Conversations: Coffee Mug Edition

The scene: Walking into the kitchen on Sunday morning, Nick is pouring me a cup of coffee (in the mug pictured above).

Me: AH STOP! I don't want that mug!

Nick: looking puzzled, stops, and starts to pour coffee out of mug into the sink.

Me: Don't pour it out! (sacrilege!) Just...just... leave it. I will put it in a different mug.

Nick: puts mug down, gives me a look, and retreats with his breakfast.

At this point I realized I was having a slight overreaction to a coffee mug and had alienated my husband who was doing something nice for me. Good start to the day really. So, I apologized. Then, for my own benefit more than anyone else's, I proceeded to highlight which mugs I enjoy for coffee. There were 6. As it turns out, I am pretty picky about my coffee mugs.

To make a quiet but very real point, Nick had his coffee from the bunny mug. #husbandwin

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So We Moved

Normally this would be where I list excuse after excuse for not being a better (read: more consistent) blogger. Instead I will list only one: we moved.

This was our first time selling our place (verdict is in; it's not very much fun) and the one-millionth time we've moved (still not so fun). The fun part? Our new place! Plus unpacking. I loooove to unpack. So much so that that's how I spent most of my birthday. Moving-nerd-alert.

We are totally unpacked and have only been living here for 3 weeks. As much as I would like to share some photos, we still have some work to do (painting and such) and I'd be happier to show the final results. So instead, I will show you a photo of lovely drawing given to us from our Real Estate agents of our new home.

{our place is the left, my parents' place is the right}

You didn't forget that we bought this place with my parents and we each live in half, right? Well so far, it's working out wonderfully (according to me). I have a sneaking suspicion that I am becoming the annoying neighbour that stops by unannounced (every.single.day). To offer them comfort, since I'm sure they're reading this, in two months I will be back to work and will have much less free time to be wandering over for random visits. 

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Quirky Obsession

For as long as I can remember, my assigned chore at home was loading/unloading the dishwasher. Because of the longevity of said chore, I a) still enjoy it and b) am quite obsessed with the way in which it is completed.

I am a dishwasher rearranger.

For a long time, I didn't even realize it. I would just open it up, see that it wasn't optimally loaded, and get to work moving things around until it was. One day, my dad's friend was over for dinner. After dinner, I opened the dishwasher and started moving things until it made sense. That's when he said to me "oh wow. Your dad told me you did this, but I didn't really believe him". Oh...so 'this' is a noticeable thing? A quirk, you might say.

Well, so be it. I still do it. In fact, I edged Nick out of the way to reorganize it last night. I mean, why waste space? Why hand wash that last dish when there is probably a way to fit it in?

When I found out that most dishwashers actually come with instructions that shows the optimal way to load them, I felt a great sense of validation. I'm not alone. I also thought...I should probably review those instructions to make sure they have it right... :)

image via

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Lately

{the only way to get things done; baby in a basket}

My apologies for the radio silence again over the last couple weeks. I started the new year feeling ready to blog on the regular again. Then life happened.

Last fall, my parents and Nick and I decided to embark on a journey that most people wouldn't dare try. Purchasing a house together. To be clear, it's more like two semi-detached houses. I mean, we're not that crazy.

There had been so much back and forth with all the various moving parts, that we had almost completely given up on it actually happening. Until the one thing that needed to happen did.

What that meant for us was we then had two weeks to get our place completely ready for sale. Our little condo, which was full of things (aka absolutely not ready for potential buyers). So instead of spending our days doing leisurely activities and playing with Ruby, we were going nuts patching holes, painting, cleaning, de-cluttering, moving furniture and staging our place. Once that was done, we moved ourselves out (to my parents house) so that I wouldn't be trying to round up a dog and a baby every time someone wanted to view the place. Between that, having Nick's parents over for a lovely winter visit, planning my mom's retirement party, all three of us having colds and taking care of Ruby, there was pretty much no time for anything else.

Now, *breathes sigh of relief* that we're out of our place, I can get back to blogging a bit more regularly I hope!

Ps. Selling your first place is a lot more emotional than I ever expected. More on that later...

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My 2015 Goal

{Happy New Year 2015!}

I've decided not to make any New Year's resolutions per se. At dinner last week, one of my friends was asking about everyone's New Year's goals, which I like the sound of better. Her's was awesome and very achievable (her goal is to take one bath a week in pursuit of relaxation - best.goal.ever.) and so I decided my goal would be to begin removing chemicals and unnecessary additives from my life, starting with parabens.

A friend of mine with a great blog (100 Resolutions) recently posted an article about the link between parabens and breast cancer. Since that's something I do need to worry about, I've gone through my products and ditched everything with parabens. Don't want 'em, don't need 'em!

Did you set any resolutions or goals? I didn't set any last year, but here are my resolutions from the year before.:)

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Early Morning

{tasting sweet potato}

Well I've been up since 5 (that's when little Miss Tuesday decided she was hungry) and while she has been able to fall back to sleep, I haven't. I tried for a bit but then decided I might as well just get up. It's really quite nice to have some quiet time in the morning before Ruby is ready to start the day.

She's so busy now that I don't get the same amount of down time as I did in those first couple months. She expects a certain standard of entertainment, including a variety of activities in a variety of locations. I spend a significant portion of my day doing anything and everything to make her laugh and let me tell you, she's not the easiest audience.

Ruby is 20 weeks old today, but I know counting things in weeks annoys a lot of people, pre-baby Emma included, so we'll round it to 4.5 months. While she's so much busier and demanding so much more time and attention (aka sleeping less during the day) now, she's so much cooler and more fun to hang out with. She watches and listens while I narrate every activity in our day.

So many people have asked me "Don't you looooove being a mom?" and it got me thinking. For me, I wouldn't say that loving being a mom is necessarily synonymous with loving my child. What I loooove (absolutely, without a doubt) is Ruby. My journey in to motherhood has given me a lot to think about and evaluate. It's the hardest thing I've done to date and I am learning as I go. Some of the stuff that comes along with motherhood is amazing (like seeing Ruby every morning as she looks up at me from her crib and her little face breaks into a huge smile) and some of it is sucky (like getting punched in the eye by your baby's flailing hands and crying because it legitimately hurt) but I am obsessed and in love with my baby. That's one thing I say with 100% certainty.

What do you think? Are motherhood and baby-loving one in the same or can they exist as two separate ideas? What about fatherhood?

Ps. It's 7am and still dark out. What's up with that?

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My Dental Hygienist Blew My Mind

I was at the dentist for my regular cleaning recently, and I decided to ask my hygienist about the article that was floating around the internet saying that chemicals in Colgate were carcinogenic (insert me freaking out here). She said that yes, she had seen the article and that most toothpastes are the same; they all contain chemicals (I guess I should have known that). Then she told me something that blew me away. She said that you don't really need to use toothpaste, period.

I'm sorry, whaaaaa? I've been living a lie my entire life, religiously brushing my teeth with toothpaste twice a day. Turns out, unless you have a condition like sensitive teeth where toothpaste might help, all you need is to brush with water and floss each day. Yep that's it. Apparently, toothpaste simply enhances the teeth-brushing experience. If you want to freshen your breath, you can just use a rinse.

Am I the last person to know about this? I actually tried it for a few days and it really was fine. My mouth still felt so fresh and so clean clean. Don't judge, my mouth is chemical free :)

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I'm a Mom, but it doesn't end there

I am now a mother. This is something I have thought about for a long time and was absolutely ready for. I am sure that being a mom to Ruby will be one of the most amazing and challenging roles I will have in my life. But, and yes, there's a but, I'm not just a mom.

A little while ago, I went out to some events for moms/babies. I was looking to get out of the house, find some activities for Ruby and myself, you get the idea. One thing I was disturbed by was that the identity of the moms as these events was virtually non-existent. Almost no one introduced themselves, and in the more structured events, only the names of the babies mattered. In hindsight, I realize that I was going to a moms group and first thing we would all have in common was our babies, but I guess I expected to learn some more about the other mothers. Not so much.

I found it so disheartening that one day Nick came home and found me almost in tears. All of a sudden it felt like my former identity was stripped from me. The next day I came to my senses and realized that I am in control of who I am. Not only am I a mom, but I am a wife, daughter, sister, friend. An advice-giver, an HR Manager, a blogger. I have interests in things other than parenting and I believe that not only will that make me a better mom to Ruby, but it will make me a better role model to her as well.

Every mom had an identity before her children were born, and I don't think having a baby means you have to put that aside. Too many times I hear "well, I'm a mom now" like that somehow erases who you used to be. There are some clear lifestyle changes that moms tend to make, for example, no longer can I drink a bottle of wine and sleep the entire next day away). However, I will still make sure I get nights with my girlfriends and I will at least have a glass! Just as people don't define themselves only by their career choice, nor should mothers define themselves by motherhood alone.

My purpose for writing this isn't to criticize any mother and the choices she's made, it is simply to point out that there's no reason to lose yourself in motherhood.

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Thirty

Woah. It's my 30th birthday. Today. Like right now (well 9:01am to be exact). I'm also 30 weeks pregnant. Coincidence? You bet.

I am a person who possesses major birthday anxiety. It has nothing to do with age, and everything to do with the pressure of a day all about me. Today though, I'm feeling pretty calm. Perhaps it's because I know it's going to be a pretty busy day and not very birthday-ish (not to worry, Nick has planned a celebration for me this weekend).

Confession: last summer I may have made a statement that if I wasn't pregnant by the time I turned 30, I would be hiding in a corner, wallowing in self pity. Let it be known that it has nothing to do with me believing that you must have children by age 30. Actually, 2013 was a hard year for me because of some extreme baby fever (I'll share that story another day). Anyway, since I am pregnant on my birthday, I feel as though I accomplished that strange goal I set out and maybe that's why I'm taking such a scary year in stride. Who the heck knows.

All I know is, I don't plan on crying today (unlike last night every other birthday), so obviously that's the new thirty-year-old maturity I have now acquired.

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Our Wedding Day

The last couple V-days I have introduced you to Nick and told you the story of our engagement. So today I thought I'd tell you about our wedding and show you some of the photos. There's nothing like reliving such a special day through the pictures to up the love factor for the day.

Read on after the jump...

A Touching and Thought-Provoking Article

While reading yesterday's paper, this article caught my attention. Maybe it was the ultrasound photo in the middle of the page, or maybe it was the title. Either way, it has completely struck a chord with me.

This poor man has to face the fact that his wife is suddenly brain-dead, while still hoping that her body can nourish his growing son in utero. This article reminded me of the recent situation in Texas, where an expectant mother was ended up on life support and her grieving husband had to move mountains to get the hospital to honor her wishes (which was to remove her from life support) simply because it contravenes the anti-abortion laws in the state. I can't imagine how difficult that must have been.

While I would leave such an intensely difficult decision up to the spouse (or couple, if they had discussed it) to make (you will find no judgement from me here), it really made me stop and think of what I would want if this ever happens to me. Well Nick, consider this my answer. Save the baby. Raise it and teach it how to be amazing. Love it for both of us. I can't imagine a more beautiful thing to occur out of such tragedy. I am totally inspired by Dylan Benson.

Read the full article here, check out Dylan's blog here, and donate here.

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Some Exciting News

Well I've been sitting on this news for quite some time now. I'm thrilled to finally share the news here on the blog. I'm having a baby! Well not right this second, obviously, but in June :)

Although technically I've been in the 'safe zone' for may weeks, I was just feeling funny about making a very public announcement. More on that another day. Now I'm ready to share the happy news. Nick and I are thrilled and last week we found out that it's a little girl!!

Although I don't plan on morphing This is Lovely into a baby blog, this is a personal/lifestyle blog and since my lifestyle is changing there will definitely be some baby content in the future. I hope you'll stick with me!

I won't get into too many details, but as of now, I'm feeling well, my bump is growing and we're eagerly anticipating the arrival of this little one in early June.

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Somebody Call the Doctor...

'cause I've got baby fever. Real bad.
It doesn't help that my friends all have the cutest (and, according to Nick, the coolest) kids.
And that everywhere I turn, another friend is expecting.

our furry baby

We've had a couple weekends in a row where some 'cool' babies were present (I'd use the term cute, but you get the idea). Last weekend, while at a fairly loud event, Nick was talking to a couple of people and was yelling (over the music) then, there was the awkward moment when the music stopped and he was still yelling. The phrase he yelled? "I'm totally stalking your baby!" Good thing his lovely accent tempered the scariness of that sentence :)

Looks like I'm not the only one with baby fever.

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Five Years

Today, the beautiful first day of summer, also marks Nick's and my dating anniversary. The infamous sushi and Guinness date. It wasn't our first date, but it was one of those special dates where we just knew this was something special. It was also the date where we had our first kiss (awwww).

Cheers to five amazing years and many more to come, my love!

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On Angie's Decision

It's been all over the news over the past few days. Angelia Jolie had a double mastectomy to reduce her risk of getting breast or ovarian cancer, because she was a carrier of the BRCA1  gene.

As soon as this story hit the news, it hit me in the pit of my stomach. Years ago, my parents approached me about getting tested to see if I carry that exact gene. My mom had breast cancer in her 40's.

The feeling that came over me when it was suggested was that it was going to be some kind of death sentence. Which is clearly not the case, but it was how I felt. I turned to one of my closest friends, who is also my go-to for all things oncology, for advice. She explained to me what it meant, and what some of the options were. That same day, I sat down with my mom and we talked about what I would do if I found out that I did carry that gene. I would take my health seriously, I would take care of my body, and I would be aggressive with screenings. So at that point, I decided not to get tested, but also to assume that I probably did carry it.

It's not constantly on my mind, but I have resigned myself to thinking that at some point, I will have to face off with this life-threatening disease. I know it's not the power of positive thinking, but I don't want to be surprised if/when the day comes that I am faced with it.

So back to Angie. I can completely understand why she did it, and I think it's very brave. At the same time, she has the resources to get the best treartment and even have reconstructive surgery. To me, much braver is the woman who chose to have the mastectomy and not have her breasts reconstructed. Will I do it one day? Quite possibly. Do I think this is something all women carrying the gene should sign up for? Not necessarily. It is a good option but just because a celebrity jumps off a bridge doesn't mean that you should.

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The Highs and Lows of House Hunting

We have been house hunting. Ever since our deal fell through on the fixer-upper we were going to buy, we've had the house bug. It is very exciting. But it is also incredibly frustrating and disappointing.

HIGHS

• Finding a place that you think you may like
• Seeing a place that you do truly like
• Realizing said place is within your budget

LOWS

• Having a home inspection show you things about a house that stops you from wanting it
• Getting beaten to the finish line by someone else
• Starting over again

We have done a full 180 in terms of what we want (from an older home with tons of character but lots to fix to a newer place that requires little to no work)

It didn't make it an easier since we have already given our notice. But the good news is...we found a place! It's a main floor condo (dog friendly) in the same city with live in now (bonus!) and we can move in before the end of June. The stars have aligned.

Photos to come :)

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Change

In my 9-5, I'm constantly preaching about dealing with change. Accepting it. Rolling with it. Embracing it. Etc, etc. On the other hand, in my personal life, I could probably stand to practice what I preach.

Why is it so easy to help others accept change when it totally terrifies me?
You're looking at the girl who cries every time she moves house (which, for those who know me, is a lot).

Is the whole point of change to create some level of discomfort? If so, consider me uncomfortable. I'm up against some big changes, all good things, but different nonetheless. Wish me luck!

Ps. I promise I'll explain another day.

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Music Nostalgia

I've heard many times people say that smells trigger memories. I do believe this is true because I've experienced it. However, something I experience so much more often is when a song triggers a memory.

The other day, I heard Train - Drops of Jupiter on the radio. Instantly I was transported back to high school. It hit me right in the pit of my stomach. I remembered the boy I had a crush on. I recalled sitting on my computer, updating my ICQ away status to lyrics from this song (the status was "heaven is overrated", in case you were wondering - deep, right?) Aside: in the days of ICQ and MSN Messenger, it was all about the status. Anyway, in all seriousness, the memory is that clear.

I'm always the person in the car listening to old music (I tend to choose old vs. new) and saying [to every song that comes on] "oooh I love this song!" Probably because listening to music is like a virtual scrapbook. They remind me of happy times, sad times, uncertain times, and everything in between.

What songs make you feel nostalgic?

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The Same Old Face

The other day, I just got really sick of my face. I’m not trying to be horrible, but looking at my same face, day after day just really got to me.

Perhaps it was also because I had been looking at some old pictures. Pictures that were taken of me years ago, in the summer, on vacation.

Looking at me in my early twenties, tanned, 10lbs (at least) lighter and glasses-free was a nice vacation from today’s pasty white, spectacled face.

I’m not into tanning, but I promptly threw out my Easter chocolate and ordered more contacts. Mental note: buy bronzer.

Ps. no extreme measures, just a few little changes to rediscover my early-twenties face.

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Twenty-Nine

Today is my twenty-ninth birthday.

Some thoughts on my birthday...

I'm not as terrified going into this year as I once thought I might be. This year has been wonderful so far, and I have a good feeling it will continue.

I've never thrown out a birthday card. Let it be known, if you've ever given me a card, I still have it. I have piles of them and it seems like hoarder behaviour, but I just can't bear to throw them away.

I have birthday anxiety. I may have just made this term up now, but seriously, I get really stressed out (read: I cry a lot) the week/weeks leading up to my birthday. But it's not about ageing. It's about the attention. I can't stand having all the attention on me. Am I weird? Probably. Don't answer that.

Nick woke up extra early today (ahem around 4am) to decorate for me. I die. What a sweetheart.

It's not even 8am and already I feel so spoiled. Birthday anxiety, be gone! I am lucky.

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