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blackberries & blood oranges for baby’s breakfast // up high // blue skies // last year’s wild roses // bargain-priced panettone that is going to be reborn as french toast // after her nap Gwen makes bold fashion choices// new leggings from auntie // snack time

A couple of months ago Taylor had the brilliant idea of trading in all his old videos games to Future Shop for store credit, and then applying that credit to his Xbox One pre-order. It was a great idea and he ended up with many hundreds of dollars in credit. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to apply the credit to the preorder, so he decided to cancel it, but then he couldn’t do that either? idk, the whole thing was online and even though I was like TWEET AT THEM YOU WILL GET IMMEDIATE RESULTS he elected to email them, and they didn’t reply until the preorder had become an order order. He was going to return the Xbox One and possibly rebuy it in the future with the credit but I was like OH JUST KEEP IT IT’S FINE. Anyway this week he decided to use the credit to buy a new tv, I mean with the credit plus the sales it was PRACTICALLY free.

Of course like everything in our lives it turned into a comedy of errors. He went to pick it up yesterday and OF COURSE it was the only rainy day this week. The sales associate was busy so OF COURSE he had to wait forever, and once he got it home OF COURSE we had to wait until I finished work to install it. We took down the old tv (and moved it into the bedroom, so basically I’M NEVER GETTING OUT OF BED AGAIN) and went to install the wall mount brackets on the new tv and OF COURSE the bolts are the wrong length and OF COURSE none of the other bolts in my massive collection of random bolts are the right length and OF COURSE we didn’t discover this until after the local hardware store closed for the day. OF COURSE OF COURSE OF COURSE. Taylor ended up having to take the train to Home Depot just to buy four bolts at 35 cents each (plus ten cents each for four washers). HOW FRIGGING IDIOTIC.

Eventually we got everything done and this afternoon Taylor set up the bedroom tv properly so we can use it to watch stuff. It’s currently on a stand on my dresser beside the bed (annoying) but we plan on mounting it on the wall opposite the foot of the bed, which will be better. Now I have a big rearranging/cleaning bug so this weekend I am forcing Taylor into tackling his desk with me, which IN SPITE of pretty much years of constant pestering on my part is still surrounded by a giant rat king of cables and wires. WHAT. IS. IT. WITH. DUDES. AND. CABLES. AND. WIRES. EVERYWHERE. It’s like they’ve never heard of cable management, geez.

Also on the agenda for the weekend: taken down the Christmas decorations. IT’S TIME.

assorted pics from December 23rd-January 2nd

At midnight on New Year’s Eve Taylor and I snuck into Gwen’s bedroom to make goo-goo faces at her. I’m always so worried about waking her up that I rarely get a chance to see her sleeping anymore, and it’s so sweet. Sleeping kids in general, all curled up in their blankets clutching their teddy bears (or elks, in Gwen’s case), or sprawled across the bed with limbs everywhere (in Sym’s case).

Afterwards I made Taylor stay up really late with me drinking glass after glass of water so we wouldn’t be hungover parents the next day. It worked, we weren’t hungover, but we were the world’s most tired parents instead. I woke up to the sounds of Gwen sweetly babbling in her crib, but that soon escalated to yelling, and I found her standing at the railing, with her elk and soother and other toys flung onto the floor. We think she’s sending them to get help.

Taylor gave her breakfast while I showered, and when I got out I found him lying on the living room floor. I joined him and in no time at all we’d both fallen asleep. At some point I made us both move the couch. Gwen bobbled around us benevolently, giving us hugs and toys and the contents of the recycling bin. At one point she very delicately placed a receipt on a slumbering Taylor’s ear.

How lucky to have such a kind baby, who let us relax and recover? She shared her snacks with us (hand-feeding me Cheerios off the floor) and was perfectly content to have the laziest day possible.

Gwen already went to bed but Taylor and I are about to enjoy a feast of jalapeno poppers and mozzarella sticks before I once again decimate him at Ascension (our last game I won by almost 100 points, I’m just sayin’). Later we’ll watch our traditional NYE movie, Anchorman.

Also sparkling wine, lots and lots of sparkling wine.

I had an idea earlier that I should clean the whole house really well so we’d be starting 2014 ~fresh~ but then I decided I’d rather drop dead than clean anything, so I guess we’ll be starting the new year somewhat dishevelled.

I’m not really one for New Year’s Resolutions, tbh my only goals for 2014 are to consistently put my clean laundry away instead of leaving it in a heap on top of the dresser (like it is right now, oops) and to grow my hair out. At least one of these is totally achievable, I think.

Anyway, happy new year to all of you from all of us.

Some of us are cranky. Some of us are sick. Some of us are teething. Some of us *cough*Georgie*cough* ate and then barfed up something weird and gross. I think everyone has a bit of the post-Christmas blues and there’s nothing we can do about it.

Christmas was really great this year. I didn’t take any real pictures because I thought that I’d just enjoy the holiday, but I do have some instagrams to share.

1. Gwen & Dougal starting trouble under the Christmas tree
2. the first of many (MANY) Christmas drinks, a gin & tonic with Meyer lemon. I also had some greyhounds (gin and grpaefruit juice) on Chriatmas Eve and called them Santa’s Little Helpers, which works on so many levels. SO MANY (two).
3. another Christmas drink, hot chocolate with chocolate sea salted caramel liquer
4. a friend at the Transylvanian bakery
5. this baby is growing several teeth and is miserable
6. sisters (in Christmas pajamas from the Gap; Sym’s here, Gwen’s tragically sold out), I’m so very happy about this picture
7. husband (in Christmas pajamas from L.L. Bean)
8. super important Christmas Eve selfie
9. Sym’s dad took the train out to his mom’s house so Dougal stayed with us for the holiday (no big goofy dogs are allowed on the train)

1. I braided Georgie’s tail (while wearing Christmas pajamas from Victoria’s Secret, also tragically sold out although other patterns are still available)
2. inexplicable subtitles on this Netflix Yule log
3. my gift from Symphony, a Tom & Donna “Treat Yo Self” drawing (with Batman-suited Ben Wyatt)
4. Sym and Taylor trying to keep Gwen happy and entertained while I made breakfast on Christmas morning
5. baby eats: mandarin oranges, bacon and silver dollar pancakes. The rest of us had the same, only with larger pancakes and juice (or mimosas, depending on our age) in lieu of orange segments
6. my Christmas angel (AMAZING dress from H&M, gold shoes made by me)
7. Kichou in his gift, a new sweater. Dougal got a ball with weird spines and Georgie a leather steer that she happily chewed all day long
8. Taylor in one of his gifts from me, a new flannel from TopMan
9. the aftermath of Christmas dinner. I made roast beef & yorkshire puddings, roasted broccoli, honey-glazed carrots, mashed potatoes and Taylor made poutine sauce for the gravy. I think this is only the third time I’ve made Christmas dinner and each year it is more successful- this year everything was done cooking at the same time (except for the broccoli, which I made a little early)

I hope everyone who celebrates has a great Christmas tomorrow, and everyone who doesn’t has a non-irritating day!

I’m pretty much ready for my hair to not be purple anymore, I’m also not willing to bleach it again or cut it at this time, so I’ve been very very patiently fading it out. It’s taking much longer than I expected, especially seeing as how I wash my hair all the time, but it’s finally become a pastel lilac rather than a deep bluish purple.

November 5th

November 24th

December 21st

As you can see it faded most dramatically in the first month and since then it’s been fading much more slowly. It’s also become less blue- the first pic was taken indoors which might account for the colour difference since the other two were in natural light, but the pictures we took on Halloween (see below for why I haven’t included one of these) were taken outside and my hair was positively indigo.

I’ve come to the conclusion that purple is a TERRIBLE colour on me as my skin has quite a yellow undertone. Since purple is yellow’s complimentary colour this hair makes me look SALLOW AS FUCK. It’s not as bad now that it’s a pastel but when it was darker? I looked like a bag of trash. This was most evident on Halloween (NOT PICTURED SINCE I LOOK GROSS) when my hair was really dark and I was too lazy to put on makeup for photos, something I have NOT been too lazy to do since. When we were getting ready to go up the mountain on Saturday Sym was like “why are you putting on makeup?????” and I was like “HAVE YOU SEEN TAYLOR’S CAMERA????”

On Saturday Taylor and I took Sym and Gwen up Grouse Mountain for their “Peak of Christmas” (Grouse’s usual tagline is “Peak of Vancouver”). None of us had ever been up their before, which seems absurd now that I know how close it is- by car from our house to the bottom the Skyride (gondola)is 20 minutes, and then the Skyride is like… 4 and a half minutes? Less than half an hour from the heart of downtown to the top of a mountain! Amazing. Of course if you take the bus it is longer- 45 minutes to an hour, and if you drive you still have to factor in time to find parking. Parking at Grouse is limited, so if you are driving you want to go earlier rather than later. PRO TIP if you stay on the main road just before Lot A there are a few dedicated spaces for carsharing vehicles like zipcar, which we unfortunately didn’t know until we’d parked at the far end of one of the lower lots.

The Skyride itself is a little pricy- $40 for adults, $24 for teens and $14 for kids (4 & unders are free), but for Peak of Christmas there is a $80 family pass so Sym was basically free. The Skyride is also kind of a nightmare? I’m sure it’s okay if you go when it’s less busy but the Saturday before Christmas it is PACKED. There are only seats at the ends so everyone else has to stand in the middle with only a few straps to hang on, that I could barely reach and I’m 5’9″. It wouldn’t be that big of a deal but as the gondola passes the two towers it sways a little ie A LOT. It’s hard to tell just how much when you are in it, espcially when you are packed like a sardine and can’t see out the windows, but one of the towers is right near the top and when you watch it come up from the platform you can see how much it swings up, I swear it is like 45 degrees.

My only real complaint about the Skyride though is about the other passengers, and by other passengers I mean SKIERS. RUDE SKIERS. On WHAT PLANET is it appropriate to hold your ski poles PARALLEL to the ground when you are in a crowded, enclosed space that swings around???? HOLD THOSE SUCKERS UPRIGHT YOU MORONS. I also wish I had been able to see better; on the way down it was less crowded and a woman forced her grandkids to shove over so I could sit down (I was wearing Gwen) but by then it was much more cloudy than on the way up- it actually looked like we were descending into nothingness!

Once we were up on the mountain we actually didn’t partake in a lot of the activities. Santa’s workshop didn’t open until noon as he is at a “Breakfast with Santa” in one of the restaurants (which is expensive and anyway it’s sold out for the year). There was already a pretty long line at around 11:30 and Gwen was about to start melting down so that was actually when we left. Sym was not interested in seeing Santa either, and she doesn’t like ice skating. Taylor and myself couldn’t really skate because of the baby. We did spend some time tromping around in the snow, visited the reindeer (I petted him on his fuzzy nose so like… CHRISTMAS DREAMS COME TRUE), and had hot chocolate which I think is a pretty classic ski mountain activity. We also checked out the gingerbread house village and Sym decorated a snowman.

Gwen did better than I expected. She’s not a huge fan of the Ergo, but after I saw a couple trying to shove their Stokke Xplory through the day-old snow I was very glad to have it! Taylor wore her for the first half of our visit and I wore her for the second, and she actually feel asleep in it when we were walking back to the car. We took her out so she could check out the snow but she still hated it. She’s also convinced she can’t walk in her Stonz boots so when we but her down she just immediately sat on her bottom and cried. I think she’ll have more fun if (when) we go next year and she’s a bit bigger, and if Taylor and I don’t have to wear/carry her the whole time we’ll have more fun as well.

All in all I think everybody enjoyed themselves (and Sym is only slightly traumatized by the Skyride). Taylor especially liked getting back to his snowy mountain roots- he skied/snowboarded a lot when he was younger, but hasn’t gone since we’ve been together. I think now that he knows how close & easy to get to Grouse is he might start going again. I’m just happy that we made it through a family activity with no serious meltdowns from either baby, tween or myself!

Taylor and I made plans this Saturday to take the girls up to Grouse Mountain for the Peak of Christmas. I figured it would be the perfect way to get in some snowy Christmas cheer, and then be able to come back down to the land of no snow. Well WOULDN’T YOU KNOW IT but of course the day before we go up to the top of a snowy mountain it actually snows in the city. Typical.

Gwen woke up early so we got her dressed up and took her outside for her first real snow experience.

She hated it. She just hated it! We put her down in the backyard and she immediately collapsed on the ground and started howling.

Combined with her hatred of the Ergo carrier we got this week for taking her up on the mountain and I am REALLY looking forward to tomorrow! I wish I’d been able to do more baby wearing when she was younger and more pliable but unfortunately my screwed up back wouldn’t allow it. We’re not bringing the stroller up the mountain though, so she’s going to have to suck it up.

Happier times inside the house (don’t forget to check out her outfit of the week on Tiny Buttons!).

I spent a good portion of last Saturday putting paper snow on the roof of my cardboard cabin and Gwen has spent this week very thoughtfully cleaning it off for me. Thanks, baby! I’ve also been doing lots of my favourite new holiday activities: slowly moving all the ornaments higher up on the tree as Gwen undecorates it (my technique to avoid baby/tree crises was a wash with her), and arguing with Sym about doing Christmas activities. Yay!

Since Gwen is enormous now I took down the change table attachment from the shelf in her room. I rearranged all her toys and books and little pictures and her room seems so much bigger and brighter now (could also be due to my replacing a burnt out lightbulb in there). I finally started working again on the two forest paintings I’ve been planning forever; one of them is meant to go behind her crib so I think I should start it while she’s still in the crib.

Also: all my new banner styles are now up in the shop and available for custom orders! Some of them are really great so check them out.

Everyone knows I love doggies; everyone knows I love doggies! This is a little interview I did with my friend Danielle about her dogs; if you would like me to feature your dogs email me.

How many dogs do you have? What are their ages/breeds? Do they all get along?
I have two lazy and spoiled basset hounds named Eddie and Zeppelin. Eddie is a grumpy old man aka 12 years old and Zeppelin the drama queen turned 2 in June. They get along perfectly; when they first met, they bonded immediately and she still cleans his eye boogers and mouth when he drinks water. I think he thinks she’s his daughter because she’s the only dog he allows in his face and he never fights back when she bites his ears.

What are their favourite toys and activities? What dummy things do they do that drive you bonkers? What is something they do that makes you love them EVEN MORE?
Eddie doesn’t care about toys, just food. Zeppelin, on the other hand, loves toys, especially destroying them. If she doesn’t have any, she’ll find something and make it a toy, such as my pink fuzzy slippers, my mom in law’s shoes, glasses, books (she’s been keeping them), you name it. She can really drive a sane person insane, she is very dramatic and whines like a seal for no reason, I think she likes to hear herself. Eddie doesn’t whine much, he just barks at you when he wants a bone and doesn’t stop until you get him one. They get on my nerves but ever since my husband was killed (note: Danielle’s husband Jesse was killed in Afghanistan last spring), my heart grew three sizes that day and I’ve definitely pulled them closer. They are my children.

What is the best thing about dog ownership for you? The worst?
I didn’t grow up with dogs and never understood the love you can have for them until I got my own. I do enjoy having them at my feet while I’m in the kitchen burning food and rubbing their hairy tummies. The worst is Zeppelin’s whining, she’s cute but good grief that seal noise!

Do you also like cats? Or just MY cat that you always want me to post pics of?
I like cats, I wanna own one someday. My husband, Jesse, and I had a female kitten for a while, she wandered into our yard and Jesse bonded with her super quick after she meowed at him but we didn’t keep her. Claire is a goddess and I’ve been a stan for her ever since I saw her expressive eyes.

yeah she’s a goddess

Danielle’s family portrait by Sara M. Lyons; dog pics c/o Danielle