No Sew Blanket & Pillow Tutorial

Stephanie from Stephanie At Home shows us how to make this super gorgeous blanket and, my favorite part, there's absolutely ZERO sewing involved! As a bonus, she's showing us how to make a matching no sew pillow as well. Not gonna lie, I'm a sucker for an animal print.

Click here for the full tutorial!

...and to all, a good night.

Boy, have I been busy!

I, in my infinite wisdom, decided to make gift baskets of baked goods and give them as gifts this Christmas. I'm not a baker, and I don't claim to be but I can follow a recipe and I know what tastes good, so off I went. I asked my husband what he liked and he decided that he wanted butter tarts, sugar cookies, and short bread. To that I added some recipes I wanted to try; chocolate butter cookies, peppermint bark, molasses cookies, white chocolate candy cane popcorn, and peanut butter blossoms. It nearly killed me, but I got it all done.

This was 5 baskets worth of goodies. 

I finished everything the night of the 23rd because I started giving them out on the 24th. Sadly, I had none for me. *sadface*

Beaner attended the children's Christmas party put on by my husband's work and was enthralled by it all. She was so very excited to see Santa. That is, until she ran into the life sized version of her favorite bear. The company mascot was there, greeting people and walking around the facility. Beaner adores her small stuffed version, and sleeps with it and basically carts it around the house all day. She spent the entire party following this bear around, getting hugs and telling it that she loved him. Reindeer, crafts, bouncy house, petting zoo, Santa! treats...none of it compared to meeting her favorite teddy bear. She was a little confused at to how he got out of her crib, but she quickly accepted my explanation that this was her bear's big brother.

She was so proud of her snowman.

Many crafts were completed, zoolights were seen, and Beaner enjoyed her very first cup of hot chocolate. She's hooked for life! She was introduced to the Grinch, Rudolph, Curious George, and Charlie Brown. I got all the gifts on my list, did it all on time, and without an ounce of energy to spare. Was it worth it? You bet! Will I do baking as gifts again? Not a chance, and if I suggest otherwise, I give you permission to give me a virtual slap or 6.

I hope you all had an incredible holiday and I'll talk to you again soon!

Of Firsts and Lasts

It's been quite an exciting time since I updated last! First, and most importantly, Beaner has finally shaken her respiratory infection. Huzzah! No more cough, no more inhaler, no more worrying and sleepless nights for me! I am so overly thrilled, mere words can't convey what I feel. I'm hoping we get at least a month before the next illness hits, but really I'd settle for a week or two.

Beaner went tobogganing yesterday with her Grandpa and some other family members. It was her first time and I'm told that she loved it! She's not a fan of snow on bare skin, or of the inevitable crash that happens when kids go sledding, but many "wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"s were had. I am sad that I wasn't able to be there for pictures (Saturdays are NO MOMS ALLOWED!!), but I'm thrilled she had so much fun. I can't wait to take her myself.

Another first happened yesterday when she got home from sledding; we had taken the side off her crib and converted it into her temporary Big Girl Bed. For ages now she's been able to nap on the couch at my Dad's without falling off, and she's slept on a twin bed without getting up, so we (ok, I) decided it was time to make the transition at home. I am happy to report that she did great, and didn't get out once. She's currently napping right now with no escape attempts.

It's going to be funny as hell once she realizes there's nothing stopping her from getting up in the morning and helping herself to the contents of the fridge.

Almost all traces of my baby are gone. Instead, I have a Big Girl emerging in all kinds of ways. I couldn't be prouder, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss my sweet smelling baby, with her big blue eyes and her enthusiastic grin. Not that I'd trade hazel eyed, mischievous grinning Beaner for the world.

And Then There Was Thunderdome

At some point between the coughing and the fever subsiding, thieves made off with my sweet, easygoing Beaner. Now, I'm left with a short fused, contrary fiend who has an epic meltdown at even the slightest perception of not getting her own way. Of course, with a meltdown comes flailing, and with flailing comes smacking the head on whatever object tends to be in the way. Namely, the floor.

This coincides with us weaning her off television. Not only was I tired of watching Dora and Wiggles for hours on end, but it was getting far too easy to turn the tv on and let her watch while I got some work done, or cleaned the house, or just tried to catch a breather. While her mood might not be caused by the lack of her favorite shows, it sure isn't endearing us to the little drama queen.

It's a rough go of it as she screams for Dora, but it's worth it to break the habit now, instead of battling her on it later. Good thing I have lots of craft ideas and art supplies! I may not be Dora, but there's lots of awesome things in my backpack.

Childhood: The Neverending Illness

My apologies for the lack of updates! I hope all is well with you folks, as we transition from fall to winter. To my American readers, Happy Thanksgiving!

The reason for my absence is little bean has been quite sick. In August she caught a cold, which turned into bronchitis. We were then hit with 4 colds back to back. It culminated this past weekend with a breathing episode that required an ambulance ride to the Children's Hospital. Top that off with a high fever to start this week and what we have now is the tired, semi-incoherent Mom you see before you.

Beaner is doing better, fever is down, cough seems to be getting better. We'll know more next week when we see our doctor. Here's hoping she doesn't catch anything else before then! Not that I expect her to, since we're stuck in hibernation mode. Mother Nature decided that it was time for Alberta to experience some winter. It's been snowing for 3 days, blowing winds, and is just downright cold. I was looking forward to beaner's first real "play-in-the-snow-day" but with it being so cold, and her being sick, it will have to wait a little while longer.

It seems kids are sick constantly. It makes me wonder how any of us made it out of our childhoods in one piece!. If nothing else, it's given her and I an opportunity to be creative inside, and get into the feel of holiday crafts. I'll post some craft ideas later today that we've tested out with varying degrees of success.

'Tis The Season

As a child, my little brother and I would look forward to the annual Santa Claus Parade. It didn't matter how cold it was, we'd be out there on the route freezing our little behinds off. Mom sure was a good sport about the whole thing, given how much she dislikes the cold. I have many fond memories of warm hot chocolate and candy canes at the end of the parade while we excitedly discussed our favorite parts, and whether or not Santa wore a good jacket while making his deliveries on Christmas Eve.

For the last 3 years we have not had a parade due to construction of the new Encana building downtown. I was disappointed last year, but understood the reasons behind it. This year, however, I am not so forgiving. Why is it that the Stampede Parade can go through, with no restrictions, but the Santa Claus Parade can't? They both follow the same route! If we had more oil & gas sponsors, would that make a difference? I'm betting it would.

Bean is at the age where we're teaching her about Christmas and all it's traditions and it really bothers me that we're going to have to watch the Toronto parade on TV, instead of being at one live. It's a tradition I want to start with her and I'm frustrated that I can't right now.

Now that I've had my say about it, I can move on to traditions that I can control, like stringing popcorn, baking holiday treats, and making reindeer out of candy canes.

What traditions are you going to be passing on to your children?

A Flat Forehead Moment

There are some days when the light bulb burns brightly above my head. There are some days when the light bulb is not only dark, I can't remember where I put the damn thing. Today, thankfully, started off with a shining bulb, courtesy of the little bean.

I work from home, as I have for the past 6 years, maintaining client accounts for an oil & gas company. My schedule is completely set by me, aside from having to answer the phone when calls come in, or responding to a client's email. The gift of not putting our bean in daycare or preschool is something I am thankful for every day.

Working from home can present unique roadblocks, however. Trying to remain professional and deal with a client call can be difficult when your child is screeching at the top of her lungs and pulling your shirt off in an effort to get in your lap to slam on your keyboard or take the phone out of your hand so she can call Daddy (let me tell you, that is only cute once, tops).

Today bean decided to teach me how to get work done and keep her happy. Imagine my surprise when she pushed her chair up beside mine, plopped her favorite bear in it, and proceeded to feed him cheerios. She then went one step further and climbed in and starting having a pretend breakfast with him while I dealt with a particularly weird IT issue with my company's website.

My moment of luminary brilliance came when I put her v-tech laptop in front of her and told her she can work beside me while I work. We've been sitting side by side happily for the last hour, working on our respective projects in peace. Me with clients, her with the balloon blast game.

She's just packed her laptop up and informed me that she has to go to work now. Have a good day honey!

Blog Promo

Just stumbled upon Erica, over at Mommy's Alright, via Reddit., (which is my absolute favorite way to waste time). Check out Erica's fun take on parenting, plus, she clearly loves Yo Gabba Gabba as much as I do.

My other favorite way to waste time is to read Allie Brosch, over at Hyperbole And A Half. I spend much of my "free" time yelling PARP! PARP! because of Allie.

When you're mindlessly surfing the 'net, where do you usually end up?

Around The House

While thinking of things to do with jelly bean on a cold, wet, Sunday afternoon, I remembered a bag of makeup sponges in various geometric shapes.

Shapes are all the rage in our house these days. "Mommy! That's a circle" "I has triangle!"

I poured a few different bowls of paint, threw down a dropcloth, handed her the sponges and some paper and I let her go to town.

 And to town she went!

At some point, she forgot about the sponges altogether.

For half a bag of dollar store sponges and some paint, I had a very happy toddler and some new art for our walls. I can see us running out of space soon!

Birthday Update & Something For You

Despite many last minute cancellations, jelly bean had a stellar birthday party.  I could rant about how much food I bought that never got used, or how the cleanup took forever, or how the damn cake stained us all blue for days... but no, that won't be happening.

Instead, let's focus on the positive! My beautiful girl was surrounded by people who love her, which is better than any gift anyone could have bestowed upon her. As she gets older, she starts to form stronger attachments to family, but also to my friends. It's the people who don't have to be in her life, but choose to be, that mean the most to me.

And, so this isn't simply an indulgent mama post, here's a treat for you accessory hounds!

Use the following link to sign up at my favorite accessory haunt, ShoeDazzle, and receive 20% off your first item! Kim Kardashian's monthly styling service is amazing and I have been hooked since June (much to my husband's dismay). Simply take their quick style survey and wait for them to put together a showroom for you to peruse. Footwear, jewelry and handbags await! And the best part, aside from their amazing customer service? Everything is just 39.95$ USD!

Click here to sign up and get started

Happy dazzling, fellow divas!

One of those days...

It's not that I don't want to update this here lil' blog o' awesome, just that I get discouraged and overwhelmed sometimes. Really, who cares what *I* have to say, right? Who has time for making crap, anyways?

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I have tons of ideas that get added to a list. I promptly lose said list, but IT'S ON A LIST!

 

 I am gearing up for jelly bean's 2nd birthday. Her birthday is Friday but we're having the party on Saturday. I had originally planned on doing the Mad Hatter's tea party but, for reasons that infuriated me, I opted out of a theme and went with inviting all the other parents who annoy the hell out of me, so that my kid has others to play with. Fortunately, 99% of said parents aren't able to make it.

*fistpump*

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, the party. I strongly dislike socializing. It means I have to clean and cook and talk to people I wouldn't otherwise and then, AND THEN!! I have to clean up after they all leave. Of course, instead of sitting here whining and blogging I could be preparing for said party by cleaning, planning and organizing. Or at the very least, folding the mountain of laundry my beautiful daughter left for me.

Clearly, I am doing nothing productive at this moment in time. It's my blog and I'll whine if I want to.

Here's some fun posts for toddler birthday party games you might enjoy, so as not to waste an entire post...

Kids Party Cabin
Kids Fun & Games
Amazing Moms
Kaboose
Little Kids Games Online

Menu Planning

Since I had jelly bean I've found myself to be overwhelmed with what to make for dinners and lunches every day. Ok, I've really be overwhelmed by my hatred of dishes, but we'll just include that in the broad spectrum of meal planning. Anyone want to recommend a decent counter-top dishwasher?

Digression, thy name be Tera!

Seriously though, meal planning was an issue for the first year because I had really nasty post-partum and the hubby simply can't cook to save his life. Thankfully, I have the internet and a local craft store that carried a magnetic menu planning book I stuck to my freezer. I am usually pretty good about figuring meals out now, but I've been lazy and slacking this summer, what with all the spur of the moment farmer's market visits and random produce I seem to come home with.

All that being said (rambled? I need a coffee!) I bring you a great basic menu planning "tutorial", so to speak. Tsh from Simple Mom details menu planning, grocery shopping for it and just about everything you need to know for both. Check out the links at the bottom of her post for even more helpful links!

Get all the details HERE.

DIY Pin Cushion

How many dozen baby food jars did you have when your baby started eating solids? Well here's a cute way to put some to good use!

Jaime over at Prudent Baby bring us this great tutorial on making your own pin cushion out of a leftover baby food jar!

Check out the full tutorial HERE.

Rice Bag Feet Warmer

Vanessa at Skip To My Lou brings us this easy peasy tutorial for a cute little feet warmer.

Step by step instructions are available HERE.

MakeYour Own Diaper Cake

I was lucky enough to receive a diaper cake before my jelly bean was born and it was just ridiculously cute and most importantly, useful.

Michelle at Home Based Parties shows us how to create our own for all of our expecting friends. Or for ourselves!

Get the full tutorial HERE.

DIY Nap Mat/Bed Roll

Jacinda from Prudent Baby, one of my all-time favorite websites, brings us a fabulous tutorial for a nap mat any kid will love.

Get the full tutorial HERE.

Simple Book Storage Solutions

Sarah from Ohdeedoh gives us 5 great book storage solutions we can create ourselves in a flash!

Check it out HERE.

365 Photography Project

I've been hard at work on a 365 project of my daughter. I moved all the photos from Facebook to blogger last night and thought you folks might be interested in giving them a look!

Taryn 365

Picaboo: Free Photo Book

Sign up with Picaboo and design a photo book by August 31st and you will geit free! Simply design your book using Picaboo’s free software and use coupon code "FREEBK" when you order a Large Classic, Classic Leather, or Classic Custom book. The total cost of your book (up to 20 pages) will be deducted from your order total (up to a $39 value!). This offer is for first time Picaboo customers only. Click HERE for your free photo book.


They make amazing books and have stellar customer service. I'm in the middle of designing yet another book for myself!

Tish from Simple Mom rounded up a great list of tips
for cooking from scratch. Check them all out HERE 

(image from stock.xchng)

DIY Baby Legwarmers

Stephanie from Cut and Keep posted this adorable tutorial on how to make your very own baby legwarmers.

Check out the full tutorial HERE.

Free Printable ABC Art

Aimee over at Sprik Space  has designed and uploaded these adorable ABC and 123 pieces of wall art.

Just click here to get the download instructions and see her other cute, free, printables!

Summer Fun

As summer is upon us, I'm left wondering how many more times I can take Jelly Bean to the local wading pools before I try and drown myself out of boredom. She's 22 months and extremely active, curious and intelligent and we both hate being cooped up in the house.

Wading pools and splash parks are great but they are a lot of work to prepare for and clean up after, especially when you rely on public transit to get around.

It is my mission this summer to come up with unique, fun, educational activities and outings for us as a family.

On a semi-related note, we tried camping over the weekend and we were completely rained out. Score 1 for Mother Nature.

Code Name: Mama

Welcome to the July 2010 Carnival of Nursing in Public

This post was written for inclusion in the Carnival of Nursing in Public hosted by Dionna and Paige at NursingFreedom.org. All week, July 5-9, we will be featuring articles and posts about nursing in public ("NIP"). See the bottom of this post for more information.

As a new mother there was a lot I didn't know about being a mother. Ok, there was more than a lot, there was a ton. Why didn't anyone tell me that I'd feel like a failure while giggling like a maniac?

But I digress.

I made the choice, long before the jelly bean was born, to breastfeed. Actually, it wasn't really much of a choice at all. I was raised around people in the medical profession and as such, was privy to scads of medical textbooks. Being a voracious reader as a child, I took advantage of all the knowledge I could absorb. I knew at a very early age that breastfeeding was a good thing, even if I didn't quite understand why.

I am lucky enough to live in Canada, where we are free to make medical decisions based on need and preference, rather than money and availability. As such, I had the privilege to give birth in a teaching hospital that is very pro-breastfeeding, with lactation consultants just dying to show you anything you need or want to know. I am also blessed to have an amazing doctor who is also our jelly bean's pediatrician. He is pro-breastfeeding and, thankfully, his ideas and expertise jive beautifully with us practicing Attachment Parenting.

While my relatives and family haven't been around a newborn in about 40 years, they were eager to be part of the experience and did research along with me. They encouraged my nursing, and tried their very best to make me feel comfortable with nursing in public (NIP) as well as nursing around loved ones.

For the record, I've never had an issue with NIP if I had my nursing cover (I swear by the bebe au lait style of cover) and the bean was being cooperative and not ripping the cover off. Had I not been so extremely well endowed, I might have been comfortable without a cover. Unfortunately, my breasts are very large and nursing discreetly is impossible. There is no way for me to latch beaner on without holding my breast up for her as well as holding her.

It's not a matter of me feeling like everyone is staring, they ARE staring. I know my child has to eat, but having that much breast exposed is embarrassing for me. It's why I nursed my child in bathroom stalls and private rooms until I got the advice about the nursing covers. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to be discreet and these puppies demand attention.

What I am trying to say is that it's my right as a mother to NIP and it's my right as an ample chested woman to want to keep a little dignity and privacy about myself. My name is Tera and I NIP and I use a cover. Unless I forgot the cover or it's in the wash, then it's all boobies on deck. Shame and modesty take a backseat to your child. Just ask anyone who has given birth!

Someday, maybe society will be more accepting and women less sexualized, so that instead of seeing me as the woman with her tits hanging out, I will be seen as the woman feeding her daughter.




Welcome to the Carnival of Nursing in Public


Please join us all week, July 5-9, as we celebrate and support breastfeeding mothers. And visit NursingFreedom.org any time to connect with other breastfeeding supporters, learn more about your legal right to nurse in public, and read (and contribute!) articles about breastfeeding and N.I.P.


Do you support breastfeeding in public? Grab this badge for your blog or website to show your support and encourage others to educate themselves about the benefits of breastfeeding and the rights of breastfeeding mothers and children.

<center><a href="http://www.nursingfreedom.org/p/carnival-of-nursing-in-public.html" title="Carnival of Nursing in Public"><img src="http://www.babydustdiaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/inip1.png" alt="Art by Erika Hastings at http://mudspice.wordpress.com/" border="0"></a></center>

This post is just one of many being featured as part of the Carnival of Nursing in Public. Please visit our other writers each day of the Carnival. Click on the links below to see each day’s posts - new articles will be posted on the following days:

July 5 - Making Breastfeeding the Norm: Creating a Culture of Breastfeeding in a Hyper-Sexualized World

July 6 – Supporting Breastfeeding Mothers: the New, the Experienced, and the Mothers of More Than One Nursing Child

July 7 – Creating a Supportive Network: Your Stories and Celebrations of N.I.P.

July 8 – Breastfeeding: International and Religious Perspectives

July 9 – Your Legal Right to Nurse in Public, and How to Respond to Anyone Who Questions It

Cool iPhone Apps for Parents

The fine folks at Ohdeedoh brought us a list of 5 handy iPhone apps for parents

See the full list

Cupcakes in a Jar

Rubyellen from My Cakies shows us how to make these adorable gifts using cupcakes and mason jars!

"It really is easy and makes for such a visually appealing way to dress up cupcakes, not that cupcakes need to be dressed up as the name itself is cute and enticing".

Get the recipe & tutorial

Design Edits

Hi Folks,

Playing with design templates. Bear with me.

Let's Get This Party Started

Oh yeah, I has a blog

I took the death of Eva extremely hard and completely withdrew from the internet so I could process everything I was feeling. I'm not all the way there, but I'm to the point where I can take the good from her life and run with it.

Love. Always love. Love often, love fiercely, love love love.

I hope everyone has a stellar Mother's Day and if I am not posting before that, I will see you all Monday!

FollowMe Friday

Morning folks! I hope everyone had as great a week as we did!

V and Co.
Ucreate
Tip Junkie
Simple Mom
Skip to my Lou
Rookie Moms
Petite Planet
Prudent Baby
Apartment Therapy Ohdeedoh
Make It Do
Make It and Love It
Living With Lindsay
luvinthemommyhood
Little Miss Heirlooms
Lil Blue Boo
Finding Fabulous
Design Dazzle
Domestically Speaking
Elle Michelle and Eliza Belle
The DIY Show Off
How Does She?
Kathryn Crafts
Executive Homemaker
Handmade Charlotte
The Pursuit of Happiness
A Girl and a Glue Gun
Sweet Mama
My Sweet Baby
I Am Momma
Black Kats Design - NEW
Somewhat Simple -  NEW

Bon Weekend!

Dry Erase Activity Book

 Stephanie over at Somewhat Simple came up with this awesome dry erase activity book!

Get the tutorial here

This is such an amazing idea, I can't wait to make my own!

Spring Fling!

Tip Junkie, one of the awesome sites I mention every Friday, is doing their Spring Fling mega-super-awesometastic giveaway starting tomorrow!



Make sure you enter/watch/follow/tweet!!

DIY Spa Products

Who doesn't love a great facial? But really, as a busy woman with a full-time job and an even more hectic Mommy schedule, who has the time for the spa? Now you don't have to sacrifice time you don't have!

Here's a few products I plan on whipping up to pamper myself:

Strawberry Foot Scrub

8 - 10 Strawberries
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Sea Salt or Rock Salt

Mix everything in the food processor or mash it by hand. Massage into feet, about 5 minutes, then let it sit for another 5. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry. Follow up with your favorite lotion and finish with a clean pair of cotton socks to retain the moisture.

Happy Belated Friday

So, clearly I missed doing FollowMe Friday. We had doctor appointments and they ended up running all day due to a vicious backlog at the office. So annoying.

Better later than never, right?!

V and Co.
Ucreate
Tip Junkie
Simple Mom
Skip to my Lou
Rookie Moms
Petite Planet
Prudent Baby
Apartment Therapy Ohdeedoh
Make It Do
Make It and Love It
Living With Lindsay
luvinthemommyhood
Little Miss Heirlooms
Lil Blue Boo
Finding Fabulous
Design Dazzle
Domestically Speaking
Elle Michelle and Eliza Belle
The DIY Show Off
How Does She?
Kathryn Crafts
Executive Homemaker
Handmade Charlotte
The Pursuit of Happiness
A Girl and a Glue Gun
Sweet Mama
My Sweet Baby
I Am Momma  - NEW

I'll be back later today with some amazing DIY spa products

Bon Weekend!

Twitter!

Happy Friday everyone!

I'll have my FollowMe Friday list up later today along with some awesome recipes I've come across.

For now, we're on twitter!

Urban Domestic goes to twitter!

You can also see our tweets in the sidebar of our layout here.

I Believe

Quote by Audrey Hepburn

Life's Little Obsessions

When I was pregnant with my daughter all I did was shop. I barely gained weight because I did so much walking (while I shopped). Seriously, I shopped.

I decided early on in the pregnancy that I wanted to keep my skin is as good of shape as possible, so I tried a bunch of different products over the course of my first trimester. These three are the best of the bunch that I tried

Buffy (the backside slayer) - LUSH

This body butter is a great exfoliator on top of moisturizing your skin. I highly recommend getting the tin to keep your body butter from melting away in your soap dish. Also, make sure your rinse off really well or you'll be a greaseball and feel gross for the rest of the day

$10.75/95g

Gloomaway™ Grapefruit Body-Buffing Cleanser - Origins

This stuff smells so good that my pregnant self spent a good 20 minutes trying to talk my rational self into tasting it (rational self won). A great scrub to use first thing in the morning or after a long day of work, play or being an uncomfortable mama-to-be.

$21.00/150ml

 Gloomaway™ Grapefruit Body Souffle - Origins

Smells just as good as the scrub! Use this amazingly rich moisturizer all over your body for a glow that has nothing to do with being pregnant!! I haven't tried any of the other products from the Gloomaway™ line, but judging from the two I have, the rest of the line is worth getting!

$27.50/200ml

What skin care products are you folks loving right now?

DIY Household Cleaners

In a time where more people are going green, I thought I'd share some "recipes" for making your own cleaners.

These mix-it-yourself cleaners use environmentally friendly ingredients — like baking soda and vinegar — and are cheap, cheap, cheap! So if you've run out of your favorite cleaning solution, don't run to the store — try one of these standbys instead. If you're not sure it's right for the surface, test it on a small area first.


Glass cleaner

2 cups water
1/2 cup white or cider vinegar
1/4 cup rubbing alcohol (70 percent concentration)
1 to 2 drops of orange essential oil, (optional)

Great for: Windows and mirrors
How to use: Combine ingredients and store in a spray bottle. Spray some solution on a paper towel or soft cloth first, then on the glass. To get smudge-free glass, rub vertically on one side and horizontally on the other. Hint: Don't clean windows on a hot, sunny day, because the solution will dry too quickly and leave lots of streaks.

Read more

FollowMe Friday

For your viewing pleasure, here's all the blogs and websites I currently follow that are craft or parenting related.

V and Co.
Ucreate
Tip Junkie
Simple Mom
Skip to my Lou
Rookie Moms
Petite Planet
Prudent Baby
Apartment Therapy Ohdeedoh
Make It Do
Make It and Love It
Living With Lindsay
luvinthemommyhood
Little Miss Heirlooms
Lil Blue Boo
Finding Fabulous
Design Dazzle
Domestically Speaking
Elle Michelle and Eliza Belle
The DIY Show Off
How Does She?
Kathryn Crafts
Executive Homemaker
Handmade Charlotte
The Pursuit of Happiness
A Girl and a Glue Gun
Sweet Mama
My Sweet Baby

Say goodbye to the rest of your day!!

Martha Strikes Again

Martha Stewart, via OhDeeDoh, brings us yet another fabulous idea. Use an embroidery hoop to keep laundry bags open!

Read more

love love love love

Every so often we are graced with a spirit so pure, so unselfish, that to lose it, humanity should weep as a whole.

Eva Markvoort died this week after a lifetime battle with cystic fibrosis. Eva was the subject of a documentary called 65_RedRoses (airing this Friday on CBC) that followed her wait for a double lung transplant. She also maintained a blog of the same name over at livejournal, which is where I had the privilege of reading Eva's trials and triumphs in life. Her family is graciously still updating the blog as more news of Eva's triumphs are posthumously reported.

Even to her last (literally) breath Eva encouraged us all to have hope, to be generous with ourselves and, most importantly, to love. Love fully, love completely, love often, LOVE. She has inspired me to try and not focus so much on the negative, to appreciate what I have, and to feel the love.

Eva was an organ donor, and I am too. Are you?

Don't you think you should be?

Happy Birthday Eva. I hope there's just as much love where you are now

And so it begins

As some of you may know, I'm no stranger to blogging. I've been keeping a journal over at livejournal since 2005 as well as having various websites dedicated to poetry and photography over the years.

With a toddler of 18 months, I no longer consider myself a stranger to mommyhood either. There's been some definite progress made in the last year and a half! So, I thought to myself, why not start a blog and share tips, crafts, sanity savers, and commiserate with other internet folks?!

We (hubby, babby, 3 cats, 2 fish) live in the downtown core of Calgary, Alberta in a high rise apartment. We've lived downtown for the last 5 years and have no plans anytime soon for moving to the suburbs. Being an urban dweller presents some unique challenges, especially since we've chosen to rely solely on public transportation (parking prices are INSANE down here!) or walking to our destinations.

And there you have it, my first post in my sparkly new bloggy. I hope you find something interesting in the posts to come. Stay tuned as I get the layout done the way I like it and start filling this sucker up with random bits of awesomeness.