Day 251: Synchronicity. Greenlight.

Sean went to the city after sunrise for a meeting. I spent the morning working until lunchtime. It was so lovely outside I decided to put on my gloves and get to work. 13 degrees in November, I’ll take it! I’m sure we’ll have snow in no time, so I wanted to make the most of the warm air. I started stacking all the wood that had fallen down from our first attempt a couple of weeks ago. I put away most of the patio furniture for winter, got the shutters on the front of the cottage, and a few of the big ones on the windows facing the lake. I was listening to Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey on Audible and it was great motivation. I really love this book and I’m thinking about getting a hardcover copy of it so I can look back on his notes, poems, and quotes. Ok, this is kinda crazy. I looked it up on Amazon and found this page. That quote about style on the right is from a daily quote calendar from the ’90s (maybe ’80s?). I know this because we had the same one at our house. Mum still has one of the pages in her fridge today. I know I have a photo of it somewhere but I will ask her to send a photo so I can update this post. I think it’s a sign I should get the hardcopy, who knows what else I’ll find in there. In life, I like to think small similarities like this are a sign I’m on the right track. Synchronicity. I am certain mum is going to ring me when she reads this because you won’t believe what happened next. The following page I looked up has a poem on it, look…

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Day 250: Turtleneck Season

As much as I really don’t enjoy being cold, I love wearing wool, scarves, tights, and turtlenecks in winter. I recently ordered a couple of cashmere-cotton blend turtlenecks from Joe Fresh and they’re great. You can use Sasha’s code SASHA25 to save 25% making them under $20! They can also double as a mask. ? Leopard jacket is also from JF, it’s the ‘Jilly Jacket’ in kids xl. The scrunchie I made about a month ago matches the print perfectly! Ran a few KMs in the city before heading to the office. Found this sculpture not far from the house, not sure if it’s Drake OVO or something by birdo?! We arrived back at the cottage just after 7 pm and Sean opened his new Oculus Quest 2. I’m really keen to try some of the VR fitness with this. Last winter I was able to go to the gym and use the treadmill but this year, once it gets icy, I won’t be running outside. Looking for more ways to stay fit without having to go outside. I’ll post a review of Oculus Quest 2 once I’ve tried a few games.

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Day 247: The Great Windstorm of 2020

Well, the last 24 hours have been something else! It’s not often that we have a power outage at the cottage but yesterday, there was a massive wind storm in South Western Ontario and it hit us hard. We lost power around 3pm and I was only on 50% phone battery. We charged up devices best we could, made a fire for heat, and pulled out the candles. Sean and I slept in the living room near the fire with doors to the rest of the cottage closed off. It was pretty scary at times, since it was dark around 5pm, we had only candles & flashlights to make it through the night. The wind outside was the fiercest I’ve ever experienced here, with rain, snow, hail, and cold temperatures. Sean woke up a couple of times in the night to add wood to the fire and by 6 am we were both awake. The power didn’t return until about 3 pm but we managed to still stay connected and avoid any meltdowns (me lol). Monday is the busiest day at my job so I charged my phone in the car so I could make out weekly status update calls. After that, I organized the spice cupboard and did some exercise. I figured since I was trying to conserve my device batteries, I could make good use of my ‘offline’ time. In other news, I got a big beautiful Monstera plant at Walmart yesterday for $34.99! I’ve wanted one for a while so I am pretty happy to watch her grow. There’s some bright new growth and she seems to be pretty healthy. Kinda wish I picked up a second one! Over the next few months, I’d like to add Monstera to my propagating. They had fiddle leaf fig plants…

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Day 244: Friday the 13th, The Sequel 2020

The last Friday the 13th was in March this year, it was the last time I was out in the world pre-pandemic. Woke up early and went to the gym, not knowing it would be my last time there, ever. For lunch, I met some friends at the Drake Commissary we dined inside. On my way home, I picked up a few beers from Henderson Brewery, mask free. The term ‘social distancing’ was all over the news the following day and Canadians were told to stay home. Sean and I watched Contagion and had no idea we’d still be in this global pandemic, 200+ days later. That week, I’d done a talk at my old high school to the graduating students, had a hair appointment, photoshoot, and wrote about going to the gym. On Monday, we made a decision to come to the cottage and packed up everything to stay up in the woods for a ‘little while’. It’s crazy to think back to the start of this pandemic and where we are today. Cases are on the rise and the modeling shows we might see 5,000+ cases a day come December. We could go into full lockdown mode again. I’m glad to have kept this diary, even for my own memory. I’d have no idea how I passed the days if I hadn’t documented what I’ve been doing or how I’m feeling. Who knows how long we’ll be in pandemic times but one day I’ll look back at this and how it changed the world. Maybe I’ll make it into a book! Sending love form the woods, hang in there, we’ll get through this. Here’s my first pandemic diary post back in March 2020:

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Day 240: A Second Spring!

We have had the absolute best weather for the last couple of days! It’s been around 20 degrees during the day since Saturday. I’m working most of the day but I love sitting outside for coffee and lunch to soak up some vitamin D. April is here for the week and Sean is back in the city with Emily. So nice to have some quality girl time! I’ve been pretty good with working out the last week and did 4km today before 8am. Last week I treated myself to new running pants for the first time in months as my old ones were falling down. I also ordered Bala wrist/ankle weights and I love them. I tagged them on IG today and they replied, ha! I really hope this warm weather lasts a while, I am NOT READY for winter snow or slippery surfaces. I love running outside so much, not sure what I’m gonna do this year without the gym or a treadmill. Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. Albert Camus Gonna soak up as much sun as I can and make the most if each warm-ish day while I can!

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Day 237: Leopard Loving Lady

Sean and I drove back to the city in the AM so we could pick up Emily after school. I took a long walk in the late afternoon and stopped by the Bathing Belle Studio for a visit. My bff Michelle just started working there and I’m so happy because Bathing Belle makes the NICEST SWIMSUITS I’VE EVER WORN. In other news, I got this great coat at a second-hand shop in New Zealand and it’s been hanging in my room ever since. Decided it was time to bust it out! Tomorrow I’m meeting April at the Hippie Market and she’s going to spend the week at the cottage with me. I can’t wait!

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Day 227: Witches In The Woods

It snowed today for the first time this season. I’m not ready for it but I also feel so romantic about it. I instantly want to start playing Christmas music while it falls slowly outside the windows. The sun came out for a minute in the afternoon and the snow finally stopped. I needed a break, so I put on my witch outfit and went into the woods. As one does! I am definitely my fav subject to shoot and highly recommend taking your own photo once in a while. I could have asked Sean but I find I like to do it myself and take my time. I don’t always know what I’m doing when I start so I like to just go with the flow and feel it out. Sometimes it works out and sometimes I just pack up and go inside and do it another time. I usually end up with a couple of good photos and a whole bunch that get deleted. I also like to take Live photos so I can turn them into short videos with the Lively app. I set up my tripod and use a self-timer or one of these handy Bluetooth remotes from Amazon. Most of the photos in my Instagram posts are taken by me with this method or a straight-up selfie. I made this video and was laughing so hard at the witch cackle, Sean was like ‘what are you DOING?’. Oh nothing, just being weird haha. See the video with AUDIO on Instagram here. With love from the woods!

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Day 226: Gloomy Monday

The sky is grey and it’s raining, again. We’ve hardly had any sun over the last week, today is a gloomy Monday in the woods. Friday was beautiful and over 20 degrees, but I was inside working the whole day. We had a really relaxing weekend, I swear I could have used another two days to charge my batteries. I did nothing but watch Netflix all day on Saturday and it was glorious. I’m on S3 of Gossip Girl now. Yesterday I did a bunch of food prep and then took I nap. Things are really exciting these days lol. Sunday afternoon, we met up with Emily’s mum in Gravenhurst to do the switchover. This morning, ‘Stage 2’ is trending on Twitter and Ontario is seeing the highest Corona cases since the start of the pandemic. Sean and I are thinking to stay up here in the woods for most of the week. The cottage isn’t fully winterized but I would be happy to stay up here as long as we can. Please stay safe and wear a mask. We’re all dreaming of the day this is over. I hope you have a great week.

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Day 223: Summer in October

It was absolutely gorgeous today! The sun was shining and it was over 20 degrees. I spent most of the day working but got out for a run in the am and gazed out at the lake from my desk. The air was warm and it felt like summer. At 4 pm we got alerts about a tornado warning as the sky turned from bright blue to dark and grey. We got hit with some pretty insane hail that ranged from tiny bits to about the size of a quarter. Sean and Em went out to get a some stuff in town and the cottage power went out for a few minutes. They were in Bracebridge when the whole city turned black from a power outage. Crazy!

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Day 211: Thanksgiving 2020 by the Lake

For the last few years, Sean and I have spent Thanksgiving at the cottage. We’ve been getting the Swiss Chalet ‘festive special’ for about four years now. This year we couldn’t dine-in so we got takeout and went down to Muskoka Beach Road to watch the sunset. Thanksgiving 2020 ftw. This year I’m thankful for Sean and my family, how close we’ve all gotten the last few months through the pandemic. I’ve also really become close with a bunch of friends and somehow, even though we’ve not seen each other much in person, we talk more than ever. I am also very thankful for the internet, for keeping us all connected. To the internet for hosting my blog diary that’s helped me build a career and document my memories. I can’t imagine trying to remember everything I’ve done over the last week, 6 months, or 15 years without having it written down. Around this time last year, I decided to make a change in my life and start working out. I’m grateful that I stuck with it, that I didn’t give up, that I changed my eating habits, and learned to love myself more. I remember seeing this Nike ad years ago, the message stuck with me. Why put off until tomorrow something you could check off your list today? If you want to make a change in your life, start now. Start today. By tomorrow, you’ll already be on day 2. Sending you love, hope you had a nice wekeend.

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