the beta 5 quail eggs might be the best i've tasted. and, they are pretty. they are made of organic peanuts, dark chocolate, icing sugar, and sea salt. yum!
Friday, April 18, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
travel itinerary
i love putting together a travel itinerary. it's a travel strategy i have used for a long time. usually, i jot down a mini itinerary in my notebook; the highlights. but since i knew we'd run into issues with not having internet service, i decided to put together a more detailed itinerary including critical info (addresses, phone numbers), just in case.
it's a great way to gather ideas. i don't like getting somewhere and wasting precious time looking up what to do. i include distances to places too, wouldn't it be horrible to arrive somewhere only to find it closed because we didn't give ourselves enough time? possible places to eat are jotted down (although that's usually stefan's domain).
the itinerary is not to be followed to the letter. there would be no time to do, see, try everything on the list, leaving room for spontaneous fun.
i can't wait to share our cuba trip with you, but guys it's going to be awhile! here's the story...
the construction workers fixing up the exterior walls had basically moved in over the last few days to fix up the interior walls and install framing around the windows... my house is a mess. furniture is moved away from the walls and piled onto each other, dust on every single surface, patched up cracks and holes are primed for painting (huge patches on my walls!), new but dirty windows, and my floor is dull and grimy! i'm doing my best to keep up with the mess but it's winning. my easter long weekend itinerary? paint, clean, mop, tidy, and windex. no time for sorting cuba photos until my house is in order again. it won't be fun but it will be satisfying.
i am more likely to remember things when everything is in one place like the names of the casa owners or that street that's been beautifully restored. i also wrote down the costs of things that were pre-arranged but not yet paid. and to be sure we had 75CUC in our wallet at the end of our trip for the departure tax at the airport.
it's a great way to gather ideas. i don't like getting somewhere and wasting precious time looking up what to do. i include distances to places too, wouldn't it be horrible to arrive somewhere only to find it closed because we didn't give ourselves enough time? possible places to eat are jotted down (although that's usually stefan's domain).
the itinerary is not to be followed to the letter. there would be no time to do, see, try everything on the list, leaving room for spontaneous fun.
i can't wait to share our cuba trip with you, but guys it's going to be awhile! here's the story...
the construction workers fixing up the exterior walls had basically moved in over the last few days to fix up the interior walls and install framing around the windows... my house is a mess. furniture is moved away from the walls and piled onto each other, dust on every single surface, patched up cracks and holes are primed for painting (huge patches on my walls!), new but dirty windows, and my floor is dull and grimy! i'm doing my best to keep up with the mess but it's winning. my easter long weekend itinerary? paint, clean, mop, tidy, and windex. no time for sorting cuba photos until my house is in order again. it won't be fun but it will be satisfying.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
15/52
kai: i bought my cuties matching tees. kai is delighted to be "just like dad."
i haven't picked up my camera much around the house this week. this pic, taken on my iphone, was snapped seconds before they scooted off to school/work.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
in the beach bag
while travelling in cuba, i kept a swim bag packed and ready at all times. it was filled with the essentials so my boys and i never had to frantically search our luggage when all we wanted was to head straight to the beach. so here’s some inspiration - summer is around the corner!
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| a bathing suit, of course |
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| a practical bag to carry the wet suits + keep them separate in your larger bag |
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| a white cover up... will look great with the sunkissed skin |
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| i use this sunscreen for my face and then share something less expensive with my boys for everywhere else |
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| sunglasses, loving the aviators |
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| hat, with large brim |
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| flip flops for actually getting wet and these are super lite... i wore them on and off the beach although these would do the job too |
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towels, i would love to get some hammam towels but in the meantime i just throw in some sarongs (perfectly light for travel)
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| and a lovely bag to put it all in |
add your electronic reader and a deck of cards (kai was addicted to the game crazy eights) and you are ready for the beach... or the pool.
kinda a big deal, shrimps + a birthday
shrimp in creole sauce and mojitos sin rum were two of kai's favourite things in cuba. so what does stefan cook up on sunday night?
yup. my non-seafood eating hubby prepared the shrimp dish for kai and i, accompanied with rice which was perfect to soak up the sauce, nothing went to waste. a simple and delish veggie salad (served everywhere in cuba) was served with his version of the big bang cafeteria's secret sauce. and, of course, mojitos. it was a most lovely and satisfying dinner.
the above meal - aka, stefan going out of his comfort zone to prepare us a seafood meal - is only one of many reasons kai and i think stefan is kinda a big deal in our house. what else? stefan loves his cats like they are his children, he spontaneously rhymes and cracks us up in the process, he attends rock band school (just how awesome is that?), and he cares for us like there is no tomorrow.
and, he's looking forward to wearing his first ever pair of soccer cleats - prezzie from kai - to get real serious about kicking the ball around with our soccer-loving boy.
happy, happy birthday stefan. to celebrate, the three of us will dine here tonight. can't wait!
yup. my non-seafood eating hubby prepared the shrimp dish for kai and i, accompanied with rice which was perfect to soak up the sauce, nothing went to waste. a simple and delish veggie salad (served everywhere in cuba) was served with his version of the big bang cafeteria's secret sauce. and, of course, mojitos. it was a most lovely and satisfying dinner.
the above meal - aka, stefan going out of his comfort zone to prepare us a seafood meal - is only one of many reasons kai and i think stefan is kinda a big deal in our house. what else? stefan loves his cats like they are his children, he spontaneously rhymes and cracks us up in the process, he attends rock band school (just how awesome is that?), and he cares for us like there is no tomorrow.
and, he's looking forward to wearing his first ever pair of soccer cleats - prezzie from kai - to get real serious about kicking the ball around with our soccer-loving boy.
happy, happy birthday stefan. to celebrate, the three of us will dine here tonight. can't wait!
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kai, proudly, wrapped up the soccer cleats all on his own.
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Monday, April 14, 2014
weekend pics, picnic time
our first weekend back from cuba did not disappoint. you did good vancouver... sunshine and then more sunshine. which, of course, translated to a two day picnic fest.
the best kind of dates are the impromptu ones like when a friend texts first thing in the morning and asks you to meet her and her lovely family for a picnic at spanish banks by the anchor. you can only say "yes!" we picked up some thomas haas sandwiches and sweets and headed to the beach with a soccer ball and blanket in tow. it was a lovely - and a bit more chilly than we imagined - few hours of lounging, eating, chatting, and waiting for alexia to pop (due date is tomorrow!).
on sunday i awoke excited to take in the cherry blossom festival at flight path park by the airport. i didn't know, but they have the most concentration of cherry trees in the lower mainland - 150 in total.
the outing didn't disappoint - sunshine, lounging, mortadella sandwiches, and airplanes coming in for a landing overhead - yet it wasn't what i expected. the cherry blossoms were only nine years old, still babies, so the vision i had of picnicking under the canopies of cherry blossoms did not translate to real life. but, we did park ourselves near the most blossomed tree and picnicked. and, despite my initial anti-climatic experience, we managed to while away a few hours anyway. it really was a lovely spot - paper plane inspired benches, earth play area, walking paths - and plan to revisit the flight path park during the years to come to watch the cherry blossom babies grow.
was your weekend a lovely sunshine-y one too?
the best kind of dates are the impromptu ones like when a friend texts first thing in the morning and asks you to meet her and her lovely family for a picnic at spanish banks by the anchor. you can only say "yes!" we picked up some thomas haas sandwiches and sweets and headed to the beach with a soccer ball and blanket in tow. it was a lovely - and a bit more chilly than we imagined - few hours of lounging, eating, chatting, and waiting for alexia to pop (due date is tomorrow!).
on sunday i awoke excited to take in the cherry blossom festival at flight path park by the airport. i didn't know, but they have the most concentration of cherry trees in the lower mainland - 150 in total.
the outing didn't disappoint - sunshine, lounging, mortadella sandwiches, and airplanes coming in for a landing overhead - yet it wasn't what i expected. the cherry blossoms were only nine years old, still babies, so the vision i had of picnicking under the canopies of cherry blossoms did not translate to real life. but, we did park ourselves near the most blossomed tree and picnicked. and, despite my initial anti-climatic experience, we managed to while away a few hours anyway. it really was a lovely spot - paper plane inspired benches, earth play area, walking paths - and plan to revisit the flight path park during the years to come to watch the cherry blossom babies grow.
was your weekend a lovely sunshine-y one too?
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