Month in Review: August 2021

Guess what? My monthly recaps are back!

When we lived in Prague, I decided to start doing a monthly recap to share my travels and other parts of expat life from that month. When we left Prague, I decided to stop doing the month in review posts, since we didn’t have as many travels to share. Instead, I replaced it with my monthly reading wrap up.

But I’ve decided to bring the recap back! I’m doing this for a few reasons: Unfortunately, not because we’ll be travelling more, as that’s still off the table with this raging pandemic. But I wanted to have a space to share more of what’s going on in my life apart from books and travels. I wanted to be able to use these recaps as a personal diary of the year for me. And I wanted to put less pressure on my reading, as my monthly reading wrap up posts were starting to feel like school book reports.

All right, so I am jumping back into the month in review posts with August 2021. The format may change a little in the months to come but I’m excited to be sharing the highs and lows of my months again.

Highlights

One of my favourite moments from this month was trying on our wedding outfits. Both Colin and I got to try on our outfits for the wedding and get them altered in the same weekend. It made the whole wedding feel so much more real and it was awesome to see each other all dressed up!

Towards the end of the month, some family from Toronto came out to visit and it was amazing to see them. I loved being able to show off Vancouver and watch them fall in love with it. We even spent a day stomping around my alma mater, UBC, and I was reminded of just how gorgeous the campus is. It was so pretty I almost considered going back for my Masters!

Lastly, a few of the people in my life who were holding out on getting the vaccine decided to get vaccinated this month and that just makes me so freaking happy! The vaccine is truly the best way for you to protect yourself, your family and your community and is the most loving action you can take. If you have the opportunity and haven’t yet, please get vaccinated! 

Lowlights

Due to some changes with our landlord, we lost use of our storage locker this month. The worst part was just lugging all of our incredibly heavy boxes and bins back up to our apartment – we had to do a few trips and we were wiped! Luckily, we were able to do some organizing and downsizing to find room for everything in our apartment.

Best listen

A friend of mine turned me onto a new podcast, No White Saviors, all about the WE Charity and related scandals. Back in 2015, I worked for WE (when they were known as Free The Children) and certainly found the work environment very toxic. It’s been so eye-opening to learn more about what was happening behind the scenes and to know so many other employees felt the same way I did.

Best watch

I fell in love with Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist early on in the pandemic and finally convinced Colin to watch it with me. We just finished watching the series and suffice to say we’re both big fans and eagerly awaiting the movie!

Colin and I are also keeping up with Survivor Australia and Survivor South Africa. And yes, you should be watching!

Best internet find

I recently started following some amazing people on Instagram who do a great job of breaking down the latest pandemic news and science. Check out and follow Jessica Malaty Rivera (epidemiologist), Samantha Yammine (neuroscientist & biologist), Laurel Bristow (infectious disease specialist) and Dr Farah Shahi (infectious diseases doctor).

What’s cooking?

We had some amazing meals this month! Colin made a delicious twice baked potato, caesar salad and BBQ chicken dinner, we went on a cute date night to have cake at True Confections, I found my favourite dim sum dish at a local restaurant, and we feasted at Banana Leaf with my family from Toronto.

Posts from this month

This month on Teaspoon of Adventure I published:

• Traveller of the Month: Cassie from Cassie The Hag
• The Ultimate Guide to Doing Nothing in Whistler
• 27 Travel Books that Will Inspire You to See the World

Check out any of the posts you’ve missed!

Reads

This month, I’ve finished reading:

Home Sweet Anywhere by Lynne Martin
This book is my retirement goals: a couple in their 70’s sells their house and belongings to slow travel the world. Some of it was a bit hard to relate to given the age gap between me and this couple, but I loved their sense of adventure and am inspired by their way of life.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
I reread this Canadian classic (from 1908!) in preparation for our upcoming trip to Prince Edward Island (where the book is set). I found Anne much more endearing reading about her as an adult than I did when I read this book in school.

Preventable by Andy Slavitt
This book details the White House and America’s response to covid through the lens of someone who worked with many of the key players. This book was heartbreaking and infuriating. It was definitely a tough read but I think an important one.

A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold
Sue Klebold is the mother of one of the Columbine school shooters and details her experience in this book. This book was another tough read but I really appreciated Sue’s insight and vulnerability. She manages to be a loving mother without using the book to excuse herself.

Coming up next

The biggest thing on the docket for September is our WEDDING! We’re just a few short weeks away from our wedding and I am all kinds of nervous, stressed and excited. I’m really looking forward to safely celebrating with our small group of loved ones, exchanging vows with Colin, and just spending an awesome few days with some of the best people in my life.