Hey! We have been sick. Tis the season, I guess. (You get the flu! And you get the flu! And you get the flu! -haha) My kids threw up for 3 days straight, a break of a couple days, then again threw up for a couple of days. Despite early bedtimes, drinking lots of water, and eating a lot of garlic and oranges. We tried to be proactive but sometimes the germs are stronger. It was rough. Isabella usually throws up a max of three times but threw up 6 times in one night. I was the only one of…
Hello friends. I know, a lot of lists lately! If you are as busy as I am this holiday season, I hope you are enjoying the quick reads. Today I wanted to share my movie picks for wrapping presents. (While your kids are IN BED. None of these are child-friendly, FYI). If you have already watched all of your favourite holiday-themed movies (It’s a Wonderful Life!) and binge-watched all of your fave television shows (I just finished Gilmore Girls), then here are some (perhaps unconventional) feel-good movies that put me in the Christmas spirit while I wrap presents every year,…
We all have a couple people on our Christmas list that are hard to shop for. Whether it be the man in your life that doesn’t want anything, the grandma that already owns everything or the secret Santa person you pulled out of the hat at work (but barely know), there is always someone hard to shop for. On my list, it is usually my husband. He is a man that wants for nothing and has everything he needs. If I have to buy him one more tie because I’m at a loss, I’ll scream. So, instead of shopping on…
People I befriend instantly hear about one of two things: my kids or my cats. Thorin was a rescue cat that chose us at the MEOW Foundation. We originally (okay, it was all me) had the idea in mind to adopt an all-black cat. Unfortunately, all of the black cats HATED me. Hissed at me and went right to Josh for petting. Urgh. So we went downstairs and this odd-looking (to us, initially) orange and white spotted cat approached us. He won us over when he let both Josh and I pet him and the kids play with him. He…
I am going to continue my Discovering YYC series this month to help all of you fellow Calgarians and Canadians to shop more locally this holiday season. These are all businesses I have come across that have impressed me. I am continually awed by the talent of young entrepreneurs in our growing city. So much talent right in my backyard, so to speak, and I get really excited to do these features. Next we have a company that I also met at the Hallow’s Eve event in October. I was blown away by the passion and knowledge with which she…
The idea of acknowledging and extending your gratitude is everywhere. Suddenly it is a buzz-worthy trend. I see articles about starting a gratitude journal or jar everywhere. I’ve tried to keep up a gratitude journal so many times but I’ve only made it happen two days in a row and a gratitude jar is neat but once I had a few papers in there, I never added to them, and I never looked at them. I know it is a good idea to focus your mind on the positive rather than the negative, but I hardly find time to work…
I took a fitness break to declutter using the Konmari method and, while it was worth it and a workout in itself (so many squats and lunges involved if you let it), I am not where I was at with my workouts. My ab workout today proved it. I wasn’t able to do the moves as controlled as I could before. I used to beat myself up over that but this time I didn’t! My mindset has completely changed….mostly because I have picked better role models to follow. Their positivity is contagious! Today my thoughts bent more towards, “I will…
Hello friends. How are you this Monday? Over here, we are still adjusting to the new schedule. I don’t know if I mentioned it, but my husband just got a new job (yay!!), and he started last week. It turned our whole schedule upside down. Our weekend was super busy so it was harder to jump back into the new (ish) routine that we had started last week. Especially for the kids. Every time someone asks me about Josh’s new schedule I say, “Oh, it’s good. An adjustment” and Izzy shouts, “Terrible! We never see him anymore!!” We were spoiled…
When I was younger, a toddler even, my parents (especially my mom) would play Leonard Cohen on the stereo while she cleaned during the week. We often played his music on Sundays- our day to play loud music and read or bake. Music was our religion since my mom is agnostic and my dad is atheist (or was). I grew up listening to Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Tom Petty, Iggy Pop, David Bowie….and more obscure and eclectic artists. There was also a lot of heavier rock and folk music mixed in. Leonard Cohen was one of the folk artists that…
A couple of weeks back I attended a Harry Potter event in Calgary, “Hallow’s Eve in the Village”, in East Village here in Calgary, AB. Although the event was kind of a bust overall, with nothing really for decorations and very little entertainment to the shivering people with a pass to get in early (I wish they had theater kids come dressed as Harry Potter characters and entertain us in character or some stage props to set the scene), it wasn’t a total loss as I was able to meet some very talented vendors. A couple of them stuck out…