Month in Moments: July

July started off beautifully, but ended on a low note. I'll start with the bad news first, so I can wrap up the post with all the fun moments I'm so grateful I was able to enjoy.

As I shifted to remote work full-time, Azim and I started thinking about what the next year of our lives could look like. Last year, immediately after our wedding (like literally, the next week), Azim packed up and moved to Michigan to start grad school. I stayed behind, living at my parents' place, and we made long distance work. We were able to see each other one to two times a month, so it wasn't completely unmanageable.

Now that my company has proven we can work successfully online, Azim and I thought we could save ourselves the heartache of doing long distance by moving to Michigan together - after all, the border is closed to non-essential travel (as a student he's essential, and as a spouse I could do the paperwork to qualify as well), and we wouldn't be able to see each other for months if we lived apart.

Azim and I put all the plans in place (I won't go into details, but there was a lot of legwork that had to happen for this to work), and all that was left to do was get the "ok" from my employer.

Unfortunately, they weren't aligned with our plan.

So Azim and I have been spending the past week quickly trying to pivot, and run through all the different scenarios for how we're going to make the next year work. I have to admit, we've both been feeling pretty down about this.

I put on a good face the majority of the time and say "Long-distance is no problem! We're old pros at it!", but the reality is that it's frustrating. Beyond frustrating. We're ready to start our married lives, and neither of us is happy apart - I am especially ready to leave my childhood bedroom behind.

I write this knowing that we're fortunate. Both of us are healthy, and we're in a position where I can live with my parents and save money, and Azim can afford higher education which will improve his career. Things could be a lot worse.

We haven't given up hope yet, and I'm sending good energy into the universe to have this work out with a happy ending. Hopefully my next "Month in Moments" post will have a better update in store.

Now that that's out of the way, I can move on to some of the happier moments:

Strawberry picking

Strawberry picking at Robintide Farm!

My cousin proposed the idea of going strawberry-picking earlier in July - a perfect outdoor summertime activity! I've been looking for more of those to do given COVID-19 restrictions, and there are only so many hikes an outdoor walks I can go on :) Picking strawberries on a perfectly sunny July weekend was the best idea.

I went with my two cousins, and had so much more fun catching up and spending time together than actually picking the strawberries! My 16-year-old cousin asked us about our favourite high school memories, and Jasmine and I spent some time reminiscing :) High school was a LIFETIME ago!!

Tornado picnic

Changed into PJs!

My best friend affectionately calls her three best friends the Privy Council. We all get along super well, and I always look forward to Privy Council reunions! We had one such reunion planned for a fancy schmancy picnic...but the weather did not want to cooperate :|

The forecast was calling for rain, but we decided to tough it out. Even when we turned on the car radio and heard "Tornado warnings for Southern Ontario", we laughed it off. Nothing could get in the way of a Privy Council reunion!

We set out the picnic blanket in the park and my bestie not only surprised us with amazing treats and perfect picnic fare, but belated birthday presents as well! It was so sweet.

When the thunder rumbled we brushed it off - "that was just an airplane!" - and when the sky darkened we just relocated under a tree (in hindsight, this wasn't a good idea during a storm hehe).

Despite our best efforts to persevere, the weather got the better of us. The sky opened up and the rain came down so heavily we could barely see what was in front of us! Cue four girls running for their cars, picnic outfits drenched (but sandwiches saved!) :D

We picked the party back up in my bestie's basement, and continued like we didn't just try to casually have a picnic in a tornado :) Definitely one for the books!

Dressing up for Zoom calls

Honestly, the picture speaks for itself.

Tea party

Since I've been living at home for awhile now, my mom has been taking care of me SO much. She cooks anything and everything I want, runs errands, she gave me rides to the subway station when I was still commuting, she does everything. Everyone who knows my mom knows that she is an angel. And she never lets anyone repay her.

I wanted to show her how much I appreciate her and everything she does for me and all her loved ones, so I planned a surprise tea party! She loves going for afternoon tea, and we haven't been for months. I thought about taking her on a tea date, but thought she'd enjoy it more if we could stay home and safely abide by the COVID-19 guidelines.

We all dressed up, and we were able to successfully surprise her :)

Here's what I had on the menu:

Tea, etc.:

• "Heavenly Cream" and "Jasmine" tea by Sloane Tea
• Champagne, obvi!

Sweet:

• Sweet scones from Café Caffeine, served with jam and whipped cream (we had a clotted cream accident...don't ask)
• Macarons
• Cut fruit salad
• Chocolate truffles

Savoury:

• Fancy sandwiches (1. cucumber and cream cheese, and 2. goat cheese, crushed walnuts, and sun dried tomato - I made these, and it was really easy!)
• Samosas (crowd-pleasing finger food!)
• Cheese croissants, also from Café Caffeine
• Kale chips, made by my sweet sister-in-law and her mom

I set everything out on my mom's beautiful tea sets, and made sure there was plenty to go around! It was a hit, and I'd definitely plan a tea party just like it again :)

Moving my brother and SIL

We spent this past weekend moving my brother and sister-in-law into their beautiful new home. I am happy that they're only a 10-minute drive from my parents' place, so I can easily drop in and bother them visit them ;)

They already had most of their furniture, so by the end of the weekend their house truly felt like a home. We celebrated with hamburgers and french fries :) The picture above is of the butterfly bush outside their house - there were SO many butterflies fluttering around it, it was like being at the butterfly conservatory in Niagara!

Cheer up package

Since I've been feeling down, my bestie hand-delivered some baked goods in the cutest packaging :) Things aren't looking so great from my pity party I'm having on the couch, but I'm content to eat my feelings in the form of peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, while watching season 2 of the The Umbrella Academy.

Thank you all for reading, and for your messages letting me know you enjoy these posts! I love following you guys too <3 My love and my best, xoxo