nesting: the beginnings

- Enjoying a hot drink with friends at the addison road markets chait tent.

- A baby project in progress. It will be a mobile with a moon in the middle.

- Beautiful, beautiful kale for our daily green smoothies.

- A yellow carrot! Made into a yummy juice that I'll blog about soon.

- This week's flowers; I love how they look like mini pom poms.

This weekend, at 35 weeks pregnant, the husband and I finally starting nesting. To be honest, I haven't felt the nesting urge kick in yet but I'm a procrastinator so I suppose that's hardly surprising. You'll probably find me at 40 weeks pregnant scrubbing the bathroom with a toothbrush. In the meantime, we decided we better get down to business, instinct or not.

Over the weekend we visited Bunnings, Target, the Bower and Woolworths. We bought cloth nappies and face cloths to use in labour, cozy flannel pyjamas to pack in the hospital bag, baby singlets and other bits and bobs for labour and birth.

At home, we took advantage of a council pickup and de-cluttered like crazy. Best feeling ever. I also cleared out our spare room - a task I'd been avoiding for months - and got it all ready for my mom to stay. Of course, there was also some sewing for baby. A sweet little project I'll hopefully be sharing here on Thursday. Right now we're waiting on a chest of drawers I ordered online to arrive; when it does all of the baby's things will be put away. This week I'll go to Ikea, pack the hospital bag, and write some more lists. Oh so many lists...

p.s. this is my 501st post, wow!

to do

 

Today I prettied up my desk so I would feel inspired to plug away on my list-of-things-I-don't-want-to do-but-have-to-anyway. All I really want to do today is sit around, read the new issue of Kinfolk that just arrived in the mail, have a bath and maybe eat a croissant (or two, or three...). But there are classes to plan, playlists to make, emails to answer and laundry to do.

And that list, well it now includes things like: plan blessingway, buy a dryer, buy cloth diapers, clean stroller, book flights, buy travel insurance, figure out maternity leave and on and on... Less than two months to go, not that I'm anxious or anything.

a quiet week

 

Wow, I've been rather silent this week, haven't I? It's just been one of those weeks where not much is happening, definitely nothing to write home about. The most exciting thing to happen is the arrival of my Vitamix, which I managed to buy gently used from a friend who upgraded to a Thermomix. I've been silently, and sometimes not so silently, pining for one of these blenders for a long time and I'm so happy at how this all worked out. A perfect example of 'ask and ye shall receive.' I've used it 2 or 3 times a day since I've had it, making myself a daily green smoothie, nut milks, sauces and desserts.

In other news, it's still so hot here. It feels just like a Vancouver summer, and not at all like autumn. While the beach swims are nice, I'm still looking forward to the day I can sleep without 2 fans on me. We're heading away this weekend, to a country town which will, allegedly, be cooler than here. I hope so.

I hope you're all having a wonderful week!

raining

It rained and rained this long weekend, and even though it was still fairly warm, it reminded me of Vancouver. We mostly stayed at home, only venturing out to go for insanely delicious brunch. There was far too much time spent in bed, watching movies on the laptop (I enjoyed this one) and drinking hot chocolate. Of course, I couldn't let the rainy weekend go by without some baking so I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies as well. I do love a relaxing weekend spent at home.

nesting: summertime

Some snaps of from our summery home. The last few days have been quiet; I've spent my time teaching yoga, going to class, eating lots and watching Downton Abbey (season 3, finally!). Today all of the teaching seems to have caught up with me and I have a whole body ache that's giving me a premature waddle. I plan on spending the rest of the afternoon horizontal. Happy tuesday!

red & green

I just realized while putting together photos for this post, that I unwittingly spent the weekend taking photos of red and green, wherever I found it. Must be my attempt at feeling festive during an Australian December. 

This weekend we stayed close to home, only leaving to go for swims. During one of those outings, husband's mum gave us this awesome advent calender. It really is the only sign of Christmas in our home, though I'm hoping to either put up some branches with decorations like this OR this fabric from Ikea. How are you celebrating the arrival of December?

bloom where you're planted

I've lived within the same area of Sydney for over 4 years now. And because I'm a daydreamer, I often find myself longing to be somewhere else. We drive south and I fantasize about living in a little cottage near the beach in a small town. I go to Bali and I dream about spending 6 months in the hills of Ubud, spending my days doing yoga and relaxing. My husband and I drive to the northern beaches and we talk about how maybe, just maybe, we should pack up and move there, closer to a daily swim.

But the fact is that for now, we're not moving. We have a lovely, spacious apartment in a great part of town. We're close to our friends, we've been here long enough that we know the local shopkeepers and restaurant owners, we're near our work, and we even have a spare bedroom. I have nothing to complain about.

So I'm reminding myself daily to 'bloom where I'm planted.' Words that stuck with me from the book Down to Earth. Rhonda Hetzl writes: "I cannot stress enough that simple living is not about a particular geographical location [...] A simple life can flourish anywhere." (p. 15).

Amen.

his & hers

She is tidy and has dry skin. She likes: burning nice smelling candles before going to sleep, wearing pretty jewellery, fresh flowers and the sea.

He is slightly more dishevelled and falls asleep with a book on his face most nights. He likes: reading, wearing a watch and the mountains.

outside / inside

This weekend. Outside: 

Inside:

Listening to new Cat Power. Love.

hibernating

If you need me, I'll be here - on my couch with a stack of books, a bowl of leftover chilli, a cup of tea, and a new notebook. There's something so great about a blank notebook, isn't there? It's just begging to be filled with yoga class plans, random notes, grocery lists, to do lists, blog ideas and on and on...

The other reason I'm hibernating here is that it's storming outside with winds like you wouldn't believe. I'm also conserving energy because I know this weekend is going to be full. So full. But in the best of ways. Tomorrow I head off to Tim Coulson's photography workshop, a last minute decision I couldn't be more thrilled about. Though it does mean a fairly epic solo road trip, hence the making of a CD called "drive." That should do the trick.

Happy weekend friends!

green (and more thoughts on iphones)

I've been AFK (nerd speak for 'away from keyboard') for the last few days so I've only just gotten around to reading through the comments on my last post. It was great to hear everyone's thoughts, and struggles. I wrote this post because I really am the worst. My iphone and I are glued at the hip, and it's been bugging me lately how much I rely on it.

Tania made an interesting point; after her smart phone was stolen, she had to revert back to using an old mobile which she described as her "own little phone rehab." I think I may need my own phone rehab!

Moving along, here are some bits and pieces of green I've been noticing around my home lately...

red

p.s. last chance to enter to win a dreamy print from Alexandra Wallace Photography!

puttering

One of my favourite things about getting home from a trip is puttering around, making way for new things and settling back into my space. Right now in particular I'm longing for simplicity, and I've been de-cluttering like a madwoman. For the first time since I've lived in this house, my room feels home and it's such a nice feeling.

weekend bike ride

Over the weekend, a friend of mine took me for a little bike tour of my hometown. We cycled the seawall from Granville Island, all the way around False Creek to English Bay. You can check out the route on the map below.

It was quite the tour; we talked buildings and history, stopped to check out the Olympic Village, which I had never seen before, and had an ice cream at the beach. Along the way I marveled at how gorgeous Vancouver can be on a sunny day, and dreamt of moving home.

Someday...

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