cranberries and pine trees and I can't handle it. This festive time is year is my very favourite!

#3 These booties

Link found here

 

I have a shoe problem. For reals. A colleague was wearing these booties at a meeting a few weeks ago and I seriously haven't stopped thinking about them. She had them in grey and they were too gorgeous. So far I've resisted, but I feel like that ability is fading fast. because seriously. Have you seen these?! Too much. They're sold out in most places. I'm torn between wanting to get them before they're gone, and knowing full well that I just bought a new pair of shoes like a month ago. Decisions decisions!

#4 Winning my step bet





It was frustrating at times, tiring some nights and downright annoying but I won, I didn't lose my money and I made a cool $9.19 USD (haha - honestly). So yeah, stepbet isn't going to make you rich anytime soon, but it's a solid way to force movement, especially for people with office jobs. Last week on Friday, I was a little worried. I had to hit my stretch goal and we were at a dinner party (and I was wearing my new Kate Spades, which aren't exactly walking shoes -- though some butt butter (for cycling) helped prevent blisters! We got back to our hotel around 11:15 and walked around our hotel floor in circles until I hit my goal. It was definitely close. I think I almost missed it by 10 minutes. Saturday I had to hit my stretch goal again, which was much easier and that was that! I've already recycled my $40 entry fee into another stepbet starting this weekend. Husband isn't too pleased, but he's just a poop who doesn't like walks, haha.

Anyways, that's it for me today! Have a great weekend!

Will exercise for Christmas decor

 

 Happy Monday! With a busy week ahead, it's nice to take a few moments to stop and take everything in from the weekend. We had a semi-restful weekend, which was definitely needed.

Friday evening we went to a dinner party hosted by husband's VP and his wife. It's an annual event that is awarded to a select number of people who hit above their target numbers. We went last year and were so happy to be there again this year. One of the waiters (because yes, they totally hire waiters) told us that he was shocked to see us back again, because they never see the same faces year after year. It's such a great evening - lots of good conversations and amazing food. Plus hotel stays for the night are comped which is always a bonus :)
We stayed overnight downtown and went to breakfast at a nice little place in Toronto called Lola's - tons of gluten free, vegetarian and vegan options. It was a bit expensive, but nothing out of the ordinary. I loved being able to have gluten free toast with my breakfast because it's such a rarity unless I'm at home. We both got the "Lola's breakfast" and enjoyed it immensely. Their home fries were also out of this world! Then we headed home, did some cleaning and the photographer came and did the proper photos of our home. We saw the posting now that it's been updated and it looks 1000x better. Here's hoping our place sells soon!

Sunday was pretty much a day of relaxation  -- our power went out for about 2 hours in the afternoon from the crazy storm that blew through. All of a sudden it just got super windy and the rain was pouring down like mad in these huge sheets of rain, our power flickered on and off about ten times and then just shut off completely. Luckily it was still daylight so with the curtains open wide, we were able to avoid having to light candles just to see things. It really only infringed on my plan to wash our bedding after the clothing laundry was done, so I'll have to do that today instead. For dinner we had the autumn skillet hash that I posted a few weeks ago from Speedy Spatula's instagram -- I added some different veggies this time around and it was delicious as usual. Can't go wrong with that meal!

I finished my stepbet on Saturday. Those last two days were definitely down to the wire. I made $9.19, which is exciting (no one joins a stepbet to get rich, haha), so I reinvested my $40 into the next stepbet, Anything that keeps me motivated to move can't be a bad thing. I don't know why fitness motivation has been such a struggle lately, but what I do know is that I need to get into a routine again. Working these randomly late days isn't helping either. So with a new week and some new goals in mind, we reset. Husband has given me some motivation (a Christmas decoration that I've literally been eyeing for three years from Costco) -- so we'll see how things go. I've got a good man, I'll tell you that!  This week calls for 1xrun and 1xgym. Sounds easy, but easier said than done! For someone who used to organize their life around fitness, things sure have changed! I'd like to get into a happy medium and stay there.

This is what I'm working for!

Anyways, that's a quick rundown of the weekend -- always so fleeting. Another busy week ahead, and next week is Winnipeg.

Wishing you all the best Monday yet!

Life needs to slow down!

Seriously, I'm the worst at blogging when I'm busy. Things have been nuts, as usual. We finally listed our place. We saw a dream house and were outbid on it (sigh), so back to the house-hunting drawing board. People think the market has cooled, but when you're actually in it, it doesn't seem that way. We sent 10 listings to our realtor to go and see, and only 4 were left by the time we got to the weekend.

 

We spent the entire weekend cleaning and clearing the place up. My dad came over to bring us a closet shelf that he made when we failed to find one that fit our closet (so he made a custom one within a few days), to do a few last minute fix-its, and helped me move some furniture since husband was fasting.

It's a relief to finally have our home listed - felt like it would never happen!

 

This house buying/selling is very time consuming, and is frying my nerves, but I'm trying to operate on the "everything happens for a reason" mantra, and remind myself that there was a reason that we didn't get that house we wanted so badly.

 

In other news, I am being sent to Winnipeg for a conference for work, so in a few weeks I'm off to the prairies!

 

 

Doesn't look too prairie-ish! Photo found here

 

 

 I've never been to any other provinces, despite travelling in many other parts of the world, so I'm excited to go. Even though it might be very cold. I should probably unpack my winter coat. Goodness knows how deep that box is buried in my parents basement. We were a little starry eyed and didn't think about closing dates while we were packing everything away. So at least it's just at my parents and not in a storage locker or something.

Even though it's only October 3rd, I feel like time is just flying past and October will be over before I know it. I'm looking forward to November and December (short trip to Miami, office closed for two weeks over Christmas, celebrating the holidays in general, etc). October just feels so busy.

 

Last nights dinner was quick, easy and super delicious. I used a recipe I found online at myrecipes.com that and can be found here

and let me tell you - it was the best fish I've ever made (that wasn't deep fried and served with fries that is). We had a wild rice and quinoa blend with it and some broccoli on the side and I could have eaten 10 more pieces. I am not a seafood lover by any means, but we do try to incorporate white fish and shrimp into our meals because chicken and beef become boring very quickly.

 

Anyways, the recipe had very few ingredients and was ready in 20 minutes. it was super easy to coordinate everything to be ready around the same time too. I'd highly recommend giving it a shot. I gave up looking for gluten free recipes a long time ago for meals and now just search up what I want and modify it. For this meal I omitted the lime juice (because I hate the taste of lime) and used gluten free breadcrumbs. Easy peasy! While I am happy to see so many gluten free recipe websites around, they often require way too many ingredients or finicky cooking. For baked goods I think gluten free recipes are needed but for dinners, the substitutions are generally pretty easy. I have only had issues when I come across something that has to be made to be gluten free, like hoisin sauce. That can add a lot more time to cooking.

Today I have to bring our curtains in and exchange them for longer ones. Our ceilings and windows are such a ridiculously random height that nothing works. I think it's better to have too long than too short though, so back to bed bath and beyond yet again. The house we buy had better have good curtains because I don't want to deal with curtains for a long long time after this.

Well, I'm off. Wanted to check in for a random Tuesday post. I will hopefully be able to post more this week. I was especially bummed out to miss my Friday Favourites, because I love that post (and it gets a lot of traffic :)!)

Till next time!  

 

Painting, running and crockpots

 Well, yesterday was a whirlwind of a day, as all my days seem to be lately. I painted the bathroom after work. A task I assumed would be easy but oh gosh was it ever not. This is why I have always hired painters and will continue to. I am not cut out for that work! Now I have to repaint parts of the ceiling and baseboards where the painters tape either ripped off the paint (isn't that what it's supposed to prevent?) or failed me. Good times. The good news is that the bathroom looks way better now. The colour we had looked terrible with our new shower (bad planning on our part) and this new colour brings everything together nicely. I found a cute little roller that reaches behind the toilet which I ended up using for the entire room because it worked so nicely. Dollar store for the win!
We are also meeting with a realtor this week (thank goodness I was able to convince husband that his working full time, starting a side business AND doing comfree for our home was taking on a bit much). Things are finally happening!! I can't wait to get out of there and into a house. I'm so tired of living in a condo. It was nice initially just to own a home, but it sucks having someone determine when you can rip up your floor, when you can receive deliveries, how loud you can be (and when you can be loud), how many pets you can have, what pets you can/can't have, the colour of your curtains... It drives me mad. The day after we got possession, we went in and tore up the carpets (because they were disgusting and soaked with cat pee -- wish I was kidding) -- the following day we were threatened with a lawsuit for not asking permission. Granted, that property manager was a bit of a dictator but seriously. He broke a bunch of his own rules by entering our unit without permission and leaving a threatening note on our wall. So we have mostly asked for permission since then to avoid the drama.

Ah the moving debacle continues!
On the up side, my zoo race is coming up this weekend and I think I feel ready. I went for an 8k run after work on Monday and aside from some knee tightness around 7k, it felt good. My speed increased km by km, which I've missed lately and by the end I wasn't breathless or exhausted. I was tired, but that's normal. It was a good feeling. The run didn't feel as long as I expected it would. You know how sometimes you're just thinking - "Am I really only at 2k?". I did an out and back route and it felt like I was turning around before I was even nearing tired-ness. I'm probably going to try and squeeze a shorter run in on Thursday and maybe just do upper body at the gym on Friday. That way I'll be ready to go for Saturday. I'm kind of annoyed at how early they request people to be there. I think I'll have to leave around 6am. I'm not a morning person, so that sucks. The nice part is that I won't be there all day. I'm really excited for the medal - it's a panda bear. I'm all about medals!

Can't wait to add this baby to my collection!

 

 It's funny that as I was getting ready for my run, I felt as antsy and nervous as I used to before setting out on my 20k+ runs. I guess it's all about perspective. I used to run 8k and then go to a pilates class on weekdays. Then I moved cities, wasn't close to my favourite pilates class (which was now about 45 minutes away) and wasn't familiar with the area. I joined a running room group which definitely amped up my running but now I'm back to running (mostly) solo and slowly finding my groove. I loved running in my parent's neighbourhood and that made it easy. Where I live now is basically just hills and inclines, stoplights, highways and crazy drivers. Another score for moving! I'm glad that I'm starting to enjoy running again, because there's nothing quite like getting out there and running to sort out your mind. I'm trying to register for more races to keep me motivated as well. Nothing like my own money on the line to keep me going :)

Oh and my Monday crockpot meal turned out great! I was worried that the potatoes would go gross overnight, but they didn't (maybe the olive oil helped?) and aside from not setting the warming function properly, it worked out perfectly!  Now I'm just paranoid that when I set it today, I set it for 8 hours on high. I hope not. Might have some scorched chili to content with. My goal is to use the crockpot twice a week for dinners. Seems manageable and definitely makes evenings easier! Tonight we have Rosh Hashanah dinner, so I didn't actually need to cook, but I figured I can freeze some and use the other half for lunches.

Well, that's all for now. I'll be back Friday for some of my favourite things!

Friday Favourites!

Friday favourites is just the best post! So I'm linking up with some other lovely bloggers to share my favourite things this week!


1. Fresh Sugar Rose lip balm

This stuff. I can't get enough. I think I mentioned before how I just love everything Fresh puts out and that is the truth! I'm not a huge fan of wearing lipstick, but this balm has the perfect amount of colour and moisture. I got this a few months ago and it's almost finished. I carry it in my purse (you can see the wear and tear) and use it every single day! They have a wide spectrum of colours, including one without any shade. It's just the best!

2. Our Last CSA

Not pictured; the incredibly muddy potatoes

Well, at least they went out with a boom! This was our last order until next spring/summer-ish. It was jam-packed. I guess since more of the autumn fruits are in season they are cheaper leading to us getting more. We had the green beans last week and this week they gave us more (and a larger amount!) They were SO good! We also got corn, eggs, spinach, spring mix, patty pan squash, potatoes (so many - I ordered extra), apples, pears, bananas, grapes, garlic, cauliflower, watermelon, green beans ... I think that's it! It will certainly be enjoyed!


3. ALL THE FALL things.

 

 

 

I don't know why they are all sideways. Sorry :(

Friends, Michael's has all of their fall stuff on sale and it is not good for me!! I swear I've spent so much time meandering through their aisles. I want my entire home to be bursting with Fall. Unfortunately, we have to maintain some neutrality for the showings. I'll be damned if they make me put away my "hello fall" pillow though!
I also made a nice flower bouquet for our table. Fake flowers make so much more sense! I couldn't find anything I wanted, so I made my own!

4. My new doTERRA cheer rollerball.

Such a happy scent. I love this one. I also got serenity this month, for sleep which I mix with my lavender. It's such a lovely scent to fill the room and makes for a very tranquil space. The cheer scent is great for a general feeling of overall "cheer" and also reduces anxiety. It is my definitely my favourite!



5. Dinner last night

 

Must work on lighting

This was so good! I love bruschetta (so much so that I actually make it for myself as a snack when I'm feeling ambitious). Now admittedly I love anything with tomatoes (except actual tomato juice), but mixing together two of my favourite things (pasta and bruschetta) ... well it's a match made in heaven. My only edit to the recipe would be to drain the juice a bit from the tomatoes because it was a bit liquidy. I would probably only do about 1/4 of the liquid. The only changes I made to make it gluten free were that I didn't add the pasta until the very end. Gluten free pasta is fairly sensitive so I cooked it al dente and then once I had cooked everything I took it off the heat and added the cooked pasta. It still ended up breaking a bit, but since the recipe actually called for the noodles to be broken before cooking, it worked out.
Overall, super delicious. I enjoyed it last night and for lunch today!


That's all for today! Happy Friday & Happy Weekend!

 

 

Tell me about it, Tuesday

Busy busy day yesterday. I had so many stops to make after work (boring stuff like gas and cat food) but I still got my run in. I did a 5.1k and it was just the most lovely evening for a run. Still shorts and t-shirt weather thankfully, the weather was warm but not too hot, the sun was fading so it wasn't too bright and a few leaves were even falling from the trees. I love a good evening run! I kept my pace pretty slow - I'm mostly testing my knee right now and seeing how it holds up. Unfortunately while it holds up well during speed work, it's usually after that I have the most problems. But with my slow and steady pace (around 6:30) I was able to cruise the neighbourhood pain-free.

 Tomorrow if the weather cooperates I will do a 6-7km run with some friends after the gym. The weather app has changed from sunny to storms and back to sunny, so who really knows what's happening. I'm just happy that for the first time in a really long time, I feel motivated to run. I don't know if it's the cooler weather, the happy essential oils, or the feng shui of our newly decluttered condo-life ... but something is working out! I have definitely been in a fitness slump lately- hard to accomplish in the throes of triathlon training, but there it is. With a slump comes the ickiness of not feeling your best physically or mentally.

Three cheers for getting back into the swing of things.

I also happen to love running through the Fall -- especially when it gets a little chilly. So refreshing!

 

Today will likely be a day devoted to more packing (sigh). I don't want to throw myself back in to running at 110% and crash and burn. I've never been good at taking things slow either so we'll see how that goes.

 

Dinner last night was shrimp pad thai. I'm in love. Former shrimp-hater turned addict right here. We went for less rice noodles which resulted in a excellent shrimp-noodle ratio. It also turned the meal from around 5 servings into 3 which is much better because the fifth one was usually shrimp-less and basically just noodles with green onions, egg and maybe half a peanut. Honestly - issues.

 

Happy Tuesday -- the long weekend draws another day closer. I can almost feel the good times and taste the gluten free s'mores already!

 

 

Moving drama and a trip to the beach

I missed Monday's post! BUT that was because I took a long weekend off work, sooo technically I missed nothing.
I am currently in the midst of becoming obsessed with doTERRA essential oils. I went to a learning session on Friday evening with some lovely ladies and was blown away by all of the things these essential oils can do for you. So needless to say, I've ordered a starter pack and can't wait to start diffusing! I'll document my experiences with all of the different oils as I go. So far, while I wait for my diffuser, I've been using a sample of lavender before sleep which has been helping me to sleep deeper and wake up less frequently. I just put it on like war-paint before bed. I've used the peppermint to combat some ants that can't take no for an answer, and that has worked well as a deterrent (hurrah for Pinterest!). I'm most amped for Cheer, which I'll be ordering in September. It does exactly what it sounds like!

 

So things are progressing on the moving front. We did a bit of painting on the weekend, some staining (wrong colour, oops!) and some bed-construction (anger, bed now only half-done). I also picked up some boxes from my brother and his girlfriend so we now definitely have enough boxes to move! I was really not okay with paying for boxes.
I have filled my parents basement (aka my storage locker) with way too much stuff, and more to come (sorry mom and dad). So thankfully we haven't actually had to rent a storage locker.
There's just so much to do. Honestly, I wish I could just pay someone to pack my home, stage it, sell it, and unpack in my new home. There's too many stories of moving trucks going rogue for me to even consider using one, so I'm already anticipating the nightmare that will come with renting a certain truck we all know and love (to hate). Sure they only charge a minimal fee to rent the truck, but believe me, they find other ways to get their money back. Oh the drama!
I'm going to aim to get a lot of packing done tonight so that tomorrow I can go to the gym. It's really a toss up right now between exercise and moving and with how much we hate this place, packing is winning.
We have enough issues with the building that I won't bother going into, but now my mail has started going missing. I had two packages in less than a month say delivered and never show up. Luckily both senders have replaced the items, but I am absolutely shocked that someone is getting my packages and keeping them! I don't even know how they are getting them since they are addressed to me, but twice in less than a month is no longer just a random occurrence. I'd rather not think my mail person is orchestrating this, but not getting my Ipsy box has made me slightly jaded. Props to Ipsy for asking no questions and immediately sending out a replacement! Love that company!

Tomorrow, since I'd like to gym after work. I'm going to attempt to use the slow cooker. Now I just need to find a good recipe. Good thing I haven't packed my cook books yet!

I finally made it to the beach  -- It was so nice to get some colour, feel the warm sun and relax with my dear friend! I did burn a bit (that will happen to pale people who haven't sunned all summer), but overall I have a nice glow.
I just love going to the beach! It wasn't crowded either, which made it all the more enjoyable. They have five sections of the beach and we went to the area that isn't too close to the boardwalk (as in, you would need to drive there). We drove to that area after to walk the boardwalk for a bit and that part of the beach was jam-packed. It's nice that you can kind of choose the beach-day vibe you're going for and select a number based on that. It's funny because I really don't like sand, and when I go on vacation I always choose pools in lieu of the Ocean (I know, shame on me), but for some reason when I'm here, I don't mind sand as much.
I took one photo of the beach, but at least it's something pretty to look at! I don't know why I have so much sand in this photo. Talk about needing to aim better.