A Serendipitous Life

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T14:44:00.001-08:00

Happy Holidays from our family to yours. Take the time to enjoy family & friends, make new memories and remember the joyful years of Christmases past. Thanks to Jennifer Dodd Photography for the amazing picture!

One Year

2011-08-17T11:28:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning and fully intended to feel horrible. To be hit with a feeling of “today’s the day” - a kind of overwhelming sadness that has come in waves over the last months. It’s been one year since my mom died. Grief is an unpredictable thing, and I was surprised to wake up feeling the same as I felt yesterday, sad but not depressed. Lonely, but not alone.

I suppose I’m lucky that I had the chance to say goodbye to my mom, but I also had to watch her die. As time has gone by, the months she was sick have slipped further into the recesses of my brain, a coping mechanism I am sure, but there are some things you never forget. I have chosen not to think about the moment we stood by her bed and watched her take her last breathe, but today I can’t seem to stop thinking about that moment in time. Standing with my dad and my aunt, desperately calling down the hallway to my brother “If you want to be here for….this…..you need to come now.” I can remember every second of those few minutes as if they were their own lifetime.

Throughout the last year I have wondered often when things will get back to normal. When I’ll feel entirely like myself again, and life will resume its peaceful if monotonous routines. The last few weeks have brought some major changes in our family dynamic, changes that I have no control over, and I realize that we all have to find our own new normal. My mom was the glue that kept my family together. She was the caretaker, the sister, the wife, the mother and the best friend. These holes in our lives will never be filled, but I am learning how to fill the emptiness with happy memories. Focusing on giving my kids what my mom gave to me - a confidence in myself, in my abilities, and the feeling that I was always safe and loved, no matter what.

Today, in memory of my mom, I ask you to do me a favour….or three. Tell the people you love how you feel about them, forgive - especially when you think something is unforgivable, and live your life every single day.

Headboard Love

2011-07-01T17:31:00.001-07:00

It’s been months since I promised you all a post showing off my Craigslist find that I turned into a headboard. From the looks of things it was, at one point, part of a bedframe….I think? But either way, I loved the curves and knew that a little bit of spray paint would make this the headboard I’ve been dreaming about forever.

Okay, maybe more than a little bit of spray paint. Sanded it, primed it, and THEN spray painted it.

Took about 2 hours to actually get to the spray painting part of things…

White. Because I want to paint everything in my house white right now.

I’m SERIOUSLY in love with this! It’s exactly what I pictured! You’ll notice I still haven’t painted my nightstands…whoops! They’re going white, too.

While I had the spray paint out, I thought I’d paint my $5 outside owl.

I’ve been looking for an owl (I know, I’m a weirdo) for the TV cabinet for a while now, and finally found one I liked the look of, but the colour was terrible.

He loves his new home.

Next up on my painting list:

Dining room chairs. I’m not sure what colour just yet, but I had to say goodbye to my bring green chairs since two of them were falling apart, and one of them had a giant crack. So I’m starting fresh.

I did like the style of them better though….

*****

It’s a long weekend here in Canada and it’s so nice to actually have nothing that has to be done. Life has been, quite frankly, overwhelming lately, so three day to relax and do small projects around the house is just what the doctor ordered.

Yummy Monday

2011-05-30T20:38:00.001-07:00

Summer Reading List

2011-05-26T22:07:00.001-07:00

Summer without a giant pile of books to read it like……well…….it’s like…..not summer. Every year I make a list of books I plan to tackle while the sun’s shining and hours of my life are spent sitting in the yard or lounging at the beach.

My taste in books varies. Sometimes I want to read a cheesy chicklit novel, or the next book in a series I’ve been reading for years, other times a really good story is all that I’m looking for.

I’m currently reading “The Help”, after everyone at work told me I just HAD to read it. I read the jacket and wasn’t particularly interested, but decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. SO glad I did. I’ll do a quick little review when it’s all done, but definitely worth picking up if you have the chance.

For the record, I borrowed all of these pictures from Chapter.Indigo.ca – apparently now’s a good time to buy this book – 45% off

This summer’s list if short and sweet. Ten books that appeal to me in one way or another.

1. Bossy Pants – because Tina Fey is my idol.

Apparently this is also a good time to buy this one

2. 10th Anniversary. I told you some of these are cheesy! I’ve read the rest of the Women’s Murder Club series, and really enjoy them. Definitely a good beach reading series.

3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. Apparently if you like Clara Callan, you’ll like this book. I’ve heard amazing things, so I’m giving it a try.

4. Sing You Home. When I read the back of this book, I knew I had to read it. I have always said that my life has a soundtrack. Every important moment has a song that reminds me of it. This line from the description had me sold: “For better or for worse, music is the language of memory.”

5. Then Came You. Jennifer Weiner has a way of making you laugh, cry and nod your head in agreement in every book that she writes. I can’t wait until this one comes out in July.

6. Fly Away Home. Also by Jennifer Weiner. Need I say more?

7-9 The Sookie Stackhouse Novels. Don’t judge. I started reading these last summer, and put them down never to pick them up again. This is the time to read and enjoy them. You’ll notice this is 7-9, though there are far more than 3 of them…

10. Okay, it’s not a book. But it’s from Chapters, and I want it. Isn’t it the perfect summer beach tote?

What’s one YOUR summer reading list?

Long Weekend Love

2011-05-24T21:57:00.001-07:00

My weekend was full of strawberries and herbs, flower and fields, family and fun.

This week has to be full of exercise and meal plans, gardening and organizing, and getting things around here figured out and back on track.

Love to you all!!

P.S. I’m up and running on PriorFatGirl.com – you can check me out by clicking on “Other PriorFatGirls” and selecting “Ali”.

Weekend Project

2011-05-09T14:57:00.001-07:00

My weekend ended up being pretty great, despite my fears that Mother’s Day would be incredibly difficult. I was spoiled rotten, as is always the case thanks to Mr. T. and the kids. Mr. T. picked out a really pretty hydrangea plant for the garden, Sex and the City Movie on DVD, and this gorgeous orchid.

Isn’t it pretty? And check out my owl – sneak peak of next week’s spray painting extravaganza post As gorgeous as the orchid is, it was dwarfed by the beauty of this flower:

Mimi made me a present at daycare and then snuck the bag into her room to hide it. I was so impressed – when I was a kid I couldn’t keep a secret to save my life. Then, after about 24 hours in her room, she moved the back to the coffee table, then the kitchen table, and then she told me to please move my Mother’s Day flower present to the TV cabinet. She’s my child.

With Mr. T tackling the household chores, I headed to the basement to figure out what to do with my new corkboard. I decided Saturday that I needed a place to organize my notes and scraps of paper I seem to be collecting. I write recipes on napkins, blog post ideas on post it notes, and then – whoops, they’re gone. I decided bigger was better, and Mr. T screwed it to the wall downstairs where I’m setting up bloggin’ shop.

Very practical, right? It’s enormous, and will have room to organize this blog and my Prior Fat Girl posts, and of course meal plans and various assorted other things. But, and it’s a big BUT, it was ugly. Hmm, what to do?

Fabric collection to the rescue! I love fabric, and keep buying it with the intention of sewing something fabulous, and then it doesn’t happen. So I dug through fuzzy pink monkey flannel, green sequined silk, and found this!

Perfect. I unscrewed the corkboard that had been put up just hours earlier, laid it on top of the wrong side of the fabric (the side without the pattern), and grabbed the staple gun (and Mr. T).

Put one staple in the middle of the first side of fabric, pull it tight, and put another staples in the middle of the opposite side. Follow this same process for the other 2 ends, and then, start stapling around the rest of the board. Tip: keep the fabric pulled as tightly as possible for the best results.

Now THIS is a place to post inspiring thoughts. Only one problem:

An unsightly screw that needs some camouflaging. I am kind of obsessed with buttons right now, and tried a few of them there, but it just wasn’t doing it for me. Then I found this cute little ladybug.

They’re supposed to be good luck, so I thought it was a great addition.

One last addition – and now it’s ready to go. Such a fun, and EASY half an hour project.

My Mom

2011-05-08T01:48:00.001-07:00

My mom…..

Had an undeniably infectious laugh. If she was laughing, there was no way for you not to be.
Could dance. She could really dance. Instead of telling me to turn down my window rattling music when I was a teenager, she’d swing my door open and dance her way into my room. Her dancing skills were not appreciated when I had friends over.
Wore sandals all year. In the snow she’d wear clogs, but unless there was threat of frostbite, my mom was sportin’ Birkenstocks.
Loved Christmas. She would start listening to Christmas music anytime after we went back to school, and unapologetically put up the Christmas tree in November. I do the same thing.
Made the coolest birthday cakes. When we were kids my brother and I always had amazing cakes – Ninja Turtles, Strawberry Shortcake, Batman – she would spend hours on a cake that would be devoured in minutes.
Gave the best hugs. She just did.
Kept me sane as a new mom. She loved every minute she spent with Mimi and would rock her for hours and put her down for the night so I could sleep.
Collected tea pots. She had at least 60, probably more, and some of them are pretty darn ugly. She couldn’t NOT display them when she got them as gifts.
Had a dresser in her dining room. I have a dresser in my dining room. Strange, but true – and really handy for storage.
Told me she loved Mimi more than me. She said she thought she loved her kids more than anyone in the world until she met Mimi. I was okay with that.
Loved me. Really, really loved me. No one in the history of the world has loved their children more than my mom loved my brother and I.
Died. And I miss her. And it hurts.

Last year on Mother’s Day, 3 days before I found out that she had 3 months to live, I wrote a blog post that said “So many people never get the opportunity to know their mothers, or have a relationship that is less than perfect. I’m so lucky to have had 27 years to know her – and I’m hoping for 27 more.”

I didn’t get 27 more years, but I’m one of the lucky ones. I had a mother who loved me unconditionally, who taught me how to love my own children, how to make choices that were right for me and not apologize, how to live a life I can be proud of, and how to wear summer footwear all year long.

Not everyone can say that.

It’s Official…

2011-05-03T15:22:00.001-07:00

….I’m the next Future PriorFatGirl! Getting the call from Jen letting me know that I had won was such an amazing moment. Thanks to EVERYONE who voted – I really can’t wait to get started blogging over on priorfatgirl.com – probably in the next week or so. I’ll be sure to post on here when I’m up and running over there, and if you’re interested in following my healthiness fight, please feel free to add the new RSS feed.

After my last post I’ve had quite a few emails asking about THIS blog, and what’s going to happen with it. It’s not going anywhere. I’ll continue to update it, but the health/weightloss “stuff” will be over at PriorFatGirl.com. I won’t be blogging the same things here as I do over there, but there will be times when there’s something I want to share in both places.

The time is right, and my forever starts now!

On Blogging

2011-04-28T08:53:00.001-07:00

When I started this blog more than a year ago, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted out of blogging. I knew that I loved reading blogs of all kinds – healthy living blogs, home decorating blogs, DIY and home decor blogs, style blogs…..and the list goes on.

For a long time my blogging focus was weight loss related, and then I changed my course. I realized that it was important for me to document my life however I wanted to do it, and that having a “weight loss” blog just wasn’t working for me anymore. I love posting about what’s going in my life, my kids, recipes, and of course, my continuing struggle with losing weight and getting healthy.

Sometimes I miss my weight loss/healthy living approach to blogging, and I feel like there’s room in my life for lifecasting and weight loss blogging. When Jen posted her search for the next Future PriorFatGirl a few months ago, I seriously considered throwing my name into the mix, but there was a lot going on in my life and timing just wasn’t right for me then.

The timing is right now.

I officially nominated myself for Future PriorFatGirl – MOM EDITION and am excited to say that I’ve made it into the top 9. The fit of being able to do this from a mom’s point of view is what makes me so excited about this. Weight loss (and weight loss attempts) with kids is a whole different ball game! Jen posted our stories, and each one of them was heartfelt, inspiring and made me proud to be a part of this blogging community. Seriously.

We’re all fighting our own battles with healthy and doing it our own way. For me, I think this could be a seriously positive step.

I know many of you have already supported me by voting, and THANK YOU for that! If you’re interested in reading my post, you can do that here. While you’re over there, check out the rest of the brave women who sent their stories to Jen as well.

If you feel that I’m the best girl for the job, I’d love your vote – and if you think one of the other nominees would be a better fit, give ‘em your vote! Voting is open until Friday evening.

I’m crossing fingers and toes, but if it’s not meant to be, that’s okay too. The last few days have shown me just how much support I really do have in this amazing community. I’ve been overwhelmed by your kind words, support and positive feedback.

You people know how to make a girl feel good!

Coconut Chicken Casserole

2011-04-17T16:17:00.000-07:00

You know how sometimes you make a recipe and think “That was amazing, I can’t wait to make that again" ? Then you forget about it, the piece of paper you write it on disappears, and the recipe is never created again?

This is one of those recipes.

I only remembered it because I ran across the pictures I took of it for the blog! It was so good, I had to share. The next step was to dig through my recipe binders to figure out what I did with the scrap of paper I wrote it on.

Couldn’t find it.

So now what? Hmmmm…… Google the ingredients to see if I could find a similar recipe (I had a picture of the ingredients after all).

Success! Thank you, Martha. Seems whoever I stole this recipe from, stole if from Martha originally So, for Martha’s version of the recipe, visit here.

Here’s what you need:

about 3 pounds of chicken ( I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but any would do)
1 can of light coconut milk
1 1/2 cups of veggie stock (original calls for chicken, but I had veggie on hand)
3 tsp of thai red curry paste (original says 1 to 2 and I’m NOT a fan of spicy food, but 2 wasn’t enough)
1 cup of jasmine rice
2 red peppers cut into 3 inch pieces
12 ounce or so of green beans cut into 3 inch pieces(original calls for 8 but 12 was perfect). You could use frozen if that’s what you have on hand
salt and pepper to taste

Here’s how you put it all together:

You can do this in a dutch oven if you have one, or if you don’t have one, cook this in a large pot.

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes, and then transfer to a plate.

2. Next, add coconut milk, broth, 1/2 cup of water and 3 tsp of curry paste (you can add more later if you don’t find it spicy enough). Bring to a boil, stir in 1 cup of jasmine rice. At this stage if place the chicken back on top of the casserole and pour any juices from the chicken on top, put the lid on and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.

3. Put your bell peppers and green beans on top of the chicken, replace the lid, cook for about 12 more minutes.

It’s that easy. And OH SO tasty.

Hard to lose a recipe once you’ve done a blog post about it. We’ll definitely be having this again!

Yard Work and Produce Delivery

2011-04-17T15:47:00.001-07:00

It seems like (I’m knocking on wood right now) Spring has arrived ‘round these parts. This weekend was gorgeous, and we definitely took advantage of it. Our poor yard was neglected all winter, and didn’t get much love in the fall, so it was time to get out there and really get it organized.

Everyone helped out, even Mimi and Warren!

If we’re being honest here, Mr. T. did most of the work. He’d probably kill me for showing a picture of him with his shirt tucked in, wearing grubby clothes, but here’s one anyway

I give him serious credit, he hates yard work, but busts his butt to get it done. Our yard is huge, and he spend hours out there taking care of it. One of the many reasons I love him!

It’s one of those jobs that no one really enjoys doing, but when it’s done it just feels so much better. Our vegetable garden is on the list of things to tackle this week if the sunshine doesn’t disappear.

This year I decided to take a bit of a different approach to gardening. Usually we plant enough to enjoy during the summer and early fall, and then we have some winter squash and zucchini that last us until the following summer. We never seem to have enough to actually preserve. When a friend of mine posted a link on Facebook to a local couple who do produce delivery I was so excited! We’re a pretty small town and these things don’t usually exist around here. My logic: we can less of the food from our garden that’s preservable (I know that’s not a word, but I like the sound of it) because we’ll have fresh, local produce delivered to our doorstep every Wednesday.

Sounds good, right?

The company is called Routes to Roots Edibles, and Rob and Julia are SOOO nice! I used to head to the very small local farmer’s market nearly every Saturday and line up at their booth sometimes half an hour before people were allowed to begin selling because their produce sells out so quickly. Not anymore!

They even have bedding plants available for purchase for a very reasonable price. I love the quote in their brochure from Michael Pollan “At home I serve the kind of food I know the story behind.” At $25 a week for a big box of produce, it’s hard to complain about not being able to afford to eat fresh, local, HEALTHY produce.

Do you garden? Do you take part in a produce delivery service or have you considered it?

Road Trip

2011-04-09T22:05:00.001-07:00

My week away was absolutely everything I was hoping it would be. A chance to relax, enjoy time with my family, see my baby brother become a sheriff (scary, but I’m so proud!) and some time away from home.

We were lucky enough to have some great weather for part of the trip….any excuse for sunglasses.

Lots of fun was had with the new camera.

And whenever Mr.T got tired of driving, Mimi took over.

We saw grandparents…

Made cookies…

Some of us admired the flowers in the garden…

While others of us couldn’t help but pick them!

We went to a graduation ceremony (I’d post more pictures, but apparently I’m not legally allowed…)

And then back in the car for a road trip home. I believe Mimi was belting out “Firework” in this picture. I can’t keep it all straight, she sang along with every song on the radio.

A great trip, and glad to be back to reality. I returned home to find out that I’d been shortlisted for future PriorFatGirl Mom Edition over on PriorFatGirl.com – I’m really excited, and I can’t wait for my blog post to go up and hope you’ll all support me by voting for me when it does!

Week in Pictures

2011-03-31T20:50:00.001-07:00

My last week in pictures!

Lots of playing in the yard in the gorgeous Spring weather…

Did I mention I got a really fancy new camera?? Blogging about it next week…but spending lots of time playing around with it…

View of the lake…

Found my childhood Barbies …

Delicious lunch…

For the first time in nearly 4 months, I’m actually going AWAY for the weekend. This town is pretty isolated, and I’m starting to go stir crazy. Can’t wait to do some shopping, hit Costco (Sabra hummus anyone?) and get a chance to just relax!

My baby brother, who isn’t such a baby anymore, just completed his Sheriff’s training course and I could not be more proud of him. He’s this amazingly kind person, with such an old soul, and the the funniest person I know…..he deserves this new start in his life. Have I ever mentioned he lost more than 100 pounds and has kept it off for 3 years? Yup – real life inspiration there!

Next time I post I hope I have all kind of amazing pictures of my weekend!

Bedroom Makeover Part 1

2011-03-24T20:29:00.001-07:00

I finally did it – I painted my room! I feel like I deserve a medal for this, but am fully aware that people do this every day.

It’s hard to see the colour in the pictures, but 3 walls are a light turquoise, and one is pretty bright. I’m getting a really amazing headboard from Craigslist and will be painting my last dresser white, and the nightstands CORAL. I know, I’m crazy.

Here’s the paint! I’ll post better pictures as the room progresses.

Before. In the process of emptying the room for painting.

After! It looks white, but isn’t even close to white. Next time I’ll take pictures in better light.

Mindful Eating

2011-03-17T20:49:00.001-07:00

It seems like motivation is running rampant in the blogging world these days, and I’m not immune to this infectious energy that is taking over. Since I made a solid decision to eat better and try to be more mindful of MOVING more, I’ve lost 11 pounds, and I feel really great! It’s funny how any move in the negative direction on the scale results in serious motivation to keep it up, isn’t it?

My biggest problem, I’m rediscovering, is really about portion control. If I’m being mindful of what I’m eating, I know what a reasonable portion is. The problem, of course, is that I really don’t eat mindfully. The mindful eating problem has become far worse since having kids, and man it’s a something I struggle with every day.

If I’m hungry, I eat – how much I eat depends on whether or not I’m paying attention to the food that I’m putting into my mouth or onto my plate. Yes, I eat if I’m stressed, and sometimes even if I’m just plain bored, but those are far easier for me to overcome….this one has me stumped.

Sometimes I have to eat on the run, and I’m always eating and paying attention to stories about school or an exciting recollection of just what songs the Wiggles sang on that particular day. I eat, and then when I’m done whatever food I decided to wolf down (yes, sometimes it’s just as pretty as it sounds), I think “Huh, I wonder if I really needed to eat that?”

So, that seemingly simple problem, really has me stumped. I’m not sure how I’m going to tackle this – any other moms (or any busy people, really!!) out there have suggestions about how to eat mindfully while tending to life?

Irish Blessing

2011-03-17T14:47:00.001-07:00

I thought today was the perfect opportunity to share with you all an Irish Blessing that I love. I think I’m something like 1/12th Irish, or something equally as ridiculous, but my mom always had an affinity for anything Irish – and so do I.

When I turned 16 she gave me a card with this blessing on it and I think she must have forgotten, because when I turned 19, she bought me the same card. When we found a fridge magnet with the blessing on it while we were shopping together when I was in University, she bought 1 for me, and 4 for her. 1 for her fridge, and 3 to give away. I love this.

In case you can’t read it, here it is:

May the road

rise to meet you,

may the wind

always be at your back,

may the sun

shine warm upon your face,

may the rains

fall softly upon your field…..

It’s on my fridge, and every time I read it I smile.

I’ll post a St. Patrick’s Day recap this weekend after the festivities have all wrapped up. Green milkshakes for some of us, and green beer for others. I think I’ll stick to the former – one drink and despite my loosely held claim to Irish ancestry, this lightweight would be singing Irish Rover’s songs insisting 1/12th is enough for an Irish kiss.

No lie.

Who’s your Daddy?

2011-03-12T16:35:00.001-08:00

Okay, the post probably isn’t going where you think it’s going. Cause you know, this is my Daddy…

Mr. T. took the kids away for the weekend, so I figured today would be a good day to spend with my own Dad!

I grew up a real Daddy’s Girl. I loved digging in the garden with him, spending days in the boat, never catching fish (sorry Dad, but the bad fishing days outweighed the good), and doing just about anything that he liked to do. As I grew up, I did what most kids do, and started to be sure that my Dad is the biggest geek in the world. How embarrassing.

My mom and I were always incredibly close, and had completely opposite personalities. As a teenager my Dad and I were ALWAYS butting heads about one thing or another. Everything he did drove me nuts, and by the time I moved away to go to University, I had begun to realize he wasn’t as bad as maybe I thought he was, and in fact, we were similar….very similar…which is why we butted heads so often.

When my Mom got sick it was particularly evident that I had never given him enough credit. He was more capable than I ever realized, and he took care of my Mom until the very end – something I could not have ever done.

Our relationship is evolving these days. We went out for lunch today, did some shopping and chatted. It was a really lovely afternoon, and I was glad I got to spend some time with just my Dad. It has been so hard to not have my Mom around, but I’m glad that my Dad is here for my brother and I, and I’m thankful that our sometimes volatile relationship is getting easier.

Today, I’m thankful for my Daddy.

Are you close with you Dad?

The Best Book I Ever Read

2011-03-11T20:35:00.001-08:00

I know that I mentioned my favourite things on this blog once before, so you won’t be surprised when you are subjected to copious posts about spray painting or cooking, and of course the numerous picture of Mimi. Of all of the “things” (family and friends excluded) that I love, my favourite is without a doubt reading.

I read anything I can get my hands on. I read murder mysteries, chick lit, the classics, non-fiction, cookbooks, the back of shampoo bottles while in the shower, cereal boxes on the kitchen counter. No joke.

From the time I was a little girl, finding a good book was always the most amazing experience for me. My mom would tease me every time I finished a book because I would say, without fail, “that was the best book I’ve ever read!” Of course, two days later when I finished my next book, it quickly became “the best”.

My favourites as a child were Nancy Drew books. I own 178 of them. That’s right “own” as in, present tense. I can’t bear to part with books. I can still remember picking up my first Nancy Drew book at my Grandpa Pam's house when we were visiting him one summer. The yellow cover, the way the book smelled kind of musty, but in that good, old, library kind of way. The first page had me hooked. She was 17, had strawberry blonde hair (I was envious), and drove around River Heights in her roadster solving crimes. What’s not to love?

It was so easy to get lost in a good book and forget about the outside world for a few hours. As I got older, the books I read changed (though I will still read Nancy Drew to this day), but my love of reading didn’t. The way some people escape into TV or movies, I escape into a book. A good book makes you feel like you really are a part of what’s going on in it, and when you put it down and go on with your “real” life you feel like something is missing. Like the characters are real friends, or enemies, and somehow them not being there is strange.

Never in my life have I not been reading a book – that is of course, until the last year of my life. Somewhere along the way, I forgot about how reading makes me feel. It’s like free therapy. I read a book, and I smile, I laugh, I cry. When I put it down, sometimes I reflect on my own life, and other times I just feel happy for having been able to read an exceptionally good story.

The last few weeks I have been reading voraciously, and it’s amazing what it has done for my mood. Spare time hasn’t been spent watching TV like it had been for quite a few months, instead it has been spent enjoying my escape – reading.

Do you read much? Do you have any favourite books, or authors? I’d like to say that I do, but remember that they’re all my favourites! My next book post I’m going to post a list of a few of the authors and books I’ve been enjoying lately, but would love some suggestions!

The Perfect Day

2011-03-02T21:33:00.001-08:00

For the first time in what feels like forever (but in reality was probably only about two months) I had a Tuesday off of work. I’m only supposed to be working 3 days a week, but lately it’s been 4 or 5, and I really miss my weekdays with Mimi.

Tuesday was really a perfect day. I woke up late, spent the entire day in my pajamas, made chocolate chip cookies, danced with my baby, and generally enjoyed the cold, rainy weather.

My day started with my newest obsession – cinnamon apple tea. It tastes as good as it sounds.

After two cups of tea and some cleaning, I decided I’d actually take the time to eat a breakfast that didn’t have to be eaten at my desk from a plastic container.

I had ACTUAL peanut butter, my Achilles heel, and enjoyed every single bite. Not the best thing to have in the house, but so far so good. The strawberries were a request from the three year old, and I didn’t hold out much hope about how they’d taste, but were actually really delicious.

We spent some time dancing…

And then Mimi decided she had been patient enough and started begging to make chocolate chip cookies.

How could I say no?

We browsed through recipe books…

And decided on an old standby…

I’ve tried a million recipes (well, maybe not a million but a LOT) and I always come back to this recipe. They’re delicious – so delicious that I never make a single recipe or they’re gone long before the week is up.

Nothing healthy about these, but no one around here seems to mind.

By the time they were all baked and cooled on the rack Mimi was no longer hungry enough to enjoy one. What’s better than this?

Ohhhh, right!!! This…

After a solid two pounds of cookie dough was consumed by one of us, and this was consumed by the other…

…we curled up on the couch and watched a movie and kind of dozed the afternoon away. I couldn’t have asked for a more relaxing afternoon.

I had planned to make balsamic chicken and mushrooms for dinner, but ended up changing my mind at the last minute. I wanted some rainy day comfort food, and decided on chicken pot pie. I added LOTS of mushrooms to my turkey pie recipe, and then added a surprisingly healthy biscuit-y crust.

I roasted some asparagus, my favourite veggie of the moment, et voila!

I’m thinking more of these days are in order, ASAP. Friday, perhaps?

When Motivation Returns

2011-02-28T19:04:00.001-08:00

While my absences from blogging have very often been a result of feeling bad, the latest absence was nothing of the sort. I’m feeling so energized these days – kind of like I could take on the world. I haven’t been eating perfectly “on track” but I also haven’t been eating garbage or binging – that’s success in my books! Eight pounds down, and…well….lots to go – but I’m okay with that.

I’m already eagerly anticipating spring’s arrival, and plan to start my seeds for the garden this weekend, and get started on raised beds for the garden in the next couple of weeks. This time of year you’ll find me dreaming about home improvement projects, things to do around the yard, and spending copious amounts of money on vegetable seeds and garden gadgets I don’t really need. We have a huge yard, and I while I sometimes I wish we had a small postage stamp lawn that could be perfectly kept, that would mean no room for the kids to play, and no room for sandboxes and wood swing sets.

Am I the only one who’s officially done with winter? This afternoon’s sunshine was so invigorating, and the whole house ended up clean – imagine that! I’m actually OFF tomorrow, and I have plans to make chocolate chip cookies with Mimi and I want to tackle a new recipe tomorrow. I’m not sure yet what that will be, but I am in the mood to experiment! Any suggestions for something fun to cook or bake? Nothing’s off limits!

Two Pies for the Price of One

2011-02-12T15:37:00.001-08:00

One of the joys of having a three year old is the need for “dip” with everything you serve. If she’s in one of those moods, she’ll ask for dip for her oatmeal. Don’t ask.

Dip around here doesn’t have to be anything fancy, in fact, her favourite thing to dip veggies in is homemade guacamole or hummus. You can’t complain about that!

The last week I decided to try an experiment and eat only vegan foods. My first thought was that I would die without yogurt, but Liane and Sarah responded to my frightened tweets and insisted they too were yogurt addicts and didn’t miss it at all. Hmmmm….

I figured the easiest way to not eat yogurt was to not have it in the house, which was a problem for Mimi who suddenly decided this was one of those weeks where she needed fruit “dip”. Without yogurt I had to think outside the box, but didn’t have to look far for the perfect solution!

Jessica, who is now off getting hitched in Mexico (congratulations!) posted a recipe from Evan’s blog and it got me thinking. I had made his delicious Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Dessert Hummus back in August when he first posted it, and had forgotten all about it. It was well received around here, so I thought I’d try it again.

Once again, everyone loved it. The ingredients are simple, the process is easy, and as soon as that batch was gone, my brain was thinking about how to adapt this recipe to make some new, fun flavours. I had a giant container of homemade apple sauce in the fridge, so the decision was easy – Apple Pie Dessert Hummus it was!

I made my apple sauce in the crockpot, and all that I used as frozen chopped apples, juice from one lemon, 2 tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of nutmeg. Cooked it on high for about 8 hours, and stirred it about once an hour. I like my apple sauce more like thin apple butter, and it works perfectly for this recipe!

The base of this recipe is, obviously, chickpeas – 2 cups to be exact.

I did mine in my Blendtec, but you could use a food processor if you have one kickin’ around.

Start to puree the chickpeas, and add 1 1/4 cup of thick apple sauce (you can use apple butter if you have it on hand, and the flavour it much more intense). If you don’t have any, you can put your regular ol’ apple sauce in a sauce pan and simmer, stirring frequently, until it reaches the consistency you’re looking for. It’s that easy.

I added 2 tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of nutmeg, a pinch of salt, and 1/8 tsp of all spice. At this point, you can add 2 tbsp of maple syrup for some sweetness, and 1 tsp of vanilla and puree away. If it’s too thick, you can add some apple juice 1 tbsp at a time.

If you’re still with me, I commend you. So far this sounds and looks kind of awful, but trust me, it’s not.

The result is not pretty, but oh my, it’s tasty!

Mimi happily dipped her fruit in this….and her fingers…..and her spoon.

I mentioned earlier that you need 2 cups of chickpeas for this recipe, and just for the record, you can get 2 cups from 1 can of chickpeas….so don’t open two. Not that I did or anything. Okay, you caught me, I did. So, to use up the other 2 cups, I grabbed some pumpkin butter out of the freezer to see if I could make some Pumpkin Pie Dessert Hummus.

By the way, I made the pumpkin butter exactly the same way I made the apple sauce/butter. Slow cooker style.

I substituted the pumpkin butter for the apple sauce, and made something I can only describe as amazing.

I liked the Apple Pie version, but I am in L.O.V.E. with the Pumpkin Pie variety.Next time I’m going to try adding slightly less liquid, but these are still fantastic. I would sit down and eat this with a spoon, no joke. It’s so delicious!

And I might just have to. This is only half of the hummus I made yesterday. Yum.

A good book, and a great snack = Saturday night at my place. I live an exciting life.

Happy Birthday

2011-02-10T16:46:00.001-08:00

There are some days that my mom being gone aren’t so hard, and others that are difficult…and then there are days like today where my heart just hurts.

Today is my Mom’s birthday. She would have been 55 today.

There aren’t many people in your life who own a piece of who you are. The people who shape how you see the world, and how the world sees you. Moms do that.

It’s all still so new to me that days like this still stop me in my tracks. These days overwhelm me with sadness, and sometimes with anger. I miss her.

Happy Birthday, Mom. I love you.

Game On

2011-02-06T20:06:00.001-08:00

I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it until I get it right….it’s time to get back on track. A fridge full of fruits and veggies, and a head full of positive thoughts.

Game on.

Sewing 101

2011-02-05T11:32:00.001-08:00

Winter has always been my favourite season. I love everything about the dark, gloomy weather, and the days that most West Coast-ers complain about, are the days I revel in and look forward to. There is something unmistakably cozy about the foreboding rain clouds that hover over us for most of the winter months (and fall and spring months, for that matter).

I have mentioned my love of painting, and how I plan to paint the furniture in my room this winter. My house has been full of predominately black furniture for a long time. Black coffee and side table, TV cabinet and kitchen table. I loved dark coloured fabrics, and art, and about a year ago I bought new gray and blue bedding that I was sure I would love.

I hated it. Like, really hated it.

My kitchen table is now white, my dressers are going to be white, and I bought a new colourful quilt for my bed. I love colour, and there is nothing more colourful and cheery than a quilt.

This is the pattern on my current bedding…

I’m kind of in love with it, and it’s so NOT “me”. Well, not the old “me”, at least. The new me is definitely a quilt kind of girl.

My bed just needed…..something. As gorgeous as the quilt was, I knew as soon as I bought it that I’d need some pillows for it. The odds of me finding pillows that match these patterns weren’t good, so I headed to the fabric store to see what I could find.

As luck would have it, I found four totally perfect, completely random fabrics in about ten minutes.

Mr. T. was fairly certain I had lost my mind when I showed them to him, but he trusts me. I mean, he let me paint the kitchen chairs green, didn’t he?

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve been holding onto this fabric since August. I haven’t sewed anything in at least four years, and was suddenly unsure of my long since practiced abilities. I have covered footstools, sewed pillows for the couch, and even clothes and purses….but that was a longgggg time ago.

Enter my Auntie Shannon. As a side note, I’ve called her Asa (Ass-a) since I was too young to say Auntie Shannon, so that’s what I will be referring to her as. Asa is a kind of sewing expert. No lie. Not only can she sew anything and everything, but it all looks perfectly perfect. Just the person to get some lessons from!

We started by measuring the pillow forms (these are the gray ones that I used on my last depressing gray and blue bed).

After figuring out the size we needed to cut the fabric, we were on to marking it for cutting. That part always scares me a little….what if it’s the wrong size?

Next we cut it all out…

Pinned it all together…

And then the fun part…..sewing!

After relearning how to thread my own sewing machine (pathetic, I know), we were really in business! I sewed them all up, we stuffed the pillows into the covers, with much help from Uncle Tom, and then we pinned and hand sewed them closed.

It seemed like such an overwhelming task at first, but by the time we were done, I felt totally confident in my sewing abilities again. It took a few hours, but they turned out to be just what I pictured, and I had so much fun doing it with Asa!

I’m in love! Today I’m going out to find some fluffier pillows for the pillow shams behind them. I’m currently on the look out for any kind of fun swirly iron-like headboard I can paint, too.

Next job, paint the nightstands. I’ll keep you updated.

Do you sew? What’s one project you’re going to tackle this winter?

Full Moon

2011-01-20T20:55:00.001-08:00

Life has been crazy. Full moons bring out the crazy, so I blame it on the full moon.

What’s for Dinner?

2011-01-13T14:58:00.001-08:00

If there’s one thing I love more than blogging itself, it’s blogging community! I didn’t even know this community existed before I started my own blog – it’s pretty amazing! When I heard that Mara needed guest bloggers over at What’s for Dinner I was so excited for the chance. I really do love her blog, and I knew that she was going through a difficult time, and that’s what this community is all about!

I wanted to make something that was easy to make, and tasty to eat. What’d I make?

Spanikopita Lasagne

If you’d like the recipe for this incredibly easy, and totally delicious lasagne, visit What’s for Dinner!

A Few of My Favourite Things

2011-01-11T15:04:00.001-08:00

There are a few things in life that I can say that I love to do. The first is read.

I would happily spend hour upon hour reading anything and everything.

The second is cook.

I love trying new recipes and enjoy making up my own.

The third is painting. Strange but true. I’m not talking about painting a beautiful picture to hang in your living room, I’m talking about painting THINGS.

I love painted furniture. Like my Kermit the Frog green chairs….

And this apple green dresser in my dining room (I have almost no storage in this house, so this is where all my my table linens and dish clothes an towels are stored). I love painted furniture, and have painted coffee tables, picture frames, dining room table and dressers.

I’ve never met a piece of furniture I haven’t dreamed about painting.

My latest project is my bedroom. So far I’ve painted an old banged up 1960s brown dresser and turned it into this…

And taken this Ikea picture frame…

I had some mirror cut, bought some spray paint, and turned it into this…

I LOVE it. I have been looking for months for a mirror I loved, and couldn’t find one so I decided to rig something up myself!

The next project to fill my evenings in these bleak winter months is this…

Aren’t they ugly? My newest love is white…just like the first dresser. It’s a kind of winter white, and I already have more vintage-looking glass handles like the on the first dresser. I can’t wait to get them finished!

Stay tuned to see how they turn out!

Next week I’ll show what else I’m working on for the bedroom (this time it involves fabric!)

Do you like DIY home projects? Thoughts on painted furniture? Some people hate it!

Anticipation

2011-01-08T01:26:00.001-08:00

I love Fridays. As much as I enjoy the actual weekend days, there is something about the anticipation that makes Friday my favourite day of the week. I was always the kid who loved Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day, and even as an adult I like the build up more than the let down.

Every Friday night I sleep like a baby knowing that the weekend is here, and we have two whole days to spend together as a family. Mundane tasks like grocery shopping and recycling somehow become fun family outings. I always feel content on Fridays.

If you can’t tell from the time stamp on this post, I’m writing this at approximately 1:00 am. I can’t sleep – and that doesn’t happen to me very often. I’m not feeling particularly content. In fact, I’m feeling kind of anxious. So, for about half an hour I have been sitting here in the dark, not really thinking about anything in particular, but waiting for my brain to be ready to shut ‘er down for the night.

I’m the first to admit that overthinking things in the middle of the night isn’t usually a particularly bright idea, but tonight it seemed to work in my favour. Some clarity was gained by these midnight musings.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the motivation that seems to be missing from my life. This motivation isn’t just for weight loss and healthy living, but for reaching any of the goals I set for myself.

Where has my motivation gone?

This is where the middle of the night clarity thing comes into play. For the majority of my 28 years, I have never had to WORK for anything. There – I said it. My life was really easy! Just about anything I wanted to do, I could. I excelled academically with little to no effort, I had no trouble making friends, anything (within reason) I wanted, I got.

I’ve never been motivated because I’ve never had to be motivated. If I wanted something, it was usually within my reach without much stretching.

The last four years of my life have tested me in ways that I hope I’m never tested again. They have also changed me in ways that I’m slowly coming to understand. The person I am now isn’t the same as the person I was then, and it’s taking some serious work to get to know this new person.

I like her.

This new person, that is. This person who is scared, but does it anyway. Who has to fend for herself – even for small things. I’ve never driven because it scares the hell out of me, and I so I never pushed myself. That has to change. I’ve never lost weight because it was a lot of work. That has to change.

My motivation has to come from ME, and this new me has some motivation in her!

I like it.

Sitting here in the dark in the middle of the night, I feel like I’ve uncovered this new part of me. Will this warm, fuzzy feeling last into the morning? Who knows! But what I do know is that I can’t undo this “aha moment”, and I’m glad.

It’s officially Saturday, but the feeling of anticipation hasn’t left me yet. Maybe that’s a good sign!

Perfect End

2011-01-03T10:45:00.001-08:00

I’m not sure if this was the most perfect end to the most perfect 2 weeks off, or a most perfect beginning to 2011. Either way, you can’t go wrong with West Coast sunsets.

Tik Tok

2011-01-02T21:54:00.001-08:00

It seems like my holidays just started, but somehow tomorrow is the last day before we all go back to work and school. How did that happen?
I’ve spent the last two weeks really enjoying my life – until last night that is.
Santa was good enough to bring Mimi a Mini Pops CD for Christmas…..

That’s right, I have a 3 year old who has an affinity for popular music, but she has a mother who has no problem with her wakin’ up feeling like P. Diddy, but would rather she “Pack her bags and never come back” instead of “Brush her teeth with a bottle of Jack” (God bless you, Mini Pops). Every single time she heard the commercial for this, she would come running from wherever she was in the house, to dance and sing. So, when this was a Christmas request, who was I to say no?
She even got a microphone for Christmas that she reluctantly picked up to sing sweetly, and shyly into…..

Oh, such a good decision! She could enjoy these musical selections (Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus anyone?) and pretend to sing along with them!
Maybe it was the microphone or maybe, as my brother suggested, it was the hippy vest, but somewhere along the way Miss Mimi discovered her voice.

Isn’t it cute? We all watched and clapped as she sang “Wavin’ Flag”, and encored her rousing rendition of “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, but I think it was somewhere in the middle of “Hey, Soul Sister”…..or was it the 10th time we had “Wavin’ Flag” on repeat on the Barbie boom-box? I can’t remember….but I decided that as much as I have loved my time at home, I do miss just a few hours of adult time at work.

That’s right…Tik Tok on the clock, holidays are nearly over, and I’m looking forward to getting back to routine, but will miss spending more time at home.
P.S. If anyone is looking for a “like-new” Mini Pops CD, let me know!

My Size

2011-01-01T21:05:00.001-08:00

It’s hard to believe that it’s already 2011! After some thought (and maybe a drink or two) I decided I really do want to set some concrete goals for 2011. Resolutions almost always fail, so let’s not call them that!

Some of these are big, important, life changing things, and some….well, you’ll be able to figure out which are which.

1. Learn to drive. I mentioned this last summer, but this time I’m not making it an option. It’s so inconvenient not driving, and I’ll have to just suck it up and hope I don’t kill anyone while behind the wheel.