We All Live In a Yellow Submarine

Our aqua lounge chairs in our kitchen play area helped inspire the aqua, yellow and hot pink color scheme.

Paper banner garland on the fireplace, handmade. Construction paper, 2″ hole punch, yarn and alphabet stickers from Michael’s.

Polka-dot garland, handmade. Flower vase, upcycled wine gift box. Decorating on a budget isn’t all that hard when you’re arts-and-craftsy.

Placemats with a printed round label became Beatles records, complete with song titles and personalized with Happy Birthday Clara.

A friend that will make you Twinkie submarines (complete with periscope) and organic cup cakes for your kid’s birthday can not be described adequately.

(I get by with a little help from my friends).

Gin martini with raspberry and lemon wedge garnish. I stay up late at night thinking about these things.

Strawberry Fields (Rainbow fruit skewers).

Sgt. Pepper-oni Lonely Hearts (Heart-shaped mini pizzas with heart shaped pepperoni.) I’ve got an incredible father-in-law that humors me without complaint.

And we discovered that Clara loves hard-boiled eggs. Bonus.

Individual veggie cups (AKA Octopus’s Garden) with ranch dressing at the bottom discourages double dipping.

Cheese flower, hearts and butterfly cut-outs. Easy to do with thin sliced cheese and miniature cookie-cutters.

The birthday girl. (Dress, Children’s Place).

It’s all for her. All of it. Every bit of single hole punched piece of confetti and late nights glue-sticking and texts back and forth with Deb as we schemed and the twice weekly trips to Michael’s. All of it is for her and I’ll do it again, each and every year and if she looks back at the photos some day and echoes, as her father has said, repeatedly in the past few days, that I’m crazy, I’ll agree.

But I did it all because I could. And because she’s worth it.

And I love her.

Party Day…

…is finally here.

Here’s a peek at what’s in store:

Pink

My sister texted me yesterday, saying that there is something awesome about being the only girl in the weight room and that I’d probably agree.

I definitely do agree.

Just like there’s something awesome about pink workout clothes and hot pink weight lifting gloves.

I Amuse Easily

This truck has been parked in the gym parking lot every day for the pass week and I can’t help but giggle inwardly when I see it:

I’m addicted to Pinterest lately, and pinning like a fiend. Boys, food, travel, clothes, cocktails, interior design, kid activities are mostly what I’m drawn to but I also love the clever, and funny, sayings that I tag as Witticisms. Like these:

The Monica in me is in her element this week, 4 days until Clara’s party. I’m having too much fun with my glue stick and card stock:

One of my favorite boards on my Pinterest profile is my I Love Bacon Board. Because I do.

And stuff like this is just really true:

Did I mention the boys?

Seriously. Why tweet when you can pin? You can follow me here.

8 Degrees

Clara and I left the house to run some errands after our nap this afternoon. It was sunny and unseasonably mild as we walked to the mailbox prior to getting in the car and when I checked the weather on my phone to see just how warm it was, I saw this:

Clara loved the chance to be outdoors, as did I and I’m longing for the upcoming months when an afternoon walk after our nap will be routine. I’m already working out a schedule in my head for a new work out routine that incorporates early morning runs before Tay starts work and then just an hour at the gym (Monday, Wednesday: Body Pump, Tuesday, Thursday: Body Flow, Friday: Spinning) instead of my usual two so that Clara and I can get more time outside in the late morning.

I can’t wait; as mild as this winter’s been, various illnesses has kept us inside far too much.

I’m trying to be grateful more for the simple pleasures in life – today’s unseasonably warm weather was a refreshing and very welcome change.

And I’m grateful.

January

Plans for Clara’s birthday are underway and are preoccupying much of my time currently and in the past few weeks. In early January, I played around on my laptop and designed invites that I had printed at Costco.

We’re big Beatles fans around here, Clara included and so it was a bit of a no brainer to do a Beatles theme. I’d share some of the plans for the party but I’d rather wait and post photos of the party – I will say though that my friend Deb is involved and if her parties are any indication, then this party will be lots of fun (there’s going to be yellow submarine Twinkies).

A string of illnesses has kept me away from the gym for most of the month – both Clara and myself have been sick) but I did get out a couple of times with different friends to different restaurants.

How much do I love being able to text my sister for advice when getting dressed? Like what earrings to wear:

Ignore the teenage acne in the first photo, I spent the week drinking a detox tea made with dandelion root, lemon and cranberry and it flushed A LOT of toxins out through my skin. And, if you’re wondering, I agreed with my sister and wore the dangly shimmery ones (my favorite) when I’m not wearing my crystal studs.

We also discussed my belt:

That night was the only time this month I grabbed a photo of what I wore:

I went out another night for my monthly book club and since we were meeting in the Distillery District and my FIL was around to watch Clara, I beat the traffic and drove down early to meet a friend for a late lunch/early dinner. We followed up dinner with a stop at Soma for some chocolate then a pleasant walk along the cobblestones where I enjoyed being a bit tipsy from drinking beer in a pub all afternoon (while eating poutine).

Clara got a new hat from one of the girls in bookclub, and I began, undid and started again on knitting a blanket for her room (which I’m taking a break from so I can make (another) scarf.

We also did some arts and crafts and we baked.

And I made a whole bunch of natural house cleaners a few weeks ago – and recruited Clara to help me clean.

It was awesome.

I drank my first martini in a very long time – it was a blue devil something and it tasted like candy.

And Clara? She discovered that running around naked wearing the flower crown from her Halloween costume was tons of fun. Especially when she waved her magic wand.

And that? That was January.

Oh I almost forgot. We also slept. A lot. Not that we need a reason, but we were sick. A lot. And tired. So we slept.

A lot.

Cheap Sweat

I love a good deal.

I’ve been avoiding downtown since the start of the Fluevog annual winter sale because I know how easy it would be for me to walk into their Queen Street store and walk out with three pairs of shoes. Because last year, I bought my first pair in December at full price then went back for the winter sale and bought three more pairs.

And if I went, it’d be too easy to buy these:

I tried them on last spring and was tempted to pay full price for them. Seriously tempted. Because doesn’t everyone want a pair of shoes that are a gorgeous cross between green and blue? John calls that color Petrol. I call it luscious. And now they’re like $3000 off and they could be mine.

But so could these:

Because really, I’m a super-hero on the inside. Forget that they’re extremely impractical and really what would I wear them with? A mini-skirt for starters. Don’t lie, you so know I would.

Or these:

Because as it was pointed out to me a couple of weeks ago, I like wearing shoes that make me insanely tall. And these bad girls with their 5″ heel would only make me 6′. Because, as my husband pointed out the other night when we went out for dinner and I wore a dress, tights and a pair of Fluevog boots, I just have to be the tallest person when we all go out. Not really, but good thing it doesn’t really bother him or anything because if it did and he wanted me to wear lower shoes, I’m not sure I could do that. I’m not *that* wife or was ever *that* girlfriend.

Most people think I’m crazy for the money I’ve spent on my small Fluevog collection. And it IS small. There are people online that have twice as many pairs. Or three times as many. Or something totally ridiculous like 40 pairs.

(I’m jealous).

There’s other people that would think I’m crazy on the amount of many I’ve spent on my workout clothes. Specifically my Lulu Lemon gear. And they’re not wrong either. $100 for a pair of yoga pants IS ridiculous (I have two pairs). $50 for a tank top is insane, and I have…7 6, losing a lovely white one to a red Gatorade mishap in my gym bag. 2 pairs of shorts ($50 each), ridiculous. And 3 yoga jackets, 1 of which I’ve lost, at $100 each, and it’s yes, a bit much. Because that’s $1000 in workout clothes.

Clothes I sweat in.

Insane.

Because here’s the thing. The majority of people going to the gym are going so we can lose weight. If you’re one of those people (like me) then why the hell are we spending hundreds of dollars on clothes we’re hoping won’t fit us in a few months?

Which is why, when I’ve recently needed new running pants in a smaller size I absolutely refused to buy more Lulu Lemon (plus I can’t afford it). So I’ve been wearing those crazy capris in the middle of winter and freezing my man-calves off. Because they were $5.

So the other day I said I needed LONG pants. And then Tay found a $10 off coupon for Joe active wear, as long as I spent $30. And that’s a crazy good deal. That’s a third off, which is awesome. So off I went, with my grateful, cold man-calves to buy some long pants. And guess what I did, because I have no scruples and I cheat the system when I can? I found a couple of those $10 coupons on the coupon board and then guess what this thrifty girl did? I managed to do three seperate purchases, at different checkouts and I used all three coupons. I’m an evil, horrible person, this is true.

But I have to show off what I got for $90, taxes in.

One pink, one black. $19 each regular, on sale for 2 for $15. $7.50 is practically free when a coffee and a cookie costs the same at Starbucks.

Same deal, 2 for $15 and cheap enough that I could ignore that the purple one is a wee bit small. It won’t be in 17lbs 15.5lbs.

These are awesome because they’re fitted up top, loose at the bottom but with a drawstring which is convenient. And you can wear a regular bra under it, plus it has a built in bra. Guess the best part though?

2 for $15

Then this cute combo that was on sale and in a bright feisty orange cause I like getting noticed at the gym. Both on sale – pants, $15 and yoga tank, $8.

And in gray, because $23 for the outfit? That’s half a pair of Lulu Lemon shorts.

And the only thing I paid the regular price for, a pair of calypso (?) pants that make my ass look delectable and after using my 3 coupons they work out to -$6. A total bargain!

6 tank tops at $7.50 each: $45
2 tank tops at $8 each: $16
$61 total
(1 Lulu tank: $45)

2 pairs of yoga pants at $15 each
1 pair of calypso (?) pants at $24 each
$39 total
(1 Lulu pants: $100)

$100 total MINUS $30; $70 plus tax.

Holy moly, I love a good deal.