Jill Amery, Author at Urban Mommies

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Jill Amery

Jill Amery is a mom of 2 small boys and the Publisher of UrbanMommies, a stylish digital lifestyle magazine filled with fitness, style, health, recipes and savvy mom advice to help you through pregnancy, birth, and raising your kids.

Summer Boredom Busters

charity, FAM, kids, Uncategorized By Jill Amery August 2, 2016 1 Comment

Aaah, August – the month where summer excitement turns to ‘I’m BORED!’. CTV asked me to come up with a few summer boredom busters, and the whole family had a blast creating these experiences that not only teach life skills but create heirlooms to pass along through the generations.

Grill Like a Boss

EAT, eat, LIVE, Mommy Mixology By Jill Amery July 27, 2016 2 Comments

I have vibrant BBQ and grill memories. When my husband and I returned to Hamburg, Germany where I lived as a teenage exchange student, my host family became so excited that Canadians were coming that they went and purchased a BBQ and assembled it in front of us! On another occasion in Martha’s Vineyard, a beautiful charcoal BBQ evening resulted in breaking an original rifle last fired on the Mason-Dixon line (I was at the home of a Dixon). Whoops. My first experience barbequing by myself was on the roof of my Annex condo in Toronto, when I lit it closed and just about annihilated my lashes and eyebrows upon later opening the lid.

Indulgent Key Lime Cheesecake Parfait

EAT, snacks By Jill Amery July 27, 2016 1 Comment

This post brought to you by Fibre 1. The content and opinions expressed below are that of UrbanMommies.

Summer should be laissez-faire, easy and fun. Unfortunately, work, kids and life still must go on so finding ease where we can is crucial. My kids have been yelling at me daily for enrolling them in summer school (I told them it was ‘education camp’ but they saw through the ruse quickly). We have had visitors, raced in weekend sailing regattas, gardened, camped and canned blueberries. Canadian summers seem so very short when there is so much to enjoy! The ‘easy’ and ‘fun’ bits need to be strengthened when there are so many activities going on. My motto, despite the packed calendar, has been to make snacks as easy as possible. As well, desserts need to be delicious and easy to prepare for when friends drop by for an impromptu BBQ.

No Summer Vexation Here

GEAR, tech, toys By Jill Amery July 19, 2016 No Comments

The summer boredom had set in, and the kids were driving me batty. “Can we have screens? Mama, can you take us to X,Y, or Z? Can I do something dangerous?” And then the Vex arrived. Hexbugs have always been a hit in our house, and now the company has innovated for older kids (and parents!). Exclusively from HEXBUG comes the VEX Robotic Arm – a completely functional construction kit inspired by real industrial robot arms.

Star Wars on Netflix – More Options than EVER

EAT, LIVE, play, snacks By Jill Amery July 18, 2016 No Comments

Attention padawan learners and Rey fans everywhere! Fancy seeing more Star Wars on Netflix? Members in Canada are now able to stream Star Wars: The Force Awakens along with the last days of the Galactic Republic with the entire Clone Wars series and feature film. Because it is summer vacation, after all, and there are many, many lessons in Star Wars. (You may want to watch it a few times…).

Disney Planes Lifts off on Netflix

grow, LIVE, nourish By Jill Amery July 8, 2016 1 Comment

We had a ‘family movie night’ today. It’s really an excuse to eat while watching a film, snuggle together on the sofa and glance at each other over jokes and sad bits. Some of the closest moments I have exchanged with the kids were during these fun nights, and as we flicked through the offerings today – Disney Planes on Netflix was a unanimous YES!!

Planes centres on Dusty the crop duster, who dreams of flying in a race around the world. But in order to qualify, he has to overcome his fear of heights.

The Laundress: Removing Messy Stains

EAVESDROP, LIVE, Seen, wash By Jill Amery June 30, 2016 1 Comment

Yes, I swear by Tide. And it’s even better now with a cool new cap and extra tough cleaning power for getting the stains really gone. This whole video is a summary of our fun Tide Stain Challenge about how to remove messy stains. We also have a general stain guide for you too.

Epson Expression EcoTank Printer

GEAR, tech By Jill Amery June 30, 2016 Tags: Ecotank, Epson, ET-2550, ink, printer No Comments

What’s worse than running out of printer ink when the kids remember homework due TOMORROW and it’s bedtime? Not much. Epson has come out with a new printer called the Ecotank, which comes with enough ink in the box to last 2 years and frees you from never-ending cartridge-buying, as the low-cost ink comes in bottles that you actually pour into the printer.

Why I Love Losing My Mobile Phone

GEAR, tech By Jill Amery June 30, 2016 Tags: edge, galaxy, Gear VR, GS7, mobile phone, phone, Samsung S7, smartphone, waterproof No Comments

I’m basically haunted when it comes to mobile phones. I even wrote an article once about ‘The Curse of the Blackberry Pearl’ (please, GenY, don’t do the math here.) Point is: if something can go wrong with my phone, it will. Whether by drowning (ask my toddler why ‘mama’s phone needs a bath’), fire (resting it on a heater so the innards melted), innumerable technical malfunctions (I don’t think phones are meant to withstand the sheer number of photos I take and store), loss or theft (usually involving enough wine so that I have no clue which is which) or a number of other potential maladies, it’s a *thing* and my cell phones just don’t make it.

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