My Idea of Happiness

It's been a good run

2016-12-03T06:23:00.001-08:00

I think I can officially give you the stoic goodbye salute on this blog. All the margins of my life have been filled up and when I do have time for leisure writing it's now mostly short stories that I'll likely never share with anyone.

But while I'm getting sentimental over the fun that was My Idea of Happiness, here is a quick list I put together of the great times we had together. Thank you, dear reader, it was a slice.

You came along with me as I ate and drank delicious things including...
Twin Pines orchard & ciderhouse
Fire Roasted Coffee / Habitual Chocolate
Chil Frozen Yogurt
The Root Cellar organic cafe
Goodah Gastro food truck
That Crepe Place & Bakery, St Thomas
Richmond Station, Toronto

I packed you in my luggage on various travels including...
Curitia, Brazil
Los Angeles
Chicago
Cocoa Beach, FL
Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba
Great Wolfe Lodge (Traverse City, Michigan)
Huntsville
Trump International, Toronto

I was overwhelmed by the generosity of many kind-minded companies who sponosed My Idea of Happiness, or just made incredible products that I couldn't help but review and promote, or sat down with me for interviews on the great work that they do...
Triple Cord Community-Shared Agriculture program
Chipkos eco-friendly sandals
Cottage Gardener heirloom seeds
Eco Kid bug repellent
Sircuit Skin
Natural Vitality magnesium
Daiya (vegan cheese)
Derma E
Sol Cuisine
Ecover
J.R. Watkins
LARAbars
Rockin' Wellness (shake)
LUSH
Natural Twig Toothbrush
Snappi (for cloth diapers)
100% Pure
Boogie Wipes
Broccofusion
Radius recycled-material toothbrushes
DivaCup
Farm Boy
SoLi Gi gluten-free bars
Molson Canadian (stone fruit cider)
Garnier Eco-Fructis
Homeocan (homeopathics)
DAVIDsTea
Aloha Chocolate & Greens
A & W
Blurb
Sample Source
The Honest Company
The OVer Company

We saw plenty of contribution from the strange & beautiful people in my life, not limited to...
Angela's lentil lasagna (and extensive maple syrup usage guide), Filipe's brazilian brigedeiro recipe, Sarah's honey face mask, Alexis's soap tips, Perrie's feelings on vegan makeup, beauty tips from Jill and Jess, canning with mom and with Aunt Betty and with Ashley and with Bethany (so much canning), laundry soap by Ashley... I am forgetting so many. Please email me so I can update the list.

I featured friends' blogs like...
Britt and Natalie's Three Little Crowns
Dave's The Primal Cave Man

And we attended some fun events (metaphorically) together like...
My Natural Weight Loss lecture at the YMCA
the Birth and Beyond conference
the Bump, Baby & Toddler Expo
Break Up & Move free yoga

I am always, always available via email - amyjoyharrison@gmail.com
I hope you're happy!

Cottage July 2016

2016-07-29T08:09:00.002-07:00

Here are some photos I (and others) took at our cottage and in Ottawa.

Ollie and Kota liked to tag along on my early morning photo adventures.

Ottawa bathroom selfie.

This is how interested I was in taking a photo.

This is how interested Dakota was in Papa giving her a shoulder ride.

I'm on the pursuit of happiness...

This is currently my most effective parenting method.

Place me anywhere in the world and I will find the shawarma.

"Mom, your caramel is burning."
"Did you take it off the heat?"
"I did not. I just took a photo and then told you about it."

Just a casual cinnamon apple dutch baby with bacon maple syrup.

This is how I enforce modesty.

My mom learned ukulele in under 30 minutes.

This is Lance Bass and his brother Chance

This is Mr. Avocado the toad

My mom is the type of person who whips up a gluten free wild berry pie as though the task is as simple as breathing

A week's worth of groceries. Family of 4. $100.

2016-06-25T13:27:00.001-07:00

Today I did something I haven't done in a LONG time. I grocery shopped by myself. It was a glorious and therapeutic 40 minutes as I pranced down the aisles repeating to myself "Don't forget Asian dressing. Don't forget Asian dressing."

So being that there were no outside influences (aside from the fact that I live with three mega-picky goobers) I am here to show you what I bought for your review and judgment. (Other outside influences include: time, money, selection, North American norms, prep time, I get anxiety about asking people to shuffle over for me to grab something off a shelf, and, I didn't want raw meat touching my Kate Spade purse.)

This food will feed the 4 of us for the week. Keep in mind, I had tons of stuff at home when I got this. These things include: a dozen eggs, more cheese than I could ever eat, a loaf of whole wheat bread, some country butter, 2L of almond milk, tons of fruit, cucumbers, bell peppers, onions, garlic, ginger, all the oil/vinegar/herbs/spices you could ever need, rice, protein powder, hot sauce... you know, the important stuff. And whatever the garden will produce (radishes, chives, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, rhubarb, kale, lettuce).

First, let's get the boring non-food stuff out of the way: paper towel. For those times that your kid's elbow becomes a magnet to every glass of water you set on the table. I feel like I'm living in that Shymalan film about aliens - "swing Merill swing".

Next, from the left we have multigrain wasa, Asian dressing (see, I remembered), an entire ocean of canned tuna, British style beans and cornstarch.

In the towering pile next we have my ramen noodle addiction...

Okay, let's take a moment for a ranty aside. The other day I was trying to think of what my friends and family might put on my tombstone. Like: Here lies Amy Harrison, she sucked at sports but was great at push ups. RIP Amy Harrison, never watched a full movie in her life. Amy: she hated racism so much. Or would it be something like, Damn that girl ate a lot of ramen? I don't know. Probably the last one.

Back to the groceries. Moving toward the front we have a container of premade quinoa salad. This is speaks to my laziness and career success. Then a package of boneless chicken thighs. We'll use these for cold noodle salad as well as chicken pitas. Yes I sanitized my floor after taking this.

Next is natural peanut butter and dill pickles. In case a pregnant woman comes over?

Most embarrassing items next: the "soft baked banana cookies" and "soft baked chocolate cookies" to put in Oliver's lunch. Relax.

Next is whole wheat pitas. When I was selecting these I happened to be on the phone with my mom and was struggling to find any that weren't white. I finally yelled out "JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL, ARE THEY ALL WHITE HERE?!" and a number of people side eyed me.

Two types of yogurt. For the adults, extra-fibre Activia and for the kids, raspberry Iogo drinks.

Then there's an ambiguous pile of fruit and veg which includes carrots, apples, nectarines and bananas. I honestly can't be bothered to haul a ton of produce home from the store when we have so much to harvest right now.

And quite finally, the impossible collection of beverages. There was a sale on a new product Extra Protein Soy Milk. Not a huge fan of soy but was too curious to pass it up. If I totally hate it we'll make some other plant based milk from scratch. A package of powerade for Calvin's baseball games. A package of stevia-sweetened cherry soda. A large "owwange dooce" for Dakota (to spill on the floor). And a cold-pressed kale/orange/apple/cucumber/mint/swiss chard/ginger juice for me because I have a Pavlovian need to recieve a 'treat' everytime I go shopping - thanks Mom.

Thank you my dear readers for your time and please feel free to pass any and all judgment on me in the comments below. My skin is thick and my desire for your feedback is above average.

Our Garden 2016

2016-06-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

I can't even over-exaggerate how weird 2016 has been for gardening. Every other year I am the lunatic who has been reading "The Farmer's Almanac" since February. This season, the May 2-4 weekend was suddenly upon us and I realized: usually by this time I've been growing all of my plants from seeds since eight weeks ago. And I realized: I need to get to the garden center. And I realized: I'm the worst.

So we packed up the kids and drove out to Heeman's. I was already growing sage, parsley, chives and strawberries (since they came up on their own - hey, thanks).

I picked up zucchini, cucumber, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce mix, kale, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, blueberries, radishes and beets - the last two I planted as seed because they pop up quick.

Got them in the ground, watered, caged the tomatoes. Explained to my offspring that any and all ripping of leaves will be punishable by Neflix-bans, and that was it.

Here are some photos.

The raised beds I built with my dad last year for under $100. I did re-fill them with 3-in-1 soil because they were a little on the low side.

First bed has zucchini, cuc, broc, cauli, lettuce, kale and all the herbs. I was going to plant snap peas from seed but I forgot and now I'm too lazy.

Bed 2 is purely tomatoes. A tomato jungle, if you will. I have the usual beefsteak, roma, cherry. The more interesting ones would be the heirloom pink and heirloom black. I am so excited to cube those into a very minimalistic salad on a white plate with proper natural lighting. You know, for flavour.

And on the far right I have a new blueberry plant, a slew of strawberry plants, rows of crowded beets and rows of even more crowded radishes. I'm reluctant to thin them because I wonder if they'll grow super long and skinny which would be hilarious. (In my, and only my, opinion.)

So that's what's been keeping me busy besides reading short stories by Vonnegut and writing songs on guitar that I'm embarrassed to play in front of anyone else, and working through the week, and oh yeah being a mom.

If I continue on this trajectory, Garden 2017 will probably just be an aloe vera plant on my kitchen counter.

Toronto Getaway Weekend

2016-05-14T05:40:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Calvin planned us a weekend in Toronto with no kids. Which sounds like a really good opportunity to catch up on sleep, except that I only got three hours. Because I'm smart.

Our evening started off having dinner with my sister and her boyfriend. We ate at Richmond Station, a restaurant that is the creation of former Top Chef winner, chef Carl. He was in the kitchen all night, which was totally open to where we sat, so my sister definitely took some strategic selfies with him in the background. We had some delicious drinks - a walnut old fashioned, craft beer... mine was ginger beer based which is pretty typical for me. We polished off an enormous plate of oysters then ordered chick pea fritters with tahini and baba ganoush. Cal was excited to try their famous station burger. My sister settled on a duck dish and her boyfriend ordered rabbit two ways. One dish on the menu caught my eye because of the accompaniments (pickled ramps, oyster mushrooms, tarragon soubis, I'm there) but I honestly didn't know what the main protein was - skate wing. My guess was beef so I asked the server. She said it's a type of manta ray. I was all in, and it was perfect. Lightly floured and pan-seared - the texture was similar to any ocean fish flesh and the flavour was sweet and mild. The pickled ramps put it over the top for me - any acidic component in a meal is a winner for me. (#allthevinegar) We couldn't deny ourselves the dessert menu and we ended up with a matcha bar (good sweet mercy) and this unreal combination of apple crumble (corn shortbread crust) with miso caramel (which I would happily drown in), a toasted nut dusting and this life-changing cheddar ice cream. I also had some coffee, because, coffee.

Overall, it had really nice decor - hip, modern, minimalist - and incredible service. 10/10 would eat there again.

We took a 2 minute walk back over to our hotel (Trump International) and spent the next few hours playing round after gut-busting round of Cards Against Humanity. I made the horrible choice to have another coffee. Long after my sister and her boyfriend had left to see a friend's concert, and Calvin had passed out in bed, I was sitting sitting there on my phone like an Energizer bunny, unable to fall asleep until after 2:30am. But the math checked out ... coffee at 11:30pm + 3 hours of caffeination = 2:30am, so I should have seen it coming.

Our room had a beautiful view of the financial district all the way to the Lake. All of the windows were outfitted with powered curtains, much to my demise when Calvin realized this around 8am when he woke up. Unfortunately, I'd woken up at 5am (my body didn't get the memo that Oliver wouldn't be asking for a breakfast sandwich in the next few minutes) and I had used a soak in the giant bath tub to fall back asleep. Little did I know I had an appointment at the spa for 9am so I guess waking up was eventually necessary.

This is the pool I didn't swim in.

This is the bathroom I took selfies in.

I'll be fantasizing about this tub for the next few years.

Big beds are my cat nip. You know that Nick Jonas song "Cause space is just a word made up for someone who's afraid to get too... close." yeah, my husband says my version is "Cause close is just a word made up for someone who's afraid to give me ... SPACE." #getoutofmyzone #INTJ

This was my view as I waited for my appointment to begin at the spa.

The manicurist enjoyed my description of what colour I want on my nails as "I only like really light pink, but opaque enough to cover how awful my natural nails look, but still pale enough that it's like the colour of a worn ballet slipper." "So, ballet slipper?" "No. Like a more nude Bubble Bath." "Sweet heart." "I know I'm not usually this difficult but I..." "No, the colour is Sweet heart." "Oh okay, I trust you."

Later she said "So apparently you play guitar."

We ate in the restaurant upstairs and were not disappointed. Calvin had a ham benny.

I went with the hang over classic, Huevos Racheros. Which I immediately searched on Urban Dictionary to see if it had any double meaning.

Lunch was at our favourite street meat guy. In case you're wondering, my order is Spicy + olives, kraut, banana peppers & mustard. No drink.

I was told our seats were "pretty crappy, sorry" and I was already convinced that we should start looking for the stairs to get to the upper when suddenly Cal took at turn down a section and we ended up 7 rows from the TD seats behind home plate. And not a damn person saw me on TV! Come on.

This is the face of a tired woman.

And here are some snaps of the Jays. We really had a great weekend and I can't wait til the next one.

Weekend in Huntsville

2016-04-28T09:59:00.002-07:00

First off, an apology. I posted maybe 3 times in March, and ZERO in April. I am a bad blogger.

Moving on...

Last weekend, we went up to the cottage and had an amazing time! The weather was chilly, but honestly the temperature is of no concern to me when my days are full of reading, cooking, napping, building fires and hiking. Wow, so refreshing.

We drove into town and it ended up being "Maple Syrup Fest" in downtown Huntsville, which was a real treat. We didn't even know. Here are some snaps from that day.

My sweet wilderness man, Oliver Wolfe, in his natural habitat. We took a walk up the road about twenty minutes and when we decided to turn around and go home he ended up darting into the woods with his "Papa" and they took the forest-way back home. This is after watching the scary bear scene in John Candy's classic "Great Outdoors" about 20x, and secretly listening to the bear scene in the Revenant. No fear this one.

Outside of the theater, a beverage company called Tapped was giving out samples of their maple water which is like a natural version of Gatorade. I was the only one who really liked the taste though.

Vendors were set up all along Main St. We had spent the morning and noon hour being lazy so by the time we arrived it was almost closing up.

There were cool artifacts like these vintage tree tapping spouts.

There was an expert wood carver who made some incredible pieces.The smell was lovely.

My mom & Kota loved cruising the stands.

This guy was demonstrating animal calls.

The log you see on the far left was carved out and full of ice. For $2 people could pour maple syrup in and let it freeze on a popsicle stick for a sweet treat.

This guy sold really nice cutting boards.

We also enjoyed homemade pecan cinnamon buns with cream cheese icing and some Fire Roasted coffee.

Calvin made jerk shrimp and I made pineapple-cilantro salsa. Is there anything better to put on a taco? No.

There's a new juice bar in downtown Huntsville, Totem. I picked up their carrot-based juice, Bon Fire. It was sweet and fresh with a kick of ginger. We also tried a nice beet juice and a pineapple-herb juice.

40 favourite foods

2016-03-17T17:32:00.001-07:00

This is going to be a doozy but the kids are snuggled into a ninja turtles movie so I have time.

1. Fav quick breakfast food - buttered whole grain toast and a fried egg... if it has to be really quick: 1 spoon of peanut butter

2. Fav leisurely breakfast food - scramble of home fries with onions and peppers, topped with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce

3. Fav order at a restaurant breakfast - omelet with feta and spinach

4. Fav quick lunch food - Mr Noodles with added soy sauce, sesame oil, sriracha and lime juice, or canned tuna on salad

5. Fav leisurely lunch food - fish tacos

6. Fav order at a restaurant lunch - I almost exclusively cycle between nachos or meal sized salad

7. Fav quick dinner food - chicken souvlaki on pita with cucumber and tzatziki

8. Fav leisurely dinner food - eggplant casserole, stuffed chicken, jerk shrimp

9. Fav order at a casual restaurant dinner - nachos, meal sized salad, veggie burger, any bowl style meal like stir fry

10. Fav order at an upscale restaurant dinner - the fish feature, or if there's something interesting like a ... portobello ricotta veggie tower?

11. Fav breakfast for dinner - quiche and peameal bacon

12. Fav leftovers meal - fried rice

13. Fav part of Thanksgiving meal - brussel sprouts

14. Fav take out - shawarma

15. Fav healthy dessert - Greek yogurt, kiwi, raspberries, coconut, pineapple

16. Fav unhealthy dessert - baklava, tiramisu

17. Fav movie snack - I usually fall asleep but.. corn chips

18. Fav salty craving - corn chips again

19. Fav sweet craving - good quality chocolate

20. Fav sandwich - anything with a tomato-mayo combo, love weird breads, love sprouts

21. Fav smoothie - pineapple juice, kale, mint, peaches

22. Fav Starbucks drink - black bold

23. Fav family recipe - Mom's buffalo chicken casserole or eggplant casserole, sago, rouladen, varnecki, I'm realizing I can't spell any Mennonite foods... Dad's egg fried rice

24. Fav cook all day food - pulled pork

25. Fav ready in 5 minutes food - eggs, Mr Noodles, toasted tomato sandwich, bagel with smoked salmon

26. Fav baked good recipe - not sweet, but, puff pastry stuffed with bacon jalapeños and cream cheese

27. Fav frying pan recipe - a good grilled cheese

28. Fav bbq food - salmon, zucchini, mushrooms, bacon wrapped jalapeños or dates, peaches

29. Fav seafood - black cod

30. Fav party snack - an entire cheese plate

31. Fav mid day pick me up - coffee

32. Fav indulgence - warm brownie with ice cream

33. Fav make me feel healthy food - green juice especially with ginger

34. Fav blow your paycheck food - any good cheese, way too much smoked salmon, mussels

35. Fav pizza toppings - green olives, pineapple, feta, spinach, bacon

36. Fav soup - beer and cheddar

37. Fav fruit - cherries, pear

38. Fav veggie - radish, salted garden tomato, arugula

39. Fav meat - all seafood, striploin, chicken thigh

40. Fav starch - naan or pita, white rice, latkes

Who I'm thankful for on International Women's Day

2016-03-08T08:17:00.000-08:00

I couldn’t be more grateful for the supportive and empowering sisterhoods that I consider myself a part of. I could list a million reasons why I’m so thankful for the powerful women in my life. Here are some:

- For a mom, two sisters, a mother-in-law and sister-in-law who are always my fall-back, in whom I have 100% confidence that they’ll catch me if I need catching, love me even if I’m being unlovable, and fix my problems even if I made them willingly myself. And for a gaggle of aunts who feel like sisters to me.

- For two grandmothers who taught me skills I cherish and who left legacies to be proud of. And the two living grandmothers that I gained through marriage.

- For warm, lovey-dovey women whose friendship feels like a never-ending hug.

- For my tight-knit circle of girls who enable my coffee addiction, over-use of social media, under-brushing of hair, falling asleep during every movie, and deep inability to handle being even 1% hungry. For appreciating the combination of cheese plates and American politics. For letting me use my New Zealand accent even when it's annoying.

- For the fellow mamas who laugh with me about our kids’ bathroom mishaps or at-school cursing, and who ease my worries when I’m knee deep in a stomach flu or high-fever situation. There’s actually nothing in the world like another mom saying “me too”.

- For a woman who cares for my children, the most precious things of my life, and treats them as though they are her own. Who sends them home with fresh cookies in their bellies. Who only took a week to change Dakota's answer to 'how was day care today?' from 'I cry' to 'I happy'.

- For a workplace that sees women in leadership as a win for everyone. For those that have become “my tribe” (I can never thank you enough). For my leader who reminds me of my value and who sets an example for me to aspire to. And for the fact that her leaders are strong, intelligent women too.

- For the women who have made it their job to spread the word about issues of privilege and marginalization – who keep all of us updated on what we can celebrate, and what needs work. Who don’t see feminism as a swear word.

- For the women who set the very highest bar in “we belong to each other”ism.

- For the woman who helped my babies come into the world.

- For the woman who I am raising every day. Who already has more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control that I could ever be credited with. Who would rather be strong than pretty. Who shows off her Buddha belly at every chance. Who has no problem telling the boys to “shoo”. If you were the only woman I knew, this day would still be worth celebrating.

On Why I'm Not a SAHM

2016-03-01T15:23:00.003-08:00

I've written on this topic before. In fact, I've even youtubed on it. (Ugh, I'm having an internal battle on whether it should be "youtubed" or "youtubbed", but perhaps "recorded a video on Youtube" would be the most correct.)

Here are the facts, in order.

I have two children. (Age two, age four.)

I have a full time job.

This can tick a lot of people off.

In fact, recently my husband - while explaining how excited he was about my promotion - had someone ask him "Doesn't she realize her first priority should be her husband and children?" Real life, folks. (PS His answer was: it is. And so is mine. And we both work and we both love our family. End of story.)

To be honest, I think opinions on all sides are fair. You are allowed to think that children are best raised at home, full-time, with a family member. But for goodness sake, can we please remember that family member doesn't equal mom? Perhaps Dad stays home with the kids. Maybe Grandpa or Grandma do. As I look at my calendar and remind myself it's 2016 let's all collectively agree on the fact that the raising of the littles is not just a mama's job. But, okay, you think that kids should be raised by family, all the time...

I don't necessarily agree.

Another opinion, on the other side completely, is that all kids should be in day care for structure and to learn to socialize...

I don't necessarily agree either.

Like with most things in life, I think it's all personal. It's personal what method of care your children will thrive in. It's also personal what level of 'being out of the house and with other adults' you as a mother will thrive in. If the two line up - beautiful. You have found your sweet spot.

Here is why working full time works for me.

My kids have Mom, Dad, or Grandma five days a week. They get love and snuggles and dance parties and cookie baking. Then, two days a week they go to Playschool. They get love and snuggles and dance parties and cookie baking... plus, they get a handful of extra friends to play with. It's pretty cool! And guess what this arrangement affords me? Forty hours a week in my office at work doing what I love, feeling like I am contributing to something huge, feeling accomplished, getting my dose of being with adults, finding a reason to brush my hair (just kidding).

When I am at home, for days at a time, I fall into a lazy funk. I let the laundry sit around. I lay in bed until the kids absolutely force me to get up. I watch a lot of Netflix. When I spend 8 hours at work, and then click into mama-mode, I am on point. We cook together. We clean together. We read and colour and I hug them 2 million times each. We have a lovely bed time routine. I cherish every moment. When they're in bed, I get the necessaries (laundry, whatever) done in record time. I actually do my work out. I feel good. And then I do it all over again.

Working Amy is a vast improvement from Stay at Home Amy.

And all the same, the stay at home version of YOU might be worlds better than the work-you. Only you can know.

Best case scenario is we all make our choice, and then we make the even more important choice to support each other even if we do different things. Working mamas - I feel ya! Let me know how my experience can help you. SAHMs - well done. You do something I suck at. I tip my hat to you. That's the message: be the sisterhood we're supposed to be.

Our Day at a Glance – New Job, New Childcare

2016-02-23T20:00:00.000-08:00

I’ve had the amazing privilege of beginning my role as a Coordinator at the hospital. There is so much to learn and so many people to meet. It’s been incredible. With this new change comes a new schedule for our family, and we’ve been really trying to plan and cooperate to make it work.

We were lucky to find an incredible home day care just down the road, run by a lovely woman with kids of her own, and a bus stop to Ollie’s school just outside her door. Because we already have care the other 5 days a week between Calvin, his mom, my mom, and myself, we only needed to find child care for Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

So gone are the days that I would have to work 6am to 6pm, but now I am working every weekday from 8am to 4pm (roughly). This coupled with Oliver’s school and Calvin’s somewhat inconsistent schedule, led to us needing a plan. Here is what a day at the Haus of Harrison looks like, on a child care day.

6:00am

I’m up with the phone alarm. Makeup, hair, outfit. Start breakfast.

6:30am

Oliver’s up. Outfit. Lunch into backpack. Start eating breakfast and watch cartoons.

6:45am

Dakota’s up. Calvin helps make sure both kids are dressed and fed now. Put my lunch into my work bag. Make sure I’m taking the car with car seats in it. Make sure I have a garage door opener in my purse. Make sure I have my house keys. And am wearing pants.

7:15am

I drop the kids off at Beyond the Stars Playschool. They have a snack and play with the other kids. Before Cal leaves for work he unloads the dishwasher and puts the breakfast dishes away.

7:50am

I arrive at work for the day.

8:35am

Oliver catches the bus outside the door with the other kids.

9:00 – 3:45pm

Oliver is at school. I am working away. Dakota has lunch, then nap time.

3:45pm

Dakota walks with the group to pick Oliver (and the other kids) up from the bus stop. They all have a snack together.

4:00pm

I leave work.

4:25pm

I pick up the kids and drive home.

4:30pm

We all work together to make dinner. While it’s cooking or if Cal takes over, Ollie and I complete his homework.

5:00 – 8:00pm

The evening routine begins. We eat dinner. We play. We finish any outstanding homework. We pack up any leftovers into containers for lunches.

If we have errands to run we’ll leave right after dinner to be back by 7:45 at the latest.

We head upstairs and run a bath. The kids wash up while I get their pajamas and toothbrushes ready. If they’re still playing in the bath I’ll get all 3 of our outfits ready and laid out for the morning. I might take off my makeup, paint my nails, do a yoga move. Then it’s pj’s and brushing teeth. Dakota goes straight to bed. Oliver gets a book and a Netflix show in his bed.

While this is all happening, Calvin cleans up after dinner. Runs the dishwasher. Sweeps the kitchen floor.

8:00pm

In the evening I have 2 tasks: set us up for the morning and laundry. I make sure Ollie and I have lunches packed. I gather up his library books, permission forms, etc and fill his backpack. Find his lost mittens. Write a note to his teacher. I make sure my bag is all set as well. Make sure the outfits are all laid out. Then if needed I run a load of laundry or fold and put one away. Once all the tasks are done I do my yoga/fitness routine and have a bath/shower. After that, we watch some Netflix and crash.

How I'm Doing on My Resolutions (Spoiler: it's amazing)

2016-02-14T04:45:00.002-08:00

Let's take a short walk down memory lane to the resolutions I set for myself in December. In a nutshell they included:

- Job success
- Focus on healthy living
- Being good to others & Being good to myself

If you can believe this, I've done very well! Halfway through February and I'm already giving myself a pat on the back.

The biggest news is... an incredible promotion at work. Honestly, I'm floored. I am so happy. Beginning on the 22nd I will be "Coordinator of Food and Nutrition Services". Truly, a giant goal of mine achieved. Needless to say I'm feeling like a million bucks about it.

This is me before one of my interviews - showing a friend the nylons I chose with my dress.

As far as healthy living, I've had quite a few really good days sugar-wise, but a handful of real bad ones too. For example, today outside my office there are cookies, brownies AND cupcakes and I don't forsee being able to resist them much longer. Overall, if you look past the time we ate pizza for dinner three nights in a row, we're doing well. And from a fitness perspective I'm better than ever. Yoga just wasn't physical enough for me anymore so I've been doing a lot of more "work out"y work outs, if that makes sense. I'm now the proud owner of a body that can easily pump out 50 pushups (real ones), 50 squats, a 30 minute youtube work out video of my son's choosing... I feel really strong.

I think I'm being good to others! I'm signed up for a charity walk next weekend with the kids, to raise money for homelessness in our city. I'm really making an effort to be honest and positive, my two most favourite things. I have to give myself credit for the number of times I've left my phone in another room and just snuggled/tickled/attacked Dakota for hours on end. I think I've ditched my phone more these past few weeks than ever before. And I've been great to myself. I've been playing guitar DAILY (it's been a long time since I could say that) and I've been snuggling every baby I see. If I can keep up this level of guitar-playing and baby-snuggling I'm going to live a very happy life.

And then my predictions...

Word for word I said: "2016 will see my daughter as a two year old, and my son turning five mid-way. It will be my six year wedding anniversary. At the end, I'll turn 29. I'll have been with my current workplace for three years. And we'll celebrate two years of living in this house. I'll renew my licence plate again, probably break a few wine glasses, cry when the Leafs are mathematically out of the playoffs, and go on a family vacation to somewhere warm. I'll get max two hair cuts, I'll be convinced I have a broken rib at least once, I'll be told by a doctor I need antibiotics but not actually fill the prescription, and I'll stop at a yellow light that I should have driven through upwards of 500 times - these are guarantees."

Two year old Dakota: check. She had her birthday on Jan 27.

Six year wedding anniversary: check. it was on Feb 5th, we went to Toronto and had such a good time. We saw the Revenant and then argued forever about who is better: Leo or Tom Hardy? The fact that this is even a question astounds me.#teamtomhardy

I've already broken 1 wine glass, after I'd had a bit to drink I attempted to run a cooking show for my friends, with a New Zealand accent, and smashed a glass in the process. Blood everywhere. Was funny though. 10/10 would do again.

The Leafs have made me cry, of course. Stamkos anyone?

We went on a family vacation to Paradise Island, Bahamas. It was glorious.

I have not cut my hair, no surprise there. Should probably dye it though.

I haven't convinced myself of any major health concerns. I'm sure it's coming.

I've been pretty good about driving through yellow lights when appropriate, especially when it's so snowy out.

So, yeah, 2016 is a pretty good year so far.

Dakota's Semi-Healthy Mint Oreo Birthday Cake

2016-01-28T07:07:00.000-08:00

We thought long and hard about what type of birthday cake to make Dakota as she turned two yesterday. We knew she loves chocolate... and she loves mint too (she tries to steal the adult toothpaste instead of the kid one and she says "Mmmm Minty!"). We had 1/2 a box of candy-cane Oreos that were more crushed than whole, and we had some leftover whipping cream, so we had a plan!

Oliver used this recipe for "semi-healthy chocolate cake" and we customized as necessary:

Preheat oven to 350F.
Blend 1 cup coconut milk with 1/2 an avocado.
Mix this with: 1/4 c avocado oil, 2 eggs, a splash of vanilla and a splash of peppermint extract.
Then add in: 1 3/4 c flour, 2 c raw sugar, 3/4 c cocoa powder, a pinch of sea salt and 2 tsp baking soda.

We prepped a cake pan by spraying with avocado oil and then lightly dusting with flour. Then we poured the cake batter in, sprinkled some chocolate chips on the top and baked for 45 minutes.

When the cake came out we set it to cool and make some mint whipped cream: 1 cup whipping cream, 2 heaping spoons of icing sugar and a splash of peppermint extract.

To assemble, we took the cooled minty (avocado) chocolate cake, topped it with mint whipped cream, and then dusted the whole thing with crushed candy-cane Oreos.

She absolutely loved it and Oliver was so proud to have made such a nice creation for his sister.

Things I'm always up for

2016-01-05T04:36:00.001-08:00

I saw something online recently that listed "things I'm always up for". It was cute and had things like fuzzy socks, breakfast for dinner & long, meaningful conversations. I didn't end up reposting because a number of them weren't quite accurate for me but it got me to thinking... here is my list of things I'm always up for:

- grabbing Starbucks before we hit the road
- you bring the meat, we'll bring the cheese
- seeing a movie at the Hyland (before 9pm)
- recording an embarrassing video of singing/playing an instrument
- explaining the situation using only emojis
- putting on another pot of coffee
- hey, can you hold my baby for a minute?
- an after dinner walk around the neighbourhood
- covering someone's Friday shift
- accepting hand me downs
- Sephora browsing
- a library book recommendation
- an adventure that could end up with getting lost
- washing someone else's dishes
- just order me whatever you think I would like
- endlessly queuing up funny youtube videos
- discussing the Duggars
- having someone braid my hair
- a nap

Dakota's many names

2016-01-04T05:03:00.001-08:00

This morning over breakfast I called out to Dakota to ask her how she was liking her cheese toast. I said, Hey Kimba? And she immediately answered, yeah? I realized I've called her Kimba so many times she now answers to it. Along with probably 30 other names. Almost exclusively beginning with the letter K even though the official name was gave her at birth begins with D. Go figure. Here is a sampling of the nicknames that have stuck for Dakota in her almost 2 year life:

Koko
Kota
Koty, kokes
Kodalina, Kookalina
Kodles
Kim, kimmy, kimma
Kimble, Kimba, kimbo
Kimmaluna, Luna
Koburg
Bodhi
Dax
Dakokes
Wild one

23 Unposted Photos of 2015

2016-01-01T08:04:00.000-08:00

I have a Shoebox account to back up my photos and periodically it will show me what I was doing this time a year ago, or three months ago, etc. There are so many photos that I haven't posted for one reason or another. Here are some that I thought I'd share now. They are teeny tiny for a reason ;)

This is Oliver right before finding out if he would need glasses or not. (He didn't, and was super bummed.)

I ended up taking a better photo of Ollie with his birthday cake at the cottage.

We tried to take a family photo. It worked out pretty well. Love my parents.

That time Calvin got us a hotel room in Toronto and my sister showed up for the free breakfast buffet.

My little jungle cat on her new (at the time) kid-sized couch. It has since become Oliver's place to crash beside my side of the bed if he has a nightmare and doesn't want to sleep alone in his room.

Just two girls taking a selfie.

Sometimes my hair looks nice and I try to take a nice photo and I end up taking a bad photo.

This little Georgia peach was so sweaty in her leopard print tutu.

This is 1 of THOUSANDS of photos Dakota has taken of herself. I could make a coffee table book of all of them. So relax, much chill.

Bath antics.

Girl, I feel ya.

Koko and her buddy Grey getting ready for the beach.

Trying to take a nice photo of Kota with Ruth. Got this instead.

That time I wore an Isis shirt in public all day. (Isis is a metal band.)

I try to post photos of my kids' dinners BEFORE they get drowned in ketchup.

Face meet plate.

Because, why would I post a photo of me smiling? Right Kanye?

A boy and his Maamo.

Oh my gosh, when did she become not bald?! 2015 you betrayed me.

Snowboarding, sans board.

Mom wouldn't let me post this. But, look, here we are.

Family walk. Took a photo as Dakota was spilling off the side.

The fact that I didn't post this IS A TRAVESTY.

New Years Reflection 2015/2016

2015-12-31T14:16:00.001-08:00

I've been trying to fill out a little "resolutions" survey every Dec 31st on this blog. I was shocked to realize this is my fifth year in a row posting a New Years Reflection on this blog...

Just to keep myself accountable, here are my former reflections:
2011/2012
2012/2013
2013/2014
2014/2015

So let's get into it... in 2015:

What did you create?

I built a massive heavy duty shelving system for all my Rubbermaid storage totes, I felt like a freaking Hulk when I was done
A 3 bed garden which gave me so many delicious things
A therapeutic gardening program for the forensic mental health clients at work, including cooking classes from the harvest
A daily yoga routine that also creates: a butt (needed one)
Hundreds of yummy meals
More organization in a number of places in the house (the pantry, the front closet, my side of the bedroom closet, the kids' toys)

What challenges did you face with courage and strength?

A close friend's cancer diagnosis
Losing my regular rotation shift and going back to working part-time
Deciding our family stops at two children
The Keg taking the goat cheese appetizer off the menu
Suicide Squad releasing a trailer SO SO SO long before the movie comes out (omg, I'm dying in anticipation)

What promises did you keep?

My usual car related promises: always wear a seat belt, always use a car seat properly, never stop on a railroad track, don't text and drive, don't drink and drive. I'm like scary-good at this stuff - if I drink half a cider beer four hours ago I still make Calvin drive. :)
To be gentle on my children
I don't call in sick to work when I'm not sick
I don't buy dinner when I could make dinner (same goes for breakfast and lunch)

What brave choices did you make?

To eat this chicken that kind of looked undercooked
To attend work functions even though I feel so socially awkward
To dye my hair light blonde

What are you proud of?

I've just interviewed for a leadership role at work
Oliver is learning his letters really well
Dakota eats super spicy food like a champion, and sushi and seafood, and fine cheese

What was disappointing?

All the times I forgot my leftovers after they'd been boxed up at a restaurant
Getting a ticket for forgetting to update my licence sticker
Turning 28 which is so close to 30
The night I stayed up for SNL and then it was a re-run
The Toronto Maple Leafs

What was scary?

Our car hitting black ice and smashing into a pole last month
Every time I hear a noise downstairs in the middle of the night & think I'm being Elizabeth Smart-ed
Donald Trump

What was hard?

Oliver starting school full-time
Saying good bye to our very best friends, the Medlands, as they moved to Scotland

What can you forgive yourself for?

The amount of chocolate I've consumed
Briefly falling asleep during Star Wars: The Force Awakens (honestly, it was like 30 seconds)

The next step is to say out loud, “I declare 2015 complete!”

How do you feel?

Like a baby sparrow flying through a warm rain, gliding along toward a full harvest moon that illuminates an entire field of sunflowers below, while the rest of the world sleeps in silence.

The final step is to consider your primary focus for the year to come. What is your primary intention or theme for 2016?

Let's first take a look at how I did with my 2015 focus...

My intention this year is to find a routine. That I can see a week and know our rhythm. To reduce the chaos. For my children to feel secure in where they'll be and who will care for them every day of the week. To always pack my lunches, pull out my clothes and have my bags ready for the day ahead.

I've really attempted to do this but the biggest barrier is my work schedule. I made a calendar with magnetic photos of myself, Calvin, my mom, and Calvin's mom so Oliver could always know who was babysitting him the next day. I stopped using it when he started school because he knows he has school every weekday and Dakota is too young to really grasp the calendar. I do pack lunches and lay out my clothes the night before, pretty religiously. As I move toward my goal of having a regular work schedule this will fix itself somewhat.

To snuggle my two treasures constantly, and be amazed by them, and listen every time they're talking, and never chose a screen over them. To write them emails to read in the future, and take pictures of everything. To find out who they are, what they need, what drives them and what exhausts them, and how I can make them better, every day. To invest in them and model what a good person is like, so that they can say that I was a positive example in their lives.

I think I've chosen a screen way too many times. The phone needs to go away. It's terrible. That said I've done well at the rest: I send them future emails all the time and take photos of the important stuff/ nag family members to forward their photos to me when I can't be at an event. I love listening and trying to understand both of them. I have really nailed Dakota's eating and sleeping pattern needs, Oliver is still a mystery to me. I try to model the character of a good person to them (I make sure to let them see me - donate money, do things for other people, say yes to filling a need, etc.) and I loudly recognize the character of other people (if they get a free cookie at the grocery store I announce - isn't that awfully generous of that baker?) - sadly I was recently asked by Oliver if I'm actually a good person or if I'm secretly a bad one. Too many Anakin Skywalker library books for him.

And to ship them off to bed at a reasonable hour so that I can spend one-on-one time with the only man I need be spending one-on-one time with. To actively do things to make it known that he is special. To never leave him seeking for attention, compliments or approval.

This is my year's greatest fail. Typically if Calvin and I have evening time together it's spent in front of the tv. Or I'm on my phone. I use up all my 'nice Amy' for everyone else and save all the 'exhausted Amy' for him. I think I've done an absolute ton in my eyes to make him feel special but the bulk of it is in my love-language - so I cook for him constantly, take care of his laundry, the dishes, clean up after him, and then I think I've done a great job when really he doesn't respond to acts of service, he wants touch & praise. I hate praise because it feels fake if it's not authentic. I definitely need to try harder.

To give credit where credit is due, and then even extra where it's not. To give more than I receive. To over-praise and under-complain. To be a treat and a joy to be around, 99% of the time.

I'd like to say I'm doing well in this area. I would like to do even more of this with the staff at work, including sending cards of gratitude for a job well done.

And to myself: to get enough sleep, enough water, enough activity, enough greens, enough alone time, to be my very best at almost-all times.

I've certainly tried to get my sleep (and have succeeded more often than not), I drink all my water, I eat all my veggies, and I've exercised (in the form of yoga) more this year than any other year. I spend the time I need to alone, and I do try to be better and better every day. Good job, Amy. Now read more books you goof.

And now, for 2016.

My occupational goal for the coming year is self mastery. On a moral/cognitive/political level I am an eclectic ball of weirdness, and there's nothing wrong with this, however, my many inconsistencies don't work in a leadership role. At work, as I look to bigger and brighter things I need to be able to align with and articulate the vision of the organization in a way that doesn't waiver when others disagree with it. I am eternally hearing people's side of the story and then validating it, rather than helping them understand my side (with empathy of course) and looking for their understanding of where I'm coming from. Maybe it's just because I'm in an 'interview' season but this career goal is pretty pivotal to me.

At home, I'd like to see some of our junkier meal choices (mac n cheese, etc.) find their way out of the frequent rotation. I'd like to continue with my daily yoga and arse-loads of water and commitment to sleep against all odds. I'd like to wage war against sugar which I don't even like much, and it certainly doesn't like me because after consuming it I feel like death.

I'd like to listen, listen, listen when people talk and remember the things they say as though they are as important to me as they are to them. I want to be a "So how did your daughter's math test end up going last week?" type person. I adore those people.. when you think, how did you even remember that I talked about that? I want to be a massive source of positivity in many lives, that time spent with me leaves others believing in better things. This would be helped by complaining less and speaking poorly of people as-close-to-never-as-possible. I'd like to play more music, read more books, spend more time in nature. Snuggle tons of dogs and babies. Put lavender bath salts in a tub of hot water more often.

2016 will see my daughter as a two year old, and my son turning five mid-way. It will be my six year wedding anniversary. At the end, I'll turn 29. I'll have been with my current workplace for three years. And we'll celebrate two years of living in this house. I'll renew my licence plate again, probably break a few wine glasses, cry when the Leafs are mathematically out of the playoffs, and go on a family vacation to somewhere warm. I'll get max two hair cuts, I'll be convinced I have a broken rib at least once, I'll be told by a doctor I need antibiotics but not actually fill the prescription, and I'll stop at a yellow light that I should have driven through upwards of 500 times - these are guarantees.

I hope this year I choose myself when I need rest, nourishment, quiet, excitement, encouragement or creative pursuits, to be my best person; and then choose others the total rest of the time. I want to care for myself so that my cup is full, and then pour, pour, pour into whoever needs it. And maybe I'll update the blog a handful of times too. Love you all.

How We Spent the Holidays

2015-12-27T05:02:00.000-08:00

December can be a bit of a whirlwind for young families. Calvin and I have experienced a few Christmases now that we looked back on, once the dust settled, and thought: "That was too crazy, never again." Like the not-enough-sleep year, the spent-12-hours-driving-in-a-day year, and the Oliver-is-overwhelmed-by-people year... we have learned our lesson to not overbook ourselves and to keep driving to a realistic level. Now that Dakota (23 months old!) has reached a significant level of human consciousness, gift opening is at peak awesomeness. Seeing two little ones go nuts over gifts is pretty unbeatable.

So here is how we maximized joy and minimized homicide risk.

Early in December we celebrated with my Dad's side. There is nothing greater than a section of the family committing to celebrate early. Praise the Good Lord. It was a perfect plan because my grandparents were headed back to Brazil in a few days and won't return until late April. We had an amazing meal (steak!) and opened gifts. I situated myself next to my uncle's new dog and became best friends with her instantly (Charlie.. *sigh*)

A week or so later Calvin's mom's side met up at McGuiness Landing for a holiday get-together. Sadly I was working but managed to catch them back at their house for coffee and sweets (and by coffee and sweets I just mean two black coffees).

December 23 we got together with our lead team at church and decorated for the Christmas Eve service. We knew we wouldn't be able to attend the actual party but wanted to contribute to the set up and feel we were a part of it in some way. We provided/arranged for sweet treats to feed ~400 expected people, including cookies, brownies, bark, cinnamon buns and bars. This was stress-free because Oliver and Dakota were free to run around the venue (a golf club) and our pastors' son and daughter are like dream babysitters who I want to hire as live-in nannies/mentors.

December 24 Calvin worked the day and then we took turns distracting the kids while the other wrapped gifts like a madperson (madperson is the gender neutral of madman or madwoman - the more you know). Mid-afternoon we drove to my parents house in South London and were able to spend good quality time with them and my two sisters (one of whom came from Toronto, which is always a treat). By good quality time I do mean rounds of shots ("Do I have to drink this all in one gulp?" - Mom) and record ourselves "singing" Christmas carols around the piano. And by singing I mean managing to get a line or two out before laughing or yelling at each other. In fairness, my mom kept getting her hands on my side of the piano. And everyone kept singing harmony instead of the melody. And the iPad recording us fell down a ton of times. Rage. We had a delicious meal, of which my favourite parts were the chipotle sweet potatoes and the bacon brussels sprouts. For dessert my sisters made a pie (like, just whipped it up casually as though they were 20 year old Martha Stewarts) and then we promptly forgot it had been made so we never ate dessert. We opened gifts (Oliver got a remote controlled helicopter - heaven help me). Then we took off before anyone could get over-tired and cranky (the most likely candidate being me).

December 25 we woke up at the crack of dawn to do Christmas morning with Calvin's family. From 7am to 9am we took turns with his parents and brother and sister-in-law, giving and receiving gifts, as well as hiding all chocolate items from their dog. Then at 9 I raced off to work while they had a big breakfast which I'm told consisted of quiche, turkey bacon, sausage, protein pancakes, scones and more. I managed to steal some protein pancakes and a scone before I got in the car. Cal and the kids spent the day at their house while I made sure the 75 clients in our hospital were fed and happy. I also had my finger slammed in a heavy duty security door - ugh. (Said no swear words - look at me go.) I returned to their house at 6pm for a delicious turkey dinner. Oliver had been shipped off to my sister's car to go attend my mom's family's Christmas get together in Niagara. We got ourselves home and in bed very early, and Dakota let us sleep in until almost 7:30am.

December 26 Calvin took Dakota out for some Boxing Day shopping while I frantically cleaned and tidied the house. I filled garbage bags with old, broken toys and put their new ones out. I dishwasher-ed, I laundry-ed, I bed-made, I kitchen-scrubbed, and then I collapsed in a tub of hot bath water until they came home (and had purchased nothing - which is probably for the best). Oliver was returned to us mid-afternoon and we took off in the car to Goderich to Calvin's dad's family Christmas. Here, Oliver was just about reaching his breaking point so we kept him in check by limiting sweets and threatening to not purchase batteries for his helicopter. Worked like a charm. Dakota was content to eat snap peas and smile at people nervously. I personally loved this gathering because (a) little ones to snuggle and (b) enough smoked salmon to feed me for a week. I planted myself beside the cheese platter with a small child on my lap and was in my happy place.

And now the holidays are over.

Of course we have a friend Christmas party tonight for dinner. And Thursdays is New Years Eve, so the mayhem never ends. But we're happy that we survived a family Christmas without any major hiccups. I hope your holidays were fantastic and would love to hear your family's game plan if you want to post a comment below! Happy Holidays my friends.

Oliver's New Career as a YouTuber

2015-12-23T06:29:00.004-08:00

Oliver absolutely loves watching YouTube videos, specifically unboxing/unwrapping videos of toys and snacks. He can search "kinder surprise eggs" and then be occupied for an hour. He knows all the big youtubers, he can recognize videos that he's seen before, or been hoping to see, or that seem to be a rip off of another Youtuber's idea. He's all in.

So when I told him that he could be a Youtuber is was ecstatic. We began with a trial run, in which he did a review of the Nutella pretzel snack. I shared it to Facebook and got a good response so he's been making videos almost every day since.

I've seen so much improvement from him - from his first videos during which there would be long awkward pauses and little to no commentary, to his most current ones where he's truly upping his 'hosting' chops. He runs the audience through exactly what he's doing and likes to throw funny or interesting things in too. He's had his share of bloopers - in one video he starts bawling and in others his little sister tries to sabotage him - but in general he's pretty flawless.

Here are some if you'd like to check them out. Please like, comment, share and subscribe!

His first video ever - Nutella review

A sweet moment with Dakota

The infamous crying one

An early one

The day he was sick but still filmed - such dedication

His first Kinder Surprise Egg video

Another

On the counter, oops

I didn't help with this one at all

And another

I helped

On the floor

Look at that cute jacket

Dakota steals the show again

THANKS FOR WATCHING

Get to Know Me

2015-12-05T10:38:00.003-08:00

I've had some good traffic lately on here (you guys bored or something?) so I looked up a "blogger get to know me survey". Thanks Uncle Google. If your new ready My Idea of Happiness, this one's for you! Feel free to leave me your answers in the comments below.

1. What is your middle name?: Joy

2. What was favorite subject at school?: All the subjects! Off the top of my head I loved Chem, Bio, Physics (of course, right? ... right??), Math, English, Spanish, German, Creative Writing, Cello, Food and Nutrition. I can remember disliking French and Phys Ed.

3. What is your favorite drink?: I mean, truthfully my favourite beverage is coffee. Next to that water. I do like tea. I do like specialty juices like kale-pear-ginger or something like that. The best alcoholic drink I ever did have in my long-legged life was at Keg and it was called a Queen B. It was gin, lemon juice, honey and ginger. Baby!
;)

4. What is your favorite song at the moment?: Everything by Justin Beiber is slaying me right now. I will just proudly admit that.

5. What is your favorite food?: Have to give this one to eggs. Like if I have to pick a. food. item. My favourites dishes would be... any kind of fried rice, pad thai, quiche, nachos, fish tacos, zucchini/eggplant lasanga, deep fried pickles, big ass salads.

6. What is the last thing you bought?: Probably a coffee.

7. Favorite book of all time?: I think it's still Brave New World - Aldous Huxley. It's so incredible. Also Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk.

8. Favorite Color?: Light pink :)

9. Do you have any pets?: Just human-puppies

10. Favorite Perfume?: I'm not a perfume person, I just take whatever someone recommends to me and go with it. That said, Fresh (in Sephora) makes one called Cannabis that smells so grassy and delicious, I smell it every time I go in and love it.

11. Favorite Holiday?: Thanksgiving probably takes the cake. So much good food. Such good weather. So many naps.

12. Are you married?: Yes, almost 6 years now.

13. Have you ever been out of the country, if so how many times?: I have been to... well, America (east and west coast), Mexico, Brazil. I think that's it.
Edit to add: AND CUBA. Thank you for reminding me Corinne!

14. Do you speak any other language?: In highschool I took French, German and Spanish. I'm not particularly great at any of them. I also tried to learn sign language and braille. I can code, like html code, haha.

15. How many siblings do you have?: I have two younger sisters, Angela and Sarah.

16. What is your favorite shop?: I pretty much only like grocery shopping. Well, Farmers Markets would be even better. I can handle IKEA, Costco, Target when it was around. If I need to buy clothes I will do a run and choose style shopping at Forever 21 or Winners.

17. Favorite restaurant?: I keep going back to: Beertown, Ben Thanh's... I don't know, I just ate lunch so I'm not in a think-about-food-mood which is very weird for me.

18. When was the last time you cried?: Probably when I was throwing up all of Sunday night. It wasn't like a pity cry, my eyes just literally did it.

19. Favorite Blog?: I'll give a shout out to my friends at Three Little Crowns. Their content has been consistently awesome and love the photos. My bestie Bethany blogs at A Land I Will Show You. I also read Feeding the Soil, Carrots n Cake, Shutterbean, Minimalist Baker, Joy the Baker...

20. Favorite Movie?: Probably going with my book answer: Fight Club

21. Favorite TV shows?: The Office, SNL, all food shows, Master of None, Mindy Project, New Girl, Arrested Development, Always Sunny

22. PC or Mac?: PC

23. What phone do you have?: Samsung S6 Gold

24. How tall are you?: 5’8

25. Can you cook?: Oh can I ever.

Some Good Eats Lately

2015-11-24T06:23:00.001-08:00

My friends, it's another edition of "Amy posts a few of the photos that have been sitting on her phone"! How excited are you?

Oldest photo here is of my meal a week or so ago when we were out for dinner. There's just something about having someone else cook for you that is so wonderful. I'm a serious seafood order-er in restaurants. If it's not fish, it's nachos. If it's not nachos, it's fajitas. Or salad, or stirfry on rice! Okay, I'm done!

I was invited to a potluck brunch last week and was told most people bring sweet dishes like muffins and scones, so more savory (eggy, cheesy) dishes are much appreciated. I baked up these cheddar-scallion popovers... and then I wasn't able to make it. I managed to choke them down ;) By the way, popovers are super easy - combine equal parts flour and milk (maybe 1.5 cups) and whisk in a ton of eggs (like 4 - 6) and some salt and whatever flavour you're going for (I did cheddar and scallions of course). Heat your oven to surface-of-the-sun hot and put a buttered muffin tin in to warm up for like 60 seconds, then pull it out carefully and ladle your batter in. Keeping the oven closed, watch through the door's window (if it's clean enough, wink) until the popovers have puffed, then drop your temp to 350 and bake til they're cooked through - like 20 minutes. I know that doesn't sound very exact or scientific and it's not. I don't ever follow a recipe for popovers and they're perfect every time.

One morning I topped a warm popover with a fried egg. Hello!

Here's the power of VSCOcam.... This is the photo I posted on instagram of my golden latke sandwich with goat cheese, arugula (from my mom's garden - wow!) and a spicy apple compote. With good lighting, an interesting angle, and the magic of filters, it looked like this...

Here's a crappy photo I took of it while caring less about instagram. See the difference?

I like to sprinkle a few hideous photos in there as well so you guys remember just how real I am. This is me literally trying not to rip my skin off my body at how good this black rice noodle bacon carbonara was. I know it sounds like I'm exaggerating. I was stopping after every bite to scream OHHH MMYYYY GOOOOOOSHHHHH. To make it I crisped up bacon in the oven (you guys do know that bacon is 200x better in the oven right?) and crumbled it up into a mixture of beaten eggs, cream and Parmesan cheese (okay, and salt and pepper!). Boiled and drained the noodles (organic black rice noodles from mama - thanks) and then stirred the hot noodles into the egg mix, thus cooking it into a creamy, magnificent sauce. Also threw in some parsley for good measure. Served with a salad.

On Saturday we knew we had plans to be out at a winery event (and then devour a meat and cheese platter after) so we ate a late lunch. Around 2pm Cal started cooking up this seriously glorious potato soup. The sweet lad topped mine with hot sauce, because clearly he knows the key to my heart. Served with a yummy grilled cheese.

This spread of meat, cheese, crackers, fruit, nacho chips and guacamole was literally inside our bodies within 10 minutes. I placed it on a low coffee table in the basement and as a joke I pulled up a pillow and sat directly in front of it and was delighted to see my friend Mary had already done the exact same thing, so we literally just parked our butts right there on the floor and just kept our hands moving to our faces as quickly as possible. We also might have single handedly (double handedly?) downed a bottle of red and a huge bottle of hard cider, so needless to say church in the morning was accompanied by a headache. I'm getting so dramatic in my old age.

One night I was feeling the German vibes and made this super Bavarian SEHR SEHR GUT dinner of sausage, schnitzel with mustard, fresh apples and INCREDIBLE fried cabbage. I'd like everyone in the world to learn to make good fried cabbage, it's cheap as eff & tastes like heaven. It does however make your house smell bad - make sure you're married to a Bath & Body Works candle addict before attempting.

I might be the reigning taco champion of this city. This is just my standard go to of ground meat, avocado, peppers, lettuce and salsa. On 6" flour tortillas.

This is a used up lime, two avocados and a chunk of red onion. You do the math.

Three Birthday Dinners Out

2015-11-15T13:42:00.001-08:00

I managed to bamboozle my way into three nights out for dinner this birthday season. Definitely need to milk this special time of year for all it's worth. We went to three places to eat, two of which I'd never been to before. Originally we planned to eat at Beertown but we've been there a lot and changed it at the last minute. Here are my reviews:

Byron Freehouse

At first the parking situation was stressing me out because I hate finding street parking (and paying for it!) but luckily we grabbed the last spot in a side lot off Springbank. (Is that the road I'm thinking of? Yes... I think so!) The place is super cute, and I love all the visual marketing - not just saying that because my sister in law designed it ;) Our server was flawless - honestly. She was like a doppelganger to Lily Aldridge and gave us incredible service. She wiped up every water spill Ollie and Kota could manage and happily accommodated our 3 gluten allergies.

I ordered fried pickles to start and chorizo nachos. By the 3rd nacho I was already full, haha, so those ended up in a leftovers box for Calvin to eat the next day. The pickles were seriously good though - huge and all dusted with a kind of ranch-spice powder, served with dip. I loved them. The kind of pickles that you like open-mouth eat while panting because they're magma-calibre hot but too good to not devour immediately. Yes, you can picture that.

Good food, great service.
(After we headed to my parents place to watch Survivor and eat a glorious gluten free dark chocolate cake filled with a creamy whipped cream layer and topped with tons of peanut butter cups. Mmmm!)

Toboggan

This brewery/restaurant is new-er to London and I've been meaning to check it out for a while now. We were originally told there'd be an hour wait for our party of 6 but when we upped our group to 8 suddenly a table opened up and we were seated right away. Fabulous. Our server was friendly and knowledgeable, but I'll admit he never brought us any of the water we asked for (and we needed it! I guzzled 2 glasses when I got home.)

My friends took on the challenge of choosing beer for me so they ordered me a flight of Pomegranate Wheat Beer, the house Blonde, a Stout, and Lime-ginger Cider. While all four were really good, my favourite was the stout - it was so smooth and caramelly and had that really satisfying coffee-type bitterness that I love. The blonde was probably my least favourite, although still a really, really good beer just not my usual choice. The pomegranate was nice and fruity, it was a good one to start with. And the cider was actually really unique and cool - loved the gingery kick, not too strong just a hint.

I ordered the salad trio which came with an edamame salad, a quinoa salad (really strong sweet sesame flavour - wow!) and a lentil salad. They were all delish. But they were served with a spoon instead of fork, haha.

I also had friends order me a South Side which is this maple syrup-y Crown Royal based drink. I really liked it, and in my usual fashion I added the apple slices on top to the list of garnishes that I would eat as part of my meal (thanks for the peppermint too, friends who ordered dessert! I am such a garnish eater, it's super gross).

Overall, it was semi-loud but actually a nice vibe. It definitely wasn't bar-y in the sense that people are just mingling with strangers and making me feel awkward, it was definitely a stick with your party type place - which I prefer. Awesome menu, awesome drinks. And the Leafs game (which we won) was playing on about 20 big screens so I approved of that greatly.

McGuiness Landing

I've been here quite a few times in my life but not in the past year. Our experience was pretty average. I ordered the grilled salmon which had a nice mustard sauce on it. It also had garlic mashed potatoes and zucchini in tomato sauce on the side. It was just enough food to share with Dakota.

Apparently on Sundays moms eat free so that was a cool surprise. Also, they offer a gluten free option for all of their butgers: helpful.

And special mention to...
My in-laws house

They made an awesome meal for me the night before my birthday and though it's not a restaurant I'm still so grateful.

We had halved mini bell peppers filled with cream cheese and salsa to start. What a yummy and healthy app, I loved it. Then we had a creamy (dairy-free, almond milk based) pasta made with broccoli, chicken breast and whole wheat macaroni. She had used coconut oil in the recipe and there was a hint of coconut-y sweetness that I adored. And we had sparkling wine which we call Paul's, I'm not sure why. And then dessert was a Clementine-date loaf and raw pumpkin energy balls. So yummy. Served with coconut chai tea. A super tasty homemade birthday dinner - loved it.

Packing Veggies into Average Dinners

2015-11-14T09:35:00.001-08:00

I am starting to realize that my nutritional strategy for my own self and for my family is: eat what you want, add lots of good stuff to it. I just cannot get behind diets and health philosophies that cut out, or even overly limit, things like bacon, donuts, sweetened iced coffee.. okay, clearly this list is very specific to my life. Bottom line, I cannot fathom enjoying life if I had a perfect-10 body but no joy from food. (Oh my gosh, I totally just typed that as "phathom" .. I think a viewing of Phantom Menace is calling my name. Star Wars marathon anyone?)

When I plan meals for my family I do it based on what we love and then I make sure I'm packing it full of the good stuff. So, not a "Low Fat Dinners" Pinterest search but a, 'hey, how can we make philly cheesesteaks healthy??' brain-search. This works fabulously for us. We don't have to survive on endless plain oatmeal, with iceberg lettuce salads for lunch and underwhelming fish for dinner. And we don't have to, like, get scurvy and stuff. Win-win.

Here are some of my favourite strategies for pumping totally run of the mill, but yummy, dinners, full of healthful veggies. They're all relatively easy to make and not super expensive, or else they wouldn't make my list at all.

- Philly Cheesesteaks! Starting with the meal I mentioned above, since it's what I'm cooking for dinner tonight, this one is a hit. I season and grill some steak - it can be a cheaper, thin cut like flank or skirt, because you'll be slicing against the grain. Our favourite steak is striploin, if you see it on sale buy it. While the meat is resting (never, never cut your steak before resting please) I stirfry bell peppers, onions and mushrooms. Lots of them. Then I throw a whole grain bun for each person (2 for Cal! Only 1/2 one for Oliver. Yes, that means Dakota and I both eat a full!) topped with a little cheese, into the oven to broil. Once the cheese is melted and the bun is toasty I top it with sliced steak and stirfried veggies. Delish. Mashed avocado is a wonderful addition. You could also make a killer vegan version by grilling Maple Tempeh and using Daiya jack cheese.

- Perogies! There's something about a layer of perogies at the bottom of a plate that makes anyone able to eat a mound of vegetables. Cook up some broccoli, yellow zucchini, orange bell pepper, spring onions, portabello mushrooms, whatever you can think of. Place them on top of a layer of boiled perogies. Watch the magic.

- Baked pasta! If you stir up some cooked noodles (any type - whole wheat if you're fancy) with like 5 cups of frozen veggie mix - the broc/cauli one, the Asian one, pick your favourite - with a little melted cream cheese and a can or two of either tuna or salmon - this will bake up gorgeously in the oven.

- Homemade pizza

- Quiche

- Pot roast soup

- Stirfry

- Loaded sweet potatoes

Birthday Cottage Weekend (2 days of meal photos)

2015-11-11T11:47:00.000-08:00

This past weekend my family and I drove up north to our cottage. I unofficially dubbed it a "birthday cottage weekend" so I could maximize how many days this year would be spent celebrating my birth - ha ha. My little family of four was there along with my parents and my two sisters, and one sister's boyfriend. (The place sleeps like 15+ so lots of room for everyone.)

My favourite place to be at the cottage (and in any home) is the kitchen, so I spent a lot of time there. Here are two days worth of meal photos and then some random ones for fun.

Breakfast on day one was a Greek-ish egg scramble. We whisked up like 18 eggs and cooked them til soft and wonderful. Served with tomatoes, olives and feta. Naturally mine is drowning in Frank's Red Hot, which is the sauce of life. Could drink it, seriously.

We served that with fresh out of the oven butter pecan muffins. They taste so, so, so good, but because they're gluten free they are approximately the texture of sand castles. So we had a good laugh over imagining if you had to eat one in your CEO's car on a business trip. Angela said she would just slam it down her throat in one bite, which was probably the best answer.

Our first lunch was fish tacos. We had enough fish to feed the entire NHL, and their wives. We made a crispy club soda-based batter and fried bite sized pieces. We served it with corn tortillas, cilantro, green pepper, spicy chipotle mayo, a corn and black bean salad, cabbage slaw and limes. We were still eating battered fish leftovers when we left the cottage.

Dinner #1 was pulled pork made in the slow cooker. It had a nice spice rub on it and was super moist. I prefer it plain (salted) but some people like it doused in sauce. I also made sweet potato wedges, like a really large fry. Served with sour cream. And we had a standard garden salad, mine in this photo has a yogurt dill dressing.

The next breakfast was hashbrowns. I fried up onions and orange bell pepper as well as cubed sweet potato (leftover from the night before) and an absolute ton of cubed white potatoes. There was cheese and leftover pulled pork out if you wanted to add it to your hash. And then Angela made some perfect runny-yolk eggs. My absolute favourite. I'm the captain of Team Runny Yolks.

Lunch that day was a perfect chili. Clearly I over sour cream-ed mine here, but what can you do? Served with 250 pounds of toasty nacho chips right out of the oven. Again, we could invited about 10 friends each and we would have still had enough food.

Our final dinner was Calvin's specialty: homemade burgers. The one pictured here was made specially for my dad: a double decker with a swiss cheese center. (Clearly he likes a 1:1 ratio of meat to raw onion.) We didn't need much for side dishes but we had lots of cabbage so I fried it up.

This is the cottage. We're on Foote Lake north of Huntsville. The building to the left is the garage and the building to the right is a shed. You can also see the roof over where a hot tub used to be.

This is our lake view. In warmer months we'll jump right off the dock and swim in the island, and then back, which takes like 45 minutes. I did an island-and-back swim a few days before I gave birth to Oliver. That's my life's claim to fame.

Does anyone want to split some wood? I think we have about 8 cords here.

"Poppin' bottles with models."

My sister, Angela, always an Occupational Therapist. She taught Oliver how to use a can opener independently. This was helpful when we needed about 10 cans open to make chili.

That time I was almost shot by a hunter.

Time between me suggesting we go jump in the lake, and my sister collecting this hail: about 10 minutes.

"Sarah, we're going for a walk. Come."

"Okay, how many beers long will we be gone for?"

Little sisters, asking the real questions.

I never met a steamy window I didn't wanna Leo. This is where I sleep, the window view is of the canoe. I love that.

Mama loves a dark beer. This one is seriously yummy. By mama, I mean me, my actual mother is gluten free.

Speaking of gluten free drink options: a dark and stormy hits the spot!

Some how this card game ended up being called Spit: Three girls, two decks. The classic tale of ol' Johnny Two Hands. We're pretty good at naming things for maximum YouTube hits. See our previous hits "Cold sisters in a Lake" and "Bible study girls on 50 foot water slide". Monetizing since 2002 baby.

The ultimate. Just give this girl a forest and mason jar of coffee. Honestly, what a fabulous birthday weekend. 10/10 would do again.

Local Business: the OVer Company

2015-10-29T11:22:00.000-07:00

Sabrina Maulucci is the up-beat, always-smiling creative force behind Canadian apparel line, the OVer company, which specializes in fasionable pieces that do triple duty as a car-seat-cover / nursing-cover / shopping cart cover. Each cover is lovingly handmade in Canada with fabrics that are both durable and trendy.

Recently I sat down with her to find out more about the OVer company.

How did you decide to start your own business?
I have been actually thinking about starting some kind of business for the last couple of years! I just didn’t know exactly WHAT kind of business I could start that would still keep my creative juices flowing and also be fun to do… the OVer company kind of happened by accident actually. I started making the OVers for baby gifts… and then people just started asking me to make some for them to buy for baby shower gifts. I had a few orders right after the first gifts I gave and then it was my husband who really encouraged me to make it official. I designed a logo that I would hand-draw onto the packaging I created for the first orders placed. My husband took the first step in ordering 350 woven labels so once those arrived, I had to start sewing!

What is the process from the time an order is placed until it shows up on someone's doorstep?I try to have a decent stock on had of all the different OVers available for order. Once the order is placed, the order form is printed, I package up the desired OVer with a white band that has the OVer logo on it (and material content and washing instructions) it goes into an envelope with a receipt and OVer postcard that has examples of how to use the product and then once the orders are all packaged up I go to the post office. I ship daily to ensure a speedy delivery. We send all of the orders that will be sent within Canada priority with tracking shipping! So the OVer will arrive to your door step in 2-3 business days… sometimes it arrives the next day. I take pride in have a quick turn around because I don’t think people really expect it to arrive so fast- I want my customers to be delighted in every way!

What is your process for choosing fashionable fabrics for your products?Honestly, I have been choosing fabrics that I am drawn to myself. I want to be 100% confident in the product I sell. I would never choose something I didn’t personally like but I try to stay up to season with the latest trends and I am now looking for my Spring Collection that will be launched in March 2016!

How does social media play a role for you?Social media plays a HUGE role for me- Instagram and Facebook gives me the opportunity to connect with people all across the globe that I would never have the chance to interact with in person. I am a visual person- so I try to post photos that will attract people to my product. I have a vision of the brand I want to create and I try to make that happen through my instagram feed and on the website. Facebook also lets me have conversation with potential customers who have certain questions that I can answer right then and there for them! I love that. I love being accessible and that OVer customers are able to connect with a real person for real answers.

Who are some of your other favourite Canadian sellers?Ahhhh! I have SO many. Just to name a few….-MiniMoc, for baby apparel-The Wild Kids Apparel, for monochrome kids accessories (YAY!)-Mushybooks, modern baby books!-Kardz Kouture, all things stationary, prints and little home goods-The Swank Social, for party styling ideas! (my MOST favourite hobby!)…this list could really go on for days….!

Is the OVer company a one-woman show or do you have help?My husband helps me A LOT! He does whatever he can as far as ALL the website creating and design, He is my photographer and editor. He prints all the orders and sends out the confirmation of shipment emails and he is my biggest encourager! I would not be able to do what I do without him by my side. He really is the very best. Also, the orders are pouring in so I can’t even keep up to the sewing myself! It really is amazing how fast I needed help. I cut all the material, wash and dry it, then send it to my seamstress and when they are done, I pick them up and package them all and ship them out! I have been keeping her BUSY since she started sewing for me a couple weeks ago!!

Run me through the process of naming your business. What is the significance of "OVer"?One evening after a late night grocery trip, I was trying to come up with a good name for my “baby cover” business. I knew I wanted to have a V&O in the name somehow (my daughter’s names are Violet&Olive) and was thinking through my options… I thought -OH! cover has both of those letters in it… then when I was thinking I wanted the O&V to stand out in the name, I saw it in my head and just dropped the c…and there we have it, OVer! Right away I knew how I wanted it to look… as soon as I got home, I drew a little sketch of the logo I saw in my head and that is what I use now!

How do you find the time to get everything done in a day?
My family is amazing. I am able to reply to emails and messages during the day from my phone which I don’t always have beside me but I do have the sound on so I have an idea of when an email/message is coming in and I try to answer those pending messages when Olive is down for a nap and Violet is either busy playing or doing crafts next to me. Violet is 3yrs old and really is a wonderful toddler that has a long attention span when it comes to crafting- like her mama!:) So I make sure to have lots of paint, markers, stickers and paper on hand for busy days! I also package up the orders and go to the post office during the day right after my husband gets home form work so he can spend time with the girls so I can focus on reaching my deadline (5pm when the post office sends the packages out!) Both my girls go to bed between 7-8 so after hey are in bed is when I will cut/wash fabric and finish up with emails and responding to unanswered emails/messages. Also, my mom and my grandma have come over a couple times to help me cut large amounts of fabric. seriously, I have the best family!

What is next for you, and for OVer?I would hope for growth! I just finished my wholesale price list so I am now open to retail orders which is so exciting! I have four retailers that have contacted me in the past month that I am now just waiting to hear back from… so I am hoping to get into a few stores and into more mama hands that I would not have been able to reach myself! smile emoticon

Quick Favourites:
Ice cream: Vanilla! (with fresh bananas and caramel…mmmmm!)
Book: Does my House&Home subscription count?
Date night: Dinner at Dolcetto, London, Ontario and a walk with a hot drink.
Starbucks drink: Morning= unsweetened iced coffee. Afternoon= Iced Soy Chai Latte.
Place to travel: Palm Springs, CA!
Down-time activity: Reading my design magazines and planning parties
Blog to follow: threelittlecrowns, theinspiredroom
Beauty must-have: mascara and lipgloss!
Activity with Olive: blowing raspberries on her belly and hearing her CRACK UP! She has the very best belly laugh.
Activity with Violet: Making up silly songs to princess tunes, any crafts and playing dress up!

To connect with Sabrina and the OVer company:
IG: @theovercompany | www.theOVer.co | facebook.com/theOVerco | theOVerco@icloud.com

Pulled Pork Dinner

2015-10-29T07:14:00.000-07:00

For almost ten months I was working a steady shift of 7:45am - 5:15pm. It was pretty ideal.

Recently I've changed my routine to be working at all the hospital sites again, which means much earlier mornings.

When you're working 6am to 6pm, you do not want to walk in the door and think: what should I make for dinner?

Pulled pork is a life saver. I can even skip the step of searing the meat and just throw it in raw to the slow cooker with some salt, pepper, maybe cumin. Make sure there's some liquid at the bottom like apple cider or chicken stock. And then set it on low.

The result is this incredible fall-apart-on-your-fork meat that pairs well with so many things. If you make enough you can have leftovers for tacos, soup, pizza, sandwiches... the possibilities are endless.

I owe so many successful post-work dinners to the saving grace of pulled pork.