simple

These days I'm craving and relishing simplicity. It might have something to do with the lingering cold I've had for the last 2 weeks, or it may be because my energy has been low, but whatever the reasons, I'm rolling with it. I've been meaning to give my blog a makeover for 6 months now, but I'm a procrastinator so I've only just gotten to it. I loved the pink, but it's nice to have a clean, fresh, simple look. I hope you like it too.

Over the last 5 weeks I've been doing this course through The Red Tent. It's been eye opening and full of practical advice. I've learned a lot! It's really changed my approach to feeding Clementine. I used to think that if I wanted her to be a good eater, I had to expose her to every food under the sun in her first years of life. She's never been a great eater and I've been stressing over it since she was 1 month old (seriously). I've been learning, however, that from a Chinese Medicine perspective, children need simple, warm food. I've been changing Clementine's diet to include less dairy and fruit, and more easy to digest, nourishing foods like chicken congee, home-made bone broths, steamed vegetables and oatmeal. She's been responding so well! My husband (ever skeptical of "alternative" methods like Chinese Medicine) was just saying that he can't believe how well Clementine has been eating lately. He's a total convert now. Mealtimes have become so much more simple and she's eating so much more. I can't tell you how happy that makes me.

I hope you're all having a wonderful, relaxing weekend!

setting an example

I think every parent gets to that stage where they realise that their child is mimicking everything they do. This has been on my mind for a while now, because I know that in some ways, I'm not setting a very good example for my little one. Ever since she started on solids I've been quite strict with what I feed her. I don't let her have any sugar at all, and certainly no junk food. Most of her food is made from scratch, and it's also mostly organic. I definitely won't be the mum not letting her kid have cake at a birthday party, but I feel strongly that at this age, she does not need to have cakes/cookies/brownies etc.

But, I am a sugar fiend. I've always had a sweet tooth, and since having Clementine, it's gotten out of control. As a new mum, most of my social life has revolved around cafe dates with friends over coffee and cake. Nowadays we mostly hang out at the park, but we still very often stop for a takeaway coffee and treat. Clementine now wants to try a bite of everything I eat, so I'm discovering that I can't eat my usual treats when she's around. I know that if I want to foster healthy eating habits in her, I have to change my own habits. I definitely have more to say on this, but I'll leave it for another post. For now I'm trying to embrace one of my favourite sayings: everything in moderation, including moderation.

On a lighter note, I'm also trying so hard not to swear but it is tough! So far Clementine only has a few words, but I worry that if we keep up the way we are her first word will be a 4 letter one. Both my husband and I are pretty bad. Just today he was working on something that was frustrating him, and he was muttering and swearing under his breath. "Bloody f&*% s#$t c@#p son of a…" and on it went. He caught me glaring at him and toned it down to, "bloody bastard, mumble, grumble…" Because that's not swearing apparently. It's safe to say that we have some work to do in this department. Please tell me we're not the only ones...

motherhood around the world

a photo from my very first trip to Australia, when I was your typical Canadian backpacker

Today I am so, so excited to be featured on one of my favourite blogs, A Cup of Jo. Joanna's lovely editor, Caroline, interviewed me about my experience of being a Canadian mother in Australia. When she sent over the first round of questions, I found myself writing an essay in response to each and every one. It was the first time I've ever sat down, reflected on and put into writing all of my thoughts on being an expat. I had so much to say, and I kept thinking, "I should write a book about this!" For now though, you can read my interview here.

And if you've found your way here via A Cup of Jo, welcome! I hope you can make yourself a cup of tea and stay a while.

p.s. As a disclaimer, I know that my experience does not speak for all expats in Australia, or even for all Canadian expats in Australia. I did my best to keep that in mind as I answered the questions, and also to keep in mind that while I have travelled throughout Australia, I have only ever lived in Sydney. 

how to deal with homesickness

I've been thinking a lot lately about being an expat (you'll understand why soon), and the inevitable homesickness that comes with living overseas. I had always loved to travel and had never actually felt homesick until I moved to Australia in 2009. Then, after having a baby here, I became even more homesick! I do, however, have some coping mechanisms and I thought I'd share them here today. If any of my fellow expats have other tips please share in the comments section.

Skype. This one is pretty obvious and is the main way I deal with missing my family and friends. I Skype with my mom at least 3 times a week, and honestly don't know what I'd do without it. Often we'll have Skype on while one of us is cooking or eating, and it makes it feel like we're just hanging out together and sharing a meal.

WhatsApp. One of my best friends just moved to Canada and we've been using WhatsApp to stay in touch. Just like when she lived here, we'll text each other bits and pieces throughout the day, normal things, like what we ate for lunch and photos of what we're up to. The casual nature of it makes it feel like she hasn't left. One of the things that makes me the saddest about living here, is that I feel like I've lost that close relationship with some of my best friends. We keep in touch but I know so little about their everyday life. Communicating every day, about the little things, really helps.

Maintain your traditions. Australians don't do Thanksgiving and Halloween has only recently been embraced, mostly by kids. One year we had a Halloween party, which mostly seemed to confuse our Australian friends, and was hilarious in its own way. I do make an effort each year to celebrate Thanksgiving though. Some years we've invited friends over and other times it has just been the two of us, eating stuffing and pumpkin pie, but I love it. One of my fellow Canadian yoga teaching friends and I were talking about doing a Thanksgiving yoga workshop followed by a feast this October, so stay tuned for that...

Have expat friends. This point was really driven home to me the other night. I was at a staff dinner where many of us are Canadians/Americans with Australian partners. We ended up having such a great heart to heart. It was so nice to connect with others who are in the exact same boat as me. We talked about our long term plans, missing our family, raising kids here and all kinds of other topics near and dear to us. Fair warning though, if you're a long term expat, make sure you also have friends who are from your new city. If your circle of friends is made up exclusively of other expats, you will never feel totally settled and you will be losing friends constantly (I know from experience).

Have a visit to look forward to. There was a stretch of 2.5 years where I didn't go home, and I didn't have a trip to look forward to. It was way too long! Even though our next visit to Vancouver is still 4 months away (and we booked our flights a couple of months ago), it makes such a difference to have a date in the calendar circled. Something to look forward to.

Don't expect everything to be the same at home. This is something I struggle with when I go home. There's a part of me that wants things to be just the same as when I left, but of course, they're not. My friends have new partners and jobs, businesses close and new ones take their place, and even my family moves and shifts. It's true that the only constant is change, and it's best to embrace it.

My next tips all fall under the same umbrella of immersing yourself:

Read. When I'm feeling homesick I like to re-read my favourite Canadian authors, like Douglas Coupland and L.M. Montgomery. I find the familiarity really soothing.

Watch. Watching movies and tv shows from Canada helps to quell the sadness that creeps in when I start to miss that good ol' Canadian accent. Earlier this year, I got hooked on Arctic Air. Sure, it's not the best show ever made but the Canadian accents and references made me happy and I was devastated that it was cancelled.

Listen. Every week I listen to my favourite podcast, The Vinyl Cafe, and it never fails to warm my heart. I also like to listen to CBC radio on my computer. I love hearing the news from Vancouver; it makes me feel like I'm still in touch.

Eat. Ok, so we don't really have a Canadian cuisine, per se, but we do have poutine. And maple syrup. And bloody caesars. And pumpkin pie. And enjoying them does me a world of good when I'm longing for Vancouver.

The Seventh Duchess Tea Giveaway

A few weeks ago the lovely people at The Seventh Duchess sent me a few things to try. I received their  Empress of India Indian Spiced Chai, Goddess Organic New Mother's Tea and Coconut Sugar. I ooh'd and aah'd for a while over the lovely box they came in, before finally opening it to find the prettiest teas inside. I've been enjoying the Chai (brewed with milk and a spoonful of coconut sugar) in the afternoon, and a cup of New Mother's Tea at night with a tiny bit of honey stirred through. Both are delicious, and would make the perfect gift for a friend, a new mother friend especially.

For a chance to win one of three prize packs of Moroccan Mint and Hibiscus & Vanilla Teas, head on over to my Instagram.

these winter days

photos by Gui Jorge

These winter days have been so nice. The weather has been absolutely perfect; bright blue skies beckon us outside and we're usually at our local park by 9am. We have been spending so much time outside, mostly because Clementine is at an age where she has energy to burn. If we stay home for too long she very quickly destroys the place and undoes any of my efforts at housekeeping.

Speaking of, the husband and I dropped off another carload of things at the op shop last weekend and it's amazing what a difference it makes. I love the resulting feeling of space, and the fact that it takes half as long to clean up. For the first time ever, we actually have empty drawers. Incredible! Also incredible? Our heater. This is the first Sydney home I've lived in that isn't an absolute freezer come winter. For our apartment's many faults, it is quite toasty and for that I am grateful (especially because that heater becomes an air conditioner in the warmer months).

I have to say, it's totally shallow but I've been quite enjoying dressing Clementine in winter clothes. There is nothing cuter than a toddler all rugged up in bonnets and scarves. Seriously. She's such a lucky girl too, because her grandmother has been spoiling her with handmade accessories that are to die for. It'll be interesting to see how we handle the challenge of dressing for actually cold weather, when we're in Canada later this year. It will be Clementine's first experience of true winter, and my first cold winter in 5 years. I think one of these might be in order.

This week we're seeing friends, working on a very cute sewing project and planning another newborn shoot. When my husband and Clementine get home from the grocery store, we'll settle in for the night. Chicken congee for her, and miso-curry pumpkin (from this favourite cookbook) for us for dinner. Later tonight I'll have a bath (my muscles are achy from chasing a toddler all day) and then we'll watch Masterchef and eat ice cream. Have a good night everyone!

repurposed hot water bottle cover

This week, I took some time to shift things around a bit to give myself a sewing space. By putting our big, bulky printer in the closet, I freed up enough room to leave my sewing machine on a desk in our main living space. All of my sewing supplies and fabric are still in a chest of drawers in the hall, but at least now I don't have to also haul out my sewing machine any time I want to work on a project.

I have a few things on my 'to make' list, but I decided to warm up with something super simple: a hot water bottle cover. Inspired by The Crafty Minx, I cut up an old (holey) sweater of mine to create this cozy cover. I love how it looks and feels like I'm cuddling a favourite sweater; absolutely perfect for this blustery day we're having.

Hope you all have a very happy weekend!

currently

I don't mean to sound like a broken record here (and it's a refrain that I seem to be hearing from a lot of bloggers) but goodness it's hard finding the time to write, and I'm missing the blogging of yesteryear. In any case, I have a few spare minutes before Clementine gets home and there are lots of bits and pieces I'd like to share. This week I am:

• pretty sure this is one of the funniest things I have ever seen, closely followed by this
• planning to take the leap and launch a photography website in the near future
• excited that Liv has teamed up with Blog Society to host a makeup workshop
• speaking of workshops, my friend Stella is running the best named workshop ever: Manifest Like a Mofo
• determined to make this for Clementine, even though I've never knit a sweater before and I am terrified
• finishing Wild, and wondering if the movie will be any good
• thinking that both Wild and The Rosie Project (which I recently read) are as good as everyone says
• grateful that I signed up for this course since the sniffles are back, grrr
• so sad and disappointed that I can't be at my bestie's wedding next weekend, why does Australia have to be so far away?
• loving Bon Iver's new song
• laughing over the fact that my husband and I are now sleeping with separate blankets, but we're both so much warmer!
• glad that I listened to a recommendation from a friend and watched this wonderful movie
• needing wanting this bag
• giggling over these jokes (#2 is my favourite)

one year on, part two

As promised, here is part two from our family photo shoot with Gui Jorge. Clementine and I changed into more casual outfits halfway through the shoot (because I'm indecisive), right around the time she was going crazy trying to jump head first into the water. A lot of wrangling was involved, but Gui and Michaela made it work and the resulting action shots are some of my favourites.

This weekend, I'm planning to print and frame a few of these to add to our collection. I confess that I'm a bit worried that our place is beginning to look like a shrine to Clementine. There are so many photos of her hanging on the walls, resting on the bookshelves and decorating the bedrooms. How do you guys deal with family photos? Do you practice restraint when it comes to decorating with family photos, or do you go wild?

one year on, by gui jorge

I'm so happy with these photos, and so happy with our life right now. It's not perfect (whose is?) but it's lovely nevertheless. And having these beautiful images to document it all, well that's just the cherry on top.

I wanted to do this shoot to celebrate Clementine's first year, and as always, Gui and Michaela have blown me away with their talent. They were there 2 weeks before Clementine was born, and 2 months after. They got some sneaky shots of Clementine when she was a cheeky 8 month old and a couple of months later as a part of my sling diaries. I know that not everyone is lucky enough to have photographer friends, and I honestly feel so grateful for all these memories captured. Gui and Michaela are just so damn good at what they do, and such a pleasure to hang out with.

As an aside, I realise that these don't really look like family photos; they look like Gaby and Clementine photos. That's because I don't share pictures of my husband online (he's a private kind of guy) but there are some very sweet captures of the three of us that will soon be framed and hung on our walls. There were so many images I wanted to include here, so later this week I'll be posting part 2.

p.p.s. You can see all the photos Gui has taken of our family by clicking here.

a year

My what a difference a year makes. You can expect to see many, many more photos from our latest shoot with Gui in the coming days. Consider this the preview.

sydney maternity photographer: vanessa

Last month, I travelled up the coast to photograph my friend's sister in law. We shot at Bouddi National Park, where the conditions were wild and windy. But 38 week pregnant Vanessa didn't complain at all, not even as we hiked through the mud. She was a trooper.

I have to say, I was a bit nervous about this shoot as we had to do it at noon on a very sunny day. As any photographer will tell you, these are not the most ideal conditions. That said, it was good for me to get out of my comfort zone and try new things, and I'm quite happy with how the photos turned out.

p.s. more photos from Bouddi

markets & meal planning

Back in the day, I used to be quite disciplined about meal planning. I would plan our dinners one or two weeks at a time, and my husband and I would do one big shop on a Sunday afternoon. Now that we live near a supermarket (and now that I'm significantly less organised than I used to be...), I find myself winging it every night. My current system goes something like this: it's 2pm, I start wondering what I should make for dinner tonight. I hem and haw, flip through cookbooks and peruse pinterest before finally choosing a recipe and heading to the grocery store. This "system" wastes so much time, energy and money each week and it's been my intention to do something about it for a while now. Just this weekend, I finally got around to it.

On Saturday afternoon I sat down with a cup of tea, notebook, pen, stack of my favourite cookbooks and my notes from Whole Food Kitchen. I started by assigning each night of the week a theme. I ended up with:

Monday: Mexican
Tuesday: Indian/Asian
Wednesday: Italian
Thursday: casserole/crockpot
Friday: pizza
Saturday & Sunday: wildcards

I then went through each of my cookbooks jotting down the recipes I use most often, and their corresponding page numbers. I kept in mind that it's winter, and stuck with meals appropriate for this time of year. When spring rolls around, I'm planning to change my nightly themes and compile a new list of favourite recipes. Armed with my new list, planning this week's dinner was a matter of simply filling in the blanks. The whole process took me around an hour, and it was actually quite enjoyable.

With this week's meal plan in mind, we moseyed over to our favourite farmer's market early on Sunday morning. While I bought our produce for the week, my husband took Clementine to a sunny patch of grass where she could run free. It was the perfect place to sit, drink coffee and eat breakfast while not having to worry about Clementine destroying anything (restaurants and cafes are pretty much out of the question at this point). She was super interested in the ponies who she kept calling woof, so we paid for her to have a ride. Much to my surprise, she got quite scared once the pony started walking. It was cute while it lasted though.

I'm feeling optimistic about this new approach to meal planning. My goal was to keep it simple, and I think I've done that. I'll keep you posted on my progress. In the meantime, my friend Stace has also written a post on meal planning, which you can read here.

sydney maternity photographer: katia

A few weeks ago, the lovely Katia got in touch to see if I could do maternity and newborn photos for her. As you all know, I'm a big fan of baby bellies so of course I said, "yes please!" We met last week for a session in Bondi, and spent an hour dodging tourists and chasing the sun to get the shot. No baby news to report yet, but if you'd like to find Katia you can read her blog here and check out her shop here.

vegetarianism, marriage & babies

When my husband and I met, dated, and got married, I was an omnivore. We bonded over food right from the beginning; one of the first times we hung out, he brought my friend and I to a pub that served $5 meals (which was great news to us poor backpackers). I'm pretty sure we had burgers, or maybe steak. Because he had a real home with a functioning kitchen, he also liked to cook for me. I clearly remember the morning he made me scrambled eggs with chorizo and avocado for breakfast. I thought: this is the man for me.

Fast forward a couple of years and I found myself training to become a yoga teacher. Vegetarianism was an important focus of the course, and we read books and watched videos that showed us, no holds barred, where our meat came from. Eating meat had always made me uncomfortable, but it was the easier choice so I suppressed that little voice that told me it wasn't right. Once I learned about the horrors of factory farming I knew I had to make a change. And while there certainly are options for those who want to eat meat and not support factory farming, I couldn't bring myself to eat an animal when I could be just as healthy and happy without taking an animal's life.

My transition was slow. I started by cutting down on meat consumption, then I became a pescatarian and finally, months later, I converted to full fledged vegetarianism. While I admired my vegan friends for their moral consistency, I knew I could never be vegan myself.

Immediately, our marriage came under strain. I couldn't understand why my husband didn't seem to care about animal welfare, and he was annoyed that I was no longer the girl he married. Cooking for me had always been one of the ways he'd shown his love, and now he couldn't make any of our favourite meals. We both had to make some pretty major compromises.

To this day, I describe myself as a reluctant vegetarian. I miss cooking with meat, and sometimes I even miss the taste of meat. But even more, I miss being the easygoing 'eat anything, anywhere' kind of person I used to be. I hate that now I'm the one with special dietary requirements, and that people have to go out of their way when they invite me over. They do, though. My friends and family make special meals just for me or cook vegetarian, which I appreciate so much.

During my pregnancy, I maintained my vegetarian diet until the last few months, when I started eating small amounts of seafood again. I'm still a pescatarian, and while it causes me some cognitive dissonance, I'm going with it for now because it makes my life a lot easier. As for the baby who was growing in my belly, we had discussed how we wanted to raise him/her before I was even pregnant. I wanted to raise vegetarian children; my husband did not. We compromised and decided that our babies would be vegetarian for their first 2 years of life and then we would re-assess. Of course, I knew that at some point it would no longer be in my control. Children will make their own choices eventually, all I could do was gently guide them.

Things were going to plan with our little pescetarian. She was happy, she was healthy but she wasn't putting on any weight. To be fair, she's been a slow gainer since birth. Even on a mixture of breastfeeds and breastmilk/formula top ups she never put on the "required" weight each week. Finally, shortly before her first birthday we weighed her at the doctor and discovered that she had hardly gained any weight in 2 months. I decided then and there to offer her meat and see if that made a difference.

It did. She took to her new diet immediately and started to put on more weight. Nowadays, this means that there are many nights where the three of us are eating three different meals, or variations of the same dinner. It's not ideal, and it's not what I would have chosen, but it's yet another lesson in surrender. Parenting is hard, and sometimes you have to make compromises for the wellbeing of your whole family.

I do wonder how this will play out in the future.  I imagine that Clementine and my husband will remain omnivores while I continue to eat a pescetarian diet. I have come to accept that my husband and I will never be on the same page, and that that's ok. What's important is that we show respect for each others' decisions, and model that for Clementine.

I know that many of you are in mixed marriages and families as well, how do you handle it? Does it cause conflict or is it just accepted? How did you deal when babies came along?

p.s. the first post I wrote on marriage and vegetarianism
p.p.s. my friend Katie has a new website filled with lots of helpful info on vegetarianism, animal rights, parenting, natural birth, activism, yoga and more… check it out here

a list

I haven't meant to be absent from here for so long. We're in the middle of nap transition hell, and my to do list just keeps growing longer. Times like these, I always opt for a list. This week I am:

• hoping that Clementine gets back into a good rhythm with napping soon
• glad that we spent the day at the beach yesterday
• working on streamlining my yoga class planning process 
• consumed with all things photography, and reading way too many tutorials from this site
• hoping to make a hot water bottle cover out of an old sweater
• coveting this dress
• trying to take my camera out with me more often in an effort to capture the everyday
• speaking of, thinking of participating in this project
• warming my hands with a mug of chai with milk and honey
• loving her new blog and swooning over her wedding video
• wondering what to make for dinner tonight, the eternal question
• listening to The Paper Kites (and Raffi, Clementine's a fan)
• wishing my bedroom looked like this
• reading this
• looking forward to the weekend, when I will make these pancakes (a new Sunday morning tradition)
• thinking that Kate is pretty damn cool
• obsessed with this amazing home, which my fellow Offspring fans will surely recognise

the cold

The cold finally arrived this weekend, about a week after the official start of winter. We woke up under our cozy duvet and my husband said to me, "wow, you were cuddly last night." A sure sign of the weather; I usually want as much personal space as possible. After six years here, I'm becoming a total wuss. Once the temperature drops below 25 degrees, I start carrying a sweater with me, just in case. When I lived in Vancouver, anything above 20 degrees meant summer. It's amazing how you adapt.

We've had quite a nice long weekend. On Sunday the three of us drove up to the Central Coast for Mason's birthday party. On the way there we went to Bouddi National Park, where I did a maternity shoot for a beautiful couple. I've never been before, but oh my is it ever beautiful there! It was wild and windy, but we rugged up Clementine and she had a wonderful time playing on the sand and exploring the cliffs. Afterwards, she wore her party dress and enjoyed the ruckus that is a kids' birthday party. We ended the day at our friends' place back in Sydney, where the social butterfly entertained us all with her shenanigans. By the time I put her to sleep, I was exhausted but buzzing with nervous energy from our day. I forced myself to unplug, do a restorative yoga practice and drink tea while reading my latest book. Tonight I'm aiming for another early bedtime because the baby (I wonder how long I can keep calling her that?) keeps waking up between 4:00 and 5:00am, not my preferred time to start the day. Here's hoping it's just a phase.

I hope you're all enjoying the last of your weekends, long or otherwise.

yoga photography: sandy

Meet Sandy, my friend and former roomie. She's a Jivamukti yoga teacher, co-creator of Yogeeks, co-founder of Queer & Trans* Yoga and all around awesome person. We got together a couple of weekends ago to do yoga photos in the backstreets of Newtown, with the many graffiti walls as our backdrop. Funny story: while we were doing our thing, there was this guy drinking beer and watching us. That sounds creepy, but it wasn't really. After a while he came up to us and explained that we were shooting in front of his work; he was so excited that we were appreciating it. Gotta love Newtown.