Lately on Mostly YA Lit | Summer & Fall 2017

Hi guys, you may have noticed that things have been a bit slow around here. I wanted to give you an update on what’s been happening. It’s been a massively busy and emotional last few months, especially since I first announced that I was pregnant. So here’s what I’ve been up to.

My grandmother:

Without a doubt, the single thing that has defined the last few weeks has been my grandmother’s death. She passed away on September 1, and I’m still mourning and trying to process that last week with her. I’m so grateful that we were able to be with her when she passed, and that my whole family came from Hong Kong for the funeral.

I don’t talk about my family much on here, but my grandmother was 92, and was a feisty, sometimes nosy, but always caring and loving person. She made the best bbq pork buns on the planet, and sewed all of her own clothes (and some other things for us, including a very beloved neon pink fleece blanket that all of us grandkids got). We’re still trying to work through some details of care for my grandfather, but this has definitely been a busy and  emotional time for us. 

All the parties and party planning:

My dear friend is getting married in November, and as maid of honour, I’ve been spending a lot of time with her getting her flowers, venue, and outfits sorted out. Very excited for the wedding, which is going to be super pretty and historical. 

Aside from that, the “Best Bro” (a woman) and I put together a lovely bridal tea for her. I’m super proud of the various tea sandwiches I made (cucumber, smoked salmon, egg salad, BLT) and that the scones turned out so well!

There’s still a few weeks to go, but we’ve also been working on the joint bachelor/bachelorette party – it’s a surprise for the couple, but I think it’s going to be a really fun night of cocktails and games (hopefully I won’t pass out before it ends!)

AND my baby shower is this weekend! While I know the mom-to-be isn’t supposed to help, I’m a natural event planner, so I couldn’t help but throw myself in there. I have some wonderful friends, including one of my crafty gurus, Jessica of Paper Trail Diary, helping with decor, food, games, and fun. I’m really excited to see everyone to celebrate my dear little one.

Between all of these events, it’s been super important that we keep track of invitations, guests, and everything else. I’ve been using Paperless Post as well as other invitation sites and Google Drive for this – but I admit that my fave has been Paperless Post. The designs are so pretty, unique, and elegant (just look at those illustrations above, I used the middle one for the bachelor/bachelorette) and I love their tracking and follow-up features. Highly recommended if you have a fancier event that you’d like to get people to.

This part of my post was created in partnership with Paperless Post. 

My brother visiting:

My brother and his girlfriend came and stayed with us for a few weeks at the beginning of August, and it was really fun to see them and get a chance to catch up. Even though they were really on a different schedule than we were, having them there meant we could do a big family barbecue and a lot Game of Thrones talking.

Pregnancy & preparing for baby:

Between getting our registry together, midwife and doctor visits, and prepping our baby’s room (meaning throwing out tons and tons of crap), it’s been a very busy summer and fall. Evan and I are still working on the last parts of converting our guest room into a home office/craft space, and getting our nursery together, but it’s coming along.

The exhaustion from the first trimester receded for a bit, but I’m back to it now that I’m in the third. I’ve been doing a ton of prenatal yoga just to try to stave off some of the aches and pains as well. I also have gestational diabetes, and the much stricter diet, along with testing my blood sugar 4x a day has been a bit hard to deal with. I’m 31 weeks today, though, so only nine more weeks to go!

Summer/Fall in the City:

We don’t get that many chances to go outside during the winter here in Toronto, so I’ve been taking full advantage by going to food festivals, craft fairs, book events, cottages and just trying to see as many friends as possible before winter and the baby come!

Honestly, it’s been hard to keep up with the blog and my reading. I’m looking forward to October being a bit slower, but posts on Mostly YA Lit might continue be a bit sporadic. I hope you’ll stay with me as things move forward, and I hope your fall is spectacular! Let me know in the comments what you’re looking forward to this fall!