Thirtysomething Mama

fun friday 42

Jackson and I had a relaxing, lazy Friday.  The weather is gloomy here in Vancouver, so I find it hard to get motivated to do things.  We spent the morning at home and then headed out to meet our friends Maria and Liam for the afternoon.  We spent our time catching up, which was so lovely. 

 

Now we are home in our PJ's waiting for some delicious szechuan food to arrive.  Jack will go to bed soon and Tim and I are going to watch a movie.

Hope you are having a cozy Friday.

fun friday 40

What a nice day Jack and I had, even if it poured rain the whole time.  We went over to W.4th and met Maria and Liam at a coffee shop.

 

   

 

Then we wandered down 4th and Jack got a pair of boots like Liam's.  He was so pleased.

 

 

 

We enjoyed lunch at The Noodle Box while the boys slept and then walked up to my old workplace Chachkas where Maria and I both treated ourselves to a Marimekko umbrella.

 

(Ours are actually the "big" umbrellas, not the fold up kind.  You get the idea!)

I leave for 5 days in Toronto on Monday.  I am going to savor the next 2 days with Jack as much as I can.

Happy weekend!

john

What a gorgeous fall day it was here in Vancouver.  We stuck close to home and awaited a special dinner guest, my dear friend John.  John and I have known each other for somewhere close to 10 years.  We both can't remember how exactly our friendship started, but it feels like we have known each other forever.  He is one of the most caring, special people in my life.  We have been through a lot together and I admire his strength more than he knows.

While I was getting things ready my boys walked up to the corner to buy a bag of ice.  It took Jack a little while to get there.  He was loving the leaves.

 

I made a yummy orchard apple cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert.  If you are interested in the recipe let me know.  I'm not in the mood to type it out tonight.  Jack loved to lick the beater covered in icing.

 

 

A lovely evening with a wonderful friend.  Looking forward to next time, John. xo

goodbye my friend

Tonight I had a goodbye party for my dear friend Lana.  Her and I have worked together for the past 7 years, but she decided to take a new position closer to home.  It is such sad news for the child care program I run, and even sadder for me.  I have grown to love Lana and appreciate all she has done for me, both as a co-worker and a friend.  I am happy for her.  Change is hard, but she took the leap. 

New and old co-workers came to celebrate.  It was a fun time.  I wasn't in bed till almost 2am, which tells me everyone enjoyed themselves.  I can't wait for the next get together.  We need to do it more often.

 

 

 

fun friday 35

Because I was away the last 2 Fridays and didn't post I am going to just continue where I left off.  As I said in my last post, this week has been very hard, but it has ended on a very good note.  Seems we are all back on track. 

I was looking forward to see Maria and Liam today.  It felt like such a long time since our last visit.  We decided to head over their way on the bus so the boys could spend sometime playing and we could catch up. 

Jack loved playing with all of Liam's toys.  It was wonderful to see him interact with Liam.  They did such a good job playing together.  They seem like such little boys.  Maria then prepared them lunch.  They got a kick out of sitting next to each other.  We practiced words and when one would say something the other would try. 

 

 

After lunch we headed out for a little walk and then Maria and then we stopped so Maria and I could have lunch.  The day went so quickly.

Tonight I got to go out with my friend Nargess for dinner.  Her and I have been friends for many years and she just started working with me.  We are both really excited at all the possibilities both at work and for our friendship.

I am home now, feeling full from dinner and tired from the week back at home and work. 

Hope you all have  a lovely weekend!

fun friday 34

Today was a good day.  I woke up extremely excited to start my 3 week holiday.  I am home for a week and then we are off to visit my brother in Hong Kong.  I week to go! 

The day began slowly.  Jack and I lounged in our PJ's and enjoyed some homemade oatmeal.  I told Jackson I was going to have a shower and he headed right into his room to enjoy his favourite book.

 

We headed uptown to do a few errands and then came home to wait for our friends Heidi and Liam.  Jack had a little rest and then we headed out.  We had so much fun at the park.

 

   

 

 

We had such a fun afternoon.  When we got home we were starving.  Dinner was so easy and delicious.  Organic chicken stock, cheese tortellini, chicken and spinach.  I served it with a little garlic naan and everyone was pleased.

Hope you all have a nice weekend.

fun friday 33

I started off the day admiring Jackson's slippers.  We received them as a gift when he was born and I didn't think much of them until the other day.  The moment he put them on we were both hooked.  I can't wait to get a few more pairs.

We then went for a visit to our friend's Chris and Kara to see their new baby.  It was so wonderful to hold a brand new little one.  I realized how quickly time really does go and how I forget what it felt like to hold Jack when he was that small.  It made me feel a bit sad.  My juices are definitely flowing for another.

 

Then I had a special evening planned with my dear friend John.  We went to the PNE! We just wandered, ate a little and took everything in.

Mini donuts are a must...

The crowd...

The 3400 lb. beast...

John and 2 week old John...

 A very fun Friday was had, thanks my friends.

Happy Weekend!

fun friday 32

I contemplated calling this post "rude friday 32" because today was truly bizarre.  Jackson and I were very excited to see our friends Maria and Liam, after many, many weeks of not getting together.  Summer is busy and we had so many things going on between the two of us. 

When Maria and I met she told me how terribly rude this young guy was when she was trying to get off the bus.  He wouldn't move so she politely said, "Excuse me".  He responded with some snide remark and a mean look.

We started the visit off with lunch and then headed for a wander around.  We ended up at H&M and were browsing when we noticed a woman storm in and begin screaming.  It was hard to understand what she was saying, but we quickly figured out it had to do with the whole breastfeeding controversy that took place in the store a few weeks ago.  Maria and I had actually discussed the issue as we walked into the store.  We both agreed that it was being taken too far.  The woman had completely lost it and it was almost frightening. 

We were in the store for a little while and Maria purchased a few things.  On the way out we stopped in the accessory section.  We were both with our strollers, so we were very mindful of the people around us.  As we were deciding which scarves to buy a young sales clerk came up and said, "Could you guys move to another area where you are not blocking the table.  Customers can't get to the items."

Maria responded, "Oh, I'm sorry, did someone complain?"

The clerk said, "No, but you are blocking the area and people will complain."

We moved away and were both red in the face.  As we went up to pay (I know, we should have left them, but they were exactly what we had been looking for) I asked to speak to a manager.  The cashier radioed for him and we moved off to the side.  When he came to speak to us he brushed us off completely and kept saying, "Don't worry about it.  That interaction with the manager made us even angrier.

We left feeling so mad.  The way the clerk spoke to us was as though we were doing something terribly wrong.  I looked around the store and I must have seen 10 or so strollers.  The store sells children's clothes for goodness sakes. 

I realize now that maybe that was to happen for me to truly understand how the woman who was asked to breastfeed in a changing room felt.  H&M really needs to shape up or they are going to have some serious problems. 

As Jack and I climbed the stairs to our building after spending the day out a man came up behind us, walked up the stairs and went into the building almost slamming the door in our faces.  I was within arms reach of the door, but was juggling Jackson and the buggy.  Under my breath I stated that I thought it was so rude of him to not hold the door.  He turned and gave me a terrible look and continued walking. 

What was with today?  Hope this isn't a sign of what the rest of the weekend will be like.

Enjoy your weekend!

happy 1st birthday, my little blog baby!

Today my blog is 1 year old.  It feels like the year has just flown by, but at the same time I feel like I have had this little place to share my life forever.  Blogging has become a small obsession of mine and I have loved making new friends in the "blogging world". 

Thank you to everyone who inspires me.  To name a few...  Heidi for introducing me to blogging and for being such a wonderful friend, Kirsten for extending her friendship all the way from Seattle and inspiring me to keep knitting, and Ella for teaching me the quality of life, both through her written word and especially her photography.  There are so, so many more blogs I read daily, too many to mention. 

I am hoping this next year brings many more exciting things to my life.  Another baby?  A change in career?  A lot more focus on myself and my health?  I can't wait to see.

Some of my favourite moments of the past year...

 

 

   

I could go on and on.  There have been so many special moments this past year.  Looking forward to many more wonderful days.

fun friday 31

I woke up this morning and frantically cleaned our apartment.  When I got home yesterday our whole place was covered in black film.  I couldn't for the life of me figure out were it was coming from.  Then I heard a huge "bang" and realized  the building behind us is doing some major renovations.  Because it's so hot and muggy I can't close our windows, so who knows what we are going to do to keep it away.  The weather was forcasted to break records today, so I figured the morning was the best time to get sweaty and work.

Jackson and I then had plans to meet my old friend Patti for breakfast.  After we ate we headed "uptown" for a little shopping.  She got some really cute stuff.  I on the other hand felt depressed and mad at how much weight I have gained.  Shopping isn't so much fun for me these days, and I can't even begin to explain to you how much I love fashion.  Anyway, I am not going to take this post down the negative, feel- sorry- for- myself path.

When we came home our place was sweltering.  3 fans going and an ice cold drink have helped a bit.  Jackson is busy playing.

Jackson picked out a potted gerber daisy.  Jack loves them (so does his dad).  He keeps going over to it and having a little whiff.   

This just caught my eye as I walked by our front door...

...my little family.

Happy weekend!