Manning Park

A few weeks ago, we spent a couple of nights in a cabin in the mountains with my dad, brother and his girlfriend. We started coming to Manning Park with my dad when we were kids; it's where I learned to snowboard and the scene of many happy memories. After not visiting for so long, it was a real treat to go back and see that not much has changed.

My dad calls it the "anti-Whistler" and he's spot on. It's not trendy or fancy in any way, but the resort has everything you need and a rustic charm that can't be ignored. More importantly, it's breathtakingly beautiful at this time of year. I felt like I was in a postcard and despite the frigid temperatures, I kept trekking back outside to take photos.

Clementine, however, was less than impressed with all the snow. We've learned on this trip that she is definitely not a winter baby. It snowed in Vancouver shortly after we arrived, and when we finally convinced her to get out of her stroller, she leaned over, touched the snow and exclaimed dramatically, "NO, NO, NO, NO." So you can imagine what she thought of Manning Park… She seemed to be getting the hang of it all by the third (and last day), but I think she was happy to get back to the milder weather of Vancouver.

a toque for me

My mom knows me down to a tee. Familiar with my penchant for anything mustard-coloured, she had been saving this wool for me. As soon as I saw it, I knew that I wanted to make myself a toque. Just a simple, chunky toque with a big pom pom. I decided to wing it, sans pattern, and hope for the best. It's pretty close to what I had imagined, though not quite 100% perfect. But the beauty of this kind of knitting is that it's so quick that it wouldn't take me long to modify my pattern and make another one, which is exactly what I think I'll do...

mother daughter style: fabrik

Style is something I've been thinking about a lot these days. Every day I open my closet and I'm faced with that age-old dilemma: closet full of clothes, nothing to wear. Before having a baby, I spent my days wearing workout wear (to teach yoga), and dresses (to hang out). I didn't give much thought to breastfeeding friendly clothing when I was pregnant, so it came as a bit of a shock when I discovered that I couldn't wear about 80% of my wardrobe after giving birth. I couldn't feed in any of my dresses, so I started wearing nursing tanks and skirts. My other standby was a nursing tank under a t-shirt, worn with baggy shorts. I remember when my mom visited us right after Clementine's birth, and then again in March, she made fun of me for how often I wore the same few things. 

After the first year, when Clementine stopped breastfeeding around the clock, more of my clothing became wearable again, but not as much as I had anticipated. The thing is, all of those pretty dresses? They're mostly too dressy for my everyday activities, which include grocery shopping, toddler wrangling and sitting in the park. And while I didn't mind sacrificing comfort for style before having a baby, now I cannot bear to wear anything tight, clingy or remotely uncomfortable. 

Inspired by some wonderful minimalist style blogs (I love this one, this one and this one), I'm thinking of trying out a capsule wardrobe. It's basically what I do already; I'm just not that organised about it. Now that I'm motivated though, it's a whole different story. I'm planning, writing lists, thinking about exactly the kinds of clothes that I like to wear. 

Fabrik recently sent me two pieces from their summer collection: the Shell T-shirt in black & white stripe and the bamboo column skirt. Both pass my personal comfort and versatility tests and will definitely be in my summer capsule. I've worn the skirt with the t-shirt tucked in, or knotted above the waist (as above), and even as a strapless dress with a cream lace top layered over it. And the t-shirt is just a really nice, comfy, practical top to have in my closet. Fabrik also kindly sent Clementine a couple of outfits, both of which are ridiculously cute. In the first two photos she's wearing the garden dress with the kitty shorts. In the other shots she's wearing the angel dress with bloomers similar to these. There's just something about a baby in bloomers! 

this post is not sponsored but the items we're wearing were gifted

home for the holidays

Two weeks ago, we left the sweltering Sydney summer for the icy cold winter that is Vancouver in December. I'm sure it'll come as no surprise if I tell you that the longhaul flight here with a toddler was rough, as was the ensuing jetlag. But now that we're more settled, we are just so happy to be here. We're soaking up all of the goodness that this city has to offer at this time of year. My husband keeps exclaiming, "I feel like I'm in a Christmas movie!" and I couldn't agree more. The 3rd night we were here, we ducked out for a quick drink at a local restaurant. There was a roaring fire, a Christmas tree in the corner, hockey playing on TV and a menu of festive cocktails (hello eggnog and rum!). You could not wipe the grin off my face.

Since then we've taken Clementine on the Christmas train at Stanley Park, gone to the Vinyl Cafe Christmas concert, and spent a few days at a ski resort. The best kind of winter fun.

Of course, the main reason we're here is to spend time with family and friends and that has been wonderful. Last time we were in Vancouver, Clementine was a newborn and it was difficult to do anything. We had this huge list of things we wanted to do here, and managed almost none of them. This trip has been completely different. We've been able to see family and friends, do festive/wintery things AND get to lots of yoga classes. It's been awesome.

p.s. home for the summer