Weekend Update

Posted in Weekend Update by

Good morning on this glorious Monday! Our weekend was a wonderful balance of busy and lazy!

{friday} Isla, Norah and I headed to Vernon to visit with my dad and his girlfriend for Chinese New Year! While Norah fussed for about half the drive before she passed out, we had a great drive in otherwise! (Hurray for iPads!) We made great time and got there in time for lunch, and we spent the afternoon relaxing before heading out for an Chinese New Year Eve(?) dinner. My aunt even came in from Kelowna, so it was nice to see her as well!

I thought for sure it would take forever for the girls to settle at bedtime, but both Norah and Isla got to sleep with no issues. Mom Win!

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{saturday} The girls and I woke up before everyone else, so we hung out in our room and watched movies on the iPad until we heard movement downstairs, lol. My dad made us pancakes for breakfast and we visited some more before getting ready for the drive back home. I also spotted this picture of my paternal grandparents and thought it was pretty neat:

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1948

Norah was practically falling asleep during lunch, and I don’t even think we were outside of Vernon’s city boundaries and she was out cold! She slept the entire way home and didn’t wake up until I parked the truck in our driveway – perfect! Isla was excited to see Kyle and we spent the rest of the day just hanging out.

{sunday} Kyle made us pancakes for breakfast and afterwards while Kyle and I were finishing our coffee we spotted our neighbourhood grouse! It’s actually pretty strange for grouse to be so bold and close to people, but it’s been roosting in a tree somewhere behind our house and eating the berries off of the neighbour’s tree. The picture below is from a couple weeks ago, but it’s been pretty neat having it hang out with us for so long!

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Kyle and I dropped the girls off at his mom’s and we got to go get groceries kid-free! Ah, to be an adult ;) After that we visited with his mom & stepdad before heading home so Norah could nap. It was a lazy rest of the day and we didn’t get up to much before falling into our evening routine of work-week prep and bedtime!

How was your weekend??

TGIF v.43

Posted in TGIF by

A high of the week was visiting with a friend over coffee Thursday morning. It was long overdue and it was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours before I had to go pick Isla up from school.

A low of the week was Norah’s furious teething ritual of drooling, blowing snot everywhere, and being a grumpy pants at bedtime. She’s a hot mess of a child and I cannot wait for that dang eye tooth to bust on through.

An internet find I loved was this video of a wedding first look:

This couple must have some hilarious times if she pranked her groom-to-be like this on their wedding day! I just died laughing.

 

The best money I spent was $6 on a razor holder for my shower. For realz.

My favourite Isla and/or Norah moment was Norah’s adorable bathtime antics. Almost every night she lines her duckies up in a row for kisses.

A song that has been stuck in my head is “Starboy” by The Weeknd/Daft Punk.

My meals of the week were Greek ribs & potatoes, pork tenderloin, meatloaf, butter chicken, and I made delicious summer rolls (again) from Chrissy Teagan’s Cravings cookbook.

My plans for the weekend are visiting my dad for Chinese New Year. Gung Hay Fat Choy!

What I’m Reading: China Rich Girlfriend

Posted in Book Review, Books, What I'm Reading by

28503789From Goodreads.com:
It’s the eve of Rachel Chu’s wedding, and she should be over the moon. She has a flawless Asscher-cut diamond, a wedding dress she loves, and a fiancé willing to thwart his meddling relatives and give up one of the biggest fortunes in Asia in order to marry her. Still, Rachel mourns the fact that her birthfather, a man she never knew, won’t be there to walk her down the aisle.

Then a chance accident reveals his identity. Suddenly, Rachel is drawn into a dizzying world of Shanghai splendor, a world where people attend church in a penthouse, where exotic cars race down the boulevard, and where people aren’t just crazy rich … they’re China rich.

My review:
As the sequel to Crazy Rich Asians, I was excited to read China Rich Girlfriend and to see what was next for Rachel Chu and her extended family, and it didn’t disappoint.

Light but still hilarious, I loved the outrageousness of how materialistic the characters were. It’s all completely over the top and hard to believe that people actually live this way, but I suppose when you’re a “simple” North American you’d never be able to catch a glimpse of their lavish lifestyle.

I do wish that there was more story development with Rachel and Nick, rather that just plopping them into the various chapters that involved more of their new-found “China rich” friends. And I really didn’t quite understand the point of including Kitty Pong/Mrs. Bernard Tai in the story as the only tie-in to the rest of the characters was minuscule.

Still, my Asian half related to this book just as it did with Crazy Rich Asians, which only made it more enjoyable for me. I’m giving it 5 stars out of 5, and I’m looking forward to the third instalment coming out in May this year!