Back in May, when I started telling people that I was about to fly to New York, by myself, everyone looked at me like I was crazy. And fair enough. I'm a mostly-stay-at-home parent with 2 small children, 2 part-time jobs and a husband who works a lot. Oh, and we're not independently wealthy. Taking off on overseas holidays by myself isn't exactly an everyday occurrence.
The idea took hold when our friend mentioned that she was going to New York for her sister's wedding, and my husband said casually, "You should go with her." I'm pretty sure my response was something along the lines of: "Are you insane?" He started looking up flights and Airbnb's and he insisted, "I really think you should go. The kids will be fine."
Once my initial shock wore off, I came around pretty quickly and spent the next day trying to find someone to go with me. My friend Sam was intrigued (cheap flights! Brooklyn in June! girls trip!), and by the next night we had booked our flights and accommodation.
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Well here's something I've never shared before on this blog or my old blog: my goals. I've never been much of a resolutions person or a goal setter but last year, after reading a lot on the topic, I decided to give it a try. At the end of 2016 I sat down on the kitchen floor with a giant piece of paper and a stack of pencil crayons, and I brainstormed all of the things I wanted to work on in 2017. I then mulled it over, went back and crossed out the things that didn't make sense for me in my current season of life, and combined the things that were repetitive. I ended up with a list of 15 work-related goals and 16 personal goals.
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One thing I'm really starting to appreciate about Christmas with children is that it is so much more about the journey than the destination. All month long we were preparing and celebrating in different ways. It started on December 1st when I hung our advent calendar and we pulled the first card which said, 'Decorate for Christmas!' Our advent calendar has pockets and I fill them with a mix of small gifts (hair clips, nail polish, chocolates etc) as well as activities (help someone, bake cookies, watch a Christmas movie etc). Just like last year, we got a real tree and this year the process was a lot smoother!
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After a glorious 6 weeks in Vancouver, it's time for us to head back to Sydney. This trip has been so full in the best of ways. We got to attend two incredibly fun weddings, including a Greek Orthodox wedding where I had the privilege of being the maid of honour. We also spent time on Gabriola Island, my favourite Gulf Island and a place I have been visiting my whole life. Because this was my first visit home in 5 years where I haven't been breastfeeding a baby, I had a lot more freedom to get out and explore. I decided before we left that I wanted to be super intentional in how I spent my time in Vancouver. I didn't want to get to the end of our visit and realise that I hadn't seen the people I wanted to see, or done the things I wanted to do. Before we left, I started a list in Wunderlist called 'Vancouver Bucket List'. I had another list simply called 'Vancouver things', where I documented all of our adventures, from the hikes we did to the cafes we visited. I'm so glad I did this! It kept me inspired and motivated to keep exploring and make the most of our time. And now it's fun to look back and see everything we were able to do.
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Seeing as it's winter here in Sydney (and it's actually been cold lately!), I've got knitting on the brain. I mostly knit for my girls because crafting for kids is so very forgiving. They look cute in everything, and if something ends up too big, I figure, "great, they'll grow into it." And if something ends up too small, I figure "great, Hazel can wear it."
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I was just having a look through my blog and realised that the last time I wrote about my girls was this time last year, whoah! It's safe to say that they have changed a lot in this last year. Clementine turned 4 earlier this month and Hazel is now 19 months old. We are officially out of the baby bubble! Although we still call Hazel "the baby" and she's tiny, so I can get away with pretending she's still a baby for a while longer...
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My mom arrived from Vancouver on Thursday morning, just in time for a four-day Easter long weekend. It was perfect. After weeks of rain, we're finally being treated to some glorious autumn weather. Bright, sunny days warm enough to wear dresses and sandals, and early, crisp nights, cool enough for an extra layer on the bed.
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If you used to read my old blog, you'll know that I'm an avid crafter. I love to make things, whether it's knitting, sewing, quilting, embroidering, crocheting or weaving. I go through phases with my crafting, spending months on one craft and then swapping to another. I have found that since becoming a parent to two, knitting has been my go to craft. It's way more portable than sewing and easy to pick up and knit a row or 2 if I find myself with 5 free minutes.
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I'm a big believer in family photos, for my clients and for myself. I take tons of photos and I also make it a priority to have family photos done once or twice a year.
I treasure these photos more than I can say, and because of that, I'm determined to fully enjoy them. This means figuring out a system for organising our photos and memory keeping projects, and actually sticking with it! I'll be publishing a separate post about memory keeping, and for now will stick with an explanation of how I deal with photos. I know that many of us are overwhelmed by our digital photos, and it might even be one of your New Year's resolutions to get on top of it. I hope that a peek into my process might help you find a system that works for you!
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This is a story about a Christmas tree and a bathtub...
For the 8+ years that I've lived in Sydney, I have always struggled with Christmas. It's a sentiment that most Northern Hemisphere expats seem to share; celebrating Christmas in the middle of summer is just weird. So every year when December comes around, I'm a bit of a Scrooge. There's also the fact that Christmas Day happens to be my birthday, which adds to the pressure around the day.
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On Monday, our baby girl turned one. Everyone told me that the first year with a second child would go by quick, and everyone was right! I'm still in shock that Hazel is officially a toddler now.
Read MoreShortly after arriving in Vancouver, my whole family headed to spend five days in a tiny cabin on Gabriola Island. For as long as I can remember, Gabriola has been "our island." We spent time there almost every summer when my brother and I were kids, and my dad even lived there for five years. It really is a special place.
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