It’s been a while! Over the last couple months, I’ve spent a lot of time out of the country, so I fell off the blogging train. I’m excited to share all the amazing places we’ve been exploring once I sort through all my thoughts (& the millions of photos I took). Until then, here’s an update on what’s going on in my life right now.
Reading: A lot of Bon Appétit. The last couple of years, my parents have gotten us a subscription for Christmas & I really love it. The stories are great, & I find myself going back to many of the recipes too. I finished the books I’d bought for our trip, so this is a good in between, while I figure out what I want to read next. I’m thinking of re-reading The Diary of a Young Girl. We visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam last month & it’s such a moving museum that now I want to re-read her diary. It’s been years since I last picked it up. I’d love any book suggestions you may have though – I’m always looking for my next good read!
Watching: Game of Thrones. Duh. My friend groups are split between people who watch every episode as they come out & those who wait until they can binge the whole season. Usually, I wait to watch, but this year I’m going with the weekly viewing. I’ll probably also re-watch the whole thing at the end of the season though.
Planning: TWO weeks until I leave for two whole months! In case you missed this, N has been living in the Bay Area since February. He flies home for the weekend every 3 weeks, so Odin & I have been on our own most of the time for a while now. I’ve decided to take a leave from work & drive down to California with the pup. We’re going to head out to Vancouver for SeaWheeze & then take the PCH down through Washington & Oregon to California. I’ll spend a couple months with the hubs, living that California life, before returning to Canada (& reality). I’m pretty excited, but there’s so much to get ready before I go. We just got back from 3+ weeks in Europe so things are disorganized, to say the least. It didn’t make sense to head out to Vancouver, come back here, & then drive down, so I’m just rolling with it. It’ll all come together, I’m sure.
Thinking about: Helmets while biking. I posted an Instagram story about my thoughts on biking with or without a helmet & it got a lot of responses. This article (this one too!) & our recent helmetless bike adventures in Europe got me thinking about why I wear a helmet in Calgary. It’s largely because it’s so taboo not to. The perception that cycling is unsafe is so ingrained in our minds in North America. I don’t personally believe that it is an unsafe activity, or a difficult one, & I love seeing how many more people are getting on their bikes in this city. I believe this is largely due to the city’s actions in making biking more safe & more accessible, but we still have a long way to go. There is still a lot of anger towards bikers, & that scares & discourages people, including myself sometimes.
I’m not saying I’m going to stop wearing a helmet, but I agree with a lot of points in both of those articles & frankly, the anger directed at bikers who choose to go without a helmet (or heaven forbid, bike on the road) needs to stop. It’s not helping anyone.
Eating: We ate so much on our trip that I’ve been trying to eat a lot of vegetables, at least during the week. Part of the reason I wanted to go back to Germany & Czechia is because I really do love the food in those countries. I sampled all the beer, ate my weight in fried cheese (obsessed!), & indulged in more pork knuckles over the course of a month than anyone probably should. It was definitely worth it, but there was a serious lack of greens, so now I’m trying to get them all in.
xo
