Small Business Saturday

It started out like any other Saturday:

"What do you want to do?"
"I dunno... what do you want to do?"

But, it wasn't just another Saturday. It was Small Business Saturday. So, instead of answering back "Um, I dunno...", I said, "Why don't we have lunch in a locally-owned restaurant, shop in small, independant stores, buy cupcakes from our good friend Pam - I hear she's having a sale today - and then maybe have dinner somewhere small, local, independant and neighbourhoody?" (I didn't mention taking a nap, but for us, a nap is usually implied.)

So, we did just that.

 

Here's my fella after eating a very yummy lunch at Elements at the U of W. Doesn't he look happy? That's because we just finished two huge bowls of hot & sour ramen soup - beef for him, tofu for me.

 

After lunch, we drove over to the Exchange District to poke around in Toad Hall Toys. I was too excited to snap a picture (ok, ok, I was too busy playing with the hand puppets), but it was every bit as magical as ever. Maybe even more so. I picked up a few little gifty things and then we wandered up the block to Cake-ology for some cupcakes.



In honour of Small Business Saturday, they were having a 2-for-1 sale on cupcakes. It never occurred to either one of us to only buy one, so we each got to pick two - R chose marble with strawberry buttercream and classic red velvet, I picked spice with cinnamon buttercream and banana with nutella buttercream. Not bad for a fiver!

On the way home, I got another brilliant gift idea. We decided to stop in at McNally Robinson. I found what I was looking for before we even made it through the doors, which meant lots of time for perusing magazines before heading home for a cupcake and a nap.

Since we were on a roll with the whole Small Business thing, and no one felt like cooking, we went to one of our favourite neighbourhood pubs, the Grove, for a late dinner. Despite the fact that we were there well past a "normal" dinner hour, the place was hopping and showed no signs of slowing down. Luckily, we were able to get a table within about 10 minutes of arriving.

 

This salad (apples, blue cheese, candied walnuts) was absolutely delicious and completely cancelled out the cupcakes that we ate before our nap. I'm not going to say anything about the fish and chips that followed it. Not a word.

Twenty-four Days of Awesome - Day 2

 

 

Orla Kiely's Holiday Collection for Method 

~ available at Target

 

I can't even tell you how good the peppermint-vanilla smells. I bought both the dish soap and multi-use spray and they actually make me want to tidy up. It's a Christmas miracle!

Twenty-four Days of Awesome - Day 1

 

 

Gingerbread and Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

Sliced Almonds, Yogurt Pretzels, Gingerbread Boy Sprinkles

~ Tutti Frutti on Corydon

It's beginning...

I was beginning to feel a little bah humbuggy about the impending holidays, but this past weekend seems to have lifted my spirits just a tiny bit.

On Friday night, we lit the Christmas tree at City Hall with the help of a children's choir, a bunch of firefighters, and a crowd of revellers. (No, really, they were revelling!) It was just enough to put a wee bit of festive into my step (and out of my wallet); that night I bought my first Christmas gift online!

I did my grocery shopping early on Saturday, which left me the afternoon to drag the Mascot around the new Target. While we were in the Christmas section picking out our annual ornaments (a game controller for him and a sequinned whale for me), the boy raised an interesting point - we don't have a tree. We did... but it broke last year after being over-adorned one too many times.

The second problem was that I didn't actually *want* another tree. Even in my ungrinchy state, I just wasn't feeling the whole evergreen thing. We need something lighter, funkier, less-cluttered...like this:

Cute, right? And it lights up!! We are going to decorate it with metallic balls in red and three shades of silver. And maybe something slightly rustic, just because that's my schtick.

There's plenty of room underneath for presents, but that is probably going to be a moot point as the kid seems to just want cash and contributions to his Euro-trip fund. Maybe I'll store the vacuum cleaner under there.

Crazy, healthy.

Last weekend, I had the privelige/honour/joy of seeing Home Ec superstar and cookbook author (and tv personality and comedian...), Mairlyn Smith, give a talk at the Manitoba Association of Home Economists conference. (I even blogged about it.)

I have met Mairlyn on several occasions, but this was the first time that I had the opportunity to get her to sign one of her books for me.

I love what she wrote.

Bloody Nails!

This year, thanks to some horribly-timed dental work, I won't be dressing up for Halloween. Instead, I have decided to let my nails have all the fun with some spooktacular (and super-easy) nail art.

To create this slightly-gross, but work-appropriate, look, you'll need: black and blood-red polish, nail polish remover and q-tips, and your favourite base coat and top coat.

Step 1: after your base coat has dried, apply two solid coats of black polish and allow to dry. (My fave is Essie's "Licorice". It's jet, jet black and covers completely in two coats.)

Step 2: choose which nail (or nails) you want to "bleed" and remove some of the polish with remover on a q-tip. I chose to remove all along the nail tip and down in a random, drippy shape.

Step 3: add your red polish by dabbing a well-loaded brush into the bare area of your nail(s). You want to fill in the space with a thick, even coat. (It should look like blood dripping, not a weird french manicure.)

Step 4: let the red polish dry before adding a nice glossy topcoat to all nails.

Step 5: admire your horrifying handiwork.

Smile.

 

"If we wish away our laugh lines we wish away the memories that made them."

 

Corny? Possibly... but to be completely honest, I wouldn't wish a single one of my laugh lines away. They are 41 years in the making, you know. 

 

No botox, wrinkle cream, surgery or voodoo for this girl. If the crinkles around my eyes tell the world that I smile and laugh A LOT, then bring 'em!

Thankful

Yesterday I joked that I was mostly thankful for the movie Pitch Perfect and chocolate almonds.

While there are shreds of truth in there (Acascuse me?), I am really most-thankful for my son, the ever-mentioned and ofetn hollered at Mascot, the rediculously cute guy that I have been calling my fella for the past 5 years, 3 months, and 28 days (or so), my dad, who now parents me from beyond (and sometimes in the form of a blue jay - long story), and my mom (aka Mumji), who's voice is what keeps me here*.

With those four out of the way, I can get on to the business of listing some of the random things that I am thankful for:

- My wonderful, carefully-curated collection of friends. I love them all to bits. Even the weird ones.

- My Group Power and Spin classes and all the energy that I get from them. The more I expend, the more I find is returned. Funny, that.

- On a related note, I am thankful for good health and a thick, shiny coat. And the ability to lift heavy things with enthusiasm.

- My job. As crazy as it can get, it is like an education and an experience wrapped in a blueberry pancake and served in a commemorative tote bag of chili.

- My sense of humour. Oh, lord... without it I think I would've gone bonkers by now.

- Irony. See humour.

- Aveda "be curly" curl enhancer. In a perfect world, highly effective, nice smelling hair products would flow from special taps in our bathrooms. Until we can make that happen (we should maybe get rid of world hunger first), there is this stuff.

- Clean air, clean water, farmers who grow good, clean food. And coffee. Cups and cups of coffee.

*Ok, wait...that's a Jann Arden lyric.

Say cheese!

There used to be a time that I could get the kid to pose for all sorts of photos. Even when he was at the age when he never stood still, I could get him to at least pause and smile for the camera.

Now that he's 16, this is the best that I can expect to get. Without bribery.

You have to look close. The lanky thing in a camp shirt. Right behind me, darting out of the shot. Yeah. That.

Don't get me wrong, it is a very nice picture of part of his torso and I am glad to have it. It's just that he's growing up so freaking fast - taller and bolder and stronger and more confidant. I'm not all that sentimental, but lately I have been feeling that if I don't capture the moment, I won't have anything to compare it to. Will I remember that sweet face when he returns from two months at camp next summer with a weird, patchy beard and hair hanging in his eyes*?

I guess that I should've known this would happen. There are approximately four photographs of me that were taken between age 13 and 18. Or, I should say, there are four photos in existence. I went through a weird time with my hair** in the 80s.

Scrolling through the photos on my phone just now, I guess I shouldn't really complain. I do have more than 4 current pics of the boy. And he's even smiling in a few of them. My days of cramming him into a big mixing bowl a la Anne Geddes are long gone, but I'll take what I can get.



*Ok, that one probably won't happen. The boy's hair grows out, not down. Like mine, it gets bigger instead of longer. At least there's no question of where he came from...

**Yeah, this is a recurring theme. Jacob can blame me for his curls, but I have never been able to figure out where mine came from.

Forget 50 Shades

 

I think I have found my perfect shade of grey - CoverGirl Outlast in Non-stop Stone. It's perfectly trendy, without looking trendy...and it's not quite the same colour as my car, so I don't look like I am trying too hard.

 

And I have also discovered that it is impossible to take a flattering hand picture. I tried gripping an object, but it reminded me too much of the old Consumers Distributing catalogue. (The ladies know what I'm talking about. Bow chicka bow bow.)