One of the best things about aging is that I no longer care about being in style. I said this to my husband, who vehemently disagreed that this was the case, leading to an involved conversation about semantics. I maintain that having personal style and caring about how a person presents oneself is very different […]
Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Jan Stan Edition
January 30, 2025 by 48 Comments
I asked my son if people still used the word “stan,” and he said what do you mean, like the Stan countries? When I explained that no, I wasn’t talking about the Central and South Asian, mainly former Soviet countries, I was talking about describing how I feel about things I like, he tilted his […]
Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Holiday Miracles Edition
December 19, 2024 by 48 Comments
It snowed! Let me tell you, there is NOTHING to make a person appreciate snow like moving to a place in which it snows very little from a place where it can snow literally any month of the year, and does constantly between October through May. Here, if it snows at the end of February […]
Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Travelling Light Edition
November 28, 2024 by 49 Comments
It’s been three weeks since we got home from Italy, and the whole trip feels like a dream. We had a little extra time in Monterosso al Mare, a tiny town in Cinque Terre, before our boat left to take us back to Manarola, so we and our guide wandered around, poking into little shops. […]
Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Cheap Trick Edition
September 19, 2024 by 52 Comments
It’s sunset season! I know what you’re going to say: sunsets occur on the daily. This is true – sunrise, sunset – but since I retire so early I don’t generally see sunsets from May to August. Sunrises, I see those every day. But sunsets? No. I really do believe that The Best Things In […]
Nicole’s Favourite Things: The One Year Anniversary Edition
July 18, 2024 by 48 Comments
Exactly one year ago today, I loaded up the car and drove eight hours solo, with only Rex and a queue of podcasts for company, to move from Calgary to Kelowna. The entries from my one-line-a-day journal from this time last year are kind of nuts; frantic descriptions of packing, cleaning, and purging, interspersed with […]
Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Landscaped Edition
June 27, 2024 by 59 Comments
I realized just as I wrote that title that I have a sugaring appointment this afternoon, but lest you get the wrong idea, what I am going to talk about today is NOT that kind of landscaping. It’s full on summer and I am enjoying the gorgeous weather, although today is “coolish.” Of course, in […]
