a smile for your monday

Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Stella and I visited her cousins today. At one point mom and I were chatting, turned around and saw my brother's kids go streaking by. Somehow within five minutes of us turning our backs to them, they had stripped down and were running naked through the yard. They were screaming, "hey everyone, we're nude!" It cracked me up. Afterwords, they grabbed buckets and started to collect rocks and pine cones for their mom. My nephew said, "I can't wait to show mom! She's either going to love our gift or really, really hate it." Kids are awesome. 

evolving

Last weekend one of my friends asked me to tell her something she could improve on about herself. I didn't want to answer because the last thing I want to do was is insult them when I absolutely adore them. I would feel way more comfortable giving her a list of all her strengths. But, she persisted that I answer, so I did. She wants to grow and wants to know in what areas she could improve. Would you dare ask someone that? I thought it took tremendous guts. Some people have the philosophy, "this is who I am, like me or not" but I truly admire those who want to keep becoming their best selves and are willing to change. Don't get me wrong, I don't think people should strive to be perfect. How boring would that be? The big question is, which quirks should we embrace within ourselves and which ones should we overcome? I think the answer lies in how it is holding you back in your life or negatively impacting your relationships with others. Are your anxieties/phobias/issues limiting you? If you were told you only had one year to live, what would you regret if you didn't achieve/accomplish? Don't you find it inspiring when people push themselves to grow and try new things? I love surrounding myself with people who are positive by nature, enthusiastic to try new things and are excited about their life.
My biggest list topper has always been to work on my confidence. A lack of confidence can make you believe that every negative thought you have about yourself is a truth and can distort your sense of who you are. It makes you afraid to take chances, on account you might fail. I'm happy to report that being a mom has been a great help in improving my confidence. Each time Stella and I go out together and encounter a new situation, meet new people, or if she has a meltdown in public and I handle it with ease, it adds another building block to feeling more confident about myself. It makes me want to get out there and try more new adventures with her. Children pick up on their parent's anxieties/insecurities/etc. so for  my daughter's sake, I want to continue to grow to be the best possible role model for her. What's your "thing" that you'd most like to improve upon?

I'll drink to that!

Happy Friday friends! I hope you have a fun weekend lined up for yourselves. Here are a few things I've tried lately that I highly recommend: 

Infused water. Throw some frozen mixed berries in a jug of water or try slices of lemons/limes or oranges, strain and pour. Get creative. It will get you drinking more water and keeps it interesting. I also tried this refreshing recipe: mint and ginger lemonade. If you want to get the party started, the mint/ginger lemonade would be delicious mixed with gin over ice. Just sayin'.  

Easy appy: chopped figs, olives, crackers, goat cheese (I topped it with a few spoons of pesto) - it literally takes about 5 minutes to throw it all together. I guess I've got food on the brain because tonight I'm meeting up with yayas: a group of past and present co-workers(friends) where we eat delicious food that some of our in-group gourmet cooks whip up. We used to have our dinners on weeknights, but I think the sampling of vino has pushed our get togethers to Fridays. After all, no one wants to work with a pumpkin on their shoulders. Food and friendship, my favourite pairing. Bon appetit! 

Victorious

Chillin' time after a tough day of strolling. 

Beakin' off in Beacon Hill Park

Dressy casual

one of those 'where are they now?' moments

Not quite like the chalk art I used to create

Royal BC Museum

Bastion Square Grand Prix - I wish I could say I participated, but I was more of a supporter

The Elite men racing in the grand prix -the speed was incredible

Early morning Inner Harbour stroll

oh HI!

oh Hi there friends! We're quite new at the whole travelling-with-a-baby gig, so we've taken a few little weekend jaunts to easy, walkable cities. This past weekend we went to Victoria. Gone are the days of riding mopeds, dining on fine French food and hoisting Belgian beers at the pub. In its place were early morning walks, cafes, parks, take out sushi and in-room drinks. We stayed at the lovely Magnolia hotel, which I highly recommend. The location/staff/rooms are excellent. We called ahead and they had a crib set up in the room for our arrival. The hotel also supplies you with a complimentary breakfast from 6:30-10, which was such a bonus because it allowed us to go for an early walk, get her to sleep in the stroller and then enjoy a leisurely breakfast together, sipping coffee, reading the paper, ah bliss!  It's definitely an easy city to travel with a baby - you can cover it all by foot. Beacon Hill Park, the Royal BC Museum and the Inner Harbour are some of my favourite spots. I had the giggles checking out some of the artists along the inner harbour. Don't get me wrong, I'm a massive fan of the arts, but wouldn't it be funny to say, "Happy 50th birthday, here's your name on a grain of rice!" Or, "Thanks for the 30 years of service with the company, here's a neon spray painted picture of Jupiter!"

The art displayed along the inner harbour is hit and miss, but that's the cheesy fun of it all. 

We were enjoying patio seating, watching the Bastion Square Grand Prix bike race when an old (elderly? distinguished? meddling?) lady joined us at our table (due to the lack of available seating). She said, "that's what I like to see, a mature mom." I looked around. Nope, it was definitely me she was looking at. Awesome. You win this round old lady. Then she says, "enjoy it while it lasts, they grow up fast, move away, and you never hear from them again." Ah, I see bitterness will be the victor in round 2. Before she continues, Stella looks at her and makes farting sounds at the lady with her lips. That's my girl. She's going to be a fun sidekick to travel with. 

the easiest audience ever

Nothing like a five month old to make you feel like some kind of comic genius. 

*You need an adobe flash player to see the video.

bits and bites

Oh hi friends!
I thought I'd share a few things from around the web...
Have you seen these hilarious trailers for Anchorman 2 or the new Seth Macfarlane film Ted? What about this clever video of Uncle Drew playing basketball?
Feeling potlucky? Tis the season. So far we've been to three potlucks this week. I personally love them: Potlucks take the pressure off the host, are affordable for everyone and people usually bring one of their best go-to dishes. Here are a few things I tried this week which I highly recommend:
delicious guacamole, easy scones (I did the orange-cranberry version in the recipe's footnote) or this perfect summer salad.
Yesterday I booked a little getaway on Expedia and used their Unpublished Rates to find a hotel (Search for a hotel as you normally would and then in your search results, you'll see a photo of a question mark in your listings). You get to choose a price/star rating and they tell you the hotel name after you book. I know this is how Priceline operates, but I've never used this service through Expedia before. It ended up being an amazing deal. We scored a 4.5 star hotel for $139 a night.  I was actually applauding when I saw the hotel's name pop up because I know it's a beaut that usually goes for a lot more. Yahtzee!
Yes, that's right, I am super cool.
Have a great day lovelies.

day by day

On May 18th, we lost our dear friend Zad. Whenever things are quiet, my thoughts always turn to him. When I'm driving, when I'm running, when I'm singing Stella to sleep, I think of our friend. I've never known such a polarity of emotions as I have been experiencing during this last week. On one hand, I've got this sweet daughter who stares up at me and makes my heart soar with elation like never before, but then I have these moments of deep despair over the shocking, senseless death of a genuine sweetheart. It's the finality of it all that scares the absolute shit out of me. He was 7 feet from making it to shore. Two more swimming strokes. He was laughing as he swam and then just suddenly slipped away. He deserved to make it. He was one of the good ones who really loved his life. Seven more feet wasn't too much to ask for. I am trying to learn everything I can from this. Savour your time. Be present. Spend your precious moments doing what you love with those you love. Don't complain. Don't judge. Don't stress out. Don't put your expectations on others. Don't put off your dreams for some random time down the road. We owe it to Zad to live big. We are still here.