Nice picnic with April today. I walked her most of the way home with my bike and then biked back. I have this thing where if I see a mirror on the street I always stop and take a photo. Have you noticed? I love capturing my outfit on a random background and the different shapes the mirrors are in. Seeing more than one on a short ride is unique! We decided to dip into some alcohol-free beverages that were sent by Grüvi. The beer & champagne were pretty good! I’ve been rethinking drinking the last few years and gone through stages where I don’t drink at all. I’ve noticed that since I’m staying home more (not going to events) and weigh less, I can’t handle alcohol the way I used to. For years I’d be at several events a week and have a few drinks each time. Now when I do have drinks, I like to mix in an alcohol-free option to slow down the effects, water, soda, or something like these cocktails with no booze. If you’re ever looking for mocktail recipes my friend Sarah has some on IG. In other news, my hair is really long and DARK. I can’t believe how long it is. I love it so much and don’t see myself going back to short anytime soon, or ever. I can’t wait to get back to Sassoon and have my hair done. I’m going to keep the colour close to this just with a bit more blonde. if you’re ever interested in my hair journey, there’s heaps of Sassoon post from the last 5 years here.

A couple of years ago I was doing yoga almost every day with Sandy at Yoga Yoga in the Junction. I hadn’t seen her in ages and this morning to text me about going for a walk together. It was perfect timing as I didn’t have plans and Sean was back at the cottage. She said ‘Meet me in the park‘ and we decided to hang out on the grass at Sarauren Avenue Park. Idk why I’ve never really hung out there as it’s such a nice park. Bellwoods has been really busy lately, this week there was someone with a gun, and people keep leaving garbage there. Nice to discover a clean & safe place right around the corner from our house. One of my fav sunset views is this one along Dundas West right at the top of Sterling Ave. It’s not exactly spectacular but idk, I just like it. I biked home feeling energized and inspired. It was so nice to laugh with Sandy again. In other news, I ordered THE CUTEST set from Aerie. I posted to my Story and ended up sending the link to a bunch of friends when they asked about it. I ordered another similar set in blue. It fits so nice and the material is very stretchy, kind like a swimsuit. Week is off to a great start! I took a vacation day on Friday so it’s a short one! Weeee!

Lovely family day at the cottage. We all worked together to get the place ready for summer. Emily spent a chunk of the day power washing the concrete and it looks so nice. I set up a herb garden in our new planter box that Sean out together. Decided my garden gloves were too boring and added a few Hayley Elsaesser iron-ons to make them a little more fun. We set up one of the patio sets near the woodpile for another sitting area. I started listening to Seth Rogen‘s new book ‘Yearbook‘ on Audible. It’s so funny! Highly recommend. Absolutely LOVE this Hinza Tote I ordered from The Curator’s Shop. My sister’s childhood BFF Leah Mackie started The Curator’s Shop with a friend and they have all kinds of boxes you can order filled with gifts. We’re heading back downtown tonight so I can be home for work tomorrow. Emily has been doing school at her mum’s so we’ll drop her off on the way. Here’s to a good week!

Had a nice run this morning, I love running in the woods! I am obsessed with my Apple Watch and love the notifications and positives vibes from Nike Run Club. Sun’s out! Spent some time reading in the sun and working on my tan. It’s amazing how this weather can make your mood. Sean, Em and I worked artound the cottage getting it ready for summer. At night we had a nice fire, listened to music, and roasted marshmallows as the sun went down. I am living for this weather!

Went for a run this morning and it was so windy I cut it short and turned back. I am really hoping those warmer temps show up later this week. Another cold day in May, I’m over it! Went for a nice walk after work and found this huge heart on the wall. Mum and I always send hearts to each other and it makes me so happy. Amazing how a little text from mum with love can brighten your day. Hope you are having a good week. ❤️

Had a nice bike ride today after work then went for a walk. Called Keri for a catch-up and it was so nice to laugh together. I think that’s the thing I miss most, laughing with friends and hanging out. Saw this mirror on my adventure, took it as a sign to go with the flow, take it easy. Sometimes you just need to stroll.

We went to a garden center today and got some things to grow herbs. We have a tradition of going to one every Mother’s Day weekend to get a nice big plant for Sean’s Mum. We were only out in the world for about an hour but were both so tired when we got home. Why is everything exhausting these days? Sean had a nap and I went for a walk then watched my show. Listened to one of the Peloton walking workouts and took a bag with me to pick up some trash. Our area is pretty clean but after winter, there’s always a few bits on the road. I’m working with Telus again this month for their May ‘Friendly Futures‘ contest where they’re giving away $100K in charitable donations. For my contribution, I made a donation to Tree Canada and committed to doing a community cleanup. This is some friends and I and in Vancouver (2018) with some of the Telus team for their Telus Days of Giving when we made care packs for local schools. Read more about Telus Friendly Future days here. In other news, I looked outside as the sun was setting and couldn’t believe it was 8pm! Love it. Morning is my fav time to get things done but right before sundown is so beautiful, that magic hour. The sun goes down across the lake, shining her colourful light, nice and bright, right into the cottage. Hope you had a nice weekend. ?

Tomorrow is my birthday and I usually have a lot of anxiety leading up to it but this year, it was ok. I think it’s due to the fact that we’re used to lockdown, the pressure is off to do anything, and I’m quite happy for a quiet weekend up north. Last days of being 38 & tbh, I’m feeling great. Sending love from the woods, hope you had a good week!

Lazy Sunday, spent at home, it’s just me here, all alone. In the house, I will stay, lazy lockdown, day after day.

Had a quiet Friday night after a long week. Sean got his vaccine yesterday and we spent the night watching The Serpent on Netflix. Idk why but just love a serial killer story, thought the show was really well done. This morning we cleaned up the roof patio, tossed a few old things, and packed some in the truck for the cottage. I biked over to meet April at Dundas & Ossington in the afternoon. we walked to Kensington picked up ome groceries and got coffee. It was so nice and sunny out. Felt great to be outside the house and in a different part of downtown. I biked back home and spent some time reading on the roof. I am loving these warmer days. I was planning to do some work on the garden but I sliced my hand pretty bad with a bred knife making breakfast so I’ll have to save that for another time. No plans tonight, I’m sure we’ll find something to watch. Title is a song from Ben Harper that always makes me think of my sister. ?

This happens every year so we shouldn’t be surprised! Still, every spring we hope, we truly hope that warn sunny days will arrive by May. The long-term weather has us above 10 degrees next week and into May, so I feel pretty good about that. My birthday is Saturday, May 8th and I would love to tan outside. Just throwing that out there to the universe! Today is pandemic diary day 404, in website owner/internet terms, a 404 error is when a website doesn’t load. It indicates that the server is reachable but the specific page is in error. You’ll most often get a 404 when the page name has changed or the URL was typed in wrong. Since we had snow yesterday, ‘Spring Not Found’ is an homage to a 404 error where you’d get a message like ‘Page Not Found’ or ‘Server Not Found’. I thought it was funny. ??

April is rainy and cold, we know this. Like winter, spring can be a sad season but if you have the right thing to wear, it’s not so bad. ? I wrote about my love for Transitional Coat Season (spring moody temps!) last month on Day 374 and my love for ‘coat season‘ back in October (Day 205), another transitional month. Remember, in the worst of weather dress appropriately, layer, accessorize and wear the right shoes. When it rains, I have two fav coats depending on humidity. One of my favorite raincoats is a rubberized cotton number from Stutterheim in Sweden. It is easily one of the most $$ things I own and cherish it! (I found out I’m 10% Scandanavian shortly after getting this jacket so maybe that makes me love it more?) My ‘Stockholm Red‘ jacket was a gift via my friends Leslie & Lindsay of WRG (What’s Really Good Studios) in Montreal back in 2015. This coat is MADE TO LAST and only gets better with age. If it’s realllllly raining and I have to face the elements, I also have cute rain boots and a nice umbrella. A wild weather day is an outfit adventure opportunity, or a reason to stay home, you decide. This is a photo from 2015 on the bridge near our house. It’s crazy to go back and read my own posts, memory is weird. I look at the photos and I read the post in my voice, but I don’t really remember the moment. The title of the post that day is “The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.” “I dunno what it is about this time of year of this weather but it’s really got me down. I was feeling so meh today I could…

What day is it again? Feels like that sometimes now, eh? It’s Monday and I always like to dress up but today I went a little casual and put on a Canadian Tuxedo. Got a new chair for my desk recently and it’s pretty nice. Not as comfortable to sit on for long periods but that’s ok. Need to stand up and walk around more tbh. One thing I love about my Apple Watch is the reminders to stand each hour. I’ve been meaning to write a review on it because there are so many great features that I now use every day. Pretty sure I got this chambray top from a clothing swap and these jeans are old ones from Cory Lee. I never used to wear jeans but I kinda like them now. Took a nap in my jeans the other day. Can’t wait to have clothing swaps again one day. Hope you have a great day & week! Tomorrow is 420, the start of Taurus Season, AND my blog’s 16th birthday! BIG ENERGY COMING THROUGH.

How you doing? I’m feeling the weight of everything this week and it is heavy. My new job is great but adjusting from 6+ years of freelance to work 40 hours a week has been tiring. Watching the news and seeing things get worse is extremely draining. Not being able to see family when they’re going through their own things is heartbreaking. We’re not even allowed to meet friends in the park anymore.  Each day this week I opened my blog admin to write something and ended up writing the title and staring at the screen. I couldn’t find the words to document the day. I try to appreciate something good each day like the sun, a call from mum, a good outfit, or laughing over DM’s with a friend. It’s hard to stay motivated/positive right now. Things are pretty bad. We can only hope things will get better but perspective is hard when we’re stuck in the middle of a storm that’s been going on for 13 months.  Today I woke up thinking about work and excited to get things done. My motivation slowly declined when I checked my phone, laid back down in my fully made bed, and stared at the wall for a while. Do you find yourself staring at the wall too? Next, I watered my plants and moved some around, grabbed some snacks, made coffee, and turned into the couch.  In other news, keeping this pandemic diary is surprisingly therapeutic. Despite some days where I’m completely exhausted, there have been a lot of good days. I find myself looking back and remembering park hangs in the summer, bike rides, cottage life, and great meals we made at home. Thankful for friends and family, also Netflix/Prime, good wifi, and snacks.  Sending you love, hang in there. ?

Saw this on a walk today. Made me think of this song. We all make mistakes, it’s how we learn. You can’t be too hard on yourself. Take inventory, move on. Don’t let a mistake define you. We are always growing & changing, it’s important to constantly innovate. Pick yourself up, move on. Tomorrow is a new day and your future is bright.

Feel like you need to take a minute? Me too. Inhale, exhale. Look around. Assess the situation. Feel the feelings. Check your surroundings. Take inventory. Reality check. Determine what’s real. Accept how you feel. Set boundaries. Cover your back. Protect your heart. Be kind. Clear your mind. Walk it out. Have a talk. Take a deep breath. Breathe. inhale, hold, exhale, hold How to Do Box Breathing Close your eyes. Breathe in through your nose while counting to four slowly. Feel the air enter your lungs. Hold your breath inside while counting slowly to four. Try not to clamp your mouth or nose shut. Simply avoid inhaling or exhaling for 4 seconds. Begin to slowly exhale for 4 seconds. Repeat steps 1 to 3 at least three times. Ideally, repeat the three steps for 4 minutes, or until calm returns. I didn’t make this up but I use it quite a bit to keep myself calm or relax for sleep. More info on it here or give it a Google to learn how it helps with stress & anxiety. Took a walk in the rain. Had a massage after work. Ordered takeout. Called some friends. Took an edible. Watched The Circle. Melted into the couch. TGIF. ?

Today was a busy day and by the time I finished my last meeting, I was almost ready for a nap. Here’s today’s smoothie bowl, I’m still obsessed. Tonight’s activities include watching Wheel & Jeopardy then getting ready for bed. Ya girl is tired, not sure if it’s the weather or general anxiety about the state of the world. We had out contractor Lindsay over to do some work on the bathroom reno and it’s slowly but surely coming along. We still have a sink & some fixtures in the living room from American Standard ready to be installed. Covid has really put a damper on this whole thing! In other news, a few packages arrived today including two new bathing suits, new boots from L’Intervalle (yes, again!), and this cute sweater from Made For The Lake Co. in Muskoka. On the back it says ‘Smore’s Club’ and it’s from their kid’s section. Will be perfect for summer nights at the cottage. ? Sean is up north this week with Emily for April Break. Today the government announced kids will be doing virtual classes indefinitely until the panini calms down. Ontario is reporting some of the highest numbers since this whole thing started and the different Covid variants are affecting younger people more and more. Watching the news is pretty depressing and there is really no end in sight. I’m trying to stay positive and focus on things that bring me joy but it’s hard sometimes. I really miss seeing my parents and I haven’t seen my sister in weeks. Hang in there my friends, we will get through this. Stay home, wear a mask when you’re out, and make sure to check in on loved ones. ? Sending you sunshine through the internet,

I know it’s hard to stay positive with everything going on but I encourage you to look for joy where you can. Go for a walk, call a friend, organize your cupboard, do a workout. Keep your spirits up! This will all be over one day and we’ll look back at how we’ve grown from it. Feels so good to be outside now that it’s a bit warmer. Looks like we’re gonna have a lot of April showers next week. Gonna try and find that sunshine in the little things each day. ☀️

Today was another super sunny day! I went to the Canadian Tire garden center to pick up some new plants in the morning before Sean and Em went up north. Last night I decided to put on a bunch of fake tattoos because why not? It’s not like I’m going anywhere where I need to be ‘professional’ and tbh, I don’t think anyone would really mind. I originally had a tiny moon tattoo on my face but I took it off before heading out into the world. Neck tattoos were ok but it felt too out of character to have one on the face. I’m not that badass! Went for a nice bike ride in the afternoon near Trinity Bellwoods. The park was so busy I decided I didn’t want to hang out there. One day last year, I was in the park when it was busy and it was all over the news about people breaking the rules. I was there alone and not in a crowd but I still felt bad just being near the scene. I learned my lesson that day and if I go somewhere with too many people, I won’t stick around. I do NOT want to get covid or god forbid, get caught anywhere with too many people. As I was biking my friend yelled ‘she’s like sunshine’, I carried that thought with me all day. Found so many bright & fun summer clothes when I switched over my closet. Felt great to try everything on again! She’s like sunshine!

Had a great week and was ready to close my computer at the end of the day. It felt like summer outside so I hopped on my bike for a cruise around the neighbourhood. I forgot how much I love bike riding! I’ve been drinking less lately but with the sun on my face and wind in my hair, I decided it was a great day for a beer. I stopped into Henderson Brewery just down the West Toronto Rail Path and cracked a can on the wooden platform. I love sitting there at the end of the day to watch the sun go down. Emily came back to our house after school today after being with her mum for the last two weeks. It’s official, we are the same height now! She is growing up so fast. It seems like just yesterday she was a little 8-year-old girl who didn’t mind me doing her hair or wearing dresses. They’re heading back up north for March April Break next week and I’m staying in the city for work. Hope you have a great weekend!