Oliver Rain

Reasons why I love my husband #3

2012-01-04T14:34:00.002-07:00

He buys me pretty things with wheels.

Meet Lailani

She's awesome

Christmas throughout the years

2011-12-01T15:38:00.008-07:00

And a tree is up!

Actually this is one of two trees.

This year we (I) stepped our of our (my) comfort zone and purchased a multi-coloured LED Christmas tree. I'm normally a white light kind of girl all the way. There was a lot of debating around here as we could decide between an 9' tree or two 7.5'. The two smaller trees won out as the 9' one was just too wide. And this tree was just so lovely. And maybe a bit retro.

We have made this tree our family tree, filled with our yearly ornament, plus a few others to fill in the spaces.

Each year we try to purchase or make an ornament that signifies something that we did or something that happened in the previous year.

1995

One of Javier's first ornaments as a bachelor.

1998

Lizzie's first Christmas and my first as a mom. My mom bought us this ornament.

1999

Lizzie was just 1 that year and it was just the two of us living in a tiny little apartment in Vancouver. We went walking in Stanley Park Christmas Day.

2000

Our first year as a family.

2001

This is the first ornament that Javier & Lizzie bought together.

We didn't go to Disney but we spent lots of time at the Disney store!

2002

Our first trip to Hawaii at Christmas. Lizzie was so little.

We also got married that year.

2003

We painted pottery this year with some wonderful new friends.

Everyone made keepsake ornaments.

2004

Not a handmade ornament. I was consumed with school work and the yearly ornament almost got forgotten. I hastily embroidered the year on a purchased one. There was a worn out mama in the house that year.

2005

The height of Lizzie's obsession with horses. She still loves them.

2006

Our second trip to Hawaii. The hula dancer gingerbread man says it all.

2007

The handmade Christmas. I was pretty crafty that year.

2008

Our first trip to Seattle. It rained a lot but we fell in love with the city.

2009

We took a fabulous two week camping trip.

We decorated our campsite with flamingos.

2010

Sand & pearls. We took a family trip to Hawaii just

before Christmas (yes, we are that spoiled.)

Javier's Grandma Pearl passed away that Fall.

2011

An extremely blessed Lizzie attended SeaCamp in July (touched an octopus while there) & went to her first concert (we think the legs look a bit like Katy Perry's hair)

And our tree at night. So pretty.

Living in a winter wonderland

2011-11-30T13:25:00.003-07:00

It snowed today and I'm actually very happy about it. That's probably because it's only at 0 degrees Celcius, not minus 30 which it very well could be this time of year.

I was out running some errands this morning and not really enjoying driving on the slippery roads or getting my freshly styled hair wet, but I had the Christmas carols on, so it wasn't that bad.

After all, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Reasons why I love my husband #2

2011-11-25T15:29:00.003-07:00

He takes his favourite girls to see Katty Perry in Los Angeles this past Tuesday.

And has as much fun as we did!

(yes, that is a pink flashing heart headband he's wearing)

Reasons why I love my husband #1

2011-11-24T16:29:00.002-07:00

He makes me giggle when I open the refrigerator

Vanity

2011-11-07T22:29:00.003-07:00

Is very, very vain that I use my Mac's Photo Booth app to check my hair & makeup before I go to work?

Does it make it worse that I've taken the time to post my photo and blog about it before I go to work?

I'm a freak

2011-11-03T11:12:00.002-06:00

In the past month or so, I've been unusually clumsy. I'm not just talking tripping over my feet kind of stuff, though I've done plenty of that as well.

Here's a little run down...

Fallen UP the stairs 3 times
Scraped the top of my foot on pavement leaving the cat groomer's place
Scraped the back of my hand on a concrete wall as I was just casually walking by
Dropped 2 decorative glass jars while decorating for Halloween, I did this just 30 seconds apart

I'm a menace.

I attribute the whole phenomenon to my freakishly large right hand! Not sure what happened here but this is a wonky photo.

This photo makes me shudder a bit. My hands are already red and raw from all the hand washing I do everyday. And note, the placement of not just one, but TWO bandaids.

Just wrap me in bubble wrap for the rest of the year. I think that's the best bet.

There's an app for that

2011-11-02T20:31:00.002-06:00

I have to say, Lizzie's i-phone has revolutionized our ride home after Wednesday piano lessons.

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Before i-phone:

Me: How was your lesson, baby?

Lizzie: Fine. (standard answer for many things these days).

Rest of the drive spent in silence.

After iphone:

Me: How was your lesson, baby?

Lizzie: Fine.

Me: Really?

Lizzie: [Piano teacher] says that I did excellent this week. I'm learning another new song.

Me: Really.

Lizzie: Let me play it for you. (Reaches for her i-phone and plays a sample for me on the piano app.)

See? It's totally changed our after piano lives.

Being a girl

2011-11-01T20:10:00.003-06:00

When I was pregnant with Lizzie, I was positively terrified that I would have a boy. I had no idea what to do with a male child. Could I teach him to knit, I thought? I worried that I'd have the most feminine boy on the block. I realize now how silly my thinking was. I'm sure a boy would have turned out just fine.

However, my fears were groundless. Lizzie was a girl after all and I have to say, having a girl is the cat's meow. Especially for a girly-girl like me. Luckily, she has her dad to balance out the sugar and spice.

This past Sunday, Lizzie and I enjoyed a completely girl trip to Calgary, specifically so Lizzie could have a teen-appropriate makeup lesson at Sephora. We are trying to avoid the "raccoon-eyes" that seem to be so common with young girls these days, especially around here.

I know Lizzie is lovely and doesn't really need to wear makeup, but wearing makeup is JUST SO MUCH FUN.

Here's my Lizzie prior to her tutorial. Such a beautiful, little face, a pretty smile and fantastic skin.

And after.

Just as pretty, but a bit more polished. And no "raccoons" to be seen.

Our makeup artist was lovely and very helpful, keeping to the slightly less expensive Sephora products. She respected Lizzie's wish to keep the makeup light and had some great tips. She also mentioned that we could go back anytime for ways to update her look as she grows and matures.

And here's another pic of Lizzie in full Halloween mode. Grrrr!

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On a side note, here in Canada, one of our drug store chains have in-house Beauty Boutiques in many of their stores. They are like mini-Sephoras. Not quite as good of an experience but good enough for a quick cosmetic fix and I've always been happy with them.

I took Lizzie here first before decided to head up to Calgary (3 hours drive away). The salesperson was what I will call a grandmotherly-type. When we asked for some help with learning how to apply makeup, the woman tilted her head to one side, looked at Lizzie, and said "oh dear, you don't need to wear makeup". I persisted, agreeing that, "yes, Lizzie is very pretty without makeup, but that she would still like to wear some, so can you please help us?" Many girls do, right? The salespersons reply, "how about just a touch of mascara and gloss?". clearly reluctant to help us. Lizzie's little face fell. She's knows how to mascara and gloss but wanted some more advice. So we left, and probably won't go back.

The whole experience left me completely unsatisfied and a little bewildered that any salesperson would give up a guaranteed sale. Plus I felt like this woman was making a judgement on whether my daughter should wear makeup or not.

So now we'll just have to make more road trips to Calgary.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T11:26:00.004-06:00

Welcome to our Halloween abode.

We were somewhat conservative with our outdoor decorations this year. We had grand plans but when Javier found the red light bulbs, we figured they made the house look pretty scary on their own.

This picture does not show the details well, but there is a grave yard to each side of the lions. The lions each have battery operated tea lights in their mouths. Sound and movement operated skulls and other devices ensure we scare the living daylights out of trick or treaters. Javier put strobe lights on the outer corners for some extra spookiness. I also put a large black painted branch in an urn to the right of the door. It's inhabited by a family of crows and festooned with cobwebs.

Would you like to see the interior decorations?

We have two skeletons at the entrance, keeping an eye on everyone as they enter the house.

I accidently twisted the head off this poor guy, so he also has to keep an eye (or a hand, ha ha) on his own head. He's also guarding the devil horn party favours for our guests.

We've had a recent rodent infestation. Please watch your feet.

Even the bathroom got tricked out. A little moldy looking gauze fabric, (plastic) barbed wire and a collection of glow in the dark creepy crawlies.

We decorated the attic for Lizzie's Halloween movie party.

Here's the snack table. Six different kinds of candy, three kinds of pops, a box of mandarin oranges, and two kinds of pizzas. Yeah, I know, crazy health food.

And of course, all the furniture got draped in white to make the look extra ghostly, more gauze everywhere and candles galore for ambiance.

My Happy Halloween'ers. Costumes optional.

The reflection from the flash makes the devil horns glow. Scary.

Straight hair fail

2011-10-21T18:18:00.005-06:00

Slightly wavy hair with a tendency to frizz if I let it dry naturally was a little gift to me from my 30s. I grew up with lovely, shiny bone straight hair. Oh, the glory ~~days~~ years.

This week, I went to my stylist to have my roots touched up and a trim. Flipping through magazines while I was getting my hair done, I found several ads and articles celebrating this product...

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Finally, I could recapture the beauty and wonder of my youthful hair. Up to 95% frizz free and lasting for up to 30 days. Sold.

I went straight from the salon to the drugstore and plunked down my $15 (approx) and hurried home to make my hair silky straight. You probably know where this is going.

The product instructions state to apply product (after using the clarifying shampoo) to towel dried hair (about 80% dry, how to estimate that I have no idea how). I was also told to apply the product sparingly AND not to over-saturate. Yeah, I used to the whole bottle. I have thick hair! After waiting a 1/2 hour, I blow dried my hair straight with a round brush and then ran a straightener over every strand of hair.

And what was a left with? Not silky straight locks. More like dry, yellow frizz. With a heavy coating greasing down everything.

The WORST past was having to go to work for 2 days with disgusting hair as you need to wait 48 hours to wash or even wet your hair. Yes, I had to go to hair with greasy, yellow/orange, frizzy hair.

Too late I read the reviews about the straightening treatment. Number one complaint - brassiness for blondes, followed by a strong odor. That's when I started to freak out.

I excited rush home after work today to wash my hair and was left with brassy, orange hair and a distinct boiled turnip smell wafting around me. Then I really freaked out. But I didn't cry.

I did however head directly to the salon down the hill and begged mercy on the one stylist willing to stay past 5:00. An hour with a good toner one my head and a hundred dollars later, I'm restored to my former blonde locks. And my hair is silky to boot! Though admittedly it might have been the Bumble & Bumble Straight Shampoo & Moroccan Oil, the stylist used.

Yeah, I'm not wearing makeup so you are not going to see my face. But I assure you, my hair is VERY smooth, but it still smells a bit like turnips.

The bottom line is that using the Organix Smoothing Treatment was definitely not worth the emotional trauma I've suffered the past 48 hours.

From now on, my special treatments will all take place at the salon.

Trick or treats

2011-10-19T12:03:00.007-06:00

Death in a family is always sad but frequently has the ability to either tear a family apart or bring it much closer. My grandmother's death definitely worked to bring us closer.

I'm so glad that I've become closer to my step-sister this past year and her two adorable little boys, my nephews! Aren't they cute?

A six year age difference and many kilometers between us has always been a barrier to my relationship with my step-sister. I've always wanted a sister, but we never grew up together. I was always the older, more glamourous (or so I thought) sister sweeping in from the big city. Our lifestyles were very different. I was finished school, then became a mom. Now we are both moms and working in the health care industry. We have so much more in common and I look forward to having a bigger role in her life.

So now that I'm an auntie, I have to start spoiling these darling little boys. Seeing these treat bags on Purl Bee was a no-brainer. You know how I love a DIY project.

The Purl Bee version.

And my version.

Not quite as nice, but serviceable. The cobwebs are stitch in glow-in-the-dark thread.

And filled them with small toys, socks & books. This is for the 3-year-old.

I fell in love with Spider-Duck & Franken-Duck.

And this is for the baby. He's just over 1. He gets a ducky devil & ghost combo.

What do you think, pretty fun?

Pumpkin picking

2011-10-18T07:48:00.004-06:00

Medicine Hat does not, sadly, have a pumpkin patch. What it does have is the Garden Market, a store that regularly sells locally grown produce and, oddly enough, gift items from Thailand. Every year they bring in thousands of pumpkins to sell to the good little boys and girl of Medicine Hat.

Last Friday, Lizzie and I made our trek to get stocked up.

Blow up lawn ornaments are a personal pet peeve of mine (I think they are a cop out decor-wise), but somehow this one work at the store's entrance.

Neat rows of pumpkins waiting for adoption. Which one will be ours?

More bins of pumpkins. I refused to go bin diving for the perfect pumpkin. We chose only those which we could see.

Apparently local witches like to shop here too. We didn't see her inside though.

I was greeted by this sight when I opened up the back of the car. Apparently my new pumpkin family was eager to escape.

Maybe this was a bit ambitious. I just realized we have 6 pumpkins to carve.

On another note, we found a way to keep Ollie warm after being so recently shorn AND celebrate Javier's favourite sports team at the same time!

Poor Ollie.

More signs of fall

2011-10-14T14:41:00.006-06:00

It's still very sunny around here and we've only had 1 night (last night) where the temperature fell below zero. It's been such a lovely autumn.

I decided last week that my lovely flower pots were looking ghastly. Very dried out from mainly lack of water (what? I've been busy), not cool temperatures, so I cleared them out and brought out some fall decor for the front porch.

I'm in love with my painted motel chairs. I originally wanted them both yellow, but the yellow was back ordered so I used orange from my stash. My summer pillows got their fall slipcovers. The bunnies always stay out.

$30 worth of dollar store flowers plus some Michael's pumpkins. I'm all about the glitter this year...shoes, dresses, pumpkins, skulls...

This will all remain for a few weeks until we do our epic Halloween display. This year our neighbours have a French exchange student who's not used to celebrating Halloween so we are pulling out all the stops, I think, if we have time. Stay tuned.

Handsome

2011-10-13T16:47:00.001-06:00

But not exactly happy about his new look.

Poor Ollie. Perhaps he's disliking his wrinkly chest.

Cosmic love

2011-10-12T16:44:00.003-06:00

Random scrappy heart appearing on the floor where I work out everyday

Love is good

Thanksgiving Monday

2011-10-10T20:17:00.004-06:00

It's no secret that I have a very blessed life.

I have so many things that I am grateful for.

I get to spend everyday with these two.

There's a soft place to lay my sleepy head when I get home after a night shift.

The most pressing decision in my life is what colour gray to paint my bedroom.

I have cats that eat spiders crawling across my bedroom wall.

I had a delicious turkey dinner tonight and I didn't have to cook at all!

I'm very grateful for my wonderful inlaws for hosting us!

Lizzie didn't burn down my inlaws house helping

Grandma finish the pumpkin creme brulee.

Life is good.

Just 'Cause Cupcakes

2011-10-07T15:04:00.002-06:00

I really felt like making cupcakes yesterday and giving them away.

1 dozen for us.

6 each for 2 of our neighbour families & friends.

I use this recipe. And they were very yummy. I had 2!

Fall coffee house style

2011-10-06T12:29:00.010-06:00

I love Fall clothes. Fall too, for that matter. Except that it always leads to winter. But that's a discussion for another day.

The temperatures dipped a little today so I'm excited to wear my new J Brand cords to meet my girlfriend and her kids for coffee.

These were my one MUST have piece of clothing this year. I'm in clothing love.

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What am I wearing these with today?

Note all of these photos are similar to what I own, not exact. I've already tapped out my designer clothing for the next decade and assure you that I cannot really afford Fendi shoes or an Alaia sweater.

Red & Camel by oliverrain featuring black ballerina flats

I felt so stylish today. A big, big change from my usual scrubs, yoga pant, or pajama attire that I'm normally wearing when the weather cools off.

Plus, Javier says the jeans give me a cute butt.

Eating green stuff

2011-10-04T14:49:00.004-06:00

I work with a lot of really wonderful ladies. I'm so lucky that way.

There is one particular co-worker that I'm always thrilled when we have shifts together. However, she an absolutely horrible influence on my eating habits.

Twice this month she brought sour cream & onion Pringles to work. Despite my normally solid resolve to not eat junk food, both times I dove almost head first into the cans. Obviously, it was fulfilling some subconscious desire of mine.

Once in a while I don't mind indulging, but I could let this carry me away. So I had to think of some options. Some way, some how, I need sour cream & onion chips in my life.

Luckily I remembered this recipe that Angela from Oh She Glows raved about last spring.

Voila!

Sour cream & onion kale chip glory

I think I've just found some more resolve.

Monday

2011-10-03T19:29:00.005-06:00

Signs of Autumn along my favourite running path

That about 80 to you Fahrenheiters. Woo-hoo for our long Indian summer.

Random feather beside the running path.

Very curious until I remembered the Run for the Cure was yesterday.

Wanted to run it too, but I was sleeping off a night shift.

Epic Dinner Fail.

Slow-cooker mac & cheese. Smelled good. Bad taste. Bad texture.

Sorry Lizzie. She got grilled cheese instead.

Spaghetti squash. Bigger than my head.

Same spaghetti squash, hacked in half. Topped with homemade marinara, Garlic Gold nuggets, jalapenos & goat cheese.

nom, nom, nom.

Belly now full.

Rainy being cute. Pic actually taken 2 days ago. But she's still cute.

Shiny, bouncy new Mizuno running shoes.

Note to self: shoe guy's advice to run without socks, not good.

Shades of Grey

2011-09-30T16:58:00.000-06:00

It's not easy being green.

Actually, it is easy, but I'm just tired of it is all.

It's time for a change.

This is the status quo. Painted about 5 years ago.

I still like the way it looks, mostly.

What bugs me about this photo? Mismatched bedside tables. Uneven lamp heights. Slightly off-centre headboard. We really need to attach that to the wall.

I do like the way the green contrasts with the white,

but after 5 years, it's a little tired.

And it is awfully green.

I don't know why everything looks so dark in this photo.

What's bugging me here?

A lot. Uneven blinds. Folded blanket that Oliver loved to sleep on until I folded it. Unorganized pile of books in the basket because we have nowhere to put them since we dismantled the shelves in the still-in-progress family room.

So I'm thinking about gray.

This photo was the trigger. But maybe it's a bit too pale.

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I want to create some atmosphere.

Somewhere warm and cozy for the coming winter.

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I love the love of the old linens against the darker gray.

I like this photo too.

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But maybe a bit too dark. It's a fine balance.

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This might be a winning look. I don't plan on changing

out the linens any time soon.

But which gray?

So many options...

I'm kind of digging storm cloud gray, though do I really want to wake up to storm clouds every morning?

The one in the middle "gray timber wolf" is the same as the one in the first "gray" photo". I still think it's a bit light for what I'm trying to do in the room.

What's a girl to do?

Opinions? Anyone?

Raising a winner

2011-09-29T16:21:00.002-06:00

Would it surprise you at all to know that I'm so very, very proud of my daughter, Lizzie?

Just to clarify, I am proud of her 100% of the time. Somehow, Javier and I have raised this wonderful young lady. Maybe it's a bit of good parenting on our part, but I think Lizzie is an innately good person.

Right now, I am proud of Lizzie because she came in first in yesterday's multiple school cross country run. She was invited to join the team and this was her first race. I knew she'd do well but first? Yay Lizzie.

What makes me most proud, though, is not the gold medal she brought home yesterday, but her story of walking for a short time during the race to ensure a fellow racer was okay and not going to pass out.

The knowledge that my daughter would sacrifice herself (well, at least her racing time) to help someone else, is worth more than any medal, any day.

I love you Lizzie.

Inheritance

2011-09-26T07:25:00.002-06:00

I've inherited many things from my grandmother throughout the years, but my favourite "thing" is my enduring love of arts and crafts.

The last time I saw my grandmother she was very excited to show me the afghan she was working on. It was this "new" technique called Cro-Hooking, using a double-ended crochet hook that is about the length of a regular knitting needle.

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I laughed when she called in "new" because this is the instruction book she was using.

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I can't find a publication date but the images are definitely 60s or 70s, so it's not really a new technique.

She was very cute though, about the whole thing. I love that she was so excited about it even at 89 years old!

After her funeral, I went back to her apartment with my dad. He told me that he'd like me to finish the afghan. When I replied that I didn't know how to do the stitch, my ordinarily easy going father snapped back "well you're just going to have to learn, aren't you".

Okay. Grief does funny things to people and he is just so sad without his "best mother". They really were best friends.

So I learned and I finished the afghan.

It really is very pretty. I'm going to ship it to my dad this week.

Hopefully it will bring him some comfort.

Last Day of Summer

2011-09-22T16:51:00.004-06:00

There's a touch of Fall in the air these days...

And in the gutters too.

It was a mere 6 degrees Celcius when Lizzie left for school this morning.

And a whopping 30 degrees when she came home.

Too hot, dry, and windy for the run we were planning to do.

We went for a walk instead and got slurpees.

For some reason, Javier finds that hilarious.

Couching

2011-09-21T10:16:00.003-06:00

Try as I might, I could not deny the siren call of the couch this morning. It's becoming a bad habit as the half hour I plan to lay down stretches into two (eep).

I blame these two.

It's just too comfy with a couple of warm cats molded to my body. And it was very cold this morning. And the cats obviously needed me too.

How could I possibly deny this little face anything?

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This laziness must stop. I have things to do!

Being a perfect mother

2011-09-20T07:12:00.004-06:00

Oh, how I strive to be the perfect mom.

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I know I'm not the only one out there who does. Especially us working moms.

I want to be the mom with a perfectly organized, clean house. I want to be the one with placing healthy, prepared-from-scratch breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks before my family everyday. I want to have all our doctors and dentists appointments organized ahead of time. I want to look perfectly put together, hair and makeup done, wearing a smart casual outfit when I greet my daughter after school.

The reality?

I'm a fly by the seat of my pants type of girl when it comes to meals. Oh sure, once in a while, I'll plan a week or two of meals and have it all together, but then the real me reappears and it's back to daily shopping trips for me. I'd rather recline on the couch with my cats, a decaf latte and a book, than clean the house or do laundry. I get it done, but it's a struggle against my own sense of laziness most of the time. I'm the one calling the doctor after my prescriptions run out. My daughter reminds me that we need dentist appointments. Sometimes I shower before my daughter gets home.

Yesterday was definitely a lazy type of day. I went back to bed after seeing Lizzie off to school. But I did plan and shop for meals for two days. And I did four loads of laundry. So I guess it balances out.

Plus, I had fresh muffins waiting for Lizzie when she came home.

So I guess I'm not that bad of a mom after all.

Lizzie told me I should be proud of these muffins.

Want the recipe?

Cinnamon Swirl Muffins

(adapted from a recipe in this book)

Makes 10

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup unbleached white flour

2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup milk

7 tbsp canola oil

For cinnamon sugar:

2 tsp ground cinnamon

6 tbsp light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 10 cups of 12-cup muffin pan or line with muffins cup. Prepare cinnamon sugar and set aside.

Mix flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, and oil. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until just combined.

Spoon small amount of batter into each muffin cup. Sprinkle with heaping tsp cinnamon sugar. Repeat, ending with a layer of batter. Use fine skewer or tip of sharp knife to swirl cinnamon sugar through batter.

Bake 18-20 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then turn out on wire rack. The instructions say to wait until they cool to taste as the sugar mixture remains really hot.

My Grandmother

2011-09-18T08:00:00.000-06:00

In July my family lost a great lady, my grandmother, or Grammie, as my brother and I always called her. It still feels unreal that she is no longer here. She's always been there, a quiet, dignified, and very loving grandmother. We all miss her.

Grammie had two great loves in her life. Her first true love was my grandfather. They were married almost 50 years when he died.

Grampie carried this picture with him during the war.

She told me once how he requested a song for her when they were dating, "You Are My Sunshine". I think of the two of them whenever I hear it. They had a deep love for each other, one that endured after death.

Her other great love was her son, my father.

They were a great team, enjoying Saturday shopping and lunch together every week. He promised Grampie that he would take care of Grammie and he faithfully kept that promise until the very end. He visited her everyday at the hospital after her stroke in June, reading to her from the Bible, and, sometimes, just sitting and holding her hand. I'm sure there was no greater comfort to her in those last days than knowing he was there for her.

Grammie led a very full and active life. As a girl she play hockey and baseball. Throughout adulthood she played tennis and biked. She enjoyed card games and puzzles. She played the piano, something she picked up again in her 80s when she purchased a keyboard. She stayed in her own home until she was 81 and still mowed the law and shovelled the driveway. She was always a busy lady, learning new skills like painting and making felted wool slippers very recently.

My grandparents travelled all the time. They made twice yearly trips across Canada to visit our family. They travelled to the Bahamas one year and made the journey across the Atlantic Ocean to the Netherlands to visit friends my grandfather made during the war. She also spent many accompanying my grandfather hauling for the Sabian Cymbal Company throughout the United States.

When she wasn't travelling, Grammie enjoyed spending time at the lake cottage she and my grandfather built early in their marriage.

I have wonderful memories of summer nights in the antique spool bed in her guest room, listening to the sound of loons in the distance or slamming cottage doors. I remember the smell and taste of cucumbers in white vinegar, fighting off black flies and mosquitoes at the picnic table in the backyard, and icy cold dips in the lake. There was always family around.

She enjoyed close relationships with each of her sisters and their families, and they remained a big part of her life.

My grandmother was blessed with incredible patience, something I struggle with constantly, and wish I'd inherited. She visited one time and was able to sit quietly for more than 2 hours while I finished my work. I was concerned that she was bored but she assured me she was quite content. After all, she'd had many years of practice waiting for my very social grandfather to finish visiting.

I spent a lot of time with Grammie as a young child, during which she shared her love of arts and crafts. She made many quilts and afghans, two of which we use nearly everyday for snuggling on the couch. She taught me to knit at age 4 and we spent many hours making crafts and sharing different ideas. While my hoarding of craft supplies and the many half-finished projects around the house surely drives me husband to distraction, he should know that crafting is in my blood. I'm proud to share what I've learned with my own daughter.

In 2003, Grammie left her home in New Brunswick and moved across Canada to southeast British Columbia to be close to my dad. She was embraced by the community and kept pretty busy playing cards. When she turned 89 this past year it was a great party. She was celebrated by family and friends alike and especially enjoyed hearing the bagpipes that day. I had know idea how well loved and respected Grammie was in the community until my family attended the dedication service for her new church. She was practically a celebrity. Everyone wanted to talk to her. She was blessed with many wonderful friends.

My family's last visit with Grammie was in June. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of that weekend. She'd been hospitalized several times in May and decided to travel for a visit when she was well. I have such great memories of that visit. She was so excited to show us her apartment and the different crafts she'd completed and was working on. She was her vibrant and feisty self. We are so grate we made that journey as she had a devastating stroke just a few days later.

My grandmother loved God. She prayed everyday and read the Bible and devotions every morning. I'm sure she's in heaven right now, in the Lord's embrace, reveling in his presence. She deserves to be in heaven and, while we grieve her absence here on Earth, we know that she is content, reunited with her beloved husband and the other family and friends she's lost over the years. I also believe that she is waiting with her trademark patience for us to join her there one day.

Who wore it best?

2011-09-15T16:23:00.001-06:00

I dedicate the following post to my beloved Javier.

It all started with a dream. Specifically, Javier's dream...

Source

Javier saw this picture online recently. His first thought, after "wow, Christie Brinkley is smokin'" (of course), was "I think my wife would look hot in a dress like that". Bless his heart. He found out the designer and stored the info away in his brain in case we ever had an occasion to find the dress.

His excitement was palpable when we realized that there was a Herve Leger store in Las Vegas. The man dragged me in and forced me into the dress. Okay, that's a little overstatement. You never have to force me into shopping and trying on clothes. Still he was very excited. I love that!

The red dress. It looked okay. Not my best colour. We tried on a few others. Really, I was just humouring him at this point. Until I tried this sparkly work of art.

Source

Wowzah! Herve Leger makes these incredible bandage dresses that just suck everything in. I'm my own best (or worst) critic (as so many of us are) and even I thought I looked pretty good. Javier readily agreed. Still I thought it was just play-time.

Then, Javier decided to buy it. "It is an investment," he said. "Okay" I said, "but it will cut into our travel budget". "Yeah, okay, just buy the dress", he said. I think there was drooling involved, by this point.

Are you ready?

A little teaser. Getting ready for a gala dinner in Vegas that night.

The dress, needless to say, required special treatment. New shoes were purchased and I had to go to Sephora for a lot of help with my makeup, specifically the eyes. They did a fabulous job and I wish I had a close up of my eyes because they have never looked better. I hardly recognized myself. If you are ever at Sephora at the Miracle Mile, ask for Myriah. She was wonderful.

We had to look online for shoe advice. Turns out Herve Leger is pretty popular with celebrities.

Source

And lo and behold, my dress even made it to the red carpet!

Source

Okay no more teasing. Here's me.

Javier's favourite view. Hubba hubba.

I had a little eye candy of my own that night. I'm sure my smile was a mile wide that night. I don't think I've ever felt as beautiful or as glamourous as I felt that night. I swear I could have walked the red carpet myself. It's amazing what a little designer fashion can do for a girl's self esteem.

And I did a lot of laughing that night. I have so much fun with this man. Plus I kind of like him too!

I even thought I looked pretty 'hawt' at the end of the night after countless glasses of wine and abandoning the heels for flip flops. I like the scary, half-drunk eyes in this photo.

I think I want to be buried in that dress. I felt that amazing in it.

_________________________________

So tell me, who do you think wore it best?

Sonoma: what we did there

2011-09-15T08:00:00.002-06:00

We Drank

Oh yes we did

At home

And at every restaurant too

Javier wants you to think that this was all my wine, but it wasn't. It's called a wine flight--a three wine sampler that most restaurants have available so you can try a variety of wines with your meal. I think the middle one was my favourite, a pinot noir. Blast it...I can't remember the name.

And for the record...it was Javier's wine. I enjoyed a passionfruit and pomegranate sangria!

We Ate

Some Portuguese Fisherman's Stew

With eyeballs

This meal was from La Salette, a restaurant I discovered when I was doing some pre-trip research. We had lunch there one day when we stumbled upon it in a courtyard while window shopping in Sonoma. Side note: lovely little shops surrounding Sonoma plaza. The food was wonderful, contemporary Portuguese cuisine, Cozinha Nova Portuguesa. I had the stew and Javier had a most delicious pulled pork sandwich. They have the most delicious looking array of tasting plates. We definitely will got back on a future trip.

Other restaurants we tried:

Harvest Moon Cafe - the menu changes nightly. Javier had melt-in-your-mouth steak. I eat little beef but I tried a taste and it was incredible. I had fish, which was also very, very delicious. We both had to make ourselves take our time eating. It was that good. And of course, an excellent selection of wines accompanied our meal. This was my favourite restaurant in Sonoma.

Girl and the Fig - this menu changes every Thursday. This was the only dinner of our trip that was somewhat disappointing. However, I probably ordered wrong, because Javier's flounder was delicious. In fact, I ate half of his meal. I ordered a vegetable stew that was quite bland and watery. The one thing that really impressed me about this restaurant is they grow their own vegetables. Many restaurants seem too.

Oxbow Cheese Market - I admit I got a bit tipsy from a single glass of wine here. This isn't really a restaurant, more a wine & cheese bar located in the Oxbow Public Market in Napa. Oh, but the cheese. We shared a plate with Cowgirl Creamery Mt Tam triple cream, almonds, dried fruit, honey and bagette. The cheese was so dreamy. I'm salivating just thinking about it. We also tried something called a burrata, a decadent mozzarella mixed with cream.

There are so many other restaurants in the area that I wanted to try. We most definitely have to go back for more sampling.

We Rode

Our house had 3 beach cruisers for our use. I wanted to smuggled this adorable yellow and pink bike back home. And it matched my outfit. It was an easy ride to Sonoma. We just locked up our bikes and walked around town.

Complete with basket and horn

Javier also coordinated his outfit with his bike.

We Played

At least I did. I was a bit silly at times.

And last but not least,

We Saw

The whole region is so beautiful. I didn't take many pictures because I couldn't possibly do the scenery justice.

Things on our list for next time:

- Winery visits - we planned to do this on this trip but just didn't have the time. Between Napa Valley & Sonoma Valley there must be 100s of wineries. And some are even family friendly. Lizzie would be able to come too.

- Dinner at French Laundry - located in Yountville, Ca, just north of Napa. We have to save our pennies for this restaurant but I think it would be worth it. Its garden are located just across the street, so fresh food is pretty much guaranteed. And it was such a pretty looking place too.

Sonoma: our love nest

2011-09-13T17:30:00.000-06:00

As we have many times on holidays, Javier and I rented a house for our time in Sonoma through VRBO. It was a bit tricky finding something available at the last minute for Labour Day weekend but this rental was posted the day we started looking and I fell in love instantly.

I have to start by saying how much I loved, loved, loved this house. We both did. We immediately felt at home in this gorgeous home. It's an older home but has been completely renovated and updated.

This was our home away from home for 3 days & it was marvelous. It's situated about 3 miles from downtown Sonoma, kind of a rural area with surrounding vineyards. I went for runs everyday along the country roads, heaven.

This table area to one side of the front door was so perfect, though we didn't actually eat here because we ate instead at the many restaurants in Sonoma. I especially liked the candle chandelier hanging over the table. I could imagine many romantic dinners at that table.

The living room. These couches were so comfortable. I had daily naps after falling asleep reading my book. Every evening after dinner we'd light candles everywhere, open a bottle of wine, talk & listen to music. It felt like date night every night! Pretty nice for a couple of busy working parents.

The retro style kitchen. The house is fairly old, probably built in the 30s or 40s, formerly belonging to the owner's husband's family. The metal cabinets are original to the house. It is completely equipped with everything one could need for a holiday, including a corkscrew, which we used often!

This restored vintage Wedgewood stove had me drooling. Maybe not as easy to use as a modern gas range, but very easy on the eyes. If I ever leave Javier, it will be for a really sexy oven or range.

Local Sonoma wine and some grapes picked from the back yard. Sweet and a little tart (like me!)

The dining area. The colour of the dining chairs matches the cabinets. Everything in this house is put together so beautifully.

The marble tiled bathroom. Love! So pretty.

One of the three bedrooms in the house. Luxurious duvets and crisp white sheets. Gorgeous rag rug on the floor and lovely light during the day.

The vineyards across the road at sunset.

And the neighbours! They acted as an especially helpful alarm clock!

Can I say again how much I loved this house? I completely want to get rid of everything I own and start from scratch in my house. Or I just leave everything behind and move to Sonoma into this little house. Either way I'm flexible.

Denise, if you are checking this blog, thank you for renting us your little house. It was perfect and so was our getaway.

_________________________________________________________

If anyone is interested in renting this house, the listing can be found here.

Las Vegas with a little Sonoma on the side

2011-09-10T14:12:00.011-06:00

I'm sorry it's been so long so my last post but we were travelling.

This is us bundled up at the airport in Medicine Hat.

It was cold and rainy that day!

We had a conference to attend in Vegas so we tacked on a couple of

extra days for some R&R.

Source

We love Vegas. Even for just a couple of days away.

It's a quick flight & a fairly inexpensive getaway.

We were looking forward to checking out some great restaurants,

laying by the pool in a private cabana, sleeping, shopping,

maybe checking out a show or two.

That is, until we realized the temperature would be above

100 degrees every single day.

Now as I said, we love Vegas, but that was too hot and we didn't want to

be cooped up in a hotel for four days, although in hindsight

I probably could have done a lot of shopping!

So...wanting to escape from the heat we looked at alternate

destinations easily accessible from Vegas.

Los Angeles? Too busy.

San Diego? Already did that this summer.

San Francisco? Too cold.

Sonoma Wine Country? Let's see. Decent weather. Great food. Lots of wine.

Never been there before. Yes, please!

We spent one night in Vegas before heading off to Sonoma,

doing a little shopping and a little gambling.

Next day I donned a cute little dress and a smirk and

we jetted off to San Francisco.

Sonoma is close to San Francisco so we rented a car and drove.

It was a tad cool and foggy in SF but it made for some cool pictures

heading over the Gold Gate Bridge.

In a mere 90 minutes we arrived in beautiful Sonoma, land of the grapes...

...and our home for the next three days.

Stay tuned for more...

Mini-fashionistas

2011-08-28T10:10:00.004-06:00

Miss Lizzie is all geared up for back to school this Tuesday, clothes-wise that it. We went shopping on Friday and brought along our friend JJ, our neighbourhood fashion guru for some advice. The girls gathered up all their new clothes and treated us to a 2 hour + fashion show. I played photographer.

It's so much fun to shop for Lizzie these days. We aren't limited to children's stores anymore so we have so much selection. Unfortunately, it's also become much more expensive.

Larger clothes = more money?

A little bling on the back pocket of Lizzie's jeans.

I'm not sure where the long, long legs come from, certainly not from me.

Oh what style these girls have.

I'm pretty sure my 13-year-old self would have been totally jealous.

Porch living

2011-08-26T17:34:00.001-06:00

We've been blessed with wonderful weather this summer and I was able to make the time and "pretty up" by front porch this year. The last few years I just haven't been able to make it happen.

I put out these flowers out mid-June and they are still alive! Granted they are slowly dying but I think I can keep them going if my neighbours remember to water them for me on my upcoming trip. Last time I went away they got pretty thirsty and brown.

I bought two "motel" chairs a few years ago at a Montana antique store and decided to paint one bright yellow and the other orange this summer. The year one is my favourite and makes a great perch for one of my stone bunnies.

I bought two more adirondack chairs too and painted them turquoise (my current fave colour!) to match my old one. I love the pop of colour against the brickwork.

Some days I'm actually able to relax on the porch with my beer or iced coffee and a book and it's lovely...

It ain't easy being green

2011-08-25T05:52:00.002-06:00

For all of my nursing career so far I've been diligently at maintaining clean, short fingernails, clear of any polish. I had my gel nails removed before I even started school. I barely even wear my rings at work. It's kind of expected for nurses as we use our hands so much for close work and have be careful at preventing and spreading infection.

I save nail polish for vacations. Lizzie and I like to purchase a new colour and apply on our first day of holidays. This year, for our San Diego trip, I found a lovely teal polish by Sinful Color. I realized it may have been a mistake at first when the colour went on somewhat chalky instead the usual pretty gloss we are use to. No fear though, Lizzie and I are very resourceful. We simply covered it with a single coat of a pretty electric blue that we had hanging around to create a new even more lovely colour. And we had pretty nails for a week.

The trouble started when I tried to remove the polish and realized that my nails were stained a sickly green colour.

This doesn't look so bad but this is after having the nails grow out for about 3 weeks. I still keep them short but got tired of having to explain that "no, I haven't been gardening, painting, or healing from some un-diagnosed nail fungus", so I been painting them. Even for work.

I've tried yellow and orange. The orange almost covered the green but not quite. The yellow worked barely at all. I tried to keep things low key with some nude polish, but five coats of polish meant constant smudges as it never seemed to dry for hours.

Then I found Essie's Chinchilly.

And I fell in love. Isn't it a pretty colour? Not subtle like a nude polish but not exactly in your face either. Please excuse my horribly dehydrated fingers. Comes with washing your hands 50 million times each day.

I will dutifully go back to my plain nail once the green completely grows out, but it's kind of fun having pretty nails for a while.

I guess there is a silver lining to being green. Plus I've learned never to cheap out on nail polish.

Yes deer

2011-08-22T17:39:00.004-06:00

One of the unfortunate things about having a 13 year old daughter able to take on some responsibilities is that mom's sometimes have to take over those responsibilities when said daughter goes to Waterton for the weekend with her dad.

Yes, I've been abandoned by both Javier and Lizzie all weekend. Granted I've been working or sleeping most of the time, so I guess it's warranted.

Okay, back to the responsibilities. Lizzie's friend took on a little neighbourhood lawn watering job and then went away, subsequently passing it over to Lizzie for the last few weeks of the summer. So I've been busy, between sleeping, working, eating, and running in the heat, moving sprinklers around our neighbour's lawns.

It's not all bad though, because I made a new friend the other day. She's very pretty though her ears are a little large.

This graceful creature was lounging in one of the backyards when I arrived. She looked at me with some interest as I retrieved the hose and sprinklers. I had to get quite close to get the sprinkler but she didn't seem to mind. She stood up when I went near her, but I looked at her and said "it's okay, you can stay", and she quickly laid back down.

Medicine Hat is a small city, but a city nonetheless, so it constantly surprises me to see deer in my inner-city neighbourhood. It's always a nice surprise though.

Even when they leave "gifts" in the middle of the lawn at the end of their visit.

The blog that just won't die

2011-08-21T16:19:00.002-06:00

Every time I think this blog is finished, I some how get dragged back into it, albeit quite willingly. One of my coworkers was looking at my blog today and I peaked over her shoulder as she was doing so. I liked reading what I wrote. I like having a concrete record of what has happened throughout the past few years. So here I am once again, after a prolonged absence. Hopefully I still have some readers out there?

I stopped blogging for a while for several reasons. I simply didn't have the time for a few months. Work was busy. Life at home was busy. Blogging just fell to the wayside. The other reason is that I just wasn't that inspired to write about anything, I lost focus. However, a friend (who also blogs) recently pointed out that I have plenty of topics to write about. Anything from my ongoing crafts, my sometimes misguided attempts to eat healthy, my obsession with working out, my travels....

I also worry that no one will read what I write, but that's just silly. I realized today that I get as much enjoyment from reading my own blog as I do reading comments on my posts. It's a way to remember what I've done and where I've been.

So I'm back to blogging. And what will I blog about? Well, everything! This summer has been fabulous and there's always a new adventure waiting around that corner at Chez Oliver Rain.

Miss Lizzie and I in San Diego in July

Meet Victoria

2011-05-06T17:39:00.005-06:00

Victoria who, you ask?

Why Victoria the Vitamix, of course. Ain't she a beauty?

We had to experiment.

We used milk and frozen fruit.

Plus a little sweetener.

What a pretty pink drink. So smoooth.

Lizzie gives it a thumbs up and is enjoying a smoothie mustache.

Here's another shot of Victoria cozied up to her boyfriend, Barry Breville.

You've met him before.

Don't they make a lovely couple? Together they will make beverage magic.

Poor Jerry Juicer. There's no room left on the counter for you.

Thank you Javier. I love my birthday present.

Is laundry a hobby?

2011-04-27T15:19:00.004-06:00

Because I certainly spend a lot of time working on it. I can't even seem to get to the end of it all before a new batch piles up again.

Speaking of hobbies, I was mentioning my blog to a work friend and how to come up with post ideas. She recommended going back to my hobbies and showing you some of the projects I'm working on. Great idea, but which ones?

Cooking?

Embroidery?

Decorating? You are looking at five years' worth of Canadian House and Home, Style at Home, Better Homes and Garden, House Beautiful, Living Etc...and many others. I've got all this inspiration and some how my house still is undecorated. Maybe less time reading about decorating and more time doing? Perhaps, hoarding might be an issue too.

Fitness?

Miniatures? No progress there lately.

Sewing?

Knitting?

or maybe some crochet?

Jeez louise (sorry for the strong language, but I've just got too many interest. I guess that's why I don't have time for learning photography, painting, gardening, visiting with friends.

But I do have lots of inspiration.

Ways to annoy your cat #7

2011-04-25T22:30:00.002-06:00

Purple Ringlets

I was sleeping off a night shift when this joyful event occurred, but Javier and Lizzie assure me that no cats were harmed during the taking of this photo.

Please excuse my absence

2011-04-23T17:29:00.005-06:00

I'm afraid I don't have a doctor's note but if I did, it certainly would look like this...

source

Yes, we went on a holiday. After a brief stop in L.A....

source

...Lethbridge, Alberta that is (we call in LA of the north) for a skate competition, we jetted off for a week-long holiday in a much sunnier climate.

source

This was our second visit to Palm Springs and first time with Lizzie. We rented a house through VRBO (awesome way to travel as a family, BTW) this time instead of a hotel and it had our main requirement for accommodation --

A pool!

We logged many hours in or beside the pool.

Of course that's not all we did.

We smooched! -- celebrating our ninth wedding anniversary with a hike in Joshua Tree National Park.

We had a picnic at a lovely oasis at the end of the hike. Those tiny little figures are Lizzie and Javier and we made a few friends on the way back.

I've never seen a wild tortoise before. Some other hikers pointed him (her?) to us. It was so fascinating to watch him. He made some neat little noises and poised for some photos.

I almost jumped out of my skin when Lizzie came across this guy. I am so not a fan of snakes, but this guy had some spunk.

We also did an overnight trip to the real LA so we could go to Universal Studios.

And went on this ride.

One of the best rides I've ever been on, but I will confess I did toss my cookies at the end. Not for those prone to motion sickness.

We did a bunch of other things too. Go-karts, mini-golf, a bit of shopping, but the best part was just being able to spend time as a family and have a little downtime.

Here's a picture of me looking more relaxed than I have for a very, very, long time.

Ah, holidays. The best cure for anything.

Optical Illusion

2011-04-20T17:32:00.003-06:00

Which robe is shorter?

Wish List

2011-04-08T08:28:00.010-06:00

Disclaimer: I acknowledge that I'm an extremely blessed with a wonderful husband and daughter, a fantastic extended family, a beautiful home, lots of travel opportunities, and my dream job so really I have no needs in my life that are not fulfilled. Having said that though, I still think it's important for a girl to dream, right?

So I present to you my WISH LIST 2011.

Juiceman JM550S

1. A new juicer. My $50 juicer was making some ominous sounds this morning and stopped working a few times so I suspect a new juicer may have to move from the wish list to the need list as I make fresh green veggie juice nearly every morning.

Vitamix

2. A high-speed blender. A recently purchased a Magic Bullet and before that I had a small generic smoothie size blender. I've been doing a lot of research into Vitamix blenders and I've decided that this should be in my home. Enough said.

And guess what? Javier agrees. We might look at getting one next month. I've been saving my pennies to buy one but Javier thinks that we may have to buy one with household funds instead. Yippee!

Excalibur Dehydrator

3. A dehydrator. Changing my eating habits last springs sparked an interest in alternative cuisines including raw food. I try to avoid as much processed food as possible, preferring to make things from scratch. I eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies now, but I still like to snack. I love things like dried fruits and kale chips and there's a whole world of "raw" desserts, breads, and crackers that can be made with this little baby.

Canon

4. A DSLR Camera. It's time to leave my little point-and-shoot in my purse for spur of the moment photo ops. Of course, this will also involve learning how to take use a DSLR camera.

Mao Asada landing her triple axel via about.com

5. Miss Lizzie consistently landing her axel jump. She's been working on this for 1 1/2 years, finally landing one outside the jumping harness a few months ago, but it's still a very difficult jump for her that she struggles with. Every time she sets up for the jump I say a little prayer for her.

Prevention

6. A Flat Belly. I work out at least 5 days a week, eat very, very healthy, and I STILL have a bit of a belly. It has definitely gotten smaller, but I WANT THE DARN THING GONE.

And one more addition...

American Feast Blog

7. Somewhere to store all these extra appliances. Ha ha ha

Keeping busy

2011-04-07T10:29:00.001-06:00

I LOVE days off!

But we all know that days off aren't really days off, right?

So what have I been doing?

CLEANING

This new little steamer I picked up is working great on cleaning my grungy grout. But it still takes a lot of elbow grease. 5 hours and I'm only 2/3 done in the kitchen!

EATING

I discovered that one of our local chain grocery stores installed a new sushi bar. Sushi made to order, not shipped from 2 hours away. Yum!

MORE CLEANING

Laundry stops for no one.

EXERCISING

I've done my workouts every day since I've been off. Sweat never felt so good.

MORE EATING

Morning oatmeal with blueberries and lots of decaf lattes

REGISTERING

I got Lizzie signed up for spring and summer skating already. That has to be some kind of record.

PLANNING

My goal is to get three weeks of menu and grocery lists finished before I go back to work. One week down, 2 to go.

All this is worked between cuddles with kitties on the couch, taxiing Lizzie to school/piano/skating, and having a dinner waiting for Javier when he gets home from work.

I could get used to this life.

Brrr

2011-04-05T11:24:00.004-06:00

Rain must have cold toes this morning.

Kindle-ing

2011-04-04T09:42:00.004-06:00

When Lizzie got a Kindle for her birthday, her mama ordered one for herself as well.

Oh how we love our Kindles. We carry them around like they're security blankets. But up to now they've been unprotected from the elements.

I searched around the internet and found some lovely ones, but when I realized that Lizzie and I were faced with a completely unscheduled Friday afternoon last week I devised a plan that we would make our own.

Luckily we have a sizable collection of felt in the craftroom so we had plenty of supplies.

I presented this plan to Lizzie when I picked her up from school and her creativity machine whirred into action. Before we pulled into the garage she had a vision. It involved clouds, sunshine, and green grass. Wishful thinking towards spring, perhaps?

Lizzie's case is on the left and mine is on the right. I had originally planned to make a simple sleeve, but Lizzie wisely advised that we had to be sure our precious Kindles did not accidently slide out, so we had to bring in the buttons.

These are the finished products. Not the "rays" of sunshine around the yellow button closing Lizzie's case. I went with a more conservative choice.

Lizzie felt the backside of her case needed decoration while mine remains unadorned.

Both Kindle cases are made of double layers of wool felt for extra padding. Lizzie thinks we should start a business. I was just happy to have a crafty afternoon with my girl.

_____________________________________________________________

And now I present a gratuitous Ollie photo.

He's trying to catch the snowflakes.

It's all about balance, right?

2011-04-03T19:47:00.000-06:00

Work & life has been anything but balanced these last few months. You know the feeling?

Like a tightrope...

Most days, I'm running from work to Lizzie's skate practice with nary a moment to breathe.

I'm constantly trying to squeeze in time for exercise, preparing healthy meals, cleaning the house, and spending time with my family in between all the other things.

But there's good news!

No I'm not quitting work. I do love my job so much.

But I woke up this morning realizing that I'd be off for a whole week!

Yippee!

I plan to spend the week reclining on the couch, eating bonbons and reading cheap novels.

No, not really, I already have a vast list of tasks I plan to accomplish.

But I'll actually have time to get it all done.

On a completely difference note, aren't all the images adorable. I need them to be in my house somewhere.

Source for all photos: Nouvelles Images

Ella in the sun

2011-04-01T17:35:00.004-06:00

We have sunshine.

See here's proof. Haven't had much of that in the past few months.

It's been chilly.

My latest creation, Ella Bunny (from this book), promptly headed

to that window sill to make the most of the afternoon warmth.

Yay, I'm finally back to crafting again.

Coffee & Mags

2011-03-31T09:00:00.001-06:00

One I gave up for health, the other for Lent. And I bought both today...

But I have fantastic excuses!

The magazine - Marie Claire Idees.

Have you seen this magazine?

It's so lovely that I squeal and cry a little (okay not really) every time I get the new issue. And it totally helps me learn French (okay, here I'm absolutely fibbing).

Plus, the guy at my local magazine shop brings it in ESPECIALLY for me &

calls me when it arrives. So really how could I not buy it?

And the coffee? It's swiss water decaf and my cafe owner friend assures me it has VERY minimal amounts of caffeine in it. And that was the whole point of this exercise. I can still drink it and not have heart palpitations or jitters.

So really, I'm not cheating at all, right? Yay me!

Shedding the winter layers

2011-03-30T11:43:00.003-06:00

Have you met my friend Dorothy? She the quiet sort. Doesn't complain much, but I can tell she's felt the cold quite acutely throughout this very long, hard winter.

Do you know how I know?

She's been wearing a sweater, two scarves, and a jacket for most of the winter.

Poor thing.

In honor of the arrival of spring, on the calendar last week, and on the thermometer this week (yay, for melting snow), she's decided to ditch the winter clothing...

...and tie a pretty spring apron around her dainty waist.

Oh how we both love spring.

The Family Room

2011-03-28T16:35:00.000-06:00

It's all finished!

Source: Better Homes & Garden - small space issue (scanned)

Just kidding. I haven't had a moment really to work on the room in months, but this photo above is my inspiration for decorating the room.

I've decided to go with a cream colour for the room and I'm planning to paint the woodwork white. Pretty scary I know but the woodwork is in terrible shape so a little paint can only improve it. I have no idea how to decide what shade of cream to go with. Any suggestions?

Source: Fabric

I really want to go with colourful curtains for the room, but I cannot find anything remotely close to what I want so I think I may have to sew my own. Not looking forward to it particularly, but what's a girl to do?

Living in a smaller cities, our furniture options are rather limited. We've been scoping out alternatives in Calgary, about 3 hours away. Crate and Barrel offers a vast selection.

Source: Crate and Barrel

I'm kind of fond of this Axis sofa and I think that it just might be long enough for Javier's long legs (for napping of course!)

Source: Crate and Barrel

My main criteria for a coffee table are round edges as we've had lots of bruised shins with our current rectangular one and a smooth surface with no grooves or ledges to collect dust. I think this Bel-Air piece might fit the ticket.

Underfoot I'd love to have either of these rugs from the Rug Company in the UK.

Source: Daily Mail

Source: Absolutely Beautiful Things

Alas, I don't have an extra $3000 lying around.

Sadly, until I have a more days off in a row than I have lately, my dreams for the room remain just that and the room still looks like this...

Oh my, I've got quite a job in front of me.

What lives in your basement?

2011-03-27T09:00:00.000-06:00

Does it have glowing, red eyes?

No one to blame by myself

2011-03-26T17:31:00.003-06:00

I'm so tired of winter and I'm so tired of piles of boots everywhere. Why can't everyone put away their shoes/boots?

Wait. These are mostly my shoes and boots.

It's devastating to realize that I'm the messy one in the house.

The "Real" Me

2011-03-25T07:38:00.002-06:00

I got tired of looking at my ugly sweaty self every time I looked at my blog. This is the me that I like to show most people.

Hair dry and straight. A touch of makeup and a smile. All is good.

I'm off to learn how to be a good pediatric nurse today.

Bringing back the Fire

2011-03-20T13:05:00.002-06:00

Witness the hot, sweaty, makeup free me.

Very few people get to see me this way outside my family.

And now I will have to kill you. (ha ha ha)

_____________________________________________________

I'm getting back into workout mode after taking a week off. I've been dragging my butt around in a wheelbarrow for the past few weeks, feeling so, so tired. So when I read an article about over training I decided that's what was going on. Possibly not true, but I needed an excuse, and quite truthfully it's been pretty busy around here with running to skating practice and extra events, plus someone's birthday has been pretty big!

I started back today with a 30-minute TurboFire workout after a week of doing nothing. Exercise related, that is, because I'm never, never doing nothing. And it was hard. But it feels good now.

I've got to say, this healthy living stuff is time-consuming. I spend 40 minutes working out, then 2 hours planning my healthy meals for the week. And I haven't even gone shopping yet.

And this is what I do on my day off. The week has yet to begin!

How do YOU celebrate turning 13?

2011-03-19T20:49:00.006-06:00

If you're name is Lizzie, then you...

Hang out with your family.

Eat lemon meringue cupcakes for breakfast.

Get the gift of many books (a Kindle) from your parents.

Enjoy fondue as your special birthday dinner.

And lick the remaining Toblerone fondue from the dish. Mmmm.

Participate in a regional figure skating competition.

Spend lots of time giggling with best girlfriends.

Including a trip to the shopping mall for the first time on their own.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Thirteen years ago I fell truly in love for the very first time with a very special baby girl. That loves continues to grow every single day. I can hardly believe that that baby girl is a teenager. I can't wait to see what the coming years bring. I'm sure it will be incredible.

I shouldn't have blogged about the nice weather

2011-03-17T07:40:00.003-06:00

Look what we're waking up to this morning.

Poo.

Rain has decided to hide her face and go back to sleep.

Spring-ing

2011-03-15T18:25:00.004-06:00

The temperature has finally risen above freezing, the sun in shining, snow is melting, there are big mud puddles everywhere making our cars disgustingly dirty, and it is absolutely GLORIOUS! It's been a very cold, very wintery winter for us here. Just a few warm days and everyone is much happier around here.

My thoughts quickly turn to footwear. As much as I've loved wearing my knee boots this winter, I can't wait to put them into winter storage along with all my socks. Maybe I'll just burn all my socks instead along with the winter coat I never want to see again.

I can't wait to wear flip-flops again. And not look crazy like I did wearing them when I got my pedicure in December.

Craziest Gadgets

Okay maybe not these flip-flops, though the idea of squishing my toes around in soft green grass is very appealing. And I do see little bits of green grass peeking through the melting snow.

Victoria's Secret

These sequiny numbers are more my style. Maybe some online shopping at Victoria's Secret is in my future.

But sometimes flip-flops just aren't appropriate, so i will dig out my favourite ballet flats.

Cole Haan

I spurged last year on these patent Cole Haan flats. My feet said "thank you". (So did my ego from all the compliments I got). I love these shoes.

Toms Shoes

I also love my Toms. Lizzie got the gold sparkly pair. And I prefer to wear them without socks.

Yay for no socks weather. And yay for spring!

I miss coffee

2011-03-08T17:12:00.004-07:00

It's now been 10 days "off the bean". I thought that once I got past the first week I'd be home-free, but alas, my cravings were almost unbearable yesterday. I really felt very, very sad.

On the plus side, I feel fantastic. Much less jittery. Even my co-workers notice my hands don't shake as much. I never realized how anxious I really got before. Plus my resting heart rate is in the 70s instead of 85+ beats per minute. That's got to be a good thing.

It's hard. I'm getting sick of peppermint and green teas. But I think I'll make it through, because I discovered this fabulous new product today at the health food store.

Teeccino! It's a delicious coffee alternative made of ground herbs, grains, fruits, and nuts. And it doesn't have any caffeine. Plus it works in my espresso maker so I've already enjoyed a Teeccino latte. Mmmm.

If anyone tells me it causes anxiety, jitters, or anything else, I might shoot myself.

Buh-Bye Beans

2011-02-27T20:23:00.008-07:00

www.harina.com

Alternative titles I considered for this post:

When Javier's Wife Got Really Grumpy & Crazy

The Day the Machine Went Silent

Anyone who's ever read this blog know how much I love my coffee. And last Christmas, my Javier presented me with my very own espresso maker. It was either that or buy our own coffee shop.

www.perrylakes.com

It's a thing of beauty and it's been used nearly everyday since I I opened the box. Sometimes, 2 or 3 times a day.

But at some point all good things must come to an end, especially those that aren't making you feel very good. I love my coffee so that feels good, but it makes my heart race and my hands shake and I know I'm a true addict.

So I had my last espresso latte two days ago. It was supposed to be last night but I accidently left my travel cup on the counter when I left for work last night. So, I'm officially 2 days off the bean and I was very grumpy today when I got up and I had a headache. I almost caved when I went to get my groceries but I must persevere.

This is how I'm trying to get through it.

Raw Epicurean

I'm (green) juicing my little heart out. I've been reading the books Crazy Sexy Diet & Detox 4 Women. Both authors extol the benefits of drinking green juice everyday. And I actually like the taste. Today's tasty concoction was made of carrots, cucumber, romaine, and lemon. Mmmm. Maybe it's wishful thinking but I did feel energized after I drank it. Javier & Lizzie think I'm nuts!

Her Cafe

I'm drinking lots of tea too. I drank 3 cups last night and only 1 of the had any caffeine in it. I just purchased a new peppermint herbal tea plus a pomegranate green tea to keep me going too. I know green tea has caffeine but I hope the reduced caffeine content will help me make it through the next few weeks.

And what will I do with my machine?

Cutest Food

Well, lattes can be made with herbal tea instead of coffee. I plan to do lots of experimenting, made with my favourite almond milk. Yum.

My Recipes

And Lizzie knows that I can make the BEST hot chocolate on the block, so no fear. My machine won't really be too quiet.

So all is good.

START the Insanity

2011-02-25T15:19:00.003-07:00

By now I think I should just be buying stock in the Beach Body programs. I've already purchased (and completed at least one round of) Slim in 6, TurboFire, and Chalean Extreme.

Slim in 6 really kick started my whole fitness regime way back in May 2010 and since I started working out I really haven't been able to stop. I workout 5-7 days per week (perhaps a little less when I'm away on holidays) and it feels fantastic. I have to push myself some (okay lots of) days to get myself off the couch but I'm always happy when I'm finished.

Am I healthier than I was before? It's hard to say whether fitness has had a great impact on my health because I also changed my diet to approximately 60/40 plant-based diet (60% veg) back in the summer. I'm still tired lots but I work crazy amount of shifts every month as a nurse. But I do think I am not nearly as tired as I would be had I not decided to start exercising. And I'm not sick very often, though I've never really gotten many colds or flus.

I really love all these programs and recommend them to my friends who complain about not having time to work out. What's great about them is that they can be done at home with very little equipment aside from the free weights (or resistance bands). And they travel with me. I just shove the DVDs, my runners, and a couple of resistance bands into my suitcase and I've got an instant workout, should the inclination hit when I'm away.

I think the only downside to working out with DVDs is that they can get boring and repetitive after a while. As much as I love Chalean Johnson's TurboFire & Extreme programs, I get tired of the same old workouts. And I suppose it's good to switch things up a bit.

I purchase the Insanity Workout yesterday and started it today. I'm a bit nervous because some of the reviews talk about people puking part way through some of the workouts, but I'll just do what I can right? Plus I'm still going to down my strength workouts at least three times a week and a little yoga for some flexibility. (And I wonder where all my time goes.)

On your first day you do a Fit Test to establish a baseline to see your improvement in the following weeks. You repeat the Fit Test every two weeks thereafter.

Here are my results. Just to keep myself honest.

Switch Kicks - 30

Power Jacks - 56

Power Knees - 80

Power Jumps - 25

Globe Jumps - 6

Suicide Jumps - 7

Push-Up Jacks - 11

Low Plank Oblique - 40

I completely suck at push-ups and suicide jumps (which are basically burpees), so I definitely want to see some improvement there. I attribute my reps with the first 4 moves to working with TurboFire.

Tomorrow the real work starts.

Just a small disclaimer. I am not selling these products, nor do I get any commission for recommending them. I've paid for all the programs myself.

Changes

2011-02-24T22:52:00.003-07:00

www.potpiegirl.com

This is kind of what I look like right now. I just spent 2 1/2 hours fixing up this old blog of mine, but she definitely needed an overhaul.

Any thoughts on the new look? Javier thinks "she" looks mad and I tend to agree but I'm tired and having trouble fixing her eyebrows in Photoshop Elements. Any advice from some more experienced photoshoppers?

Have a look a my links page. I've added a whole bunch of new blogs that are fantastic in addition to my "friends" from before. I forgot how wonderful the blogging world was and how completely diverse my interests are.

Off to bed...toodles.

I need an inoculation...

2011-02-22T21:37:00.003-07:00

'Cuz I gots the Bieber Fever

Lizzie and I had a girl's night to see the Justin Bieber movie.

At risk of sound like a 100-year-old lady, he's a very talented young man, but he needs to hitch up the back of his jeans.

Miss Lizzie and I always scoff and switch the station when he comes on the radio, but I think now we may have to listen once in a while. Lizzie has already warned me that I'm not allowed to go around singing "baby, baby, baby, oh" too often.

Lizzie had a pleasing blush to her cheeks when we left the theatre. I think she caught the fever too!

Tina Fey knows how we both feel.

www.chartrigger.blogspot.com

Shameful (Partial) Tour of My Home

2011-02-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my home.

I know what you are thinking. What could could possibly be shameful about your home?

Well, the honest truth is nothing is really shameful. It's just not decorated the right way.

I try. I certainly do. A few years ago (or was that just last year) I did some decorating when we were trying to sell our house. It's a beautiful house. Really, it is. It just is a bit more bland than I would like. Plus I hate our couch.

Meet our current living room. I've just now realized how crooked the pictures are. I'm sure they've just shifted somehow. It didn't have anything with not measuring properly before I hung them up!

The wall colour is BORING. Plain old tan. It's the colour we had the painters use when we first moved in and needed to rid the house of evil smoke residue right away. It was never meant to remain that colour, but time passes quickly and almost 6 years later it's still the same colour. Note the central orientation of the television. I'd love a way to hide it in plain sight.

I call this the "current" living room because this room will become the dining room/sitting room once my family room is completed. See here for pictures of that disaster.

Take the door on your right and you will enter the kitchen.

It's really not a bad kitchen, but I'm ready for a change. Standard builder's oak, dark tile everywhere, and dark sage green walls are not compatible with my current style. I'm dying to take a sledgehammer to all the tile and a paintbrush to the cupboard. There are so many bloggers out there painting their kitchens. Imagine this space brightened up with granite or Corian countertops, white paint, new hardware, and some subway tile. Hmm, putting away the dishes wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Sadly, there is absolutely no plan in the immediate future to make changes to this room. See what I mean about being 20 steps ahead of myself all the time. "Get back to my family room, girl", I must tell myself constantly.

Oh well, since we are doing a tour let's move on to the second. Continue straight at the top of the stairs to our spare bedroom. This is about as far down on the list of priorities as possible, but I'm still thinking about it.

Honestly we don't have guests very often so it's not a big deal to have an ugly spare room, but wouldn't it be better to have a pretty room rather than an ugly room. Frequently this room becomes a storage room for Lizzie's outgrown clothes and a place to set up the ironing board. I once misguidedly attempted to move the ironing board downstairs to the laundry room, but it's two floors away and the idea of running downstairs in our skivvies to iron a shirt in the morning is not a great one. And no, I don't do all my ironing at one time, which really would make sense.

Okay, let's move on to our bathroom. Please forgive the counter top clutter.

My realtor described this as the "spa bathroom". I agreed initially but now I describe it as boring. Beige, beige, beige. It tried to add colour with a curtain, but it's never really worked out for me.

Note the excessive use of beige tile. The previous owners of our house did a very thorough renovation with an excessive amount of tile. Not my first choice of flooring for every bedroom in the house. But it's one of those things I will live with for now.

So there you have it. My "shameful" rooms. And that isn't even all of it!

Great Valentine's Roadtrip of 2011

2011-02-18T11:23:00.005-07:00

Javier & I typically don't celebrate Valentine's Day. The commercialism, and blah, blah, blah. We always gets a little something for Lizzie and I do like to decorate, when I have the time. For us though, we like to think everyday is Valentine's Day (ha, ha).

This year we desperately needed an escape for a few days. We tried to wait until Family Week (which is next week) so Lizzie could come along, but I booked too many work days so it turned into a couple's getaway instead.

Our first stop on Valentine's night was Calgary to Le Germain, a brand-new, ultra chic, fabulous boutique hotel in downtown Calgary.

hotels.com

It's a bit snowier in downtown Calgary than it was when this photo was taken. It was our first visit to this hotel and we were both very impressed. The drinks in the lobby lounge are divine, probably even more so because I was on some intense painkillers (more on that another day).

This bed was so comfortable I could have stayed there for days, but alas we had other places to visit. We enjoyed a complimentary breakfast and, after running a few errands (Javier: new shoes, me: stack of books, knitting, and jewellery store), we headed off to our ultimate destination - Banff!

Truthfully, I was kind of hoping that we'd run into this guy...

Melissa Brandt via cbc

...but I guess he's hibernating for the season.

Actually we didn't see any wildlife this trip, no deer, no bears, nothing. I see more on my way to work everyday. Seriously! I was almost late for work last week because three young deer were walking down middle of the street to the hospital and I couldn't drive around them!

In Banff, we stayed at the fairytale that is the Banff Springs Hotel.

The Fairmont Banff Springs via banff.com

This is my favourite hotel in the whole world! And to make it even better we were upgrade to a junior suite on the Gold Floor, which is the cat's meow, to me at least. What more could we ask for - a private concierge, complimentary breakfast and evening hors d'oeuvres, and a large comfortable room.

Ah yes, a view.

We stood at the window and watched the moon rise one evening.

Isn't this beautiful? It makes me happy even with the snow.

There were plenty of cozy places to curl up with a book. I would have taken a nap here had it not been in a public area.

Rocky-Peak.com

Swimming in the outdoor pool is another treat at the Banff Springs. It was especially magical when it was snowing.

We did venture out of the hotel a few times and trekked down to the village. It was cold, but with down coats and mittens, made for perfect hand-holding weather.

We napped, we read, we talked, but most just enjoyed one another's company. We all need to get away on our own sometimes, just to remind ourselves of why we fell in love, how fortunate we are to have found one another.

Happy Heart Day

2011-02-14T10:24:00.002-07:00

Welcome to my half-"heart"ed attempt at Valentine's decor. I'm pretty sure I remember being a lot more enthusiastic about decorating last year.

I love this wreath. It was, of course, inspired by one I found on the internet somewhere. I can't even begin to locate the original source. Just know it wasn't my idea.

Javier and I don't really celebrate the holiday but I've always tried to make it a little special. Even if it involves running to Safeway at 8:00pm the night before. I remember seeing a cute little bee valentine, but alas, they were all sold out.

Miss Lizzie wanted some smarties but again, the selection was rather limited last evening. But I think Lindor chocolates are a good substitute. She agrees.

I blame work for distracting me from properly celebrating the holidays.

Decisions, decisions, decisions

2011-02-11T19:30:00.002-07:00

Okay, except for the green chair, a black garbage bag, and some magazines I need to sort through, Step #1 is complete. Now the truly hard part begins, trying to decide how to decorate the space.

Do I want to go with some colour on the walls? I've been living with tan walls for too long and I know they've got to be painted a new colour, but what?

Green is always nice. I like the white panelling detail. The wood trim in the room is in seriously bad shape so I'm considering going white anyway.

Better Homes & Gardens

Of course this pale gray is kind of nice too, with some turquoise accents?

1st option

I'm definitely all about bringing some colour into the room. Maybe these curtains would be nice?

Holly Mathis Interiors

And some art on the wall is definitely needed.

Holly Mathis Interiors

Now this is wonderful! I'm just not sure Javier or even Lizzie would go for the pink. But it's just so much fun and the six-year-old in me loves it.

Harlequin via House of Turquoise

More turquoise. Hmmm. I'm sensing a trend here. Maybe this is a bit too bold though. Plus I think Javier may resist the wallpaper. After all, I did almost break my neck falling off the top of the ladder when I was trying to move the original wallpaper from the room five years ago. But I can always dream, right?

Living Etc.

I've been in "love" with this room ever since I first saw in on Decor8blog. Again, just a few colourful accents. I could totally make that pillow. And I adore this style of couch.

1st option via decor8

And some more colourful curtains. I think I'm seeing another trend!

Emily A Clark

Oh, the agony of indecision. There is so much inspiration out in the blog world, how will I ever decide what to do?

Project #1 - The Den

2011-02-08T17:03:00.004-07:00

This project is the one most pressing at this time & the one I want to work on the least...at least at this point. The trouble is I've already moved ahead about 15 steps in my mind and am busy picking out a new couch, wall paint, sanding the floors...

Meet step 1 - Empty out the room

As you can see I have made some progress. Items have come off the shelves and some boxes have been filled. Some sorting of items has taken place, but I'll be honest, there's a lot of procrastination happening. For example, I got up after having a cup of tea, determined to take boxes downstairs and instead, I'm writing a new blog post. Oliver is judging me as you can see from this photo.

When we first bought the house, I quite liked the built in shelves in the room. It was great for storing books when the piano was in the room. However, it quickly became a hold-all for various papers, magazines, etc. that I just wanted out of the kitchen. Because this room is going to be a tv room/den, the built ins are coming out so we can fit in a new entertainment unit.

This is the mess at the other end of the room. Too many boxes of books!

I love the chair in the corner, but I'm quickly realizing there might not be room for it in our reorganization. Oh well, it's done me well for a $5 flea market chair that I painted a few years ago.

Stay tuned for some of my den inspiration...

Below is a completely gratuitous photo of a gecko we met on our Hawaiian holiday in December.

Let me RE-introduce myself

2011-02-07T09:32:00.002-07:00

Hello all.

It's been AGES since I've written. August 8th (yikes) was the date of my last post. It was warm. It was sunny. There were flowers in the back alley. Now it's just snow, snow, snow. But life is good.

To any of my original bloggy friends...I'm so glad to see you. I've missed you so.

And to any new readers...welcome. I hope you'll visit again soon.

As I said earlier, life is good, very good in fact. I've been busy, busy, busy at work. I finally was awarded a PERMANENT, parttime nursing position on the neonatal intensive care unit. I've been working casual for almost 2 years, picking up whatever shifts were offered because I never knew when I'd get shifts. However, this meant working close to full time every month and working a lot of really yucky shifts. Now I have a schedule and I hope to get my life back. I still love nursing though. It makes me happy to go to work, even if it is an 11:00 at night!

When I'm not working, I'm ferrying my 12-(soon to be 13)-year-old around to figureskating, school, and piano. She's a busy girl and it makes for a busy family. But I'd rather have my child involved in lots of activity rather than twiddling her thumbs at home. But it does cut into my creative time.

I still make time for crafting, my stitching is my constant companion rink-side and for slow periods at work. And I exercise a lot, 7 days in a good week, 5 days a week minimum. Plus, I'm still trying to eat healthy, so food planning & preparation takes up a lot of time. But I feel great!

So why haven't I written for a while and why am I writing now?

Well, I guess I lost my blog mojo for a while. Life didn't seem very exciting for a while, at least not blog-worthy. My days are pretty much all the same, involving eating, exercising, driving to a from school, skating rink, work, etc.,working, and, once in a while, cleaning my home. Oh, and trying to fit family & spouse time in occasionally. I've not been great at this last item. I'm sure it's similar in most other families.

I couldn't think about what to write about so I just didn't. Plus my blog was suffering from a serious identity crisis. Really, how much can you write about cats and coffee, when crafting is so minimal?

But I think I've finally gotten my inspiration. What I'd really like to do is write about my journey to becoming house proud once again. I'm most definitely not house proud at this time. Not when there is a vast collection of boots and shoes clogging my entry way, junk everywhere and a future den filled with boxes of books, papers, and anything else that should be on the kitchen counter. We are in the midst of a major re-arrangement of rooms on the main floor. The den/tv/living room is moving to our former piano room/library. The piano moved to the dining room where it is currently sharing real estate with the dining room table. And the living room hasn't changed at all & won't until I finish clearing out the former piano room. I'm struggling with trying to stay focused on one task at a time. How else to explain why reorganized my food storage and spice collection, instead of boxing up books? And this might be a good time to confess how much time I've spent trolling the internet for home decorating inspiration. Have you met some of the DIY home bloggers out there? Oh, wait until I introduce you.

So here I am. I think this old blog of mine needs a wee re-design, so that will be in the works. I certainly hope you will return soon. I hope to resume regular posting, but I make no concrete promises.

Toodles...

Stopping to smell the flowers

2010-08-08T11:09:00.003-06:00

The past few summers I have been envious of my neighbour's flowers on her side of the alley. The lady is blessed with a seriously green thumb. You should see her yard! Seriously, I'd take pictures, but I know they aren't at home at this minute.

Isn't it pretty? Much better than the collection of weeds on my side of the alley.

So here's the story. In late spring, I happened upon her working in the garden and asked for some advice on how to pretty up my little slice of alley. She gave me great information, offering to lend me her roto-tiller to break up all the soil, once I'd weeded thoroughly of course.

Fast forward a few days...

Lizzie and I head out back on a walk and my neighbour is WEEDING my part of the back lane. She offered to "adopt" the patch of land, because she was so excited about having a new gardening project. I was overwhelmed by her generosity. The lady is so kind.

I relayed the story to Javier, who prompted burst my bubble by telling me she was probably just tired of looking at my weeds. However, I prefer to take the glass half-full approach and see it as just a friendly-neighbour gesture. I made two batches of muffins as a thank you for her hard work.

Two months later...

This is my back lane. I feel like I'm walking down a country road. Isn't in pretty? The red flowers are my favourites.

And some more flowery wonder.

I'm not even allowed to water or weed the area. She's serious about her gardening commitment.

I think another batch of muffins is due right away!

I love my neighbours.

Eat, Work, Exercise

2010-08-07T18:31:00.004-06:00

This is my life these days. It's been a long time since my last post, but seeing my holiday photos from my Beverly Hills trip was the kicker to get my butt off the couch and start taking care of myself. I've had no time for my blog, crafting, really anything for the past 3 months.

I honestly thought this blog was a goner. I kind of lost the interest for a while, but the draw of an online diary of sorts is pretty strong. I just couldn't abandon my OliverRain persona.

This is what I've been doing...

Trying hard to cut processed food out of my diet. I've been trying to follow the Eat Clean Diet. Five small meals a day, lots of water...It feels great and my entire family has been eating better and healthier than ever. It takes a lot of planning though.

I have been in a temporary part-time position at the hospital since early April and I'm working well over full-time hours. For some reason, all the babies in town want to be born early these days and our unit is full to bursting most days. As much as I love the work, it's really quite exhausting...and I've had no time for summer holidays. Fortunately, it will end soon. Unfortunately it ends about the time the weather starts to cool off.

And exercising. There's been lots and lots of exercising. I started out with relatively easyDVD workouts, but then I heard about Turbo Fire, order it, and now it's kicking my butt (in a really good way). But working out for a approximately 1 hour per day is a big commitment. However, it has quickly become addictive so now I'm lost if I don't work out. I love the high I get from high-intensity exercise.

So there it is...my life right now. I find more balance in my life and bring my blog back full time. Sooner than later, I hope.

What are all you up to right now?

Oliver Rain 90210

2010-05-10T07:56:00.005-06:00

It seems I'm so famous these days I can't leave my house without being followed around by the PAPARAZZI.

Oh the glamorous life of a celebrity. Having to be constantly made up and beautiful. Who knows who will be there to take my photo? What pictures will make it to the cover of US magazine?

Confused?

Okay, you got me. This is literally as close as I got to the red carpet on our family's recent holiday to Lalaland. I told Javier to dare me to stand on the red carpet, but he just shook his head at me.

We just returned from a week at the Beverly Hilton, home of the Golden Globe Awards. Of course it's already past award season, but there are still plenty of red carpet events going on. On the Saturday of our visit, an event called An Evening With Women took place to benefit the Gay and Lesbian Center. The event was MC'd by Gina Gershon and some other celebrities were also in attendance.

Javier and I hung out at the fringes of all the excitement before returning to our hotel room. We were asked by security TWICE to leave the area due to the private event, but we were determined to see somone famous. After all, that was one of my GOALS for the holiday! I'd love to say that I totally fit in with my impeccable make up and couture resort wear, but in reality I was wearing a simple summer dress, the flipflops seen in the above photo, and had a shiny face and greasy hair after some very recent spa treatments. I felt great, but looked a bit like a crazy homeless person (no offense to homeless people).

This is a photo of Kat Von D from LA Ink. We don't watch the show, so we had no idea who she was. She was standing right in front of us (we could see her tramp stamp when she leaned over), but we didn't find out who she was until she was moved onto the carpet.

Renee Zellweger was the first person we actually saw. Thank goodness for iphone cameras. I never really thought she was attractive in photos. It was the squinty eyes and mushed up face that always put me off, but she is so beautiful in person. Slender and pale and very, very pretty. And her outfit and shoes were incredible.

Sarah Silverman also made an appearance. She's very cute in person. I would have liked to hang out with her! I think she'd be extremely funny.

We had big plans to go out on the town exploring that evening, but Javier and I were unexpectedly starstruck! Poor Lizzie had to stay in the room watching movies while Javier and I sat just outside our room near the pool and sipped wine, hoping for another glimpse of someone famous at Trader Vic's on the other side of the courtyard.

What a night!

What not to wear

2010-04-25T09:13:00.004-06:00

You know your wardrobe must be pretty bad when you search "Fashion Disasters" on Google Images and most of the people in the pictures are dressed better than you.

Except maybe this person. Although I did have a dress last summer that may have been as unflattering on me.

I used to have such a cute wardrobe. Now I just think I forgot how to dress. I blame it on the scrubs. I have some mighty cute scrubs and I love to mix and match the outfits. Maybe that's my fashion outlet. When you wear a cross between a uniform and pajamas five to six days a week, it's hard to put much effort into your at-home wardrobe.

Still, it's hard not to feel envious of other well-put-together women. I worry that my daughter will pick up clothing habits from me!

Most days I look like a combination of the two ladies above. Still petite, but not as, ahem, toned as I might have been in the past. This makes clothing shopping a challenge and more than a little traumatic as well. It makes me want to run to the internet and order the "Slim in Six" DVD set (does this work by the way?). And buy a new bra too. Foundation garments make all the difference or so I hear.

My friend Saucy offered to help a fellow blogger find a new wardrobe. Alas, time and distance work against me or I'd ask her for help too.

Any advice for a scrubbed up nurse who also wants to be a fashionista?

Don't even get me started on my hair.

April

2010-04-18T15:44:00.003-06:00

I'm sitting here typing this post in my shorts! After a few days of nasty weather last week, we are back to nice weather. Better than nice really. I love Spring! Flowers are coming up. I think my flower bed is almost ready to be weeded.

March was crazy work-wise. I think I worked more hours than I ever have in one month. However, I barely saw my family, much less had time to blog. I miss blogging.

I was think about my resolution list for this year and how I'm doing so far.

1. Stop being guilty for doing nothing on my days off. - Well, becoming too tired to do anything on my days off really helps with the whole guilt factor.

2. Be nice. - I think I'm nice, but it's so hard some time. My major vice (well, one of them anyway) is GOSSIP. How do I conquer gossip?

3. Preserve something this summer. Pickles or jam or something like that. - It's not summer yet. I'm off the hook for this one for a few more months.

4. Play in the snow. Once, just once. - We had snow last week, but just the yucky slushy stuff. I didn't get out there once this winter. Honestly we didn't have that much really. Excuses, excuses.

5. Be patient. With people. With circumstances. With myself. - Patience? Definitely not making any progess here.

6. Learn to swim. - Need to sign up for those lessons.

7. Pray. - Working on it.

8. Accept my body. - Working on it. All the parts work, but the whole package isn't very pretty. Why is acceptance so difficult?

9. Cook more meals. - Ha! Must be at home to do this.

10. Start running again. - Got new shoes. That counts, right?

This is a very piecemeal blog post, but I really do miss this forum for my thoughts, so I thought I'd check in.

Miss O.R.

New Nutkin House Occupants

2010-03-22T09:41:00.002-06:00

As you may have gathered from our previous post, the Nutkins have decided not to live in the new house they were building. Squirrels can be so flaky sometimes, you know.

Mrs. Nutkin gave birth to the twins, Charlie & Charlotte several weeks ago, and she and Mr. Nutkin decided they would like to raise them in the wild, as they were raised. So to the out-of-doors they go. I'm sure we'll be following their adventures rather closely.

Of course, what were they to do with the new house? Well, sell it, of course. The house was quickly snapped up by this lovely couple.

Meet Steve & Daphne Puppenhaus. They recently relocated from Dollhouse Collectables, a suburb of Hudson, NH.

We are excited to welcome them to the neighbourhood.

Call of the wild

2010-03-20T15:41:00.003-06:00

Hey Bloggers. Today I (Lizzy) am going to do a post.

The Nutkins moved out to the forest today. It's just so

happens that it's a chilly day out today. Poor Nutkins!

This is their house. They decided to live in a trailer for

a little bit instead of immediately moving out. I think

it's for the kids.

This is the big happy family in their new home. The

little squirrels are named Charlotte and Charley.

Now aren't they cute!

This is the inside of the house. It isn't finished yet. Mr.

and Mrs. Nutkin need to buy matresses and paint, maybe

a little less wood.... Most of their furniture is bought at

Squirrel Outfitters.

Here is their cupboard/fridge. They prefer to call it a

fridge, I'm not sure why though. All the things they eat

are dry, nuts and seeds.

Well that's the Nutkin's house. BYE!!

I'm being held captive...

2010-03-17T07:37:00.002-06:00

...by my job. It's way too busy right now, even for blogging and miniature fun.

Sad, but true.

Tales from the Trenches

2010-03-05T14:07:00.002-07:00

Confessions of a Skating Mom

I've been a skating mom for about 4 years now, but the last few years we've gotten more serious about skating. Sometimes we are at the rink 5 days a week, so I've learned a lot about being a skating mom. I always wished I had some sort of manual to tell me what to do, so I thought I'd take a few minutes and write down some of what I've learned.

1. Compliments. This is a tough one. Be careful about complimenting a skater. It's okay to tell a parent that their daughter is a good skater, but be careful about double-sided compliments. For example, never follow-up a comment about what a good spinner your daughter is but saying, "you know, skaters are either good at jumping or spinning". What are you saying? My daughter can't jump? Touchy subject. I've been there.

And never compliment your child by telling them that they had a good day. Ask them first what they think. Especially important with pre-prepubescent pre-teens. Emotions take precedence nearly all the time, and you'll most certainly get your head bitten off if they disagree and missed a few jumps or spins.

2. Talking to skaters. If you have something to say to a skater, funnel the comment through a coach or, if all else fails, the skater's parent. This applies sometimes even if one of the skater's is your own child.

3. Talking to skaters' parents. Make sure their child is not currently performing on the ice at the time, even if it it just a practice skate. But if this happens to you, just calmly ask the speaker to wait until the skater finishes. Don't go home and tell your spouse about it and then have the spouse confront the speaker another day completely out of the blue.

4. Volunteering. If someone asks for help, it's okay to do that, but never do more than you have to. Do that and you'll get overloaded very quickly. Most importantly, think carefully about join the board. Put a bunch of ladies in a room and have them try to make decisions. It's an emotional process. And ladies, we can be very mean sometimes. What you don't know can't hurt you. And what you do know...well you know what I mean. I joined this year because I thought I could help, but I find myself being constantly frustrated and in tears (unfortunately I'm a crier).

5. Learn a craft. People might look at you weird, but it gets boring sitting there for hours. And boredom leads to gossip, and that's just bad.

6. Hair & makeup. Don't stress out about this. The internet is a treasure trove of resources on hair and makeup. Pony-tails and scrunchies are life savers as is a can of glitter spray. And if you really can't do makeup, ask another parent for help and get your skater to ask one of their friends. Mascara, glitter eyeliner, blush, and lipstick and THE most important items to have in their makeup bags.

7. Skate dresses. If you are REALLY, REALLY keen and have gobs of extra time on your hands, go ahead and sew your own outfits. However, it is generally cheaper and easier to just buy dresses. This I've learned from countless headaches and last minute all night sewing sessions.

8. Dads. For the most part it's the moms sitting out there in the stands, but dad's like to be involved too. Dear Javier is taking Lizzie to a competition without me this weekend, and was EAGER to learn how to do hair and makeup. Man, I wish I had pictures of that makeup session. And I can't wait to see pics of the results of their handiwork.

So there you go. Some of this information I'm sure applies to other sports parenting. I am by no means an expert on the subject. Everyone has their own experiences, both good and bad, and I'm sure there are parents who will disagree with what I've written. I welcome any positive comments on how to be a good skating mom.

Still here and still obsessed

2010-03-03T09:50:00.003-07:00

This dollhouse stuff is a sickness I tell you. However, it is a sickness for which I want no cure. I love my minis and it appears that there are many others out there in blog world who are similarly afflicted.

Construction on the house has been temporarily halted as the contractor works on some furniture.

The couch. Admittedly it's pretty crude but I'm hoping that some upholstery will help. It's not quite the style of couch I imagined for this house, but what can I do?

I'm happier with the way this bench turned out. It was originally planned for the living room, but I think it's home will be on the from veranda. Everything still needs a coat of paint of course.

Now the bed is very crude but I was going for a very simple structure that will be covered with bedding, so it didn't really matter too much. I love how the mattress turned out, but I think the pillows need to be a bit smaller. Of course, maybe the dollhouse folk like huge pillows.

The following items may just be my favourite minis EVER! Note, I did not make these.

A miniature French coffee press for the doll-household coffee addict. Would making a coffee cozy be absolutely ridiculous?

And check out this perfection!

A one-twelfth scale espresso machine. I have a new project that this will fit perfectly into. More on that later.

Enough with the dollhouses already!

2010-02-11T10:42:00.005-07:00

Would it surprise you to learn that I get a teensy bit obsessive about things some time?

I've committed a serious crime and my house is presenting me with compelling evidence of my lack of attention to house work.

The dust bunnies have joined forces and are about the size of a small dog right now. And you can't even imagine what the laundry is doing!

Guilty, as charged.

Francais Dollhouse

2010-02-09T12:20:00.005-07:00

There's a new contractor in town trying to muscle in on my business. She's cheap, she's efficient, and she works quickly.

Check out this new infill Lizzie built this past weekend.

Two storeys, plus a basement and deck.

I love the green walls in the bedroom. Doesn't the little doll look cozy in the popsicle stick bed?

This girl likes a house with colour. The blue walls contract nicely with the green carpeting in the kitchen. Is that indoor/outdoor carpet? Bold choice.

And she has wallpaper in her living room too. Blue and orange. Lovely colours and such a fantastic pattern.

Of course every modern dollhouse needs a computer station. How did we live without computers?

The bathroom is small but functional. Maybe there's an outdoor shower?

Extra storage in the unfinished basement. I think I see some leftover popsicle sticks for future projects too. Good thinking, Lizzie.

And just like in my real house, the laundry is in the basement. How nice that a chair is provided for some comfort. Looks like there's some laundry to be folded. I always procrastinate on that part too.

This was Javier's request. A hot tub to warm the soul and soothe tired, achy muscles.

Gee, this contractor is good. I better get a move on with the Nutkin house before she comes in and pushes me out of business!

Nutkin Surprise

2010-02-05T12:41:00.003-07:00

The Nutkin's house is really coming along. The interior walls are up and some new furniture has already arrived. Mrs. Nutkin is driving the builder crazy trying different furniture configurations before the glue (I mean, drywall paste) is even dry.

Mrs. Nutkin is a stylish young squirrel. She has fully embraced the wallpaper trend. Mr. Nutkin was hard to convince, but I think he agrees that this Orla Kiely wallpaper in the living room is delightful.

It's so exciting decorating a new home. Especially one from scratch. The new appliances have arrived.

Mr. Nutkin is thrilled to have a proper stove at last. He is rethinking all the white cupboards and appliances however. Perhaps he may swap them out for some more trendy stainless steel. They are considering cork flooring in the kitchen for comfort, plus some butcher block counter tops. I guess it depends on how creative the builder is going to get.

The walls in the bathroom are partially painted. The lower half of the walls are awaiting subway tile and tile floor. Not fans of gold fixtures, the Nutkins are hoping to resurface the taps with silver finish.

Here's a picture of the young couple. They decided to spend the afternoon doing some yard work. Mrs. Nutkin is not working too hard though, because of the surprise...

Mrs. Nutkin is expecting! The prospective parents are a little concerned because multiples run in their families and their new home may not be big enough. Hmmm. Perhaps another new house will be necessary.

Today's special at the Oliver Rain Cafe

2010-02-03T16:38:00.002-07:00

Hello! Are you hungry? Why not come in for a bite to eat?

We serve breakfast all day. Eggs, bacon, and whole grain toast is always yummy. I think the chef may have browned the toast a little too much.

It's still pretty chilly around here. Perhaps some hot chocolate is in order? With marshmallows of course.

And if you care to stay for dinner we offer a hearty meal of turkey, baked potato (slathered in melting butter), and peas.

All food is carefully prepared by our house chef, Lizzie.