THE GOODS BLOG: Erika's Precious Little Life - July Edition
Updated: Jun 18, 2021
I am so happy and content! I'm in the best place that I have been in, in a long time. It feels like something huge has shifted and I’m sure that this can be attributed to a bunch of different factors. My improved mood and outlook is already bringing better things into my life. I am now the #4 reviewer in all of Toronto on Zomato (when I started I was at #300+) so that makes me feel good that I’ve been able to accomplish such a huge leap in only about six months. I’ve been food blogging consistently on a weekly basis, which makes me feel very accomplished. In a recent yoga class I helped out a fellow student with her arm balances and she said that “I was like having a second teacher in yoga class.” That felt like a pretty incredible compliment.
I’m feeling good and the vibes around me feel good too.
I was recently thinking about why I write this blog every month... And I concluded that it’s truly my way of journaling. I don’t journal in the traditional pen-to-paper sense, but I do it here. Getting my thoughts and feelings and experiences out is surely a form of therapy. I enjoy recounting the things that have been happening in my life. I write this blog for me and because you’re my trusted and closest friends, I let you peer in on it. I want to share who I really am with you. All of your thoughts, opinions and solidarity have always helped me so much. Thank you for coming with me through my ups and downs, always. ♥
Let’s talk about June!
Basically we’ve been trying to get out and about as much as possible, exploring as much of Toronto as we can. With a massive city like Toronto at our disposal, the options of things to see and do are literally endless. I’ve made a “summer fun to-do list” and Tim and I try to do a different item off of the list each weekend.
I had a girls night with my TO crew where we ate poke and walked around Kensington Market.
We visited Humber Bay Shores Park on Lake Ontario (see top banner photo), went to The Toronto Zoo, drove around downtown (at midnight) to join in the celebration after the Toronto Raptors won the NBA Finals, took a day trip down to Buffalo, New York (it’s the closest USA place that you can drive to from Toronto, about an hour and a half away), we attended our neighbourhood’s annual Family Fun Fair and it was super cute, and checked out Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market.
I’ve been spending a lot of time outside, especially just in our own backyard. Having a backyard for the first time ever has made such a wonderful difference in our life! It’s like our own little ecosystem back there that we get to discover! We had a nest of baby Cardinals in a bush next to our house and loved watching the parents care for them until they were old enough to leave the nest!
We celebrated Father’s Day! Tim seemed to really enjoy his day, complete with a delicious BBQ lunch with Colen’s family! I even let him order whatever he wanted, ha ha.
It was International Day of Yoga, which of course I partook in by going to a class at my studio and generally practicing poses in my backyard...
The Toronto Pride Parade took place and we had the best time!
Tim took an extra day off for Canada Day long weekend, so it was awesome spending four fun-filled days together. We took Archie on the CBC Kids Studio Tour, which he watches every morning. I was pretty impressed to find Casey and Finnegan’s house!
We also took Archie to his FIRST MOVIE in a movie theatre! This is a big deal! We saw Toy Story 4. At 2.5 years old, we were very impressed that he stayed in his chair quietly for the duration of the film. He was very pleased with the popcorn. Now that movies are an option, I’m sure that we’ll go to lots!
You probably know that I’m obsessed with farmers’ markets. We finally checked out the Etobicoke Civic Centre Farmers' Market, which is the closest farmers’ market to our house at only a 4 minute drive away. It takes place every Saturday in the summer and I LOVED IT! It was such a good quality market!! I am very excited to have this so close by!
Then it was our anniversary!! Six years. It feels like the time has flown by. First we went and got matching tattoos! We had them done at a very cool studio called Ink & Water Tattoo. The artist who did them was Astrid Kim. This is my 6th tattoo and also my largest one. It hurt more than the others! (But it was fine.)
Tim and I have had the general idea for our tattoo for years. We knew what style we wanted, and then Astrid created the final design.
We wanted matching tattoos that would go together but that could also stand alone. The landscape in the design is a depiction of the places that have meant the most to us during our relationship. Having met in Alberta, we grew our relationship in the mountains; snowboarding, camping, hiking. We got married in Jasper on the sunniest and hottest day ever, which we also tried to capture in the design. Later, living in Vancouver, we absolutely loved our dream life among the mountains and the sea. We feel that the design invokes a sense of exploration and adventure.
All of this feels like who we are, who we want to be, and especially who we are as a couple together.
The words are from the last two frames of the last Calvin and Hobbes comic. Tim loved this comic growing up and it played into one of the reasons of why he wanted to become an artist. We felt that these words capture our feelings about experiencing the world and our desire to share it with each other.
I’m looking forward to taking better photos once we’re all healed!
Then we went out for a fancy and delicious anniversary dinner at Giulietta. It was very good!
We also visited Schitt’s Creek, which is my favourite show on TV currently! The location of the motel is in Orangeville, which is about a 45 minute drive from where I live. I wish that it had still been all set up for the show!! But still. The Rosebud Motel - in real life!
June was a really great fun-filled month!
Life with Archie:
Archie graduated his swimming lessons (Guardian Swim 1) and can now move on to the next level. He LOVES swimming!
Archie is a great boy. I enjoy and love him more than I ever have. Now that we're able to understand each other and he’s using words and sentences, our relationship is completely different and harmonious and wonderful. I truly love and enjoy spending all of my time with him. I really didn’t enjoy having a baby very much and am a million times happier now that Archie is a toddler!
Archie no longer uses a pacifier! It was surprisingly easy to get him to stop. I placed a small shoe box on the floor in his room one morning and explained to him that he’s a big boy now and that he no longer needs to use a pacifier. He then went around the room collecting all of the pacifiers (there were like four of them) and he put them in the box himself. Then he closed the lid himself. I told him that the pacifiers were going to go away and that he didn’t need them anymore. He seemed totally cool with it! He asked about his pacifier for about the next day or two (especially at naptime/bedtime) but never cried or got upset when we reminded him that he doesn’t need one anymore. Now he doesn’t ask about it at all. And that was it! We’ve actually noticed that he’s been sleeping better ever since we got rid of his pacifiers.
Archie is very polite and has great manners. He says "thank you" when given things. I get compliments all the time about how kind and sweet Archie is. It makes him so happy to share toys with other kids and to give out the sweetest hugs. His personality already shows me that he's becoming the exact kind of human that I'm hoping he will be.
Archie now has 18/20 of his teeth, just two more to go! Almost a full mouth of chompers!
We also bought him a potty and have started talking to him about using the potty. He sits on it sometimes but definitely has not attempted going pee or poo in it. Which is fine! He’ll use it when he’s ready. We just wanted to start introducing the idea.
Archie has made progress with costumed characters and wasn’t scared to meet the Blue Jays mascot Ace at all!
Parenting has taken a big positive turn for me. I really feel that once Archie grew up a bit more, everything was much better. I’m happier the older that he gets! I also think that I’m closer to coming to terms with the fact that I do not want any more kids and do not want to start all over from scratch again. Not entirely decided, but getting closer.
It’s July and I’m pumped that it’s full-on SUMMER!
The Toronto Fringe Festival is about to begin and you know me, I love to Fringe!! I have a 10 show pass and can’t wait to get into it. Plus we’ll be taking Archie to a performance again this year.
I’m also very excited that Tim and I are going to see Dear Evan Hansen! It’s a stage musical that I have been dying to see. This is going to sound extremely snobby and pretentious, but I don’t like touring productions of musicals. I’ve always avoided them unless I had free tickets. I am so excited to live in a city that has permanent shows again!!!
Later in the month is our summer week at the family cottage in Muskoka! This is the “big one” that we all look forward to and everyone usually stays extra days. It’ll be great to have the cousin crew back together and I really think that Archie is going to adore playing in the lake this year.
Then Sarah and Shane are coming to visit!! They are staying with us for three nights and I’m so excited to finally get to meet Blake!
Then my parents are coming to visit!! This will be their first visit to our new place in Toronto. They’re staying for a week and I’m sure that we’ll get up to tons of fun stuff!
THIS MONTH’S SHOUT-OUTS!:
July 5th is Candice Weingartner’s 37th birthday!
I hope that you get to enjoy a special and relaxing day! I’m sure that Ryan and the boys will be spoiling you a ton! I probably say this every year, but when I imagine you celebrating your birthday, it involves you on a pool floatie, wearing sunglasses and drinking a cocktail. So I hope that this comes true! Love you!! ♥
July 8th is Crystal Hawker’s 37th birthday!
This is a whole new fresh year for a whole new fresh Crystal! I am trilled that you have taken steps in your life to become a better version of yourself. You’re such an amazing and strong woman! You should definitely plan a trip to Toronto soon and we’ll get up to all sorts of stuff! Love you always! ♥
July 15th is Robin Checkowy’s 37th birthday!
I hope that you get to enjoy a special day all for you! I’m sure that Noel and the kids will find some great ways to spoil you! Make sure that you get to celebrate yourself. I miss you lots! Love you! ♥
July 26th is Nadine Ottenbreit’s 5th wedding anniversary!
Wishing you and Kyle a wonderful day of romance! Your last anniversary before a new family member joins the crew!
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