Weekend Links

Happy Friday! I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to the weekend! We don't have much planned, hopefully lots of family time and catching up on some sleep! As always a few links from around the web...

We upgraded to this iced coffee maker a couple of weeks ago. Making cold brew is so much easier now!

This is an interesting article about how Wonder Woman is shaking up DC Entertainment.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made their first appearance together in Toronto. And because Vogue is now Cosmo they have an article by a body-language expert weighing in on if the two are actually in love?!?

Also over at Vogue: the best treatment for insomnia. I went through a terrible bout of insomnia a couple of months ago. What worked for me? No phone or laptop before bed (I moved my phone charger from my bedside table to my desk, so I can't even be tempted). If I have my phone or computer near me, I just can't shut off—I always think of one last thing to look up, and my brain constantly spirals through to do lists. Reading a book before bed to help relax and wind down has really helped too. I've always been a big reader, but I started reading ebooks on my phone and looking stuff up on my phone was just too tempting, so now I've stopped reading ebooks and am back to the good old fashioned paper kind. Most nights I sleep pretty well now, unless my son is having a bad night and wakes me up in the night.

To the above point, did you read this article about how Aziz Ansari quit the internet? I quit Facebook by doing the same thing, deleting the app from my phone, and my life is so much better now. Maybe I should quit the internet too?

Also at GQ Style: What the cool kids wore to NYC's hottest book fair.

Fixer Upper is ending! At least there will soon be a Magnolia cookbook for us to drown our sorrows in!

And speaking of food, I made mincemeat this week. The house smelled so good!

Have a great weekend!
XOXO

Montreal Day Trip: Apple Picking

For a couple of prairie kids surrounded by wheat fields growing up, the novelty of living by apple orchards hasn't worn off. One of our favourite fall traditions is heading out of the city and picking apples. Fresh apples, crisp fall air, and tasty treats — what more could you want!

There are lots of places to pick apples around Montreal, but our favourite spot is Rougemont. There's plenty to do, it's not overcrowded, and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg as some of the other spots close to the city do. Our favourite orchard, Verger Danielle has great apples to pick, hay rides through the orchard, and the best apple turnovers I've ever tasted (and my husband loves their apple sausage). This year they added a bouncy castle and kids play space which our son went crazy over! It's also just down the road from Cidrerie Michel Jodoin, which besides offering up tasty apple cider, also has live music, delicious treats (we've bought yummy cheese and bread here in the past), and often a food truck parked out front. You can definitely spend a day out at Rougemont enjoying the sights, and eats! There are lots of places to stop nearby, and in years past we've made a long weekend of it by staying at the nearby Manoir Rouville-Campbell and hiking up the very pretty Mont Saint-Hilaire.

Here are a few more pictures from our outing:

Apple picking season goes until Thanksgiving weekend. Don't miss out!

XOXO

My Favourite Book

It's hard to choose, because I love so many books, but I think my favourite book is Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. I love Margaret Atwood, she is a total master of her craft and her writing is breathtaking and transformative. I love how many of Atwood's work features science fiction (The Handmaid's Tale, The Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake), a genre not often seen in literary fiction (I know Atwood doesn't like her works labeled as science fiction, but I think they are). Her works are challenging, and intellectual, and just so good to read.

In Alias Grace Atwood tackles a different genre—historical fiction, taking on the true-life tale of the notorious nineteenth-century murderess Grace Marks. (As an aside, I usually hate historical fiction. I like to read biographies and non-fiction history books—and I think the real history is intensely interesting as it is, it doesn't need to be tarted up like it is in historical fiction. For a while I was doing a project I called Booking The Booker, where I was trying to read through all of The Booker Prize winners. I stopped when Hilary Mantel won not once, but twice for her historical fiction series about Thomas Cromwell. I think I got a third of the way through Wolf Hall before I had to return it to the library and never bothered to check it out again. I love reading books about that period of history, and think that you can find non-fiction books that are so much better, like ones by Alison Weir and Lady Antonia Fraser. As an aside to the aside—don't you think The Booker Prize gets it so wrong so often?)

Grace Marks is a lowly maid, convicted of murdering her employer Thomas Kinnear and Thomas's housekeeper, and mistress, Nancy Montgomery. Much of the novel is Grace recounting her life story to a psychiatrist commissioned to determine if Grace should be pardoned of her crimes. At it's core Alias Grace is a gripping murder mystery, but it's also a haunting tale about perception, identity, innocence, guilt, truth, and sex. It examines immigrant life in Victorian times and domestic servitude. It's an engrossing piece of writing and weave's in Atwood's common themes of women's roles and how women are perceived and defined by others. It's quiet and sensational all at once. I think it is truly a masterpiece.

CBC, starting tonight, is airing a six-part miniseries adaptation of Alias Grace, made by the inimitable Sarah Polley. I'm excited to check it out!

What is your favourite book? It's hard to pick, isn't it :)

XOXO

Weekend Links

It's been a long and emotional week over here—I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend. I think we're going to stay in and watch this tonight. Have a relaxing weekend, and if you want to check out a few interesting links on the web...

Fall TV Preview

Looking forward to the new fall TV season isn't as much as a thing as it used to be — with streaming platforms releasing series throughout the year we don't need to wait in anticipation for fall to roll around for new television shows to start up. But I still look forward to the fall television season, hoping for a new must-watch series. Here are two shows I'm looking forward to this fall:

Star Trek: Discovery — I'll admit it - I'm a Star Trek nerd. Growing up I was really into Star Trek: The Next Generation (I may have worn a Star Trek pin pinned on my winter coat for a year or two). I've also been really into the new movie reboots as well — especially the first two. Being a Trekkie, I'm excited for this new show, which is a prequel to the original series — and exists in a universe where humans still clash with each other, not just other entities in the universe. It has a strong female cast with Michelle Yeoh staring as Philippa Georgiou, the captain of the Starship Shenzhou and Sonequa Martin-Green as First Officer Michael Burnham. I can't wait to boldly go to where no one has gone before! Debuts on CTV and Space in Canada on September 24.

The Deuce — I wouldn't normally be excited about a show set in the gritty sex industry of New York in the 1970s, but I'm a huge fan of The Wire, so I'm looking forward to this new show helmed by David Simon. James Franco, in what I'm sure is a star-turning performance, plays twins trying to make a buck on the burgeoning porn industry. Maggie Gyllenhaal is a sex worker with entrepreneurial ambitions who is also drawn into the the porn industry. I'll give anything David Simon does a chance. The Deuce premiered Sunday, September 10 on HBO Canada.

Are you looking forward to any TV series this fall?

XOXO

P.S. The Atlantic had a good fall TV preview here!

On Loss

I try to keep lykksalighet a carefree space where I can keep track of simple pleasures like things I like, books I read, and trips I've taken. But sometimes life isn't so easy and simple. It can be complicated and difficult.

I lost my mom to ovarian cancer 10 years ago.

The day my mom died it felt like a hole had been ripped through me, and I physically felt like a piece of me was missing. The pain lessened with time, but the thing about grief is that it's a continuous process. It ebbs and flows — sometimes stretches will go by where I hardly think about her, and other times the pain is almost as fresh as the day she died.

The last two years have been the most joy filled of my life — finding out I was pregnant and then having my son. But I have also felt like I was mourning my mom all over again. I missed her so desperately. Selfishly I wanted answers to all those questions I never asked - what were her pregnancies like, did she have lots of morning sickness, did she get stretch marks, were her labours long or short, easy or difficult, was breastfeeding painful, were my brother or I colicky babies - and would my experience be like hers.

And selfishly I wanted her to take care of me. The first days after giving birth are so tender and intimate, all I wanted was my mom's gentle touch.

I remember one day when my son was a few months old. I'd taken him to the mall with me to run some errands and I saw a new mom with her baby walking through the mall with her own mother. This was a scene I've seen a thousand times before, but for some reason that day it just hit me like a sack of bricks — I would never have that. I would never have the simple joy of spending time with my son and my mother. And that's not to say I don't have other strong, wonderful women in my life. But I don't have my mom.

It makes me sad and angry that my son will never get to meet her. That a terrible disease that she fought tooth and nail until the very end, took her far too soon. That she never got to hold her grandson in her arms.

And I know I can teach my son about my mom — how she was strong and kind and complicated. How she loved the prairies and thought there was nothing better in the world than the smell of the land after a summer's rain. How she served others and was the glue that held so many things together. How she could single handedly host a sit-down traditional Norwegian Christmas dinner for thirty, still make it to evening service, have the house spick-and-span, and not break a sweat. How she could roll the perfect piece of lefse. How she could grow the most beautiful garden and take pleasures from such simple things in life.

But there will always be a little hole, maybe not as large or as painful as the one that ripped through me ten years ago, but a little sadness where she is missing. Grief isn't something that we get over, it stays with us, and shapes us as we move through life. It's the price we pay for loving others deeply. I'm lucky that I was loved so deeply by my mom.

But I miss her.

XOXO

Weekend Links

It's Friday! This week has been a long week. I had a major project due at work and my husband was quite ill. A little R 'n R is in order for this weekend. Hope you have a good one! And, as always a couple of interesting links...

How did I not know these shoes existed?!? I saw someone wearing them on the street the other day and they looked awesome! They seem perfect for my style - comfy and casual, but still a little pulled together. I'm majorly crushing on these. Or these. I always find the best things when I'm trying not to shop...

I'm finally reading the new Arundhati Roy book that I previewed here. I love her way of storytelling.

This post on taking time for female friendships really resonated with me. This past summer was a little overwhelming as I was staying home full-time with my son, as well as working (I work from home) — and it was a lot to take on. Most days I felt like I was just keeping up, and almost everything slipped to the wayside, especially friends. This fall, with my son now in daycare, I feel like I can have more balance. I'm going to put a greater focus on my friendships.

We went apple picking last weekend, so now we have more apples than we know what to do with! I think we'll make this recipe. Well, a modified version. I love this topping — melting the butter is key somehow. But I always make a different filling. Someday I should really write down the recipe I actually use...

The 2018 Guinness Book of World Records, in pictures. I think the title says it all.

And a look back on lykksalighet. An old post about exploring St. Henri before we lived here. I wasn't so sure when we moved, but now I love this neighbourhood!

Have a great weekend!

XOXO

Currently Craving: Leather Jacket

I have a major lust for a leather jacket this fall. It's something that's been on my wish list for a long time, but I've never found the right one, in the right budget. I think a leather jacket looks so chic paired with jeans and a classic pair of Chelsea boots. I've always liked ones with stand up collars, instead of the classic moto shape. If money was no object I would love this one from Montreal's m0851. This one, more in my budget, is really cute too.

XOXO

Sweet Potato Frittata

One of our favourite dinnertime meals to have is frittata. We haven't had it as much over the summer, but now with cooler temps in store, and we can turn the oven on more, it will be back on high rotation. This sweet potato and spinach concoction is one of my absolute favourites. The sweetness of the roasted sweet potato adds a nice depth of flavour.

Ingredients
1 large sweet potato
Olive oil
300 grams frozen spinach (or 1 package of fresh)
Pinch of nutmeg
8 large eggs
40 grams parmesan cheese (or pecorino, or whatever cheese you like), grated
70 grams cheddar cheese, grated

Method
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Peel and cut the sweet potato in cubes, then toss with a little salt, pepper and olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Roast for about 40 minutes, or until the sweet potato chunks are golden brown. Set aside.

Place an 11-inch non-stick ovenproof skillet on medium heat, and put in a lug of olive oil. Once hot, add the spinach, salt and pepper, and a good pinch of nutmeg. Cook until the spinach is wilted, stirring occasionally until all the liquid has evaporated. Meanwhile, crack the eggs into a mixing bowl, season lightly and whisk. Add half of the grated parmesan and cheddar to the eggs.

Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the egg mixture, giving it a really good stir. Add the roasted sweet potato chunks and the remaining cheese. Put the pan straight into the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the frittata is fluffy and golden brown. Serve straight from the pan or turn out onto a board. Pairs nicely with a green salad.

XOXO

Weekend Links

It's been an emotional week over here this week. My little boy started daycare on Tuesday and there were certainly some ups and downs, but overall he did a great job adjusting to such a big change! I'm not gonna lie though - his mama shed a few tears. This weekend I've got a bit of work to do, but we're hoping to have lots of family time, and maybe a trip out to the country for some apple picking!

Hope you have a great weekend! Here are a few fun links from around the web...

I'm trying to take a little break from shopping for the next few months, but of course as soon as I made this resolution my favourite jeans ripped in the bum. So now I'm on the hunt again for a pair of jeans - maybe I need to invest in better quality this time around. Unless you were living under a rock, you probably saw all over your social feed that Everlane launched their first foray into denim yesterday. Honestly I wasn't that impressed when I saw the jeans on their website, but I'm more intrigued after reading Andrea's review of them over at Seasons and Salts. These jeans from a local company are on my maybe list too.

TIFF started this week and it's always fun to see what the big movies coming out of the festival are. Here is a look at of some of the buzziest films at the festival this year. This one sound intriguing. And this one was shot in Montreal!

We tried a new recipe out this week. Easy to make and delicious - I never would have thought to sauté veggies in balsamic and honey - I think this will be a new addition to our fall repertoire!

I love Scandi style, and Ikea has really upped their game over the last few years. I really enjoyed this blog post on the best finds from the 2018 catalogue. I may have already bought these! In my defence I've never owned flatware that I actually liked. And I have my eye on this too.

The Fug Girls always have great royal coverage - and I thought they had an interesting take on Meghan Markle's Vanity Fair cover.

A follow-up to this post. Surreal indeed.

And finally a look back on lykksalighet - now that it feels like fall I am craving comfort food - I think this veggie bake will be on the menu this weekend.

XOXO

Goodbye Christopher Robin

Doesn't it feel like they only make comic book movies now? I was looking through some fall movie preview lists and was having a hard time finding a movie I wanted to see this fall. I love going to the movies — it's a rare treat now, but it's one of my favourite things to do on a date night out with my hubby, or a relaxed night out with friends. We'll watch movies at home often, but I think there's something special about going to the theatre!

Looking through lists for upcoming movies was a little depressing though, there wasn't much of anything I wanted to see. Then I stumbled upon the trailer for Goodbye Christopher Robin. It looks sweet and uplifting, and I'm a huge fan of Domhnall Gleeson (my husband saw him at the grocery store once while he was in town filming a movie!). Check out the trailer below:

Goodbye Christopher Robin opens in theatres October 13 (in the States - let's hope it opens here at the same time too).

What movies are you looking forward to this fall?

XOXO

P.S.  This is a good list of upcoming movies.
P.P.S.  I'm also looking forward to Battle of the Sexes. I love Emma Stone. And a good feminist movie.

Back to School

Fall always makes me think about fresh starts and back to school! This year it's not me, but my little guy who is heading off to nursery school (I'm feeling all the feels!), but if I was heading back to class, here would be my shopping list:

A classic sweatshirt for taking the chill off in air-conditioned classrooms.

A cute backpack for lugging books back and forth.

Frayed jeans for looking cute on campus.

Sturdy boots for stomping around town.

Cute notebooks for taking notes, because I'm old-school.

A muscle tank because we are going to have a long, warm fall!

Have a great Labour Day weekend!

XOXO