Irene – The Lazy Type A

Currently Obsessed With: Oils and Serums

June 27, 2018June 27, 2018 by Irene

I only recently really committed to consistently utilizing oils and serums in my skincare routine and boy am I very fashionably late to the party. It seems like everyone has been using them for clear, dewy, age defying skin for ages. Since I started using them, oils and serums have played a vital role in brightening and smoothing out my skin’s texture, not to mention being amazing primers under moisturizer and makeup. Take a look at my top picks below.

As someone with combination skin, this serum hydrates without increasing oiliness. I use it after my toner before moisturizer, sunscreen and makeup, for a nice dewy glow. Plus, you can’t go wrong with the price! The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 $6.80 theordinary.com
My tried and true oil from probably my favourite skin care brand. This nighttime oil visibly smooths out and restores your skin overnight and smells amazing to boot! I wake up with baby smooth skin and reduced redness. Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate $57 kiehls.ca
I was recently turned onto this nighttime serum from a couple of prominent bloggers who swear by it’s transformative powers. Some further research shows it’s a cult favourite and can back up it’s high price tag with real results. I alternate this with the Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate at night. Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II $120 sephora.com
While I haven’t tried this one, I wanted to include this as my next purchase. I’ve read so many good things about Farsali (not to mention it’s a staple for all makeup/beauty bloggers as a great moisturizer under makeup). This one will brighten, moisturize and fight aging, and contains rosehip, pumpkin seed, and vitamin e oil. If that doesn’t convince you – it also contains gold! What could be more luxurious? Farsali Rose Gold Elixir $28 sephora.com

Let me know your favourites!

Irene

Nursery Tour: Glamping

June 21, 2018 by Irene

In many ways my husband and I are opposites. He loves the great outdoors, working with his hands, cooking and being outside. I love staying indoors, watching movies, ordering in and enjoying some time to myself. It makes for a great balance in our relationship as well as lots of compromises. Selecting and picking the nursery decor was no exception to this rule. We were having a boy, so of course the theme had to be somewhat masculine. But we were also creating this room in the scope of our house, so the decor needed to be somewhat upscale and mature.

We ended up happily compromising on an upscale camping/glamping theme. He got his outdoorsy element, and i happily took ownership of making it “upscale” via colours, textures and fabrics. Win Win!

Take a look at our final product and let us know if we hit the mark!

Happy decorating,

Irene

OMG I’m pregnant! My top 5 tips to prep for baby

May 23, 2018May 23, 2018 by Irene

I was never the type of girl who knew for sure I would be a mom. I am secure enough now to admit that, my whole life, I’ve been pretty indifferent to the idea – focusing more on what one might call selfish pursuits like socializing, travelling, fine dining and career. I passed on the babies being passed around in the office from moms coming to visit during maternity leave. I was bored to tears with toddlers.

Something definitely shifted when I hit 30. Cue the clichés of our biological clocks ticking, but there definitely was a noticeable seismic shift in how I reacted to babies and kids. As someone who used to stare bewildered at women who would coo and baby talk to kids, imagine my own disbelief when I caught myself doing the same thing. What was happening??

I blame my adorable nephew – the first real kid that came into my life and changed it. Cliché #2: it really was love at first sight when I saw and held him in the hospital. Never was anything so perfect. And that love only grew, watching him hit his milestones and say my name for the first time. Suddenly babies weren’t so scary and toddlers weren’t so annoying. That, and coupled with marrying the love of life, who is so amazing, really changed my trajectory from ‘no way’ to ‘wouldn’t it be nice?’

All of that said, I was still shocked when that pregnancy test came back positive. I mean, it’s not like we weren’t trying, but to be honest, we literally hit the bulls eye on the first go. That in itself was a shock. I really thought we would be the couple who had to try for a long time. In retrospect, we are so lucky and truly grateful we were able to conceive so quickly.

And now as I’m nearing the end of my pregnancy – I’m literally past due (ready when you are little dude!) I wanted to take a second and reflect on the past 9 months. Cliché #3: time did really fly by. I really did learn a lot about myself, my body, my relationships and am so grateful I got to have this experience.

I’m a firm believer that every woman and every woman’s pregnancy is different. It’s such a subjective and unique experience that every woman should own and embrace. And I have to say, my experience was much better than I thought it would be. I heard so many horror stories about nausea, stretch marks, fatigue, etc. that I literally prepared myself for the worst of it. Maybe it’s just me but I feel like if you prepare yourself for the worst, wherever you end up landing, it’s never as bad as you think, and you end up being pleasantly surprised. And while my experience may be what is considered lucky or ‘easy’ – I definitely came out of it with some insights I think are universally applicable to all pregnant women and their journey.

Check out my top 5 tips to prep for baby and rock your pregnancy below.

Plan ahead

Ideally, I would aim to get everything done or at least planned/organized by 30 weeks. I’m such a planner (sorry not sorry) and I can’t help myself. No matter who you are or how you carry, you will get slower and more uncomfortable after around the 30-week mark. I honestly had trouble putting on pants. I highly recommend reading a lot of checklists online – get a good idea of what needs to be done – and tailor the information to your life and space. Not everything that blogger is telling you to do applies to your life and needs. Make tons of list for yourself. I personally don’t write anything down and use my notes app on my iPhone and constantly update and reference it. I wrote lists for everything – what to buy, what to register for, what to prep in the house (reorganize, reno, etc.). And I divided and conquered – my husband got his own lists too! That way we were both being as efficient as possible. Getting everything (mostly) done before the 30 weeks mark really helped me relax and enjoy those last two months.

Start building your community/support early

Pregnancy and new motherhood can be isolating. On top of that, your social groups may shift as you become pregnant and you might find you’re not doing the same things anymore with the same people. In order to thrive during pregnancy (and postpartum) you have to find your tribe – a group of people (whether in person or online) you can connect/relate to that are going through the same things as you. What really worked for me was tapping into friends or acquaintances that were also pregnant or new moms – going for walks, brunches, etc. It’s always comforting to connect with people that are on the same path or have similar experiences as you. Besides that, I joined as many FB mom groups as I could and just started reading the posts in my spare time – you learn so much by doing that. I joined reddit groups. I googled forums and searched anything and everything in my spare time. There are so many places, physical and digital, where you can connect – whether its prenatal classes, mom blogs, reddit, FB, Instagram, Pinterest. See what content speaks to you and assemble your tribe.

Do all the classes and read (almost) all the books.

Up until we got pregnant, we had very little exposure to babies and how to take care of them or interact with them. I had a nephew but we saw him for a couple hours at a time and it mainly just involved easy play. We had both never even changed a diaper! I knew we needed to dive in head first and take some classes to prepare. Luckily our hospital offered several prenatal classes, which we took and found very helpful as a general crash course. We also did a CPR course, which was super helpful and informative – it was also the first time I learned how to assist with chocking and CPR for both infants and adults. I would also recommend taking a breastfeeding ahead of time (if you are planning on breastfeeding). Don’t assume it will be easy and that you’ll get it right away. Breastfeeding is a combined art and science and actually requires a lot of prep work, so it’s best to get ahead of the situation before baby comes. I recommend taking your partner to all the courses, including the breastfeeding one. You’re in it together, and as our lactation consultant so eloquently pointed out: “your brain comes out with the placenta.” So, at the very least, both of you have the information in case one of you has extended baby brain.

In terms of books, don’t go overboard. There are a LOT of baby/parenting books out there and not all of them are worth it. Some of my favourite books that I got the most out of and recommend are: “Eat, Sleep, Poop” “Babywise” and “Bringing up Bebe.” Between these 3, I felt like they covered all the basics. Besides that. I got a lot of my information from just looking at forums, reading mom posts, googling and being curious.

Set clear expectations and responsibilities with your partner.

Our little one isn’t even here yet, and we’ve already encountered many situations where we had to make informed parenting decisions on his behalf. There’s nothing like bringing a human into the world to really highlight your own relationship/partnerships, morals/values/belief systems as well as communication skills. The best time to get aligned on how you’re going to parent is during pregnancy. Take this time to discuss everything from discipline, what language you’ll speak to the child in, schooling, childcare, feeding schedules, who will do what once the baby comes, etc. It’s really important to open and strengthen the lines of communication before the baby comes, and make sure you’re on the same page so that you avoid the added stress of sorting this all out when you’re knee deep in diapers and functioning on very little sleep.

My friends also highly recommend the book “How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids” to help navigate parental roles, responsibilities and expectations after having kids. Although I haven’t read this book, it’s definitely on my list.

Be selfish

Remember that art project you started but never got around to finishing? What about that cute little town up North that you’ve always wanted to visit but still haven’t? Now is your chance to do it. One final cliché to round out the article: do everything you want now, because once the baby comes, you won’t have time. As part of my prep and to do lists I incorporated a bunch of selfish pursuits and projects that I wanted to start, get going or complete before baby came. It included everything from home décor, spring cleaning to travelling, shopping and blogging. Even if you can’t complete everything you want, set up a system for how you can enjoy or work on some of these pursuits or hobbies once the baby gets here. See if your mother in law can watch the baby for a couple hours once a week, while you work on your blog (my plan!) or arrange a system with your partner where you each get a night off weekly or biweekly to hang with your friends and get a break. Just because you had a baby doesn’t mean you changed as a person and being a well rounded person, maintaining your interests, hobbies, relationships and personality will not only keep you sane, but make you a better parent and role model for your little human.

However you get ready for baby, remember, trust your instincts. No matter what decisions you make, you are the center of your baby’s universe and will experience endless love and amazement at the beautiful human you created. Enjoy every second of the journey, pregnancy and beyond.

Happy parenting!

Irene

3 Days in Dubrovnik: Suggested Itinerary

August 18, 2017March 16, 2018 by Irene

We heard a lot of buzz about Croatia leading up to our decision to go. Over the last couple of years it seems like it has exploded with popularity as people are flocking to experience the unique mix of gorgeous natural scenery, medieval cities and historical ruins – that and yacht week, obviously. We visited Dubrovnik for 3 days this July to fully take in everything the UNESCO world heritage site had to offer.

There is so much to do and see in Dubrovnik, you can easily spend a week there, exploring it all. However, we were tight for time, so we crammed as much as we could into exploring the city for two days – and leaving one day to visit close-by Montenegro. See our ideal itinerary below.

Note: Depending on how much of an efficient traveler you are, you might need more time to discover the old town, in case you want to walk around more, visit some museums, shop, etc. so feel free to combine Day 1 and 2 in any combination you’d like. Maybe do 1.5 days exploring old town and then head to the beach or take two full days exploring the Old Town and forget the beach – it’s up to you. Personally, I try and work in a full beach day wherever possible. Also, the 3^rd day I have planned below is completely optional – we just really wanted to see Montenegro.

Top tip: We didn’t actually get one (which I kind of regret) but in my research a lot of people suggested grabbing a Dubrovnik Card (which you can get at the airport or even head of time). Available for 1, 3 or 7 days the card gets you into most tourist attractions and also allows you to travel on public transport for free. Buy ahead of time to save an additional 10% on the card: http://www.dubrovnikcard.com

Day 1 – Discover the Old Town

Get up super early (for real, like 7am) and walk the historic city walls first thing in the morning. Dubrovnik is famous for its city walls, and you might even recognize them from a little seen show called Game of Thrones (they were used as the setting for King’s Landing) – you can even take a walking tour which specifically visits all of the Game of Thrones filming sites! There are a couple of reasons for visiting the wall super early, to avoid the heat (it is SUPER hot in July) and to avoid the crowds from the cruise ships. Exploring the wall should take you about 2 hours.

Explore the old City within the walls. Once you’re done exploring the walls, head down to the city within the walls to explore a bunch of great sites. Take it all in, enjoy the atmosphere, have some gelato. Make sure to walk up and explore some of the alleyways, which make for some amazing pictures. Also, don’t forget to wander over to the pier for some great pics.

Have Lunch at Lady Pipi. Around lunchtime, I would highly recommend visiting Lady Pipi restaurant located at the top of one of the alleyways within the walls. It’s a bit of a walk up the stairs to get there but so worth it! This place is becoming popular so I would suggest lunchtime as your best bet to get in. The scenery is amazing, overlooking the old town with great views of the orange rooftops and you can sit on a beautiful patio overgrown with vines, watching your food being cooked in a large fire pit right in front of you. I recommend the octopus salad and the tuna steak.

Head over to the gondola and take a trip up to Mt Srd

After lunch, you can still do some more exploring of the Old Town (if needed) before heading to Mt. Srd. When you’re ready, wander over to the gondola at the base of Mt Srd. and ride up to the top. The views of the entire old town are gorgeous and I would recommend sitting down for a drink at their restaurant just to get some awesome snaps overlooking the town.

Watch the sunset from Buza Bar – come back down from Mt. Srd and visit Buza Bar, a hidden gem outside the city walls overlooking the sea. You can have dinner there or try 360 restaurant.

Day 2 – Take an Island/Beach day

Croatia is famous for its beaches, and while Dubrovnik doesn’t necessarily have the nicest beaches in the country, they are still worth a visit to relax and enjoy some sun.

First off, I would recommend a visit to Lokrum Island in the morning for some exploring and swimming. You can catch a boat from the Old Town harbour to Lokrum fairly easily as they run every half hour or so. Lokrum is known as a green, tropical nature preserve, famous for its botanical gardens and beautiful peacocks. Take a stroll around the Island, visit the historical monastery, courtyard, GOT exhibit and get lost in its beauty. Make sure to bring your beach shoes and towel as many people swim and tan by the rocks near the boat dock. Apparently, for the more adventurous types, a nudist beach is located at the eastern tip of the Island. You can also grab lunch and/or drinks here at the restaurant.

Take the boat back and visit one of the following beaches for the rest of the day. All of these should offer loungers and umbrellas for rent and are near restaurants for drinks and food.

Banje Beach (this is the one we visited and probably the most easily accessible and convenient – walking distance from Old Town – but most expensive)
Sveti Jakov Beach – a little bit further south
Copacabana Beach or Coral Beach Club – further North

views from Lokrum Island

Day 3 (optional) – Do a Montenegro Day Trip

We bought a pre-planned day trip from Viator to visit Montenegro. I would highly recommend it as an easy way to cross the border and visit some key sites in Montenegro like Kotor and Budva. We thought it was a great price for what you saw, transportation and general information. I would recommend booking way ahead of time to secure your spot.

Take a look at the tour here

views of Kotor from above

And that’s a wrap on Dubrovnik! I honestly don’t think you would need more time here. Croatia is so beautiful and has so many beautiful Islands I would recommend moving on to visit one of them. From Dubrovnik, we took a ferry to Split and then visited a couple of Islands from there.

Happy Travels!

Irene

4 major lessons I’ve learned about love

July 6, 2017June 22, 2017 by Irene

I still remember that fateful night 12 years ago at a university party when I clumsily sat down next to a cute boy at a bar. Not usually a huge talker with strangers, I somehow managed to talk his ear off, without him getting a word in edge-wise and then forced him to dance (something I later found out is literally the last thing he would ever want to do). Luckily, instead of coming off as completely obnoxious, I somehow managed to charm my unsuspecting suitor enough to perpetuate months of flirting after our first meeting. Several months later, after an eventful ski trip with our mutual friends, we finally emerged as an official couple.

Little did we know, a short month thereafter, so early on in our love affair, we would be presented with what seems like an impossible test. That cute boy received a diagnosis of T cell lymphoma and we were both floored. Up until that point, our biggest worries were where to eat and which movies to see. Despite his insistence that I shouldn’t have to deal with this and he would understand if we just stayed friends, I followed my heart and made a decision right then and there to go through this journey together, as a couple. Twelve years later it still remains the best decision I’ve ever made.

You’re going to go through a lot together in a long term relationship and there will be some really amazing moments, some crazy moments and some really tough ones. One thing is for sure, you’ll not only learn a lot about yourself but also about each other, and if you’re open and use every opportunity to learn, change and grow together you’ll emerge victorious. These are my best bits of wisdom I’ve learned in our journey:

Learn your love language – If you’re one of my friends and you’re reading this, chances are you’re rolling your eyes. I always talk about this! But for good reason as I think it’s so so important. I was pretty skeptical when we were told we need to take marriage classes before we walk down the aisle. I mean, we made it this far, what could they possibly teach us that we don’t already know? I’ll tell you what – love languages! I had a huge Oprah ‘aha’ moment when I finally realized that a big root of a lot of our fights was because we had different love languages. I associated being loved with verbal praise, while he associated being loved with actions, not words. In retrospect this made so much sense as to why he was always doing things for me to show his love, while I was waiting for him to pour his heart out and tell me regularly how much he loved me. Understandably, we both weren’t feeling as loved as we wanted to be because we were reading the wrong signs. Once I realized this, I learned to accept him cooking dinner, cleaning the house, fixing my car as the verbal ‘I love you’ I was waiting for.

Have separate lives – I think we all know those couples – the ones that are literally glued at the hip and attend every event together. That’s all fine and understandable in the honeymoon phase, but eventually when you un-glue yourself from your partner and the hormones relax, you’ll actually have to talk to each, and if you’ve been the living the same exact life, it’s likely you won’t have much to talk about. If you take the time to cultivate your own interests and have your own life outside your relationship, it will only give you more to bring back into your relationship when you two are together. Make sure to also give each other space and lots of trust in the process – insert old cliché about loving someone and letting them go. Remember, you are not two halves that make a whole, you are two whole, separate people who share a life. Plan regular girl’s nights, take up a hobby, get passionate about something and then when you’re back with your man – tell him all about it.

Never stop dating one another – that being said above, when you two are together – try to keep it interesting once in a while. As much as you resist, you will ultimately fall into a comfortable routine with your significant other, you’ll come home, make dinner, watch TV, go to sleep, repeat. There’s nothing wrong with that! It shows you’re comfortable with your partner and can be your true self – but it can get stale from time to time. To keep growing together you need to keep sharing experiences together. I’m not just talking about a regular ‘date night’ – honestly, I’m not even that keen on scheduling romance – but more so, regular breaks from routine, whether you spontaneously decide to go out for happy hour one day after work, or if one of you decides you must go out for ice cream at 11pm at night or my personal favourite, travelling together, go with the flow and try to surprise one another.

Be kind to one another – really – I know you’ve heard this one before, and at the risk of sounding cliché, being kind to one another is super important. It may seem like an obvious one, but really, when was the last time you gave your significant other a genuine compliment or just spontaneously hugged them for no reason? More specifically, I’d like to advise everyone to take up what I like to call deliberate or conscious kindness. It’s a conscious choice, or planned attempt, to be kind and grateful towards your partner. It’s making sure you kiss each other before you leave the house and when you get home from work, it’s giving them a wink and compliment when they look especially nice, it’s letting the little things go once in a while, it’s doing something around the house without being asked to, just because your partner looks tired. Use kind words, use kind gestures and create an environment where you both feel seen, appreciated and safe. The world can be cruel and harsh, but your love bubble should be a haven.

Bottom line – You’ll go through a lot of ups and downs over the course of your relationship. There will be days when you want to strangle your partner and other days when you tear up just thinking how wonderful thy are and how much you love them – and it’s totally normal for these feelings to coexist in a long term relationship. The trick is to know and understand this and to ride out the waves together, committed to each other and your partnership.

I recently met the sweetest 90 year man who introduced me to his wife of 65 years. I was so moved by the visible love and admiration between them. Of course, as one does, I had to ask what their secret was. He told me, along with being kind to one another, making each other laugh and being best friends, above all else, you have to choose to love each other each every day. Love is a conscious choice that we make every day when we make up, to radiate it, to accept it and to show it. Wake up every day and choose love, and the rest will fall into place.

Spread the love,

Irene