Friday Favourite Moments #12 2026

Woot! Woot! It's finally Friday! And the Jays play their first game of the official MLB season today! You can count on our family watching the game tonight and we can't wait!!! Until then, here are some of my favourite moments from this past week. Spoiler alert: It's a lot of "post-renovation work."

1) Tulips

Yes, the tulip love is still going strong. These bring a bright spot of sunshine to our otherwise grey, early spring. I will probably stop buying tulips soon but until I have some flowers outside to brighten my days, I will continue to enjoy them :)

2) My yellow office

 

Painting my new office a bright yellow was a favourite this week! As I've said before, there is very little natural lighting in this room so I wanted it very bright. This yellow was the perfect fit. It looks very empty still as we haven't yet emptied out our storage unit but imagine it with a desk, a cozy place to sit, and a rug, and I think it will be perfect.

 3) Rachel working on her room

I've mentioned this before too but Rachel fixing holes in her walls and painting her new room with her bestie, S, was a definite favourite this week. These two girls were so proud of all their hard work. Dave and I did the second coat of paint but other than that, these two taped, primed, and painted the first coat. They did an awesome job!

 

4) Sam and Rachel's new rooms

Both Sam and Rachel are now partly moved into their new rooms. While there is still some setting up to do, and some furniture to acquire, the fact that they can both sleep there is awesome!!! Since Sam's room is brand new, he got to choose his paint colour but didn't have to do the work of painting it! Hahaha!!!

 

5) CAN-Struction

We took a small renovation break and went to check out CAN-Struction last weekend. It was fun as always! All these structures are built out of food which is then donated to the Food Bank.

left: Mario Kart; middle: sushi; right: Stitch from Lilo & Stitch

 

6) Our friends rock!

 

On Saturday, our friends and their son came over and helped us move furniture, helped us move Sam down into his new bedroom, and helped us move all our boxes from our neighbours' basement.

 

A few evenings ago, Janice came over and helped me dust for a few hours -- we cleaned off the rest of Sam's shelf, a shelf of books in the living room, and the shelf of canned food and boxes in the dining room. Janice even helped me fold a couple of loads of laundry. Our friends have been so supportive and helpful throughout this whole renovation process and I am so thankful for them. 

7) Coffee at work

One of my co-workers had won ten free coffees through the Tim Horton's Roll Up The Rim to Win promotion. Yesterday she brought coffees for a few of us. I've been so tired this week from working and unpacking/cleaning after the reno, that I very much appreciated the extra caffeine boost. 

So those were my favourite moments from this week. It's Thursday evening as I'm writing this and I know another favourite moment will be in a couple of hours when I can crawl into bed really early. I'm tired.

 

How has your week been? Do you have a favourite moment?

Monthly Musings: Spring Holidays And Fun

I always love linking up with Monthly Musings and today is all about one of my favourite things -- SPRING!!! I have to keep reminding myself it is still "early spring" and that really, nicer spring weather is coming, right?!? Patty, who blogs at Good, Better, Best, hosts this link up so you can go there to read the other posts.

1) Does it feel like spring yet where you are?

My first response was "no" because, while we have had a couple of nice days, it has mostly been cooler days where we still need mittens and winter jackets. However, the snow is mostly gone and I have to remind myself we are in "early spring." Therefore, "yes" it does feel like spring -- just not the nice warmth and sunniness of spring which I really love!

Me, last year on a forest walk. I'll be able to start these in a couple of weeks (I hope!) 

2) What spring holidays do you celebrate?

We celebrate Easter and Passover. The first seder is on Wednesday and then Easter kicks off with Maundy Thursday the next day. Some years they overlap a lot more, like the year Sam's birthday, first seder, and Good Friday were all on the same day. Oof.

 

We also celebrate the unofficial holidays of "Opening Day for MLB" (specifically the day the Jays play their first game), and "First Day of Outdoor Laundry Hanging!" I recognize those holidays are very specific to our family/me!!!

 

3) Any spring trips planned?

We'll go to baseball games! Does that count as "spring trips"?!?

4) Favourite foods to eat and share for spring holidays?

I really love the first BBQ of the season, which can usually happen around Easter.  I make potato salad and usually chickpea salad and it's such a treat. I also love matzoh ball soup for Passover.

  

5) Are there any spring festivals in your area?

Nope, but I'm looking for them! You know I'd be attending them if I found one!

6) Best spring allergy relief tip.

One year a blog friend recommended Flonase. Last year, Rachel and I were suffering so badly I went to the drug store and came home with two bottles. That made spring much more pleasant last year.

 

7) What makes you think, "Ok, now it's finally spring."?

The day when I get home from work and can read outside in the afternoon with a Coke. Also, when I can plant pansies in my window boxes. I also love the day I can leave my winter jacket at home and ditch my winter boots. I can usually wear shoes long before I can wear my spring jacket.

 

8) Spring rain ... love or dislike?

I usually "love" a spring rain, as long as it's not too chilly. It feels like it's washing away the last of the winter dust and grime and everything just feels fresher afterwards.

9) Special spring holiday dessert or treat?

After our March Break to Florida where we ate a ton of Key Lime Pie, that dessert is now tied to spring for me. It's green, it's tart, it's not too heavy. I love it!

 

10) Favourite spring cocktail or mocktail?

I really love a G&T or any specialty drink at a Blue Jays game! Spring is also when we pull out the ice maker and I have Coke with ice and some lime juice. It's so yummy!

So that's a little bit about spring, and what marks that season at our house. Spring is a little topsy turvy this year because we're settling back into our house after the reno and so some of our (my) favourite traditions, like the first laundry hanging day (!!!), haven't been able to happen yet. But you can be certain that I will be celebrating them when they do!

 

Happy Spring!!!

What's Up Wednesday: March 2026

Between our super relaxing March Break getaway to the Dominican Republic and moving back into our whole house after our (mostly completed) renovation, life is just a blur to me right now. What day is it? What am I supposed to be doing right now? When can I go to sleep? And, oh yeah, where is my bedroom again?!?!?! This is my life these days :)

Answering these questions monthly helps me reflect on the past month and I really appreciate having a record of what we've been up to. The questions come from Shay at Mix and Match Mama and Sheaffer at Sheaffer Told Me Too.

image from here

 

What we're eating this week... I thought now that we had our kitchen back I would be cooking more regular meals but we've been painting rooms for the past four days, moving things back into our house from our neighbours' and our storage until, and oh yeah, working (!!!), so we're still eating take out a lot. However, last week on vacation we enjoyed all-you-can-eat gelato and pizza. And we got to drink a couple of coconuts. (Is that how you describe it - "drink a coconut"?!)

 

What I'm reminiscing about... Sam turns 17 (!!!) on Monday so I'm reminiscing about his amazing 16th birthday last year. He had a whole bunch of friends over for a sleepover and then he got his learners license. It was a pretty epic birthday. This year is going to be a little quieter.

 

What I'm loving... I am absolutely loving seeing tulips in my new kitchen. Get ready for a lot of pictures of tulips in this spot over the next few years! Hahaha!!! Also, how many times can I talk about how much I love our backsplash?!?!?!

What we've been up to... Our renovation continued this month and we were slowly able to move into a few rooms we hadn't had access to, like the kitchen!

We looked at paint colours for a few rooms that weren't renovated but that we are using in different ways...

...and Sam did some more driving, since our gross winter of lots of snow and ice has finally abated. I rarely drove this winter and even Dave didn't enjoy driving.

There was one amazing spring day and Rachel and I did a ton of yard work!

And our renovation continued as more rooms got painted.

We were excited as floor coverings came off!

And we headed to the Dominican Republic for a quick, relaxing, March Break getaway!

When we returned, we had access to a few more rooms, so we started painting. First up, my new office got a sunny coat of yellow. It has very little natural light so I wanted something bright!

We took a quick painting break to go see Can-Struction. This windmill, featuring a lot of tea, was my favourite structure.

With a lot of help from friends, we moved Sam down into his new bedroom. And he checked out his shower! Hahaha!!!

And as soon as we could move into our new bedroom, Rachel started fixing walls in our old one (her new one) in preparation for painting it. She wanted to get together with her best friend, S, so I said S could come over if she was willing to help tape and prime Rachel's room. 

The girls has so much fun that S came over again the next day to help put on the first coat of colour! I was thrilled to have less taping and painting to do and Rachel loves that she got to do so much of the painting work. Win-win!!!

What I'm dreading... Unpacking and trying to figure out where everything goes.

What I'm working on... Unpacking and trying to figure out where everything goes! Hahaha! Also, I've been working on painting, moving things around in our house, and trying to get everything back into our house.

What I'm excited about... I'm excited that the renovation is almost done (!!!) and that we have so many beautiful, new, spaces!!! It kind of feels like we moved to a new house :)

 

Left: our renovated kitchen; right: our new bedroom addition

What I'm watching/reading... Last week I really enjoyed watching the ocean as I lay in a beach chair. It was seriously the best! Starting this weekend, I'm super excited to be watching some Blue Jays baseball!!! Whooo hooooo!!!! And I've been watching paint dry. So exciting :)

As for reading, I read an eclectic mix of books on vacation. There was a travel memoir, a medical memoir, and some baseball books. Currently I'm reading The Game: Inside the Secret World of Major League Baseball's Power Brokers by Jon Pessah. It's the inside history of baseball starting in about 1992 and going to about 2012. It's surprisingly engaging (to me!). Since Paul Beeston is featured, I've also been thinking about when he signed me as a "Blue Jay for the day" during WinterFest in January 2019. Beeston was the President of the Blue Jays for a number of years, including when they won the World Series in 92 and 93.

What I'm listening to... I'm hearing a lot of echoes from the empty rooms in our house. They need to be filled with furniture and art work so they don't echo so much! Our house is LOUD right now.

What I'm wearing... Painting clothes. And when I'm not wearing painting clothes, I regret it. Sadly, on Monday I didn't think I would be painting so I didn't change and then, when I had to do something in Rachel's room, I ended up with a streak of cream paint on my black capris. Boo.

 

What I'm doing this weekend... As I said above, Sam turns 17 on Monday so we're doing some sports related things this weekend! We've done a lot of sports watching together and I love it!

left: Sam and I at a Toronto FC soccer game; middle: Sam and I at an English Champions League preseason friendly match; right: Sam and I at a St Louis Cardinals baseball game on our mother-son trip

 

Also, it's Opening Day for the Blue Jays on Friday so you know I'll be watching that!!! Baseball is back!!!

What I'm looking forward to next month... Hopefully by next What's Up Wednesday I'll feel a lot more settled in our house. Right now everything is in chaos and we are trying to figure out how to set up all our new spaces, as well as how to re-purpose some of the old ones.

 

In a more exciting thing I'm looking forward to next month, Janice and I, along with Tessa and Rachel, have a special tea time planned so I'm really excited about that!

 

So there's where I'm (we're) at this last Wednesday in March -- trying to figure out which end is up and trying to get settled into our house. Have a great Wednesday!