#65. 15 things I consumed in May

my thrifting tear continues, revealing recent bloodwork results, and a big thank you to Monica's dad.

Jun 03, 2024

I’m writing this post on Friday, May 31st, from my bed, a new weekly ‘tradition’ that I’ve recently started. On Fridays, I like to spend as long as I can get away with in my bed. I wake up, sans alarm, and do my normal things, like brush my teeth, pee, and make coffee. But instead of starting to get ready for the day, I’ll crawl back into my warm bed and start my day from there. I like to read at least a chapter of my book, write this Substack, or if it’s a Friday that I’m working - I’ll start making my way through my inbox from bed. So here I am now, the sun is shining through my window, I’m on my second cuppa, and I’m excited to share with you what I’ve been up to this past month. Let’s get into it.

article bedframe, endy mattress, wilet quilt, maison tess linens, casper pillows, resthouse body pillow + linen.

I’ve decided to organize this series in a bit more of a structured way. Moving forward #1-5 will always be what I ate, read, watched, listed to, and wore that month. Anything goes for points #6-15.

Keepin’ it W-R-E-W-L (watch/read/eat/wear/listen) with you ^

EAT - It’s tomato season! Already the cherry tomatoes at my local grocer, which are typically so bland and tough, are bursting with flavour. I’ve been eating them like grapes. I made this roasted cod and cherry tomato recipe from the New York Times and loved it. Read the comments section to get ideas on how to modify and elevate it further.
READ - This month, I finished My Last Innocent Year, and I’ve got about 100 pages left of Educated. My Last Innocent Year is about a freshman woman at a prestigious liberal arts university that begins an affair with her English professor. I’ve never read My Dark Vanessa, but from what I’ve heard, this is a little less intense and a more subtle version of the same tale. It explores themes of consent and power dynamics in relationships with significant age gaps. It read a bit like an indie movie to me, and the last third of the book was the strongest, which I find rare in novels but absolutely love when it does happen. The writing was not sensationalized; it was as if the author was just retelling the story exactly how these things tend to unfold, making it feel very realistic. I just started reading Educated, a book that I’m sure you’ve likely already read or at least heard of. I was reluctant to pick this book up for so long, and I’m not sure why, because I’m now completely absorbed in it. Funny how that happens.
WATCH - I’ve heard Dax and Monica rave about Couples Therapy for months, so when I had the long weekend to myself, I decided to give it a go. It’s the definition of binge-worthy, so much so that it scares you how fast you can get through 10 episodes. It’s completely fascinating and it makes you wonder how ANY couple actually makes it. Orna is an extra-ordinary therapist, with listening skills like I've never seen before. Her ability to hear each person, to stay hyper focused on the conversation, and to analyze what is being said on a deeper level, is seriously impressive. She was also just recently on Armchair Expert, which by the way, included one of my favourite Fact Checks ever, with Dax sharing a harrowing tale of getting his daughter to a Taylor Swift concert in Portugal despite her passport being expired.
LISTEN - Britt and I saw Challenges a couple Tuesdays ago for cheap movie night. I went into the film knowing very little and having somewhat low expectations, and to my pleasant surprise, the movie impressed me. I was thoroughly entertained and thought it was a very fun movie. Of course I loved all the sexual tension, but the best part of the film was definitely the soundtrack, which Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (of Nine Inch Nails) scored. If this isn’t nominated as best Original Score next year, I’m rioting.
WEAR - I’ve been pining over these Poppy Barley heels for a while now, and was lucky enough to be *gifted* a pair. The citrus colour is amazing, and they are SUPER comfortable despite how dainty they look. I feel like I could truly dance the night away in these and not suffer, or pull an Emma Chamberlain and take my heels off during Met Gala interviews. I wore them out to dinner with my friend Brie (we went to Tourist on a Sunday which is the best piece of advice I will give you in this newsletter. Rotating dinner menu every Sunday, absolutely delicious - go!) with a wide leg jean, sheer top I thrifted, and pin striped blazer. They’re the perfect high-low shoe that you can dress up and wear to a wedding, or pair down and go out for a casual dinner in.
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I stopped my raw milk membership when we moved to Mexico. I had every intention of starting it back up when we returned, but if I’m being honest, there were a few things about the commitment that were hard to uphold. For one, I didn’t always go through 2 litres a week, and the price per jar kept creeping up (as with everything these days). I was in a pickle, because I was completely hooked on this incredibly creamy, delicious, and good-for-you artisan milk in my coffee every morning. The next best option was Avalon’s 3.25%, but I don’t necessarily love their ethics and values as a company. A couple of my girlfriends had been to Promise Valley Farm in Duncan a few times and recommended their lightly pasteurized farm fresh A2 milk that’s on TAP at the farm. I’ve since gotten it a couple times and it tastes almost identical to the raw stuff I used to get; super creamy on top, almost yellow in colour, and takes your coffee and smoothies to a different stratosphere. It’s obviously a far drive, and won’t be a weekly thing, but whenever I get the chance, I’ll always fill a jar from them.
$8 to fill a 2L jar.
While in Duncan picking up my milk, I popped into a few thrift stores in the area, one of which was a completely unassuming volunteer run donation store. Right away I saw a dress that I thought could work. It was a long, blue, silky dress with sweet flowers throughout out, and I was optimistic. Fortunately, I loved it as soon as I put it on. The best part? It was $10.
farm girl chic.
My SIL, Diane, is the best gift giver I know! She consistently spoils me. This year, in addition to a cute Ozma onesie, and a “vintage” copy of a 2002 Vogue magazine with GP on the cover, she got me the G. Tox Himalayan Salt Scalp Scrub Shampoo. I was hesitant at first, since it literally looks like a body scrub, but the lather is impressive, and the way it foams up and cleans your hair is SO good. Formula Fig in Vancouver sells it, too.
My Last Innocent Year was also recommended by D.
The Vancouver marathon was on the first weekend of May, and I took part a different way this year. I was hired by local running coach and current Lululemon Ambassador, Holly Dickinson of Accel, to cook all the meals for her runners taking part in a race weekend retreat. I’ve long been interested in taking part in wellness retreats, but this was my first time doing anything like this! It was super fun and rewarding and I would definitely love to explore participating in more. I loved Holly’s unique concept of hosting a retreat centred around a specific race, and it catered to my interests in sports nutrition specifically.
A group of my closest friends and I went to Squamish last weekend to visit our dear friend Layne, who recently moved to the mountain biking/hiking/climbing/tacoma driving capitol of Canada last fall. It was a classic girls weekend - Taylor Swift songs were sung on the drive up (none of us claimed to be Swifties but at least 1 person was not telling the truth), a pancake breakfast was had, there was putzing around town, and there were negroni’s... oh were there negorni’s. One noteworthy place we ate at was at The Buvette, an Italian spot that sells fully loaded Italian subs. If you live in Victoria, you may remember the cult fav Hero Subs— these were very similar with an equally generous amount of meat. Super simple menu: you’re either getting a meat sando or a veggie sando. We actually ran into Hayden Korte-Moore here, which leads me to my next point…
I joined the #movementmay challenge with The Peach Club and I really enjoyed it. The first workout was shockingly hard, but it was nice to see there was lots of variety in not only the intensity of the workouts but also the lengths of the classes, and the focus of the workouts. I’m beyond impressed that so many people seem to know about TPC and were doing the challenge. I also just found out that I won the giveaway for a free Travel Kit, which is so exciting because I’ve been meaning to buy myself a pilates ball for ages! And this is the cutest one I’ve seen.
I got some updated blood work done about a week ago. We did a full panel to see where my hormone levels are at. I’ve struggled with irregular cycles my whole adult life and after 4 years of active investigation, we’ve made little progress to figuring it out. PCOS and Female Athlete Triad have both been tossed around by multiple different practitioners, and I’ve been on protocols for both extremes. I’ve been told to be on a strict Paleo/Elimination diet for weeks, where I lost 10-12 lbs and weighed the lowest I have since high school, and I’ve been told to immediately stop all cardio exercising, sauna-ing, and to focus on resting and eating without abandon. It’s frustrating and confusing when your bloodwork comes back looking pretty solid. My androgens levels were all quite low, my ferritin was 59, B12 was 411, Vitamin D was 132, AMH was 56, FSH 2.9, LH was 6.7. I have an appointment with my ND this week, and I’ll be curious to hear her thoughts.
may 2020, 4 years ago, looking quite slight in the middle of an intense “elimination diet” I probably should not have been on.
I shared this on my Stories the other day, and I’m going to repeat it again because it’s such a ridiculous tale. I was having a great “internet day”, really in the vortex of online window shopping, when I found a very cute pair of espadrilles (see Wishlist below). I almost pull trig, but decided to wait. I walked downtown instead, heading to a workout class, and decided to pop into a consignment store I never go to on my way there. Immediately, I see a pair of espadrilles very similar to the ones online priced at, get this… $7.99. Wait it gets better. I’ve historically had a challenging time with tight shoes because my right foot is slightly bigger than my left. While checking the price of the shoes, I noticed something odd. These espadrilles were different sizes? The right was a 37 and then left was a 36. I couldn’t believe it, and when I tried them on, it was like a Cinderella moment. My mind still hasn’t quite wrapped around how sim this situation was, but I did want to extend a big thank you to Monica’s dad (IYKYK).
I seem to continue to have great luck with consignment stores. In my last dispatch I mentioned finding an Ilana Kohn jumpsuit at House of Savoy and I’m about to repeat myself again in this dispatch, because the exact same thing happened. I set out one Saturday afternoon to thrift, hitting up my usual Oak Bay suspects. Lo and Behold, another Ilana Kohn jumpsuit is starring me straight in the face. This one (which I bought for $50 CAD), I’ve seen before on Diane, and I’ve always loved it. It’s a bit looser and definitely more soft than my previous denim one and I’ve been wearing it none stop because it’s so comfy.
I don’t know why I’ve never tried the breakfast sandwiches at Rise and Grind cafe, considering it’s right across the street from the gym that I work at. I wish I had, because not only are they relatively inexpensive, they are REALLY good. I always thought Victoria lacked a good go-to breakfast sandwich spot but I must have just been living under a rock. I recommend both the Originator and the B.L.A.S.T.