These Are A Few Of Baby’s Favorite Things

Reading light, remote controls, Drake the Dog, and a piece of wood.

Toysrus?  Forget it!  Walmart?  Who Cares!  These are Baby’s favorite toys: a reading light, remote controls, the dog, and a piece of wood.   The Wii remote is especially alluring since we usually keep that out of her reach; so, on the off chance she sees it lying around she bee-lines straight for it!  She loves the swirly nature of the light and the dog is fun to pull, poke, prod and generally annoy.  As for the piece of wood?  Your guess is as good as mine on that one!

Raise A Toast To Friends

Shirt – Lucky 7; Shorts – Smart Set; Shoes – Zellers

It’s hot out!  Yay!  But I have a stupid cold.  Boo! 
That’s okay ’cause I got to see a good friend today.  Baby and I went down to the local coffee shop *those people must think I’m weird ’cause I’m in there so much with constantly rotating people, but oh well* to meet a friend for tea.  And I must say it was wonderful.   We laughed, we cried,  but I feel really positive about where things will go from here.  Too often I think we let people fall by the wayside for the silliest of reasons.  But if you love someone – friend, lover, whatever – you owe it to yourself and to them not to let that happen.  And I really care for this person, so the fact that we had lost touch was sad.  But like I said, after today I feel really positive about where things will go from here.  
And speaking of friends, my friend was recently on a trip and she says that when she saw these magnets she immediately thought of me.
 
I know which is my personal favorite, but can you guess?

Feminine, Flowery, and Flirty!

Shirt &Skirt – F21; Belt – AE; Shoes – Payless; Earrings – ?
I love being feminine, flowery, and flirty! 
And I love an older silhouette.  This makes me think of something my grandmother would wear when she was younger, but that’s what I love about it.  Flowers and lace are kind of a timeless thing.  The key is to have some bright color and a creative way of tying a belt to make it seem young as opposed to ‘granny.’
Want to hear something crazy?  Right after these pics were taken I ran upstairs to wash my face.  Turns out I put on expired sunscreen and was having a reaction to it.  Yikes!  Not cool.  So my face is a little pink today.  Kind of matches my outfit.  C’est la vie. 
One last thing, if you have 3 minutes check out my demo reel here.  Let me know what you think!

Tuesday In Review: BabyHawk Mei Tai Baby Carrier

Me carrying Baby in my own BabyHawk.

Mondays have a freshness to them (Make-up Mondays, etc), Wednesdays are ‘hump’ days (Weddings Wednesday) , Thursdays are ‘awkward and awesome’, Fridays are for fashion and friends, Saturdays are well awesome, and Sundays are lazy.  Tuesdays are never mentioned.  Tuesdays are the black sheep, the underdog, the slightly forgotten.  I always root for the underdog. So on that note, I’m starting Tuesday In Review.  On Tuesday every week, I’ll review something.  It could be fashion, lifestyle, electronic, mommy or child related.  Frankly, everything is up for grabs.

Therefore, without further ado I give you the BabyHawk.

From the official website.

The BabyHawk is just one brand that makes a Mei Tai style baby carrier. Out of all the carriers this has been my absolute favorite.  At first the price kind of made me hesitant *anything over $50 makes me tremble* , but after trying it I think it’s the best piece of baby gear ever.  And I seriously consider it a must-have for parents.

It’s made of a strong fabric that’s really easy to clean – I just threw it in the washing machine.  And it came out looking great.  Also, it’s rated to carry up to a 4 year old.  You can wear newborns and babes on the front, and as they get bigger move them onto the back.

The thing that sort of frightened me at first was that the strapping looked really complicated.  But I put that aside and figured I’d deal with it.  And to my surprise, the first time I tried to put baby in it I was severely overtired, hot and cranky, and I still managed to do in under two minutes.  Within a matter of three attempts, I was a pro and could whip Baby on in less than 30 seconds.  The strapping looks complicated, but if you just follow the instructions once, you’ll see that it’s actually really intuitive.  It just makes sense.

The best thing about it is that most of Baby’s weight is on my hips.  With other carriers *Bjorn, etc* I’ve found that the weight is on my shoulders.  For a man, that’s great since they tend to have a lot of strength there, Husband for example loves it.  But I’ve found that I get fairly tired under the strain on my shoulders, especially as she grows.  I prefer to have her weight carried by my hips.  It’s easier and allows me to go about my business for extended periods of time.

I carry it in my stroller basket when I know Baby is going through teething or a fussy period.  That way when we’re out and she wants to be held and cuddled, I can just strap it on and continue doing what I’m doing.  The world doesn’t have to come to a screeching halt.

And of course, it has a really cute design for me to show off!   But what’s cool about that, is that it’s reversible; so my husband can wear the plain gray outside so he doesn’t feel silly sporting around a pretty pink pattern.  ‘Cause you know, he’s so macho!

If you’re in Toronto, you can get the BabyHawk at Evy Mama and they’ll teach you how to use it too! And while you’re there get fitted for a nursing/maternity bra.  The ladies are super helpful and they’ll set you up with something suitable for your life and budget.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

My Brain Makes No Sense Today

You can’t see but my nails are a pretty ballerina pink!

Cardi & Belt – Zara; Dress – H&M; Tank – ??; Shoes – Payless.

Sorry, but my hair is wet and unstyled in these shots!  I had to head out and I needed to take pics ’cause I knew I wouldn’t get a chance to later.  So that’s my excuse.  Lame, I know.  But there it is. 

Don’t you hate summer colds?  It’s warm and nice outside *well, maybe not today* and you’re stuffed up and headachy.  Kinda sucks.   Well, that’s where the whole Fam is today.  Yup, we’re all sick.  Well, maybe not Drake the Dog, but he eats poop so he probably has the immunity of a cockroach. 

I’ve got an activity planned for Husband and I.  It’s something that I’m instituting and I’ll tell you about it once he knows.  It’s only fair that he should hear it first.  So you’ll just have to check back. 

Also, check out what a professional *not really, but that’s the funny part* I am on set here.

Okay, this post is random and all over the place, but that’s just where my head is at today.  can’t think straight or in coherent ideas and transitions.

So I’m gonna go eat gluten-free pizza. 
*yes, I’m just that wild ‘n crazy*

K. Bye.

Random Sundays: Sappy Beyond Recognition

This is the beautiful sight that allows me to enjoy my morning cup of tea/coffee.

My living room after just 3 minutes.

Sometimes people ask what it’s like to be a mom.  It’s messy.  It’s tiring  It means that the living room *and every other room* is always messy.  It means I don’t always get a chance to clean.  It means I don’t always get a chance to shower.  It means being pulled, poked and prodded all the time.  It means having to be patient when you don’t want to be.  It means no more sick days.  It means no lazy Sunday afternoon spent in front of the tv.

But.

It means unconditional love – both for and from you.  It means hugs all the time.  It means kisses.  It means a sweet smelling, smooth skinned baby nuzzled into your neck.  It means hearing ‘Mama’.  It means seeing sparkling eyes light up at the sight of you.  It means giggles.  It means looks at you to make sure you’re watching those proud discoveries because they mean nothing without you seeing.  It means daily amazement at this beautiful creature destroying your living room.  It means a new sense of importance, a new sense of meaning, and a new purpose.  It means your heart swelling in ways you never thought.

It also means you become a sap who talks about things like ‘heart swelling.’
Oh well, the bad with the good I guess.
 

Muay Thai and Tai Chi

An article hanging on the board at the school.

As you may know, I’m looking for a new place to train, and to that effect I’ve been trying lots of places to see where my new home will be.  I tried a Muay Thai place around the corner from me a few days ago.  My experience was colorful to say the least.

When I first arrived the secretary was completely vacant.  She seemed like she was either stoned, bored, or just didn’t care.  Right away I was turned off the place by this lack of a welcoming attitude.  She wasn’t helpful at all in helping me figure out where things like change rooms, washrooms, and waiting areas were.

The place itself was like a rough and tumble boxing gym, which is kind of what I expect since this is Thai boxing.  And it’s actually an atmosphere I enjoyed, so for me this was a plus.  The workout was simplistic, but effective,  and again I’m not necessarily one who cares about finesse in conditioning – as long as it get the job done I’m happy.  But the thing that turned me off was after that.  The art itself consists of very few moves.  It’s very much a hunched in, simple stance boxing art.  I’m not knocking boxing.  It’s cool and great to watch and definitely hard to master.  But it’s not what I’m looking for.  When you’re looking for art, you don’t oil painting, you don’t sign up for football.  It just wasn’t what I wanted.  Too much brute force, not enough creativity and complexity in movement.

Then on Saturday, I tried a Tai Chi school near me.  I’ve studied Tai Chi before. As a result I was skeptical of whether I would like a school that focused entirely on Tai Chi.  But I went.  The class was challenging in the mental and artistic respects.  I had complexity of movement but no brute force.  And frankly I need both.

I’m not a yoga lover simply because I need to kick and punch and be aggressive.  I need the endurance training and high energy conditioning that the martial arts provide.  And frankly, sometimes I just need to hit something.  So neither of these places would suffice in themselves.

The ideal would be to join both and get my fulfillment that way, but I have neither the time nor the money.   What I need is a place like I had before.  I place that provided more.  And everyday I’m angry about the betrayal that forced me to leave.

A Room With A Few…Ladies

Cardi – F21; Dress – Ruche; Belt – AE; Socks – MacGregor; Boots – Town Shoes.

This dress from Ruche is perhaps one of my favorite in my entire closet, and that’s saying alot considering how many I own.  But I love how easy it is to throw on and how feminine it makes me feel.   Plus, it’s wonderful because there’s lots of breathing room so on those days when you don’t feel up to scruff it’s very forgiving.  And the little tulips and the ruffles make me feel pretty!

I tried a Tai Chi class today *which I’ll be blogging about tomorrow* and afterwards headed over to a girlfriends house for a ladies tea party. 

Christine (left), and Victoria (right) our wonderful hostess.

My small plate of treats and cup of tea with the tray in the background.

I had a wonderful time snacking on delicious homemade goodies – gluten and sugar free too!  But I have to say the very best part was hanging out with the wonderful ladies who came.  It’s amazing to be in a roomful of such talented, smart, witty and caring ladies.  What a blessing!

Hat ‘o Glory

Husband was impressing me as you can tell.

Hat – F21; Cardi – H&M; Top – AE; Jeans – Guess; Loafers – Town Shoes.

Here’s an outfit I wore a few days ago for a nice little stroll around our neighborhood.  I haven’t had an opportunity to post it yet, and I didn’t want to leave it too long, you know? 

I love hats.  They’re my latest obsession, before that it was scarves and this season I seem to not be wearing many scarves.  I’m sure I’ll go back to them soon.  I tend to swing like a pendulum from on extreme to the other.  Soon, all my outfit posts will feature scarves!  Okay, maybe not all.

I’ve got a fun Saturday planned and I’ll share that with you all of course.  But for now, check out some more shots of my Posthuman shoot over here.

Happy Saturday!

P.S.  I’m so relieved that Baby’s fever broke and that now she’s sick but obviously getting better.  *breath of relief*

Baby In Her Pool

I love watching Baby play in her pool.  She splashes around and babbles and has a huge grin on her face the whole time! It’s possibly the greatest time imaginable. 

I’m such a cheesy mama!

joannahaughton

Load More Follow on Instagram