Instead...

... of doing the things I should be doing to get ready for this weekend (Canada Day long weekend!), I am blogging. We spent the morning outside, I mowed the lawn for the first time since I was pregnant. I almost dislocated my arm starting it, but I did it. Wait a minute, that sounds like we had grass up to my knees, but we didn't. Our lawn does get mowed, Brian does it. This was the first time I did it. (FYI: I also avoid putting out garbage & doing kitty litter, these are the 'man jobs' in our house). We also drained the kids pool to free the grass underneath. And Miles, who loves to help out, watered the plants. He was soaked by the end of it, and he informed me that he didn't want to water the 'stinky ones' (rosemary).

Now I am going to escape from the sun, but not the heat, by baking some muffins. I am excited to try a new brand of gluten free muffins, I don't eat gluten free, but my father-in-law does (or should) so I thought I'd see if these would be something he would like. I'm going to make them with chocolate chips. mmmm.

Have a super-sunny & fabulous Canada Day weekend everyone!

Perfect Saturday Night In

Right now dinner is on. It's almost 10pm but Brian & I haven't eaten...pretty typical for a Saturday night in. We enjoy cooking together so we usually wait to start dinner until the kids are snug in bed. 

Tonight we are having Blue Cheese crusted steaks, Walnut roasted brussels sprouts & mashed potatoes. Should be ready in 10 minutes.

Last night I didn't eat until 9. It goes against everything Oprah ever taught us, but I love eating late on the weekends. Last night I met my sister & some friends at Brava Bistro on 17th ave. I had lobster gnocchi and a pancetta flatbread... unreal. Then stayed out until the wee hours of the morning & had a sleep-over (it's been a while). But as good as it was, I think tonight might be better (and enjoyed in the comfort of my own home!).

Then, in case cooking & eating a good meal isn't the best way to spend a Saturday night, I was lucky enough to find Donna Hays Modern Classics 1 on a used book site on Facebook for just $5. I can't wait to devour dinner and then the book... A perfect Saturday night is you ask me.

Camp Miles

Yesterday my son turned four. And I didn't take a single picture (too busy I guess). So instead I poached these pictures from my sisters Twitter accounts. Thanks Carm, Missy, Kendra & Mags for being on top of it when I so wasn't. 

The birthday was "camping" themed (although Miles did tell me he wanted hockey, like his sister). But I ignored his request and he was fine with it when he woke up to a giant tent in the middle of our living room. I made s'more 'cake pops' and even a campfire cake. 

Miles & Missy roasting Marshmallow S'mores over the fire... nerds!

I love love love that each year (twice a year) my family shows up, on a week-night for the kids parties. I always leave them until the last-minute and they still manage come out and make the kids happy. Miles woke up this morning and went straight for the family of Gorillas that Auntie Kendra gave him, he loaded them up into his new 'jeep' from Grandma & Papa Hopaluk. Tomorrow we are hitting up the Zoo with passes from Nana & Grandpa Ross. Thanks to everyone for making yesterday such a great day for him, for the presents & just for showing up. Next year I suppose I will have to do a 'real birthday' (which I don't look forward to at all), you know, the kind with invites & lots of kids with no parents. Maybe I can bribe Miles...a new bike instead? A car? A trip to Disneyland? Haha! 

I'm so vain....

Today I took a test to measure my level of narcissism. I heard about it on a show I was watching, I thought that I might score a 20/40. I have decent self-esteem but definitely have my own hang-ups. I scored an 18/40.... which I was surprised to hear is higher than average (the average is 15). I was also surprised to hear that the highest score ever was by Robin Quivers. I don't even know who that is (I had to google her)...bet she'd be annoyed to hear that! Haha!

Take the test yourself at: http://www.0eb.com/

Here are the detailed results of my test:

Your score for Authority is HIGH

Your score for Self-sufficiency is LOW

Your score for Superiority is MEDIUM

Your score for Exhibitionism is LOW

Your score for Exploitativeness is MEDIUM

Your score for Vanity is LOW

Your score for Entitlement is LOW 

Let me know how you do! (I am honestly interested in the results of people I know...or maybe I just want to order you to do something...I am after all, one heck of an authoritarian!)

Obsession

I was in tears today when I realized I had lost my favourite locket. Tears. 

And then what followed was the search of a lifetime. I didn't look this hard when I lost my daughter at Ikea....ok, well, maybe I did. I am being dramatic, but I was devastated and I honestly haven't felt that way over a material possession before. Until today, I didn't even know I was that attached to the locket. I mean, I loved it.... The minute I saw it, I loved it. 

It was a Christmas gift from my sister Kendra. A gift more thoughtful than any Aritzia gift card I have ever given her, thats for sure. The locket (which is empty until I find the perfect picture) is a custom made locket from Cinder & Sage. Kendra chose my favourite poem (a gem by Shel Silverstein) and put it on the front. I love it & every time I look at it, I smile. 

Snowball by Shel Silverstein

I made myself a snowball

As perfect as could be.

I though I'd keep it as a pet

And let it sleep with me.

I made it some pyjamas

And a pillow for it's head.

Then last night it ran away,

But first - it wet the bed.

So the search was on. And I looked for an hour before I called my husband (who I am sure has nothing better to do at work). He promised to go & check his car to see if it was in there. I sat by the phone until he called me back. No locket. I needed to accept that it was gone. 

Not going to happen.

So I called my mom. She checked her camera for pictures of me at the zoo last weekend. Was I wearing it? Yes. So I called the zoo. No locket. I needed to accept that it was gone. But instead I had a look through all of my purses (even ones that I hadn't used in months). No locket.

I called Brian (who I am sure was sitting at his desk, doing nothing, waiting for my call). I cried. And he tried to make me feel better. It didn't work. I threatened to drive to his office & have a look in his car (Brian, like all men, suffers from Male Refrigerator Blindness) myself. Brian assured me that he had a good look. And then he asked me if I had checked the diaper bag. 

I dropped the phone & ran to the bag. In the movie version of this story (why wouldn't there be one???) I am running in slow motion & the song 'I will always love you' is playing. There it was. My locket.

I freakin' love this locket (pictured above with another kick ass Cinder & Sage necklace that I have). I have never been a jewellery person, and then my sister introduced me to Cinder & Sage. I love her stuff. It's like the vintage-y jewellery that I always day-dreamed about but could never find. And now that I have found it, it's true love. For my birthday I got adorable earrings from my hubby (grape leaves, of course) and since then I have bought the telescope necklace & 3 bracelets that people compliment me on all the time. All the time. And today I was on her Facebook page in the middle of my crisis (yes, I said crisis)(and yes, I shop during a crisis) and ordered a new locket with a map of Turtle Lake on it. Love.

So it's 4:21. I am going to try & salvage some of this day.... wearing my locket securely around my neck, of course.

Thoughts on baking.

Yesterday my kitchen was a mess. And I reeeeally didn't feel like cleaning it up. Like, really really. So I did the opposite. I baked. And we created a lot more mess. But Miles loves to bake and we had nothing else planned.... I decided to try making an old-school favourite... Peanut Butter Butterscotch Marshmallow Squares. mmmmm. These were my favourite when I was a kid. I melted the marshmallows a little bit (oops!) but it doesn't taste any different. My gosh these are so addictive. 

Good thing I also make Chewy Lemon Crinkle Cookies. Hahaha!

This was an article I found on Pinterest, it's the first thing I have made from a pin. They were great! Just the right amount of lemon and easy to make with ingredients that I have around the house.... well, that's only because I have lemon zest. I tried the cookies with dried zest just to see how it turned out, the jar says that they work well in baking. And it does. Don't they look yummy?

I use to hate baking. Like, really dislike it. But I think that's because I thought it should be more like cooking and it's not. You have to have more faith when you're baking. You have to do everything right at the beginning & then hope for the best....not being able to alter things if it doesn't look like it's going right. That's hard for me. When I am cooking I can change the heat levels, add liquid, put in more ______. And I often do. I like having control (big shocker!). But I have started to enjoy baking more lately, which is great because the kids do. And who doesn't need 2 dozen cookies in their house? I mean, really?

I Need To Be Reminded....