Swoon-worthy kitchen

Saw this on my feed this morning from the kitchn and pretty much died and went to heaven.  This is the most beautiful kitchen I’ve ever seen…

Slowly, but surely

It seems like every weekend since we’ve been back from China is filled with chores to ‘set up’ the house. Still.  After 10 months. Francis and I are getting so sick of it, but this is one of the downsides of our jobs.  We both work and don’t have time to unpack and sort out a house in a decent amount of time.  Our employer gives us four days (*snort*) to unpack before we have to be at our desks and working (and this includes travel time from old destination to new destination), and while this may be enough time for a single person to unpack a one-bedroom apartment, it’s not nearly enough time for a family to unpack and to make a house a home.

Lately, though, I see the end is in sight.   I have time while Claire is sleeping to sort through the stuff that I shoved under the bathroom sink when the movers were unpacking, we have time to actually decide where to hang all our artwork and pictures.  Maybe next weekend we’ll finally get to buying some houseplants.

It’s frustrating that it’s taken so long, especially for someone like me who likes things just so.   And I won’t lie, the thought of this being my life; packing and unpacking every couple of years, makes me somewhat depressed and anxious.

For now, though, the end is near. The last load of stuff to be dropped off to the Salvation Army is in the car.  Things are mostly in order.

Okay little baby.  You can be born at any time now.  We’re ready.

Pizza in a hurry

One of the staples that I always keep in the freezer is a four-cheese pizza.  No fancy brand or anything, just a plain ol’ frozen cheese pizza.  Why? Because it makes dinner in a hurry easy with a little help.

On Saturday I added prosciutto, rocket and Cambazola cheese to it after it came out of the oven, and it was delish.  Other times I add feta, roasted red peppers (from a jar), and marinated artichokes.   Tonight, since I have leftover steak in the fridge, I’ll add steak slices mixed with a little BBQ sauce and some fried onions.

I’ve even done this when people have stopped by unexpectedly for a visit and everyone raves.  Sure, I’d love to have the time to make my own pizza dough, but seriously.  I’m nine months pregnant and have a toddler to look after.  Realistically, I won’t have time to make homemade pizza dough for the next 16 years.

At least this makes me feel like I’m providing something healthy and interesting for dinner, rather than just mac and cheese. Again.

Easter

Francis and I don’t really celebrate Easter as a religious holiday, but we can certainly put on a good ol’ fashioned egg hunt!

Food Talk

Can we talk about doughnuts for a minutes? Because, well, what’s not to like about doughnuts?  In Canada, most of us are familiar with the Tim Hortons-style franchise doughnuts, but if you live in Ottawa I have something to share with you.

Please take some time (soon!) to visit SuzyQ Doughnuts on Wellington Street.  Why? Because they make the most amazing doughnuts I have ever tasted in my entire life.

Francis, Claire and I went over the Easter long weekend and sampled the Salted Caramel, the Coconut and Kafir Lime… oh, and a bunch of others that I can’t remember because eating them put me in a state of nirvana.

Go! And go now!  (Oh, and right next door is a taco stand with some pretty fine fish tacos… that is, if you have any room left after having eaten yourself full of doughnuts.)

SuzyQ Doughnuts, 991 Wellington Street W, Ottawa

 

Beauty Talk

I’m not that into shopping for clothes and rarely do I buy new stuff for myself.  Sad, but true.  My real weakness is for cosmetics and creams.  Lovely smelling things in bottles. Perfumes and lotions.   I can’t go into a pharmacy without spending $200 minimum.

I’ve tried a lot of products out there, and I just have to share one of my favourites.   Even though I’ve been blessed with acne-free skin, I struggle with red/blotchy skin. I’ve tried TONS of products meant to ‘even skin tone’ and ‘reduce redness’ but nothing works (so far!).  But, I’ve found a foundation that does WONDERS for red, blotchy skin:

Acne Solutions Liquid Makeup from Clinique

This stuff is amazing. Not too heavy at all. Even coverage without being cakey.   AND. AND!!!  Makes my skin look even and flawless.  I mix it with a little foundation to get a little more ‘sheer’ out of it, and it still works to make my skin look LESS red.  This is pretty much my morning routine now.  This foundation, a sweep of blush (that I also sweep over my eyelids because I’m too busy/lazy to use something different), and mascara.  Voila! Ready to face the world.

Real talk

This pregnancy has been really hard.  Really, really hard.  Like, this sucks balls and I can’t wait for it to be over.  I’m not saying I’m not excited to be having a baby because I totally am. I can’t wait to have this baby and hold her in my arms and kiss her and love her. But mostly I can’t wait for her to be BORN so that the being pregnant part of this will stop.

It’s been tough to be honest with myself about the suckiness of this pregnancy because my pregnancy with Claire was amazing.  Minimal discomfort and really only VERY uncomfortable towards the very end.  I wasn’t working and I could sleep when I wanted. Eat when I wanted.  I went for manicures and pedicures twice a week. It was pretty easy-going.

My midwife tells me that everything I’m experiencing is in the realm of ‘normal’, but it’s been hard.  I’ve had a combination of a yeast-infection and a UTI (I know – TMI) for this whole pregnancy so far.  So, I’m on a cocktail of antibiotics which make the yeast infections worse.  So I’m on probiotics also.  I have to take iron supplements because my blood test keeps showing that I’m anemic. The iron makes me constipated as all hell, so I’m also taking laxatives every day.  All that in addition to my pre-natal vitamin, which is the size of a tank and which I still gag up 70% of the time.   You can guess how sexy all this makes me feel.  Yeah.  Francis’ penis pretty much has cobwebs on it.

[33 weeks]

Not long to go now; which is something to celebrate.  Through all this the baby is showing to be active and healthy and wonderful, which is a comfort.  A small comfort, given everything else sucks big harry donkey balls.