Day 191: Get Back to It

Went for a run today for the first time in a couple of weeks and smashed my record for fastest mile yet. Once I started running, I just wanted to keep going. I love getting out first thing in the morning before the day really starts to clear my head and get some fresh air. There’s a couple of huge sunflowers near our place and I love saying hi to them. ? Yesterday I made this super cute, spicy, Mediterranean-inspired salad. It’s the best one I’ve made yet! I used using heart-shaped, rainbow pasta I found randomly at Winners, mixed with couscous, peppers, tomato, spinach, tomato, EVOO, and PC Harissa spice. I wanted a low-carb pasta salad and would 100% make this one again. Some friends had me over for soup and challah after work, it was so nice. Got home around 8pm and went to bed early. Here’s hoping tomorrow is a good day!

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Day 190: Hiding Out At Home

I can’t remember the last time we were home for the weekend as a family. I got groceries in the morning and did some food prep in the afternoon. It kinda felt like things were normal. Emily is back at school and making her own lunches this year. ? Last night we had one of Sean’s oldest friends and his GF over for dinner with her daughter. Em is old enough to take on babysitting duties and we had so many laughs while the kids played upstairs. Today we’ve been watching Ratched on Netflix and it’s so good. I love the styling, Sharon Stone’s looks are so good. I don’t have much planned this week aside from work but I hope it’s nice out. Please stay safe and WEAR YOUR MASK.

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Day 170: It’s September

Spent most of the day at my computer. It was really hot today. Whenever I opened the patio door, I was instantly hit with a wave of heat. I’m not ready for summer to be over. I love fall fashion but cooler temps gets my mind thinking about winter. It’s already such a hard time with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) that a pandemic sends my mind swirling with ways to try and cope. If a second wave comes, (and it looks like it might), should we go back to the cottage, or can I run away to Costa Rica? Hard to believe this is Day 170 of my daily pandemic blog diary, where did the time go? I’ve always loved September, the last decade has meant returning to events post-summer relaxation, TIFF, Fashion Week, seeing all my friends at once. I feel sad for the times we won’t have but grateful for the memories, all mostly documented here or on Instagram. I’ve got tickets to one TIFF screening so far and we’ll see how many more tickets I can snag for my at-home TIFF experience. Over the past month, I’ve been a bit slack with working out and keeping track of the days. This month I’m sticking to my goals. A fresh stary of sorts and there’s a full moon tonight. I didn’t run today but I did 100 situps and 10 pushups before bed. A small feat but one I’m trying to make a routine. I put some water and my crystals out last night, made 6 wishes at the moon and stared at it or a bit. Does the moon see me? I’ll do whatever I can do bring good vibes right now!

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Day 131: Shiny Disco Ball

I ordered this outfit at the start of quarantine and tbh it’s one of my favs!. Sean likes to say I’m riding in the Tour de France in it haha. We’ve got a pretty nice indoor garden growing in the kitchen now. I put a little disco ball in the window and each day around 4 pm the sun hits it just right sending glitter dots all over the room. It’s a simple thing that makes me smile! This is the most populat tweet I’ve had in a while. I had a little meltdown about a project but everything was a-ok. Sometimes you just need to cry it out and make yourself a bowl of tiny pancakes. In other news, my roots are so long now that I had to get darker bobby pins! I don’t mind the way it looks now it’s just a change, longest and most natural I’ve had it in over a decade! I don’t think I’ll be having a hair appt for a while so I have to get used to it. ? Spent the night watching Love on The Spectrum on Netflix and had a Facetime hangout with two of my BFFs. Feeling good!

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Day 129: Book Recommendations – Summer 2020

I’ve been reading a lot over the last few months. Since I haven’t been working as much I’ve tried to make the most of this time with workouts, clean eating, creative projects, and books. I’m registered as a Professional Reader on NetGalley, a media review site for writers to receive advance copies from publishers around the world. I mostly stick to the same types of books including suspense/thriller, or female focussed adult fiction. I finally got around to putting a few book recommendations a list, see my favs below! Here’s a list of a couple of books I’ve enjoyed over the last two months. They’re all linked on Amazon and listed on my Amazon Book List here. Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner This was a great book, perfect summer 2020 read! The characters were interesting and I loved the element of drama, talk about influencers, and how the author described the locations there were. It was easy to follow and I couldn’t put it down! You can find this book at your fav bookstore or on Amazon here. The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry Highly recommend! I can’t imagine going through the tragedy that these families face and then all the other secrets, lies, and things they deal with on top of that. I was hooked from the first page and read this book every chance I had to finish in a couple of days. This book is out mid-August, 2020 and is available for pre-order. Spring Girls by Karen Katchur I didn’t realize this book was part of a series but it is definitely good as a stand-alone read. It follows a detective and the murder of three girls in the spring. As they try to finds the Spring Strangler they talk to one of the survivors and…

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Day 126: Taco ‘Bout Love

Sean asked if I wanted to go get tacos and the obv answer was YES. We took a nice drive up to Port Carling and had a late lunch at Tilo’s Taqueria which used to be Grand Electric Muskoka. The food was great, the booths were outside and distanced. It was quite cloudy but the rain held off enough to still sit on the covered patio. Tomorrow Jen Kirsch is coming up for a couple of days, our first guest! Looking forward to surprising the Vinyl Night crew when we show up on the Zoom together.

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Day 125: Mid-July, Where Have The Days Gone?

I can’t believe it’s been 125 days. I started this Daily Diary part of the blog thinking it would be a couple of weeks, months, maybe? Sometimes I’ll be doing something and totally forget how the world is so different now. Then I remember and feel overwhelmed. One minute I’m doomscrolling and having anxiety and another times social media gives me a great place to escape. I feel uncertain about everything today. Given that the world has changed so much in the past six months, it’s impossible to predict what will happen next. What tragedy or terror will we face? Apparently the worst hurricane season is on its way, there are UFOs, and second waves of are COVID happening in multiple countries. I’m grateful to be at the cottage and have Sean by my side but everything comes with challenges. What you see on the internet is only a small slice of someone’s life, the curated version. I haven’t posted much on my Instagram this month, I just haven’t felt like it. I’ve been a rollercoaster of emotion since June and I’m really hoping this ride slows down a bit in August. If you are reading this any feeling any of the same feelings, please know you are not alone. I welcome you to reach out if need/want someone to talk to, I’m a great listener and am usually good for a laugh. Send me a DM on Instagram, a Tweet, or an email. I’m almost always on the other side of the screen, wherever you are, right here in your phone or on your computer. We will get through this and we will be ok.

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Day 114: That Childlike Feeling

Yesterday Sean went golfing with some colleagues and I spent the afternoon with Emily. We met up with my sister and Ryder to visit High Park then cool down at the splash pad near our place. We all got soaked in the sprinklers and it felt so nice to laugh like kids together. I braided Jenie’s hair in the park then we got popsicles. It was such a beautiful day! When we got home I tried on this dress I got from Lauren a couple of weeks ago, made dinner, and did some writing. I watched Crazy Rich Asians (again!) on Netflix and before I knew it, Sean was home. He said it was REALLY hot on the course, it feels like 41 degrees today.

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Day 111: Unicorns in the Sun

Today we went to visit Talia & Nelson at their cottage on Lake Simcoe. We had lunch then went to Lagoon City in the boat. I had no idea this place existed! It’s a whole subdivision on the water lined with cottages, a restaurant, and a hotel. Such a cool little spot! After boating, we relaxed in the pool. Talia and I had a little photo shoot while the boys were out on their own adventure. It was really nice to float, eat chips, and have ice cream in the sun. Before our visit, I ran 4 miles for my NRC July 4th challenge. It worked out to be 7km which is one of the longest runs I’ve done yet. When I started, I thought ‘how am I going to do this‘ but then before I knew it, I was on the home stretch passing 5km. I’m really proud of myself and have learned to love running.

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Day 105: A Fear of Impending Doom

I took a selfie and didn’t realize how dark the sky had gotten. Sean is inside Canadian Tire while I wait in the car. We’re meeting someone at McDonald’s in 20 min to buy some lights for the cottage.  I’ve felt anxious for days. I’m tired. Yesterday I napped for almost four hours, today I napped for one. I hardly ever take naps, I guess my body is exhausted? It’s Pride today and it’s gone online like everything these days. Last year we were in the parade with Telus. A couple of years ago we were on the Netflix float with the cast of Orange is The New Black. I’m finding it hard to locate happiness, I have to actually put down my phone and look for it outside in the world. The phone is full of things that stress me out. I watched CP24 today and there is a lot of gun violence, riots, fighting, sickness, and death. It’s hard to handle. I’m grateful I saw my family on Friday. It makes me smile just thinking about hugging and laughing together in the sun.  Jen Kirsch published an article in The Star that pretty much summed up how I’m feeling. Been thinking about how she mentioned the anxiety we feel with this pandemic, the risk, the guilt, sadness, regret. Going out, seeing people, did we say/do the right thing? I feel some guilt that after about 80 days of blogging, I’m behind on 10 days. But then again, that’s pretty amazing I blogged that much at all! Can’t feel guilty, gotta let it go, it’s ok.  The sky cleared up a bit and the sun is out. Sean is walking to the car and we have 7 min to meet the guy.  Everything is gonna be ok.

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