Springtime Reading

  (photo by Matthew Mead)

 I love to curl up with a good book. 

And I am choosy about what I read. 

I love to hear referrals from friends but I have to be drawn in from the get-go when reading the synopsis on the book jacket. I don't like to read fluff, and historical fiction is a favourite, for sure. As a child, Judy Blume and Enid Blyton were my girls, and I am currently patiently awaiting Diana Gabaldon's upcoming novel in her Outlander series. 

But I never expected to be able to choose and read books that friends have written. I mean, really? One of my very first blog readers (and the author of one of the first blogs I became hooked on reading) is  Liz, of Mabel's House. I have always appreciated her honesty, funny, self-deprecating blog posts (and the girl has GREAT style!), yet it was obvious this girl had/has depth. The kind of person you would start out talking about light-hearted topics with, and then evolve into a conversation with heads bent together, eyebrows furrowed, and a little gesticulating thrown in.

And that is exactly what Liz's first published book is like. Part light-hearted banter and part heavy with a message. As it is so aptly described on Amazon.com: My Not So Storybook Life is "A funny and charming story of friendship and finding contentment in everyday life, referencing classics in children's literature and women's fiction. This enjoyable read handles with heart and a light touch such issues as marriage, family, home ownership, illness, and death."

Basically, it is a story about life, the beginnings of a beautiful but normal life with her husband Matt, and the ending of another beautiful life - the life of Liz's best friend, Angela.

Angela also read my blog, and I hers. I can't remember how I found it (it might have been via a comment she left on mine or if I found it through Liz). Reading Angela's blog (she sometimes shared her own writing) I was always struck by how intelligent she was and I always felt that she must have been an old spirit from another time. I remember when I first read that Angela had cancer and how the pit of my stomach dropped, knowing how young she was. It always seems scarier the younger the person, doesn't it?

And yet I did not know Angela at all, of course. I simply read what she wrote on her blog as "Mrs. Fox." I cannot imagine what it must have been like for Liz to bear witness to her friend fading before her very eyes from such a wretched disease. While Liz delivers up lots of humor in her book, it was the journey she shared as a companion to Angela in both sickness and health that most touched me and drew me in. I highly suggest you add My Not So Storybook Life to your reading list and get to know Liz (and Angela) better, too.

Of course, I have to share another couple of books that I hold dear in my heart. Stephanie Nielson's book Heaven is Here is a book I devoured in a couple of days. 

And while I naturally knew the background of the story (as all of her many readers do!), Stephanie shares the struggles she endured and the sweetness that awaited her once the fog lifted on her journey so beautifully that I defy anyone to not be moved by her determination and spirit. 

 And speaking of Stephanie, I just received an email from her last night letting me know how much she is enjoying rocking her new baby in the nursery Matthew created for her (as seen in the pages of Flea Market Finds with Matthew Mead).

 I just received my copy a couple of weeks ago, and I am so proud to be part of Matthew's beautiful book (I wrote some stories and my little Sophie makes an appearance via her playhouse). be sure to pick it up via Amazon.com and Amazon.ca. It is a really gorgeous book!

Happy Reading!

Our first real vacation...

 (warning: this post is to chronicle my memories of our trip, therefore it is very lengthy and likely a bit boring to anyone but me or those who are planning a similar vacation.)

Did I ever tell you I was planning a big March Break vacation? Probably not; I am not a big fan of letting the internet know when I will be out of town/my house is empty. Gavin DeBecker would tell you that is not the best way to honor your instincts. 

We have always been the ones to sit back and listen to others' vacation memories and scroll through Facebook photos of friends and family sunning themselves by crystal-clear, blue ocean waters. Every year, Sophie would come home before March Break and tell us of the number of children heading off to vacations in the sun. Often, it was shocking how many actually were going away somewhere exciting. Seriously, we are not sure how others manage to tuck enough away to fund annual trips that extended beyond camping or the occasional night at a hotel in a nearby town. 

This year, after much saving and planning, we decided we would take the plunge and go away for our first big vacation with the kids - before our eldest graduates and heads off to college next year. Because of the reality that this would probably be perhaps our only big vacation with the five of us, we decided a cruise would be the ideal way to see as many places as possible and be as stress-free as vacation planning can be. We got a great deal on a family cabin (a "Quint" cabin) aboard the Carnival Dream, and we booked our flights with the cruise line. We heard many reports that this wasn't the best route to go, but after price comparing with Travelocity and Kayak.com, we found they were giving us a better deal - one which included all transfers from the airport to the hotel (which was also included in the rate) and the ship.

I poured over online descriptions of excursions, tempted of course by dolphin encounters, an idyllic afternoon spent at The Blue Lagoon, and snorkeling excursions on glass-bottomed boats. In the end, we decided to forgo big ticket excursions and head out and explore on our own (and save money!).

We headed out on the Friday before March Break and had a brief stop-over in Toronto. As we flew into Orlando, I was a bit disappointed to see that it was dark outside (8pm). In my naivete, I thought that because it felt like summer, it would be light outside, like summer. Our shuttle took us to the Marriott Orlando Airport Hotel where we happily dropped our bags (they gave us two BIG rooms!) and ordered Chinese take-out. 

After devouring the feast, we headed down to the indoor-outdoor pool, separated only by clear flaps to swim through. The water was gloriously like bath water (literally!) and after a day spent on airplanes, the warm water felt wonderful and soothing. The next morning we enjoyed a delicious, huge breakfast buffet and swam in the pool until it was time to be picked up by the Carnival shuttle. 

Before we headed out though, we did manage to see a "real live" alligator along the bank of the water that bordered the hotel grounds. With signs that said Do Not Feed The Alligators, we had doubts we would be fortunate enough to see one, but we were! It was a highlight for us all.

Embarkation went quickly and smoothly and I cannot stress enough how wonderful Carnival is with regards to customer service and friendliness. We felt well-cared for at all times. 

After a delicious (and fancy!) lunch, we found our room (the beds are sooo comfy!) and toured the ship. It is MASSIVE! We were exhausted from trying to find our bearings and every night we (Sophie, Paul, and I) found ourselves in bed by 9pm, sometimes even missing out on the towel animals. The boys made their way home much later, as they enjoyed the teen Club O2 (below) and the late night buffets.

Sophie was too shy to go to the activity club for her age group, so she had to hang out with her old fogie parents. Together we hit the hot tubs, comedy shows, gift shop, and played mini-golf.

We did find the motion of the boat bothersome at times. On the second night, the ship was very rocky due to high winds, and we all rushed through dinner and retreated to our beds by 7:30 pm, after I fed them all a Gravol. Things settled down the next day, thankfully, as we landed in the Bahamas for our first port of call.

Because we only had about six hours in the Bahamas, we decided not to spend any real money on an excursion. We followed the crowds along the main street and set our sights on the free beach, Junkanoo Beach. 

We sipped Bahama Mamas and ate the snacks I had packed, in between swimming in the beautiful water. We felt the Caribbean vibe from the music that was playing from the concession stands (and all of the gorgeous white sand and blue water!). Of all three ports we visited, it was also the only one where we were left unsolicited by beach vendors, which made it very relaxing. We headed back to the ship for a hearty lunch and anticipated the (amazing) dance show that is the highlight of the ship's entertainment line-up.

Our next port of call was St. Thomas. We boarded a bit of a sketchy/scary ride aboard an open-air shuttle that careened around the curves of the mountains a bit too quickly, and I instructed everyone just to look straight ahead. We arrived at Sapphire Beach, ate the lunch which we had ordered via room service from the ship, and swam the afternoon away. 

 Sophie had her hair braided by a friendly island vendor who also sold us both a pretty sun dress.

The next day, in St. Maarten, we headed out on the one "excursion" I had planned. It was more of a tour, but to us, it was the highlight of the trip. St. Maarten was our absolute favourite place that we visited, and it would be an absolute dream come true if we could ever return there. I cannot say enough good things about our tour, via Bernard's Tours, which I had found online a few days before our trip. It was a professional, well-organized, FUN tour on an air-conditioned, clean, mid-size tour bus. Our tour guide/driver went by the name "Sexy," and he passed out unlimited cold canned pop, beer, and the most potent rum punch I have ever tasted. He was funny, friendly, and knowledgeable and we discovered a lot about his beautiful island during our chats.

Our many destinations included a stop at a property that hosted lots of iguanas, a small beach where we were able to see sea urchins, star fish, etc., an approx. two hour stay at Orient Beach (which on one side is nudist...old, wrinkly saggy nudists...ugh!) where we ate lunch and jumped the most amazing waves. The water was sooo warm!!

Later, we stopped in Marigot, the French capital of St. Martin, where we ate delicious French pastries from a popular patisserie, Sarafina's. This was our view as we ate at a bench near the open air market:

We then headed off to Maho Beach, the small but beautiful beach that is best known for the jumbo airplanes that fly in just 20-30 feet overhead beach-goers heads (as they descend upon the runway of the Princess Julianna airport). That was definitely the most exciting part of our trip!

As you can imagine, the waves are incredible, and once I figured out to go far enough out so that I could ride the wave without being slammed into the sand and dragged back out (I may or may not have been tossed around like a crab while frantically tugging at my bathing suit top and bottoms to protect my modesty), I had a blast.

Maho Beach is a must-do if you visit St. Maarten. You will never forget it!

To see what I mean about this popular destination, check out this jumbo plane (Air France) landing:

 We took the scenic route back to the ship and marvelled at how gorgeous the island is. Seriously, can you beat this?

 Our ship, in front:

 Loving the heat and sun:

Back on The Dream, we spent the last two days swimming, having fun on the gigantic water slide, and basically eating like gluttons.

 The food was wonderful, the decor a bit garish and over-the-top glitz, the entertainment a bit cheeseball, and the service excellent. On our last night, we dressed up a bit for dinner and Sophie snapped some photos:

Verdict: We had an amazing time, and we totally get how people become hooked on vacationing. If we are ever fortunate to take another trip, it won't be on a cruise ship, but it will be somewhere hot and beautiful!

Cheers!

Easter around our house...

 Happy Easter, everyone!

It is a quiet one in our house this year. With no guests to entertain, we are having a quiet meal prepared by the handyman (who is gearing up to do some very handy things soon, namely a renovation/makeover of our basement level). Being the major meat-eater he is, I caved on my desire to have turkey for our meal and agreed to his first choice: prime rib. In fact, I just popped it into the oven, and other than that, my main contribution to the meal is to make a coconut cream pie and set the table all fancy-like.

Sophie decorated some eggs and a white chocolate treat on Good Friday and we even found some adorable egg sleeves (the ones you slip over eggs and then place in boiling water for a second to adhere. She loved this one of little cats that look like our kitten, Rosie, and couldn't resist taking a snap shot of her "holding" it.

This year, I found the most wonderful online Canadian source (A Bit Of Home.ca)  for English and Irish chocolate. I was thrilled to find my childhood favourite Flake bars (we called them Flakies) inside a Cadbury Easter egg. I was even more excited when I discovered they even sold Malteser/MaltEaster bunnies, which taste just like the real McCoy, little malted balls of perfection. 

(For those of you who like Whoppers, Maltesers are ridiculously better. I do not like Whoppers...too sweet....so just take my word for it that Maltesers are superior!)

As an Easter surprise, we awoke to blustery snow this morning. Luckily, I had planned our Easter egg hunt for indoors, using clues I had written down from last year's hunt. Everyone is enjoying a lazy day tucked up inside away from the cold.

Enjoy your own traditions this Easter, and count your blessings!

Cheers!

The Blogging Buzz....

Well, because I get a few emails here and there asking for my advice on how to do a number of blog-related tasks, I thought I'd pop in to share the website of two of my favourite blogging  pros and friends. Sarah and Lyndsay of The Blog Guidebook are THE go-to resource for those of us who want to navigate the inner workings and design of our blog. 

From learning how to install social media icons (I just added mine this evening, using their tutorial!) to making your own blog button, adding a custom signature (see mine below), how to link Facebook to your blog, and more! I am only touching on a few of their tutorials and they also have a wonderful directory of blogs that you can add your blog listing to: a great way to find and connect with other bloggers!

Sarah and Lyndsay are so approachable and knowledgeable; but before you send them a question via email, be sure to check out their resource archives, search their tutorials, and their collection of blogging Tips and Tricks. Chances are, they have probably already addressed your question/design dilemma before!

Happy Blogging!

The Comforts of Home...and friends!

 (vintage kitchen at Memory Lane Heritage Village)

Today I feel like taking a trip down memory lane and introducing you to a special friend from my past who has recently started blogging, and in doing so, has filled me with sentiment for the early years of mothering and homemaking. Elizabeth, of My Frugal Farmhouse, was my best friend in the little village I lived in as a newly wed young woman. I met her at a play group I was invited to when my boys were just babies/toddlers. As we sipped cups of tea and quietly chatted (as our little ones made their acquaintances), I soon realized she was a kind, conscientious mother who shared a little of my germaphobia, my obsession with the proper use and installation of car seats, and a strong desire to feed my children only healthy, home-cooked meals. I was still in the blissful, idealistic young mum role, and threw myself into each and every aspect of parenting that I could. Elizabeth, a few years older than me and with a few more years of mothering under her belt, was a kindred spirit from whom I could seek advice, comfort, and companionship and we quickly bonded, much like our little boys.

 (me and my boys, 1997)

On long days, when the toil of being stay-at-home mothers with few to bounce our children off for respite (my family lived seven hours away, so I was IT), one of us would bundle up our children and inadvertently end up at the other's house where we would enjoy chatting to someone who didn't drool as they spoke or dissolve into tears of frustration when a favourite toy went missing. In the evenings, we chatted on the telephone as we washed our dishes (neither of us had a dishwasher) and shared recipes, gripes, laughs, and worries and felt a little less alone in the world (or at least I did). 

 (Callum, age 2)

It was Elizabeth who introduced me to the bread machine, which I still use today to make my family's favourites like pizza dough, French bread, Challah bread, regular loaves and rolls, and she also advised me to NOT bake the bread in the machine but, rather, place it in a parchment lined loaf pan and bale it in the oven. That way, you can fool everyone and they will think you made it from scratch! Hah!

 (some of Elizabeth's beautiful bread loaves)

Elizabeth is a wonderful baker, baking something (many things!) every day. I laughed to read on her blog the following piece of advice I had for her in my infinite twenty-something wisdom: "My friend Linda once told me when I was lamenting how I couldn't stay on top of my housework, 'it's all that baking you do, that's your downfall'. She was joking but she was so right!!" It is advice I still swear by. 

You can't do it all. I have a pretty consistently tidy house but I rarely bake! Personally, I think her kids were happier with a little mess in the kitchen but a solid supply of baked goodies, and I never got any compliments from my little boys on how tidy my house was!

Elizabeth is fairly new to blogging and her posts are from the heart, full of great money saving-homemaking and decorating tips, and just an enjoyable read for those of us who love our homes and taking care of our families. Please take a moment to stop by and welcome her and follow her blog (I know she will be thrilled by that!). 

And thank you Elizabeth for writing such a sweet post about me and our friendship  (you can read it here)

Valentine's, Shmalentine's....

 Image from my favourite paper supply shop, Vintage Paper Parade.

I love holidays. I am definitely that mum who goes a little extra with every holiday. Whether I feel like it or not, I will blow the dust off my baking pans and make something for Sophie's class. 

Because I will take accolades however I can.

But Valentine's? Not so much. For it, I am in the pessimist's group who view it as a commercial holiday. I also kinda finds hearts really tacky (I think it is left over aversion from the eighties hearts and ducks version of country decorating). Red is also not my best color, and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates I do not covet. I have my own funny valentine.

 

Still, I am not that much of a scrooge, and I will use any excuse not to cook dinner. So, my gift to my kids this year was take-out pizza for dinner, followed by a homemade cake covered in jelly beans. I made chocolate-covered strawberries for Sophie's class and accepted my hero status with grace.

And look at these two sweethearts:

Doesn't that just say, "I love you"...?

Mother of the Year and other short-comings...

Wow! It has been a while since I have checked in! I keep asking myself why that is, especially when I did so well to update almost daily for so long. I could blame work, life...all the usual distractions that eat everyone's time. I could blame it on my role as "Mother of the Year," which I call myself around these parts -- sometimes sarcastically, other moments literally, and I remind my children of it often (see the meat pie photo above, my self-imposed title poked out with a fork).

But I think my lack of sharing boils down to several things: 

1. I have run out of projects to do in my home. I am now at the point where I should just commit to selling or start making over rooms, which seems kind of frivolous, considering they are perfectly fine. Also, the things I would like to do really require starting over. They are more costly changes (in time and $$), so I hang back and wait. 

2. I also have concluded that I've become a bit intimidated by the "blogging photography challenge." While I have a pretty decent camera, I haven't taken the time/conquered the fear of mastering it. Therefore, my pictures seem so poky and horrible when I upload them onto my blog. So many bloggers have seriously gorgeous, quality photos and when I consider the time and effort they go to to set up, edit, and watermark each photo, it just makes me feel that my photos fall pitifully short. 

So, I have decided that for now, I will write for myself and try to meet only my personal standards (I apologize in advance!). Things are quietening down around these parts: our German exchange student has returned home (we miss him!) and my eldest son has decided what he would like to do next year (he graduates high school this year) and all applications have been sent out. We are planning a family trip and are now just down to the final, little details. I am enjoying the slower pace. 

I have also finished up my work on the latest Matthew Mead publication: Flea market Finds with Matthew Mead. I am so excited for everyone to see it as it is truly beautiful and filled with so many great projects using items everyone can afford! I will share the cover with you as soon as I am allowed. It will be on newsstands in April but the expanded keepsake edition can be pre-ordered via Amazon here.

As for home projects? In or out, overdone or not (I think neither!) I am seriously entertaining the idea of a large chalkboard wall. I have a few ideas for updating the look and now need to just set to work and pick the perfect spot. I have also been slowly picking up frames for all of the fun  photos and artwork I have been collecting via Etsy. Both projects sound manageable, don't they? Something that even a Mother of the Year would have time for, right?

(chalkboard photos via pinterest.com)