The Friday Five: Things on My Mind

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1.Enneagram. Interested in learning more about yourself and your personality? Have you completed an Enneagram test? I did. I’m Type 3: The Achiever. No surprise there. This description is fairly accurate.

2. Truths about life. I enjoyed reading this list of 88 truths about life. There were several reminders that I need to keep top of mind rather than bury away when life is too busy.

3. Netflix. I haven’t spent much time in front of the TV these last couple of weeks, but I did watch two stand-up comedy shows: Jim Gaffigan and Ricky Gervais. Both made me laugh.

4. Science & Art. I went to a talk at the University of Waterloo this week about the science of touch and what governs our sense of attachment. It was interesting. The first speaker, a professor of neuroscience, spoke of the brain and what governs our desire to be close to one another. One thing that stuck with me was her explanation that a 3cm per second caress trigger a positive sense of touch, but a 30cm per second caress doesn’t. I know her research is much more complicated than this one example, but this was something easy for me to remember! The other speaker, a professor in the medical humanities, spoke about her research about care and touch, which included an analysis of the movie Under the Skin. Is emotion in my realm of research interests? Not at all. Did I learn something new? Of course! Am I grateful that I live in a city with two universities that offer public lectures? You bet!

5. Don’t apologize for being successful. This was one of the pieces of advice Andi Petrillo – a Canadian sports broadcaster – shared in a keynote presentation I attended last night. Such a good reminder.

Food: Pasta E Broccoli

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I’m a carbaholic. I could easily eat pasta every day of the week. I find it easy to make, and I can make various sauces with whatever I already have in my house. It always works!

Earlier this week, I had leftover broccoli, so I quickly cooked up pasta e broccoli.

There are plenty of recipes online for pasta e broccoli, but here’s what I normally do.

  1. Cook pasta.
  2. Heat olive oil, minced garlic, and red pepper flakes over low-medium heat. Add cooked broccoli. Toss. Cook for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Toss cooked pasta with broccoli mixture.
  4. Add lots of parmigiano reggiano (parmesan).

It’s such an easy and delicious weekday meal for one or many!

Fashion: A Capsule Travel Wardrobe

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Have you heard of the 10 x 10 capsule wardrobe? The challenge, as per Style Bee, is to create a collection of 10 pieces of clothing and mix-and-match them for a period of 10 days. The challenge is great for all sorts of reasons, including to take a break from shopping and to get more creative with what you already own. For me, though, I’m considering it for my upcoming trip as I’m going to try to travel with a carry-on only. I traveled to Paris with only a carry-on, and I loved it. Moving through the airport check-in and security was quick, and I was guaranteed to have my luggage full of clothes on arrival (my fear of lost luggage has increased in recent years).

Here’s what I’ve gathered for my 10 x 10 travel wardrobe. I own most of these exact pieces or very similar items.

tank, tee, striped top, sneakers, moto leggings, black jeans, quilted jacket, swing dress, cardigan, maxi dress

Can you already see how many outfits I can pull together with this collection? Here are some:

  1. white tank + black jeans + cardigan
  2. black swing dress + moto leggings
  3. maxi dress + cardigan
  4. black jeans + happy tee + quilted jacket
  5. moto leggings + white tank + striped top
  6. black swing dress + striped top
  7. maxi dress + white tank (underneath) + quilted jacket
  8. black jeans + striped top
  9. maxi dress + moto leggings + striped top
  10. moto leggings + happy tee + quilted jacket

I have Cole Haan sneakers as my only shoe in this collection, but I like traveling with more than one pair, so I’d likely add another. I’d also likely add another top – something longer to go over the moto leggings. Regardless of these additions, I think the collection of 10 items is doable for a getaway! What do you think?

Real Estate: Beauty in Baby Point, Toronto

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This home. Oh my goodness. I have drooled over every photo of it. My friend Shannon spotted it first on Erin McLaughlin’s (Style at Home Editor) Instagram feed. I quickly hopped on to the listing, too. It’s just so beautiful!

It’s hard for me to choose a favourite room, but if you twisted my arm and I had to choose, I think it would be the kitchen as it’s hard to resits the brightness and the wall of windows. I also love the foyer because it’s dressed beautifully in white.

Would you like a tour? Here you go! You may recognize a space or two from Erin’s home as it was previously featured in Style at Home magazine.


57 Baby Point Crescent


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