Botox, Anniversaries, and a Salad That Has No Business Being That Good: Weekend Recap No. 2

If you follow along here, you already know that Thursday is my Friday. I work Monday through Wednesday and take a half day on Thursday, which means my weekend is long, languid, and entirely intentional. I protect it fiercely.

Thursday

Triet and I started the morning at Mon Pitou for our alignment meeting and one-on-ones with the management team. Everything is running smoothly, which at this stage of the game feels like a small miracle, and we’re busy bracing ourselves for FIFA coming to Vancouver this summer. New sandwich features are in the works. Staffing conversations are happening. More on that soon.

After the meetings, I headed home to meet our gardener Hana, who is an absolute gem and someone I will recommend to anyone who will listen. She came over to plant six hanging baskets on the front porch along with three large terracotta pots and two statement planters that separate our yard from the little dining area. Everything looks incredible. This was the last major piece of the front garden puzzle for this spring, and it feels so good to have it done. I’ll be sharing the full planting details in a separate post with photos because it genuinely deserves its own moment.

The one small heartbreak of the day: I discovered that what I lovingly designed as a shade garden is, in fact, sitting in nearly full sun. Nature is humbling. Relocation is pending.

After Hana, I headed to Yaletown and the Vanity Lab for a little Botox and to pick up the sunscreen I’d forgotten the week before. Running errands that involve injectables is simply a form of self-care I have fully made peace with.

Thursday evening there was an event, I went, it was lovely, and that was that.

Friday

Friday morning I was over at Glow, a skin clinic in Kitsilano that I am now slightly obsessed with, to see my friend Amanda. We had a long conversation about buccal facials, which I am genuinely considering and will absolutely report back on. In the meantime, I had a little laser done and tried the Clear Silk facial, which is going to help with some of the redness I’ve been dealing with. My skin felt like it had just been on a very good holiday.

The rest of Friday was spent in the garden doing what I can only describe as a full horticultural intervention. The shade plants got moved. The lace-leaf Japanese maple got relocated to the boulevard side near our tenant’s entry, because if I’m being honest, it was clashing with my purple, white, and green colour palette and something had to give.

Then in the early evening, Triet and I got dressed and went to Miku to celebrate our 11th anniversary. We were seated at the same table we had eleven years ago, which felt like the most perfect kind of full-circle moment. The food was as exceptional as it has always been. The service was warm and attentive. If you live in Vancouver and have somehow never been, please go. If you’re visiting, add it to the list immediately. The aburi sushi alone is worth the trip.

Saturday

A slow morning, a garden we could finally just sit in without a project staring back at us, and the quiet satisfaction of being done. We have future plans, a pergola over the dining table, some brick edging along the garden beds, but those are next year’s problems. This year we rest and admire.

For lunch we wandered over to Renzullo’s, one of our favourite neighbourhood spots, and had a panino, good coffee, and gelato. Flawless.

The afternoon I spent sketching out plans for the kitchen patio, and then made a red sauce seafood pasta for dinner with Calabrian chili, tiger prawns, and the most gorgeous large scallops. A Saturday night that asked very little of us and gave a lot back.

Sunday

Coffee at home, Triet went shopping (naturally), and I tidied up before friends came over for lunch. I made the viral Kim Kardashian iceberg lettuce salad, and listen, I went in skeptical and came out a believer. It essentially tastes like the inside of an Italian sub without the bread, which is either genius or deeply suspicious depending on your relationship with carbohydrates. Served it alongside a fruit plate of lychee, grapes, and watermelon, salted chips, and more bubbles and cocktails than we strictly needed.

Our friends didn’t leave until 7. The afternoon just disappeared in the best possible way.

I ordered Thai for dinner, we watched something forgettable and wonderful, and that was the weekend.

More soon on the planters, the patio plans, and yes, the buccal facial. Stay close.

Kisses!

JJH x