Two-Step Process

It seems that life these days is full of two-step processes.

For example, getting BOTH my kids to eat their greens! It's karmic (and my mother would agree) that my kids are kinda fussy eaters. It's also karmic that the thing that grows the best in our garden year-round, and the plant I know the fewest ways to prepare, is kale. There is always a giant bin of it waiting patiently in the fridge, curly, green and beautiful... so I happened upon the green smoothie idea this summer and have never turned back! Chard, spinach, lettuce, kale, mint, even cilantro have all made their way into our smoothies. Keira LOVES them, but Carmen - well she's just too smart for me to fool these days. She stands beside the blender and proclaims, "I don't like that KAY-YELLLL!" So I got a bit smarter too and, lo and behold, the green smoothie popsicle!



She hasn't figured it out yet.

This afternoon, after our popsicle and during Keira's nap, we decided to try cookie-painting, or painting with cookie cutters. These Ikea cookie cutters are getting a lot of mileage! I started with a cookie sheet of her paints...



I always add water to make the paint stretch farther (cuz I'm cheap like that), and have figured out the perfect order to mix water into my paint colours so that I don't have to wash the paintbrush in between: yellow, green, blue, purple, red, orange. That way, the colours are not all brown by the time I finish! Also, if you're putting them on a cookie sheet this way, if they run into each other then they still look relatively close to their original colours.



The painting was totally fun, and it was interesting to see that Carmen and I could look at the same shape and see a totally different animal... is it a whale, or a snail?



But then we got a bit bored and decided to take it to the floor for two-stepping!



While Carmen was painting her toes...



for the finale of my two-step processes today, I decided finish the last rows of my sweater and then block it. It took me almost two months exactly to finish knitting, but as you can see, the arms and bodice were sorely in need of some straightening out.



While I was knitting, I was a little worried about how the colours hand-dyed wool would pool differently in the arms vs. the bodice, since some was knit in the round, and some on normal straight needles. I think the variation is kinda neat!




And so, armed with garbage bags and straight-pins, I made my first attempt at wet-blocking a sweater. Apparently putting the sweater on bags rather than on a towel will help it dry faster, as the bags will not absorb any water (thank-you Knitty). Voila!



We'll see how it turns out.

Reunion

It's been a week since Jason and I had our couple's adventure and if I close my eyes, I can still get a sense of the contentment and relaxation we both felt being on 'vacation', even for such a small chunk of time, and for such a short distance away from our home...

Don't get me wrong - it's not like our marriage is in trouble by any stretch! And we are very lucky to have family nearby for date nights here and there. We both have hobbies supported by one another; Jason's Tuesday painting nights, my Saturday singing mornings. And our kids - they sleep! They behave in restaurants! They are pretty darned fun to be around!

But there's something about going to sleep after a blissfully exciting night out NOT worrying that one of your kids is going to have a bad night, or that you're going to be woken up at the crack of dawn, groggy and fuzzy from too much wine. Or going for a morning coffee stroll without having to juggle your mug, a dog on leash and a stroller full of squirmy kids. Not thinking about having enough snacks in the diaper bag to tide hungry mouths over until the breakfast order arrives. Not having to go to a restaurant that has booster seats and high chairs.

Last Saturday night Jason and I ventured out onto Commercial Drive in search of wining, dining and dancing. We were not disappointed! We stepped into the Latin Quarter at about 7pm, were deep into conversation over appies and cocktails by 7:30, salsa and cha-cha'ing our butts off by 9:30, and stumbling home weary and sated just after 1am! It was romantic and exciting and exactly what we both needed.

We spent the drizzly Sunday morning with coffees in hand, combing Commercial Drive for a breakfast joint that opened before 10am - NOT Little Nest!! We sank into our diner seats and continued our conversations from the night before, laughing over our boogie adventures and loosely mapping out the day ahead. We snuggled on the couch where we were staying, watching 'Silence of the Lambs' on cable - maybe not the most romantic movie, but we were too busy being blissed out by the silence of the house to notice!

But the best part was our trip to the Miraj Spa. Oh, so heavenly. Such attention to detail - you feel like you are the only couple there, and won't see another customer during your visit. Sumptuous in every way. Delicious, even. I encourage every couple to eek out the bucks (shared Christmas or anniversary gift? forgo JJ Bean for a few months?) to try it. You will NOT be disappointed - it is a relaxing, amazing, sexy (!?!) reunion with your partner.

That is, unless you don't like being naked around strangers. You ARE getting scrubbed down in the buff, but it is so professional and SO freakin' fantastic!

Now if only I could wrangle some freebie hammam passes in exchange for testimonials...

A girl can dream, can't she?

Tired of Pink

Oh. So. Tired.

Of pink.

I've done everything I can to introduce to Carmen the beautiful colours of the spectrum. I bought gender-neutral, put her in boys hand-me-downs... we play with trains and trucks and blocks and dirt.

WHY WHY WHY am I cursed with PINK???

And pink princess-mermaid-butterfly-fairies riding on pink unicorns?

AGH.

For Halloween, Carmen wants to be a princess. In pink. BIG SURPRISE. She was a princess last year.
So what do I do? Dress her in a costume she wants to be in, or something creative and cool that I have to force her to wear, that will probably get torn off the minute I have my back turned...

Now as I reread it, I realize this post is awfully whiney, and the answer seems obvious.

AND YET.

Pink.

Urrrrrrrrgh.

UPDATE:
Disaster Averted! Carmen and Keira will go as 'The Paperbag Princess: Before and After'. Keira will be dirty and messy and paper-baggy and Carmen will be pink and princess-y. Lame? Jason and I like it!

Calling All Fashionistas...

Help a girl out!

This weekend, my mom is coming over from the Island to spend the night in our house with the girls and the dog (thanks Mom!) meaning... we can leave together! Overnight! For the first time since Keira's been born!

Yahoo!!

Our plan is to crash Auntie's beautiful and vacant-for-the-weekend house (thanks Auntie!), to make use of her guest room and amazing location - just off Commercial Drive. We're going to go out for a nice dinner, drinks and dancing! Any suggestions for locations?

Sunday morning we'll sleep in and have a breakfast out, and then it's off to Miraj Spa for their Couple's Hammam, Gommage and Massage - I've had a gift certificate for nearly a year now (thanks Melina!) that will finally be put to use. If you haven't been - it is the ultimate luxury... someone else giving you the best, most vigorous scrubdown EVER after a ridiculously hot but refreshing 15 minute sauna. All in a totally private marble grotto-esque cavern, which Jason and I will be sharing. Then a 30 minute massage, followed by hot mint tea and honey cakes in a gorgeous lounge with lots of new shiny magazines that no child has slobbered on, ripped apart, or coloured on!

Can you sense my excitement?

In preparation, I hurried out to the Oakridge Mall's Bay to find something to wear... I love shopping there because they have a lot of major labels (Mexx, DKNY, etc), but always at a huge discount! I have to admit to a major penchant for clothes, although my fashion sense is still developing. I usually call on the help of friends, sales assistants and store personal shoppers (so much fun) but was on my own - ACK! After trying on 40 (I'm not kidding, 40) different dresses, I settled on one that I knew would turn my hubby's head!

Being winter and all, the Kensie knit dress is long-sleevey, turtle-necky and blacky-browny-tan. Perfect for me since I'm always chilly. It calls for what Carmen and I refer to as zip-up boots, but I am a little directionally challenged and also suffer from TTCS - Twist-Tie Calf Syndrome. My legs (especially in tights) have always resembled pipecleaners no matter how many squats, lunges and calf raises I do.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not being down on myself - I do have a pretty good bum and am overall pretty fit. But realistically, I got a little shafted in the leg department and suffer immensely during boot season. The standard knee-high boots require legs to fill them out, and they tend to sag out on me besides being way too tall. I usually end up buying mid-calf length boots that look like knee-highs on me. In fact, my friend Lisa and I both bought the same boots last year (hers knee-high, mine mid-calf) and they look the same on us!

After trying on about 12 pairs of boots I gave up, totally flustered.

I went home and tried on a pair of tan Mag boots from my closet. I bought them in 2002 while vacationing in Belgium and loooove them, but have only ever worn them with jeans. I think wearing trendy-in-2002 boots is pushing it. My husband seems to think they are great, but I think maybe he is just too busy looking at my bum... Whaddya think?



Be HONEST. I promise not to be offended or take it personally! There are many situations in which fashion intervention is necessary!!




And if you think they are hideously out of style now, or just look goofy with a skirt, I need you to tell me what to buy, and where I can find it! If you feel more comfortable, just email or message me with your suggestion...

And please don't say Gravity Pope, unless you are willing to show up with your Visa to pay for my purchase - in which case, please do! I've been saving my pennies, but that place is soooo out of my price range...

As an aside - nice bras at the Bay are only $24.99 right now! Triumph, Maidenform, Bali... for some reason I actually had another $5 knocked off the new Bali bra I bought, yay! My size certainly changed a lot after 3 years of breastfeeding... feels nice to buy something that fits, what a treat!