What we do for our children

Such as sleep in this little tiny child-size IKEA tent with my knees tucked under my chin. I had been promising my son that we would go camping this summer, we even borrowed our friends' tent while they were vacationing in Europe, but alas it didn't happen.

So I was finally called on it and we decided to set up the tent on our back deck (ok I am a small "c" camper) to see how it would go. A couple of things didn't work in our favour (beside the fact that I was in a child size tent and sleeping bag and the sleeping bag was so small it only went up as far as my waist).

One was our noisy neighbours. The parents are away and the kids who are home alone seem to like sitting out on their back deck all night (and I do mean until about 7 in the morning) talking. Despite this we still got to sleep.

Two - we failed to check the weather. The first time I woke to rain it must have been around midnight. It didn't see too bad, so I went back to sleep. The second time it was definitely coming down harder, and the air felt damp, but we were ok. Around 2, the floor was soaked, the sleeping bags were soaked, we were drenched. I tried to wake my son, but he was out. I think he would sleep through a hurricane. I ended up carrying him, the sleeping bags, the flashlight, sippy cup, and pillows into the house all at once through heavy rain.

So much for camping. There's always next year. Yeah right.

I can't believe that school starts on Thursday. Where did the summer go? In truth, I don't want him to go back to school. I want us to be on perma summer vacation forever. Responsibility be damned.

Vacation (sort of)

This was a really weird summer for us for a lot of reasons. One of which, I started a new job in May and the company was releasing software this summer, and of course there are the usual delays so no family vacation. Plus, we didn't want to put Shel in summer camp for 2 months, we wanted him to have a month at home, so between the husband and I, we have been able to keep him at home for the month of August. My husband took vacation first and now I am taking vacation. It's sad that we can't all take it together this summer, but we will plan it better next year. Instead we have been making up for it on the weekends with lots of biking trips out of the city. And we've all been really enjoying it. This week has been spent getting ready for school next week, playing with friends, and just hanging out together like we used to when I only worked 4 days per week. Since I started working 5 days per week I forgot about those special days. Today we took the metro downtown to do some shopping and on the way back my 6 year didn't want to let go of my hand. These are the special days. Every time he holds my hand my heart beats faster because I know that one day he won't want to hold my hand. And that will be a very sad day for me.

A day at the races

About a week ago the husband was watching Bobby Flay on the Food Network.
Him: How far is it to Saratoga Springs?
Me: No idea, why????
Him: We're going there to eat fried chicken at Hotties.
Me: Hotties?

Turns out he meant Hattie's (he's French and doesn't always get it). The husband doesn't have a spontaneous bone in his body so this surprised me somewhat. And made me highly curious about this fried chicken. So on Saturday we packed up and went to Hattie's for fried chicken. Since Hattie's doesn't open until 5:00pm we had the day to kill, so we decided to spend the day looking at horses. All over Saratoga Springs are statues of horses like these, they are beautiful and lots of fun. Saratoga Springs is home to a quite famous racetrack. We went to the Racing Museum and then to the racetrack. It was the husband's first time at a racetrack and he was quite blown away. We couldn't get over not only the crowds, but there were entire families there for the day, all camped out with their coolers. The kids were so well behaved and all dressed up. We even took in a carrousel ride. Finally, around 4:30 the line up started at Hatties (the husband). It grew! Even though there are other things on the menu, we all ordered the fried chicken. I loved the ambience of the restaurant, but I think that because of the Bobby Flay show it is becoming its own victim. The wait staff are, incredibly polite and quick and all deserved a big tip, but they are just a little too hip for a restaurant that serves old style southern food. And the verdict. The chicken was good, but not great. I had a fruit cobbler for dessert, mine is better. The husband had pecan pie. It was probably the best we've ever tasted and we've eaten a lot of pecan pie.

Been trying different things

I've slowly been trying to get some new stock ready. I've been finding that as my son gets older I do more and more t-shirts for older children, but now I want to get back to babies. I was never into "cute" clothes, I prefer more interesting, but there is no reason that they can't be both cute and interesting. I've also started doing stencils, which is actually a lot of fun. This onesie has the Chinese symbol for beautiful on it and will be in my etsy store as soon as I sew on the Hip Kid label on the back. This was a trial but because I didn't like how the first two butterflies turned out I used it as a practice to try other designs and colors on. And this one I wasn't sure I would like, but I do. This too will be going into my etsy store as soon as I sew on the label.

I've been in denial, but all this talk on etsy about getting stock ready for the holidays as finally hit home. I'm going to start putting mittens in my etsy store. These are some that are made from some type of acrylic yarn. But my next mitts will be made with this glorious red angora yarn. I think I have enough for a couple of pairs of baby mitts. Nooo, I'm so not ready for winter. Happy Birthday Mom! My mom turns 87 today. If that doesn't deserve a special mention, I don't know what does. Have a great day! PS Hi Belen, here's a picture of my son wearing his cowboy t-shirt. :)

I so have to try this

Yesterday we spent the afternoon biking along the Lachine Canal. At one point the canal is on one side and Lac St. Louis (or as it is affectionately known as Lac St. Pooie) is on the other side. I don't know what this is called, kite surfing? No idea, but whatever it is I have GOT to try it! There were two of them and they were just rocking. I have tried windsurfing, but it just wasn't for me. But this rocks! On the other side is the Lachine Canal. This is one of my favorite sections where there are homes right on the canal. I love this. The canal is quite low now, but there was still enough water for kayakers to go through. My two guys looking tired and with good reason, we biked 45 km in about 2.5 hours.

Tag I'm it!

6 weird things. I've been tagged by Wrapsberry. The Rules: Each player starts this game with 6 weird things about themselves. People who get tagged need to write on their own blog 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says you're tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

6 weird things about me

1. I don't have any curtains on my windows.
2. After 2 university degrees, I went back to college to conquer my fear of math.
3. I am a dog person but have 3 cats and no dog.
4. I love everything retro. Guess it reminds me of when I was a kid and it was new not trendy.
5. I am jealous of my husband because he became totally fluent in Italian after 2 years.
6. Even though I have no curtains on my windows I am obsessed with home security (alarm, motion detector lights, very strong locks, etc.).

I'm tagging (I know it's only 5):

poshpiggy

ddpool

knitsteel

happyhousequilts

visitatwhitsend

Have fun with it!

What's in your bathroom cabinet?

I suppose we are all voyeurs at heart. Admit it, haven't you at least once looked into someone's bathroom cabinet? I love looking in cabinets. It's where you keep you most personal and private self. I've decided to expose myself and show you what's in my bathroom cabinet. This is it totally unedited. I'm just glad you can't see how dusty it is. There's not much to say about it. We have a cabinet that goes across the wall above the sink that is divided into 3 sections. The husband has one section, I have one section, and there is a general section for family stuff. We keep all the boring stuff in the family section, mine just contains my favorite creams and potions. My favorite cream in the world is by Phytomer. I've used it for years and it is incredible. I was once really stupid and paid $140 for cream that smelled like chocolate. It smelled delicious, but I got tired of being followed home by stray dogs. I ended up giving it to my son who adored it.

There is my favorite perfume, La Chasse aux Papillions. C'est encroyable! I also have some samples from Jo Malone. I must be the only person in the world who doesn't like Jo Malone products. Pretty standard stuff. But never enough room.

So every week I am going to feature a different cabinet. All quite exciting!

For my last 2 posts I somehow managed to turn off the comments feature. My apologies to those who had trouble posting. I've worked it out and it should be back on track for all comments.

Am I the only person in the world who hasn't read Harry Potter?

This is what my summer reading list looks like. And this is what I've actually read. Not so impressive. In my defense, I am working full time at a job that has a software release soon, running an online business, raising a child, trying to be there for the husband, looking after the house of friends who are in Europe for a month, yada yada yada. I know poor me. And I should add that Shel and I have started Harry Potter The Philospher's Stone. We are HOOKED! Why did we wait so long to read Harry Potter. Well,Shel was too young last year. But I can tell you we are going to make up for it.

I've been busy. And if truth be told I only have an attention span for nothing more complicated than magazines these days. Granted I've been reading some wonderful magazines. I read an article on Sofia Coppola in Milk. I love Milk and I love Sofia. She is such a style icon. I also love reading style magazines. I am going to finish decorating my son's bedroom this summer. I started painting it this spring and this is how far I got. There is still a long way to go. I need to put another coat of paint on and do the trim. Then start decorating. If you have any ideas how to keep his room neat, please tell me. Nothing works. Any decorating advice is appreciated.

Cool stuff

Oh my god I'm craving a coffee. I usually don't drink much coffee, but this morning all I can see floating in front of my eyes is a grande chai soy latte from Starbucks. I know, the last company in the world who needs input from little ole' me is Starbucks. But I love their coffee, what can I say.

The husband is digusted with me since we have an amazing espresso machine that makes gorgeous coffee, but it's the whole social thing of going to Starbucks to see if anyone you know is there. And I want to show off my new necklace from frou. So there's all of that. Is this not gorgeous? The silk cord is from Brazil and the pendant was made at frou. I basically went through their store and had them put every pendant there with the cord to see what I liked. Originally I tried the red silk cord, but really black fits what I own better. I have my eye on a beautiful ring in their shop, but it is a fairly large investment.

I feel like shopping and when that happens look out. It just so happens that I have to shop for back to school stuff so if I happen to find other things while I'm out, who can blame me, right?

And speaking of beautiful things, I have to get a burnt orange scarf from Thaidreams on etsy. Her clothes and accessories are beautiful.

I was reading the angry chicken last night and she was talking about these Kleen Kantenes on her blog. I think that they are on my shopping list. Even though my son is 6, for night drinks I still put water in a sippy cup. One of these would be great.

I was telling you about the fabric painting I was trying out and wanted to put it through the ringer, literally before I decided to go with it. I am happy to report that it washes well. So I may be adding fabric painting to my repetoire. Have to do lots of silkscreening today after I take Shel to his swimming lesson. Hopefully, I will be updating my etsy store this evening.

This is what August 4th looks like

Maybe it's not too exciting for you, but to me it looks like 22C instead of 40C. I can actually eat my breakfast and do a little blogging outside on my back deck. It seems as if our little heat wave has broken and we are back to tolerable temperatures. I think the high today is around 27-30C. (see earlier blog entry concerning my weather obsession).

The husband is now officially on vacation for 2 weeks. I expect some compensation for not being on vacation. Actually, even when he's not on vacation he regularly comes to pick me up from work or at least dinner is ready, child is fed and we are off to the pool or bike riding for the evening, which is pretty nice.

We are going to spend today biking in Oka. Last weekend we had planned to go to Oka, but due to unforseen circumstances (the husband only bought one bike rack instead of 2) we didn't go. This weekend we have 2 bike racks and are off to the country. I'm just looking forward to buying some chocolate covered blueberries made by the monks.

I do want to get back in time to go to the opening of my friend, Monica's, Doggy Cafe on Monkland. It will be a place where you can go to get a coffee and take your dog. She makes homemade dog food and treats, which you can buy there. I think that her business will do well. Plus I am making t-shirts for dog lovers that you will be able to buy either there or through order from me. More on that in another posting this weekend.

I just bought these fabulous little clips from Lani's etsy store. They are adorable. I love her store, and she is the sweetest lady. I am in love with etsy. My purpose of joining etsy was to create my own etsy shop, but my favorites list and shopping bag gets bigger every day. I am amazed by the quality of work that I see from etsy sellers. I don't know why everyone doesn't shop at etsy. I plan on doing some serious retail there this summer.

August 1 - ugggh

Does this landmark look familiar?

The Orange Julep is one of our favorite places to go in the summer. I can't believe that it is August 1. This means that the summer is half over. In case you think that I am suffering from a case of my glass is half empty, well you are right when it comes to summer ending. There is approximately 2 months of summer in Canada, if you are lucky. The rest is cold, wet and miserable. So why do we live here? Well, those 2 months of summer are pretty awesome.

I had this ambitious summer reading list, but I haven't even been reading that much. I did finish What Remains by Carole Radziwill. It was fabulous. I couldn't put it down. I did plan on reading lots of Graham Greene this summer, especially a reread of Travels with My Aunt. But the summer isn't over yet. There will still be a few lazy weeks by the pool.

While I've been waiting for my silkscreening supplies to arrive I've been practicing other techniques. Tonight I tried my hand at painting on fabric. This is only a test. I will let it try over night and then wash it 10 times to see how it holds up in the laundry before I add fabric painting to my repetoire. All in all, good fun.