Week 28 Update

This is me last week after yoga. Not much to report, skin is stretching to what I think is the max it will go, belly button seems to have grown a nice nest of hair around it (so attractive!) and heartburn is in full force! I went to two funtions this weekend where I met other pregnant women who I could have sworn were not as far in their pregnancy due to our comparative sizes only to find out they are due before me?! Hmmm, maybe its time to stop those weekly visits to Ed's Real Scoop. Ok, AFTER next week.

Booger Time!

This is my niece Samara after a big sneeze. I know her parents probably wouldn't want this photo published but to me it was the funniest thing, she let out a huge sneeze and then look what flew out! I thought her other international aunts might enjoy seeing Samara's satisfaction at having cleared her nasal passages... Bless You Samara!

Elijah's 100 day party!

Today we celebrated my nephew Elijah's 100 day party. It's Korean custom to celebrate when a baby turns 100 days old. Apparently way back in the day, babies didn't often survive that long so when the milestone was reached, it was a reason to celebrate. The tradition still holds today and so we gathered at my uncle's house in Brampton (with their brand new renovated kitchen, see above) and had a major pig out fest. Highlights included Charlotte getting her first Korean bowl cut (could the bangs BE any shorter, apparently it only cost $5...), Gerwyn mastering chopsticks (at least for the photo anyway,) and of course my cousin's Carol's deeleecious desserts: brownies and carrot cake. My super fat (or "phat" if you will,) nephew enjoyed all the attention and looked pretty groovy in his very first tie and plaid shoes. Many ended the afternoon with naps all around .... yep, it was another successful family party.

Saadia's SATC2 lunch!

Yesterday my bridemaids and our friend Caroline gathered at Saadia's for a Sex in the City 2 lunch prior to watching the movie together. Since we had all gathered for the first one, we thought we'd keep up the tradition for the sequel. (Plus, any excuse to get together is a good one!)

Saadia made a lovely Middle Eastern themed lunch with Cosmo martinis in honour of the movie and we ate and then headed out to the theatre. I have to admit, I had low expectations and for 2.5 hours, it was a bit long, but I consider the fact that I managed to stay awake for the entire thing with a full stomach a sign that the movie wasn't all that bad. I missed the smart dialogue from the original show but seeing the ladies together felt like getting together with old friends again. (And I have to emphasize "old" here, I'm not 100% what the stylists were thinking but all the makeup and over the top clothes just made them look so noticeably old! How about a hair cut Carrie?!)

Prior to the movie I met up with Susie to check out some baby strollers at Baby on the Hip on Queen. We also took the opporunity to compare pregnant bellies, but I'm not sure why because Sooz didn't even look remotely pregnant even though she's only 6 weeks behind me! Perhaps its those lack of breakfasts Sooz, you need to get on the official pregnancy meal plan... Six meals a day, stuff yourself silly, and then suffer from nasty heartburn after, FUN!

All in all a lovely afternoon with the girls, thanks for being such a lovely host Saadia!

Gerwyn's apron

This is Gerwyn wearing his brand new bbq apron. This was one of my Williams-Sonoma purchases from the outlet mall. I figured he would like the red and I liked the illustration of the pig on the front.

Tonight he got to put it to good use by making bbq rosemary lamb with grilled broccoli. It was deeleecious! After dinner, I'd been bugging him to go to my favourite neighbourhood ice cream parlour, Ed's Real Scoop. They make all their ice creams and gelatos from scratch in house. You can actually taste a difference in their ingredients, the fruit is so refreshing and their coffee and chocolate flavours are so rich. They also change their flavours all the time so there's always something new to try. I could eat it every day but luckily Gerwyn only lets us have it once a week. So far I've tried their Creme Brulee, Wildberry Gelato and tonight I had Blueberry Pie. Gerwyn had Coffee Toffee. Both were so good. I also ended up meeting some new neighbours both on our way to Ed's and then in the ice cream parlour itself.

We may be living in the city, but when you can take an evening stroll to your local neighbourhood ice cream parlour and chat with some neighbours along the way, it sure makes you feel like you're in a close knit small town. Gotta love Leslieville!

Dreading the credit card bill...

Shopaholics take New York!

Today is the last day of mine and Sally's 3 day vacation to visit my sister in CT. We started the weekend with what else but a full day of shopping at Woodbury Commons. The weather was super hot (and extremely humid) but the bargains were over flowing and we can all say, that we cleaned out that outlet mall!
Between the three of us we came back with SO many shopping bags, I was even shocked! (Photo to come). After the mall, where did we go? Another mall! We wanted to stop at Target on the way home which just so happened to be in the Pacific Palisades Mall so we ended up spending another 2 hours at Target and H&M where of course, we came out with more bags. I've never shopped so much in one day in my life. But I got plenty of great maternity and baby items and a managed to get a few gifts for my husband, niece and nephew too.

Yesterday we spent the day in Manhattan where we did our best to avoid ANY retail (for fear of doing any more credit card damage, as it was, I had NO room in my luggage and I had even brought an extra empty bag,) and instead went to Sarabeth's for lunch and then watched Mary Poppins on broadway. It wasn't as good as the movie but the sets and songs were very entertaining. We ended the day with a stop at Magnolia Bakery for cupcakes (I tried the coconut, deeleecious!) Today, Sally and I made one last trip to Target and the Stamford Mall to pick up a final item for her husband and we've just come back from a huge lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. After a repack of my bags so I could actually close the zipper, we're ready to head home.

Its been a very relaxing long weekend, I enjoyed spending time with the girls and even managed to get lots of exercise as we walked around the city. My legs were actually quite tired after both days and my sister for once, was the one always walking ahead while us slow poke pregnant ladies struggled to keep up.

Tom and Sarita's Wedding

 

Saturday Gerwyn was a groomsman in his friend Tommy's wedding. Tommy has been his friend since grade 6 and was also a groomsman in our wedding so it meant a lot to Gerwyn to return the favour. It had been awhile since I'd been to one of these big "to do" weddings. Lots of people, decorations, and lots of FOOD! Tom is Macedonian and Sarita is from Trinidad so they had the quite the mix of food and entertainment. A big roast pig was paraded around the room and then served at midnight with buns, hot peppers and corona. On the Caribbean side, Sarita arranged for some Carnival dancers to perform a samba routine, it was very entertaining!

I had purchased a new dress from Banana Republic for the occasion however it was a regular size 6, I was hoping I could get away with it. It was fine before eating but after that huge meal, I felt like every fibre of that dress was stretched to the max! Let's just say it was pretty snug around the belly. Even when I peeled it off at the end of the night, my belly was permanently indented into the dress. So much for wearing it after baby!