Real, Not Ideal

Another month in lockdown. I’m nearing the end of my tenth week. I can’t believe how long this has gone on for. There are talks of what is normal and what is not. How are we going to go back to work? Will it ever be the same? I’ll save those ponderings for another day. This month, I’ve really sunk into routines that revolved around really enjoying what I’m eating. I’ve been trying a lot of new things. I’m still baking, but I’m getting more and more into it. I absolutely love what I’ve been eating, as you can see. 1.       Breakfasts I have an entire breakfast schedule. I start my day with a big meal and a cup of coffee. It is my favourite way to start the day. Breakfast has always been my favourite meal, but I never have time to eat it when I’m working because I hate early mornings. This is the perfect way to start the day. 2.       Pecan Butter For anyone who knows me, this is a nut I’m NOT allergic to! I’ve always wanted to make my own nut butter, so I finally bought a mini

What does home mean to you? A place to lay your hat? Where the heart is? Where your mom is? What makes a home? Stores insist that their products are the ones that can make a house a home. There are cleaning products that insist that a clean house is a home. So what does home really mean? I struggle with this. Ultimately, home is with my family. It’s in Canada. It’s in the house where I grew up. My books are there. My childhood teddy bear is there. My family pictures are there. Most of my memories are there. It’s where I feel the most comfortable: the most myself. Yet, I’ve moved away from that home. I’ve moved away from that home three times. When I was in Cardiff , I didn’t feel at home in the place I lived in. In fact, I was miserable. But when I visit Cardiff again, it feels like I’m coming home. Leeds has been my home for three years. Matt thought it was a big deal when I started calling our tiny flat our home. Whenever I go away, I tend to call whatever AirBnb or hotel room ho

Have any other bookworms out there been loving the extra reading time? When I was working, I would get 15 minutes of reading time after school on the train, half an hour a week at school for DEAR, and then a bit of reading when I had my Sunday night bath. Now, I specifically set out to read 50 pages per day. I sit down in the evening with a cup of tea and read away. Not only that, but I’ve also gone and reorganised my Goodreads lists. I listen to so many podcasts about books, and I’m always in conversations with other book lovers, so I get recommendations from everywhere. By the time I read a book from my massive TBR pile, I can’t remember where I got the suggestion from. From now on, every book I add to my Goodreads list will be sorted in shelves based on where I heard about the book. You have no idea how much this excites me. Without further ado, these are books I have been reading in the past few weeks: I’ll Be There for You: The One About Friends – Kelsey Miller – 4 S