Photo by To Vogue Or Bust
I still feel like I’m easing into the year and we’re almost two full weeks in. These goals are set for all of 2017 and beyond though, so really, what’s a few days delay anyway? I eluded to my recently adopted simplified lifestyle here and will expand on that soon (I really want to properly sort my thoughts out for the post), but for now, I’ve narrowed down a few things I’ll be focusing on personally and in business this year!
Whenever I’ve watched one of those movies where a series of silly and exaggerated events takes place over just one night, I always have to point out that, “yeah, that stuff just doesn’t happen in real life.” But, I’m here to admit that I was wrong. In fact, my year started out with one wild overnight Adventures in Babysitting-esque adventure. Let me start from the beginning.
Our New Year’s Eve was a quiet and slightly snowy one. We met up with some of our friends at their family cabin on Bowen Island. To give you an idea, Bowen is a small island, just a 20 minute ferry ride from West Vancouver. There’s really just one main road, one main street with shops and a very West Coast island feel. If you’d like, you can watch my Bowen VLOG to get a better sense (note in the video how outrageously tall all of the trees are). A real sign of the times (#thisis30), we were there with our friends Tessa and AJ, who have a 5 month old, Pia and Jim, who are expecting their first any day now, their friends who have a 9 month old, and then us with our pup. We rang in 2017 in our pjs with Cards Against Humanity while the babies slept, laughing at how much life has changed. Our running hypothetical scenario was about pregnant Pia going into labour on NYE while we were isolated on the island. A very probable scenario, we compared possible solutions, like doctors and midwives on the island, or a helicopter lift to the hospital. We all eased Pia and her husband Jim’s worries with these options, assuring them that her water likely wasn’t going to break anytime soon.
The next morning, I was woken up by Reg launching himself onto the bed and attacking my face with snuggles, as he and Adam returned from their morning walk. “It’s really windy out there today,” Adam pointed out, as I desperately tried to fend off our hyper dog. I hopped out of bed enthusiastically at the notion of a large pot of coffee brewing in the kitchen and followed my boys downstairs. The cooing of our youngest house mates echoed throughout the recently renovated open concept living area. The gorgeous oversized floor to ceiling wall of windows showed off that delicious winter morning light, covering the nearby Sunshine Coast in an almost reflective golden light. I grabbed my camera and decided to step outside, hoping to capture the stunning view for the gram. I’d barely turned the door handle, when it went flying open, nearly blowing me and the door away. I hesitated, thinking that maybe without shoes or a coat on, being outside in this wind wasn’t the best idea, but of course decided to just be quick. When I stepped back in, Adam turned to me and said, “Reggie won’t eat his breakfast. I wonder if he’s not feeling well.” I looked down at that scruffy little pup and pointlessly asked him what was wrong. You could hear his stomach gurgling and we chalked it up to be a sore tummy.
Everyone had a leisurely morning, and we started making breakfast around 10. Someone pointed out that since it was a holiday, the ferry times were noon and 3:10 pm and we all agreed that the later one was our best bet since we were mid cooking and still had to tidy the cabin. Reggie kept pacing around, stopping in the oddest spots to stand super straight, tail between his legs, then he’d lay down somewhere, only to become restless again. “Maybe something bad is going to happen,” AJ declared, “dogs know these things. People say that their dogs act strange before earthquakes and stuff.” We all looked at each other and agreed, but shrugged it off, saying that he probably just ate something weird.
As we were cleaning the place, I was overcome with anxiety, and noticed that Adam was as well. We just couldn’t figure out why we were so nervous about catching the 3:10 ferry home and decided together that we should leave extra early to ensure we got on the boat. We loaded our vehicle, helped tidy around, and then awkwardly left in a hurry before our friends had loaded their kids into the cars. Our drive to the ferry terminal from the cabin is always a winding one, but there were tons of extra obstacles on this particular afternoon. We had to go extra slow to swerve and avoid oversized branches and other debris that littered the road, as the huge trees exaggeratedly swayed from side to side above us.
Christmas time has always been a bit of a juggling act for us. In fact, out of our 9 years together, we have NEVER spent Christmas Day together. It’s tough combining families and traditions into just a couple of days, you know? Last year we tried to squeeze everything in and ended up spending our first December 25th as a married couple at separate dinners. We met up back at home late that night, I looked at Adam, and declared that this was not to happen again.
This year, not only are we finally establishing our own holiday traditions as a couple, but with the addition of Reggie, it really feels like the first Christmas as a little family. We picked out a night, as close to the 25th as possible, and gave ourselves the wonderful gift of a cozy night in!
I absolutely love Vancouver. I grew up here (well, in the suburbs, minor detail), and have now lived on the East side of Vancouver for a decade. Exploring around this city is one of my favourite things to do. There’s so much amazing food, art, coffee, shopping, and scenery. We have incredible hiking trails, skiing/snowboarding, and are a generally active bunch. Yet, we also have the hustle and bustle of urban life in our downtown core and beyond. There’s adorable neighbourhoods like Kitsilano, Mount Pleasant, Olympic Village, Fairview, etc. The weather here is mild, but seasonally accurate (for the most part) which makes it ideal to visit at any time of year! And yes, there are moments when it rains and rains, but don’t let that stop you. Bring some rain boots and an umbrella, I promise you it’s worth it!
I have been meaning to compile my Vancouver recommendations for years. Thanks to some encouragement from the lovely team at Vancouver Tourism, it’s finally time to reveal my secret gems around this place. Though I’m sure this is the start of many posts about this wonderful city, I have compiled a comprehensive 48 hour itinerary. It was really tough to narrow down what to see in only 2 short days, but whether you’re here for a quick visit or on a staycation here, below are a few of my favourite Vancouver things (oh yes, I just went there in song). Hope you enjoy!
Photo by Shari and Mike
The other night, I asked Adam what I should write about in honour of one year wedding anniversary. He stared back at me and kind of shrugged. I revealed that I was thinking of writing about the highs and lows of marriage thus far and he seemed a bit surprised by the sentiment. “Think about it,” I urged him, “We honestly couldn’t have squeezed in any more life changes in the last 365 days if we’d tried!”
There was all the notable moments for our friends. Tons of our close friends and family got married. Two of my besties had babies and more of my close pals announced they have little babes on the way. We experienced a big loss when my Uncle Daryl passed away. There was a perfect amount of travel involved the last 365 days. Together, we spent 3 weeks in Italy for our honeymoon, went to Palm Springs for Melissa’s wedding, enjoyed a week in Playa del Carmen with Adam’s company, had a delightful Easter weekend in the Dominican Republic with Adam’s family, explored Toronto for a few days en route back, made our way to Austin, Texas for the first time, and then to Cancun for Kate and Andy’s wedding. I also spent a week with my friend in Hamilton, Ontario, a few weeks in London and Ireland with Alex, and a lovely trip to San Francisco with a Saschie and Kate. In terms of travel, we certainly went for it this year! There was the fact that for the second time in a year, our apartment was flooded and we were forced to move out for over a month and go through a renovation…again. Personally, we went through some things as a couple. I changed career paths and opted to blog full time. Perhaps inspired, Adam actually recently just gave notice at the company he’s been with for 8 years and is now in the midst of a big career change as well. There’s a few other big things, but some events for us and close friends aren’t really to be shared online, as I’m sure you can understand. Even without the other points, it’s obvious that this year has been a heck of a lot.
It seems that we just happened to wed within that time in life where everyone is going through massive change. Marriage and babies and death and new jobs and being lost and finding yourself again. It’s a bit crazy, but it definitely made us realize the ‘work’ portion of marriage that everyone advertises actually exists. When we’re shaken out of familiarity and the comfort of our mundane everyday and thrown these curve balls. That’s when you’re put to the test.
Amongst the stressful chaos of the wedding, our go-to music was Beck’s latest album, Morning Phase. It was relatively calming and helped us keep our sanity the night before the wedding. We’ve listened to it since and are transported right back to our Pemberton suite the night before the wedding, frantically writing out seating charts and cards. This morning, on our impromptu anniversary trip to the Naramata Bench, we drove into town for breakfast. Sitting out on the patio, sipping our coffees, I suddenly heard the faint sound of Blue Moon playing in the background. Of all the songs to hear on the morning or our anniversary, it just happened to be one from the album that we so heavily associate with the wedding. Just felt like a bit of a sign, ya know?
In honour of our one year anniversary, here’s a little stroll down memory lane:
Our Rehearsal
Our Wedding Day
Our Wedding Highlight Video
WedLuxe Bride Spotlight
15 Favourite Wedding Moments
Hitched
My Wedding Decor Secrets
That Time We Had A Second Wedding
Photo by Jenna Hill
My day planner has a page at the begging of each month with about 8 blank lines intended for your upcoming goals. As I’ve worked towards setting realistic expectations for myself, I make sure to only use up the first line with a semi vague but powerful mantra. June’s goal was simply, Move Forward.
Looking back on the last 30 days, I really did. I pushed myself to attend as many events as possible and even managed to still take care of my health. It might seem from afar that I’ve been neglecting my blog, but behind the scenes, I’ve been spending countless hours researching, planning, strategizing, and trying to step up my social media game.
As we hit the halfway mark of 2016 (can you even believe that?) I must reflect and make plans to improve. In terms of this strange and wonderful career path, things have been going relatively well. I am SO happy taking on the Alicia Fashionista brand as a full time gig and haven’t felt these levels of motivation in a long time. That being said, it’s really difficult to bounce back after experiencing burnout AND to get out of the mentality that this is simply a side project. After a bit of soul searching, I realized that I was still not giving things a hundred percent, which is REALLY tough to come to terms with. Finding that old work ethic doesn’t happen over night and it’s going to take some more time and effort to get things where I want them to be. Subconsciously, I think that I sometimes don’t let myself give things my all because of a fear of failing. That way, if things don’t work out, I can just tell myself that I didn’t really try that hard anyway. This doesn’t just apply to my job, it’s also prevalent in relationships, school work, creative projects, etc. I’ve got to break out of the calculated and cautious mindset and learn to be a little more fearless.
I know, white skinny jeans are apparently something I wear now? Lately I’ve felt my most comfortable in some sort of variation of this look, distressed skinnies and a loose, but cute, peplum tank. Thank goodness for those inexpensive Old Navy tops! Always love a good ON haul to update the ol’ summer wardrobe, linked to a couple favourites below.
This week was a little bit interesting. Thursday, I got to spend the entire day on a field trip with Etsy where they took us on a trolley around the city to fun insta worthy places. There was, of course, a crafternoon activity involved as well! Then yesterday, I ended up having a huge health day, as I had a colposcopy done in the morning and then went to the dentist for a filling and to be fitted for a new night guard (my stress continues well into my sleep in the form of jaw clenching). It was exhausting by the evening, to say the least, especially since I ended up having quite an experience at the doctor. I think I’m going to tell that story in a separate post because there’s a powerful message that must go with it, even if it is TMI. We must talk about these things, ladies! Then there was all the crazy news on Thursday night regarding the UK and I lost an earring last night. This week has just felt kind of heavy, ya know?
On a much happier note, I went on an awesome hike this morning to Quarry Rock in Deep Cove with 2 of my best girl friends. We’ve deemed it ‘The Summer Of Us’ and planned all sorts of fun local activities over the next few months. We had a really awesome summer together in 2006 and decided that we’d really make the most of this one together as well. Like a 10 year reunion of friendship or something. Should be a blast, our next activity is paddle boarding, which I’ve never tried! Getting out of that comfort zone, so good for the soul!
Images are NOT mine and sourced via here, here, here, here, here, and here.
One thing that has really helped get me out of the fog is focusing on big, exciting projects. Last year it was, of course, the wedding and then recently all the travel I’ve been lucky enough to embark on. Now, it is re-decorating the apartment aka #fauxreno. It just to so happens that Alexandra, Bethany, and I are giving our shared studio/office space in Gastown a much needed makeover as well! I can basically only think in home decor these days. One tool that has been incredibly helpful is…PINTEREST! I have been pinning like crazy and it has really clarify different styles and colour palettes I tend to be drawn to. I’ve been creating mood boards and constantly on the search to get the look for less in our place. Thought I’d share the love with some of these inspiration boards I’ve put together. These cool, earthy tones are a big part of the look in our studio/office. Can’t wait to show you the before and after!
Can you imagine how intimidating it was being in high school with such gorgeous ladies? And this is only a few of the beautiful women I had the pleasure of graduating with!
It was a stunning June day in 2013. We lay on the beach in Antibes, France, soaking up the sun in the Cote D’Azure. I brushed away a few crumbs from the heavenly pain au chocolate I’d just consumed at an impressively reserved speed. Somehow we’d been on the topic of high school and I was grilling Adam about whether or not he regretted not attending his 10 year reunion. He seemed quite neutral about the entire thing. “Do you think you’ll go to your high school reunion next year?” he casually asked me. Without a beat, I replied, “Only if my friends go,” in the ditziest tone. Apparently my unfiltered response was to revert back to high school me. We both burst out laughing at my desperation, and went back to our ever important pastries.