Bye bye

I am travelling for work this week. It is the first time I've spent a night away from my son. These two are so hard to say good bye to; it really hurts my heart to think about being away.

My husband will be single-parenting it, doing all the bedtime and morning work. We spent the weekend getting laundry done and meal planning. But despite all the planning, nothing ever goes quite as planned; my son came down with a cold yesterday and has been teething, so it looks like my husband is going to havea tough week!

Karma

I was in Boston for work on Friday. At the end of the day I stood on a downtown street corner for 30 minutes trying to get a taxi...what a difference from Toronto, where there is never a shortage of cabs!

I finally found a taxi, but half way into my trip to the airport the driver mentioned that he didn't take credit cards....and I didn't have cash on me. So he stopped at a bank machine, where I realized that my husband had my debit card (since he had left his wallet at work) so I was TOTALLY screwed!

I explained my situation to the cabbie, as unbelievable as it was, expecting him to leave me high and dry on the side of the street. Instead, he smiled sympathetically, dropped me off at the airport, and left me with his mailing address, asking that I send him the money.

Don't you love moments that remind you that there is still so many good, trusting people in the world? It is so refreshing. Here's hoping my cabbie friend Khalid of Boston gets some good karma in his life. He deserves it.

PS - My return address labels are from the Penny People Paper Co. - last year I gave my mom some for Christmas....and couldn't resist ordering some for myself. I think they'd make a great housewarming gift!

Around the house

Lots of little, but exciting-to-me things have been happening around our house...(appologies for the poor picture quality - I have to take my photos at low-light times of day when I'm home!)

I bought a few more Bum Genius diapers to replace a few of my originals that had failing velcro snaps (the new ones have snaps instead of velcro)

I added to my 'Collingwood pottery' collection with this adorable little Owl - $2 at the Goodwill. The original pitcher and vase came from my Great Aunt Mary and Great Uncle Bert's house. I am not sure why it's called 'Collingwood pottery', but that is what my mom calls it...I'll have to ask her.

I put a new Japanese paper light in our office. It's from Ikea. My husband hates it when I buy Ikea lamps because he finds them very difficult to install...but they pack so much style per dollar. Both my sister and husband feel the light is a bit too retro for the traditional style of the office, so maybe it's a miss...oh well. PS - Excuse the mess in this room! I had purged it, but the clutter is creeping back!

I reorganized my daughter's shoe cupboard and added some Rubbermaid risers to double the storage space. They are brilliant!

I bought my Mom this pea-green Pyrex bowl for $2 at a garage sale yesterday. The seller's big sales proposition was that it's the best bowl you can buy for potato salad because the bowl stays cold. My mom makes a killer potatoe salad, so I guess it was meant to be.

I bought this real wicker basket at the Goodwill, and it fits perfectly on the bottom shelf of my bedside table...perfect for corraling books, jewelry, my iPad, and everything else that collects beside my bed.

I found this wood mirror at the Goodwill too - $10. It is perched on the top of my husband's dresser for now.

Now that I'm back at work, I have less time to braid my daughter's hair. I miss it. Somehow it is theraputic to feel her soft hair weaving around my fingers.

I bought another (it's my third) milk glass planter. I fill them with hot water to warm my 1 year old's bottle.

I recently purchased Bio Life tile cleaner from Shopper's Drug Mart, upon reading a positive reivew on AM Dolce Vita. Michelle was right - it did a perfect job cleaning my tiles and grout. I am a believer!

Sunbrella fabric

I am overdue to post an 'after' picture of our new front porch and exterior painting....I have been holding off because I wanted to add all the finishing touches - urns, runner, landscaping....but it looks like it just isn't in the cards. Being back at work, paired with lots of travel, has left me little time to get anything done!

What I have found is an outdoor fabric that I think will look very smart on our front porch chairs. It is made by Sunbrella, which is supposed to be fade and mould/mildrew resistent. I found it at Designer Fabrics (Queen West...a Sarah Richardson go-to), but I am trying to find it cheaper online and order it to my office in the US (one benefit of being back at work!). I have a very reasonably priced upolsterer that will whip the fabric into fabulous cushions for me.

I am way behind on my blogging....lots has happened around the house that is in deserate need of documentation! ...maybe tomorrow during naps!

The Kate Middleton

Now that I am back at work, I am slowly getting used to the idea of wearing formal clothing again (as opposed to my mat leave uniform of Lululemons...I was like Matlock - same outfit every day!)

Lately I have been sporting my "Kate Middletons" a lot lately....a nude patent leather slingback (she is partial to the traditional pump). I think it is one of her secret style weapons - the nude colour blends with your flesh and makes the leg looks like it goes on forever - no end point until the eye hits the floor.

A brilliant revelation for folks like me with Ewok-length appendages (no joke - I have remarkably short legs and arms!)

What are your style secrets?

Kate Middleton in her nude pumps

My version of the shoe

Fatty got skinny

Fatty Get Skinny celebration dinner

As I blogged about here, my husband and I have been on an extreme health challenge/competition for the last 2 months. It finally finished on Friday, and results were quite amazing - across 10 people (5 couples) we lost a total of 130 lbs, 30 of which were lost by my husband and I.

The plan itself felt quite sustainable...we were not hungry (except late at night, since we weren't allowed to eat after dinner) and the cravings for sugar and refined carbs subsided fairly quickly.

What wasn't sustainable was the level of exercise we were doing. Everyone became insanely competitive, and it wasn't uncommon for me to be riding my bike for an hour and then running for an hour or more every day. And would you believe we came in measly third place?

We are now trying to figure out how to sustain the results. ...we are thinking of just aiming for 4 points a week....to put this in persepctive, this would mean that if you had 2 food infractions (click back to the original link here to see what this means) you would have to run for an hour 3 times a week (or equivilant)...this seems reasonable/sustainable to me. ...I may feel differently in the dead of winter!

With so many long runs under my belt, I've had a lot of time to reflect on this competition, and what parts of it I value. I've realized that I don't really care about the weight loss. I certainly want to be at a healthy weight and feel good in my clothes, but beyond that I really don't want to focus on my weight. We've been really careful to call it a health challenge because I never want my daughter to think that I'm on a diet or that I'm unhappy with my body. I just want her to think I'm strong, fit, active, and healthy...and that I am at peace with my body. It has successfully birthed two healthy children; I think it deserves a little respect!

Any reactions?

PS: Obviously the name of our plan - "Fatty Get Skinny" - is in jest :)....I realize it's a bit at odds with the musings in this post!

Street sale! Selling....and buying!

This weekend was our annual street sale.

I've been purging stuff from around the house and saving it for about 4 months. My prices were low - everything was $3 or less; most items $1 or less (except for the Wii, which was $30).

My actual sale prices were much lower thanks to the aggressive negotiators that yard sales attract! Items that I priced at $1 (like a $50 never used BBQ tool set) were counter-offered at 25 cents!!! In some cases I caved, but if the buyer irritated me I refused to budge. As a result I'm left with a lot of stuff, but I'd rather give it to the Goodwill then feel like I got schooled by a savvy yard saler.

The most fun was the shopping that Mr. Miles and I did after I closed up shop: I found lots of great Gap Kids clothing, a vintage FP airport, and a treasure chest of gimp and beads for my daughter.

Fun!

PS: I apologize if you see something you've given me in my sale photo!! I promise I loved the gift at the time!...but I have too much stuff in my house and just hadddd  to purge!