The weekend edition

This past weekend was once again full of adventure. My fiancee is going to be away more often for work, so we took some time to just be together as a family before he left for the week.

I must let you know I'm sitting here in a little bit of a sad state because the house isn't as full as it usually is with him around. This week its just the two of us- mother and son.

We started off the weekend with a nice little bike ride- we bought our son a balance bike last year, and he is just starting to love it!

On Saturday we drove out to Steveston in Richmond, BC. My fiancee spent some time here growing up before he moved to Vancouver. Its such a quaint little town bustling with tourists at this time of year! We ate some fish and chips from a place called "Pajo's", did some boat watching, played in the sand, tried to teach Toi how to play frisbee, ate watermelon sorbet (my sons absolute favourite fruit at the moment), and ended off our Steveston day on a harbour tour around the water. My son loves boats, he loves water, and he loves the sunshine just like his parents do, so this day was just perfect day!

As you can see, our son had the time of his life! What were you up to over the weekend?

What I'm reading

Well, now that I've let you in on my little world here is what I'm reading. I will let you know that I do judge books by their cover. I don't know why. It's just a thing of mine. I love fantasy/ romance novels but if there is a half naked muscular man on the cover with a half horse body- I'm sorry, I'm not buying it!

1. Get Rich Blogging

Get Rich Blogging By: Zoe Griffin

This book is written by Zoe Griffin. I've recently started this one and it is absolutely inspiring! I almost didn't buy this one just because of the the title name- kinda cheesy but I'm glad I gave it a chance because she talks about all her little blips and moments of growth which I think is great. She's candid about her journey and is very interactive in the way she writes her book. I have a writing journal next to me when I read her book. 

2. Start your own blogging business

Start your own blogging business 3rd edition By: Jason R. Rich

At first glance, this looks like a text book for school. But it really is a great educational read! I'm going through the chapters and taking notes as I go along. I'm excited to get through this book as it's really going to help me become more professional with my blog. I feel like my blog is constantly evolving; I'm moving things around, doing more pre-planning, and learning more and more about social media everyday. I'm still building everything, and its nice to have a book to sort of lead the way as I feel pretty blind most of the time.

3. I love you rituals

I love you rituals By: Becky A. Bailey PH. D.

I'm still getting into this book, but I love the concept. Not only does it have great tools, and games to play with toddlers, but it helps parents to create healthy connections with their children. I realized a little while ago that when I was pregnant, and when my son was a newborn I was into reading about how to raise him, and what his developmental stages were. I'm very confident in how I raise him right now, but I think that there is always room for growth.

I love you rituals helps parents enhance children's self esteem, as well as helping families like mine who are very busy- to stay close.

4. Shadowfever

Shadowfever By: Karen Marie Moning

This is my guilty pleasure! Shadowfever is the 5th and final of a series that I'm completing. The story just drew me in! Its inspired by the HBO series "True Blood"- something else I'm kind of into. Its not so much about vampires, and werewolves- it's similar in a way but it has its own flair which is good because I kind of got sick of reading about vampires. I love a good fantasy novel, but there is only so much of something that you can read about!

Do you have any guilty pleasures that you read, or something that your really into right now? I'm always looking for something new!

Introducing: The Self Care Series

This image is courtesy of artur84/ freedigitalphotos.net

I've been wanting to post about this for quite some time. It just took some 'urgency' to do so.

After this weekend I realized how much more effort I want to put into myself. I don't know if you read my Monday post this week, but I had a moment with my fiancee (check it out here), and in that not so obvious moment of realization I knew it was time to put my foot down- with myself. I say, enough with the mommy look!

Here and there I make time for myself, but its not a routine. I don't make an effort everyday, and its something I'd like to do because I always feel good when I take care of myself. I feel refreshed, and recharged! 

This Self Care series will be split up into a few different posts, and with my new schedule I just posted for blogging yesterday (check it out here) you can come back next Wednesday for another addition. 

This week (after all my rambling), I'd like to start off by introducing you to the topics I have on my mind. I'd also like to ask for input as to what I could write about for self care- ideas are always welcome!!

• Week 1: Meditation
• Week 2: Exercise
• Week 3: Skin Care 
• Week 4: Hair (oh god- THE HAIR! Did I mention I used to be a stylist?)
• Week 5: New make up regime? (mine is about 2 minutes..)
• Week 6: ...help me out here ;)

Please, if there's anything you'd like to see me write about, I'd more than happy to do it! Is there something you've been wanting to do for yourself? Let me be your cheerleader, I can be a good one! I may have fluffy hair at times, but I'm working on it. I think I scared myself when I looked in the mirror this weekend, but that scare was for me to start making leaps and bounds for the woman I want to become. 

Becoming a mother has changed me. Not only is raising a toddler a sometimes hectic experience, but the last few years of life has changed me. In that transitional period I think I lost face- sometimes those moments in life are difficult, and you just forget about yourself, so I'll call this my 'polishing period'. Have you had one of those? This is my terminology, so don't go looking it up ok?

I might even Youtube this.... no promises though, but I'm considering it right now. If I don't Youtube this now, I'll do it at a later date after I write the posts.

Let the brainstorming begin! (please leave comments below this post after you have signed into your google account, or just sign in with "open ID" which is another option. Thank you!