I regret not taking more pictures, but truthfully it was the kind of trip where the scenery didn’t really matter.
Even though Toronto is lovely!
The themes for the weekend were: connection, relaxation, indulgence, self-care, and autonomy. It was a 48 hour trip, and it was fantastic.
HIGHLIGHTS:
1- Stationery shopping at 3 different cute paper-centric boutiques! My favorite was Mr. Pen, with Kid Icarus a close second.
BOUGHT: washi tape, pencil cases & cute pens (for the kids – a back to school present!), an adorable rainbow days of the week pad (will show in future post), stickers. It took a lot of restraint to limit myself to just that.
2- Reading! Especially on the plane. I read all of Ruth Riechl’s Save Me the Plums and half of Lori Gottleib’s Maybe You Should Talk to Someone (particularly fascinating to me because at one point in my life I thought about becoming a therapist or psychiatrist). Uninterrupted reading at this phase in my life = heaven
3- Workouts – I did a 30 minute 21DF workout in the (very nice!) hotel gym Saturday and a 4 mile run Sunday. It was so nice to do these on my own terms/time frame.
4- SLEEPING IN. With blackout curtains. Until 9:10 AM on Saturday morning. OMGGGG it was amazing.
5- Attempting to wean G. Well, I didn’t pump. But she really wanted to nurse last night and I just couldn’t turn her down (in part for my own comfort, b/c all that buildup was kind of hurting!). I am wondering if maybe my supply will have taken enough of a hit that she’ll start to lose interest . . . going to at least eliminate the AM feedings.
6- Spending a lot of lovely quality time with my 5 best college friends! So much catching up, and yet so little need to – it’s amazing how we can just pick up where we left off. We decided on a destination for 2020 (might be another Canadian location!) and bonded over skincare (or lack thereof), shopping, and deeper things (politics, life goals, and the like).
7- Eating! Toronto has fantastic food options!! A lot of delicious food, including ice cream at Bang Bang x2 (day 1: lemon meringue flavor! day 2: peanut butter cup & banana pudding flavors – yes it was so good I had to have two). We also ate at a lovely Italian place (Buca, not to be confused with the American chain of similar name) and a fun Japanese pub (Guu Izakaya). I experienced my first ever Caesar, too.
8- Sephora stop – always required when I am with my college BFFs. I ended up with a new concealer to try (Benefit boi ing sheer for anyone curious) and a vitamin C serum. I am always motivated to revitalize my skincare routine after girls’ trips! Perhaps more on that to come if I ever get a decent routine together . . .
AND NOW it’s back to school time (first day = Weds) and there is a ton to do this week! New routines, forms galore, teacher meet & greets, etc. GRATEFUL FOR: the school supply boxes!
Josh was home with the kids and it sounds like they had a great time. He even organized the toys & craft drawer which is honestly . . . kind of above and beyond (I have wanted to tackle that task for quite some time but did not successfully manage to do it!). We are now working on establishing a School Night Bedtime Routine.
Back with more later in the week!
19 Comments
Ooooh….glad you had fun at your girls weekend! I’m trying for a skincare routine at night – i’m started out small. Cleansing and moisturizing but at least it’s something. I was blessed with good skin but what that means is I’ve never really had to pay attention to it but now I’m getting older and I regret it. Love plane reading too!
Your weekend away with girlfriends sounded wonderful! I look forward to doing that someday! My closest college girlfriends turn 40 this winter and I know they’d like to do a girlfriend trip but I’m not quite ready to take a trip away from our son yet… I want to want to travel but I have a really hard time getting onboard with being away from him. He’s 17 months and I’m a firs time mom so I imagine this will change with time!! I did not expect to have such a hard time being away from our son… that’s been one of the most surprising things about becoming a mom!
Toronto is great! I’ve been there for work conferences but would be perfect for a girls’ or date weekend. I loved Ruth Reich’sl book Delicious! but that’s all I’ve read of hers. Wow, school seems to start early there! G has 2 more weeks of summer. Which I’m actually happy about, I’ve enjoyed the relaxed schedule.
Sarah – my twins are 1mo younger than G, and I’m also starting to think seriously about weaning, too. Can you tell me more about your thoughts, your process, etc? What about AAP guidelines to nurse until age 2? I don’t think my kids are getting much milk (AM/PM nursing only) and they are kind of neutral about the whole thing, but part of me feels like weaning at 19mo is letting them down….?
Oh, I honestly can’t imagine any mystical benefits of nursing 20 months vs 24! Plus this is the longest I nursed any of the 3, so I feel no guilt about stopping from a health perspective. I would have stopped but the combo of engorged boobs and upset baby didn’t seem to make sense to push on. I suspect we will just phase out more gradually now? I didn’t nurse this AM but I will tonight if she wants it.
So happy to hear you had a wonderful trip! I actually live in Toronto and you picked some great places to go. Bang Bang and Guu are amazing! I haven’t tried Buca, but I’ve heard good things about it.
We are going to Toronto in a month so thanks for the tips! Also, thanks to you I am going to start 21 Day Fix soon. (Meaning, I’ve paid for it. Now I just need to do it.) Do the workouts change periodically or do you just do the same 21 over and over?? I get bored really easily…
Same 21 but there are other variations you could transition to, like 21 day fix live, 21 day fix extreme, 80 day obsession, LIIFT4, etc
As a Canadian reader, glad you came to visit and had fun 😉🇨🇦
I’ve never been disappointed when I travel to Canada! This was my first time to Toronto but I’d like to go back!
This sounds like a dream!!! Which vitamin C serum did you try?
I got a super tiny size of the Drunk Elephant. It’s so pricey though I’m interested in alternatives!!
Not to sound like an advertisement, but Timeless has a $25 vitamin C serum. I watch this youtuber called “hot and flashy” who is all about skincare and makeup for women of a certain age. I love her because she is not a fan girl of all products and is discerning and tests them out on herself and is way more detail oriented than I would ever be. She recommends the Timeless serum a lot. I tried it and am planning on buying another soon. One thing you can do is keep it in the fridge so it lasts longer before it oxidizes.
OOH! $25 is a great price point for that. I hate that i have hit “a certain age” but the big 4-0 is less than a year away. Good to have some beauty gurus to look up to!!
Sounds amazing! So glad you got to have this, after the canceled date weekend. I’ve only been to Toronto for a work trip but would love to go back for fun. Your post this morning inspired me to start the chat thread about planning another girls trip this year (went to NOLA last year and was SO SO SO FUN).
DO IT!!!! So worth it.
Hi there – I wasn’t sure the best place to comment, but I really enjoyed the most recent episode of BoBW with Helen Dayen. One of the most significant moments for me was actually when you were sharing about your recent childcare shuffling and how you recently realized a lot of the day to day stuff you don’t really have to worry about due to having such an awesome and reliable nanny. It was somewhat of a lightbulb moment for me too… I realize how much of my mental energy goes to all of the school drop-offs, school lunches, after care, dinner prep, etc. I struggle a bit with feeling like I am not giving my best at work as I am somewhat always transitioning between roles or having to use lunch breaks to shuffle kids. I wonder if following your experience you would have any ideas for how to handle all of those things with a two-career family and somewhat limited support? I am interested in discussing with our caregiver if there are certain pieces they would be willing to take on but would love to develop other systems.
It was quite a challenge and I certainly wouldn’t presume I got it all figured out in 2 weeks 🙂 but I can certainly do a post (or pod question!) on what I learned from the experience. I guess one of my biggest take homes it that I would PRIORITIZE that support over other luxuries and convenience (to avoid shuffling as much as possible) is king.
I took the podcast and Laura’s “I Know How She Does It” to heart and even just having a nanny a morning or two a week to help with getting kids ready, doing laundry folding, and putting the dishes away has been a godsend. I don’t think it has to be an all or nothing approach. But I really think the idea of “outsourcing” is not a bad one if you can afford it, or even justify a few hours a week or extra childcare to allow you to be more present for your kids (or just not late to work!!).