It has been a rough month and our world is changing. We are focused on what matters most in our lives, and what is essential. What is most meaningful?
What’s better than having 2 pairs of shoes? Having 8. Tanya Heath Paris has come up with an ingenious design after years in France, where you can pop off the heel on a shoe and swap it out for another.
Being ‘urban’ has it’s benefits, and yet one of the big drawbacks can mean that you and the kids spend more time in stores, watching screens or commuting than breathing fresh air without a care in the world. The family and I participated in ‘Take Me Outside’ on September 20th, where we were asked to spend an hour outdoors together.
The problem with being photogenic is that as you age, every angle is no longer your best angle. People can now tell that I’ve had little sleep or have neglected to eat cruciferous vegetables recently.
I’m one of those hardcore moms who never allowed the boys to play with squirt guns. They would find driftwood with some resemblance to weapons, and use imagination and creativity to make up games.
The large oval Springfree trampoline arrived and one by one, the neighbours came around with a mixture of curiosity and excitement in their smiles. A few friendly dogs wandered by as eagles peeked out of their high nests. I could have been living in the Cinderella movie.
As a child I never had a trampoline. My dad was a physical education teacher and he shared scary statistics about accidents and injuries. When we moved into our current neighbourhood and had children, the local trampoline was both wonderous and daunting. I firmly believe in kids exercising through play, but the huge rectangular mat held by metal springs and rods felt very unsafe. Wanting them to take advantage of all of the cardio benefits of trampoling, I tried rules… ‘only in the middle’. ‘One at a time’. ‘Only when an adult is watching’. But none of these solutions made me feel safe, and it was increasingly hard to clean the house or make dinner when I was standing stressfully watching the kids jump and wondering what I would possibly do if they broke something – or worse. When my son got with a cut due to jamming his bare foot in one of the springs, I’d had enough.
Fast forward to the sunny day when our Springfree arrived. The kids were out at a friend’s and as I watched the crew set it up, my mind raced. I could jump on it every day and eliminate the need for a cardio machine that would hurt my back! The kids could be zipped in one at a time and I could spend time making a healthy dinner without supervising them. OOOH – the neighbour’s toddler could come and use it like a giant playpen! Maybe I could fill it with beachballs…. On and on the ideas streamed. The boys returned home and I didn’t hear whining for three hours. I had to keep going to check on them and the giggles were endless. They wanted their dinner served inside their new ‘fort’.
The Kids’ Perspective on the Springfree Trampoline (in their words):
– You Bounce high – higher than the other trampoline that has rusty springs that cut our feet last time.
– There’s a basketball net and you can do slam dunks without breaking it.
– The nets around the outside help you to play soccer because the ball bounces right back to you and there are no metal rods holding them up to hurt ourselves on.
– The kitten loves to play on it and we chase him around and around while we giggle. He thinks the nets are fun to claw, and they don’t break.
– The mat on the bottom is really cushy and feels good to jump on.
A Parent’s Perspective on the Springfree Trampoline
– The staff from Springfree brought over all of the cartons, set up the whole trampoline, tested it by jumping (too cute), and left two hours later with all of the garbage.
– I feel safe and comfortable leaving the kids to jump without my constant supervision.
– Because there are no springs – just flexible rods located underneath and there is netting around the perimeter, my typical concerns about trampolines have been put to rest.
“This post was sponsored by Springfree Trampoline. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.”
Kiss and Makeup isn’t your typical beauty store. An apothecary with a focus on local products and natural beauty regimes, this is one of the hottest beauty experiences around. I’ve heard that celebrities make special jaunts to the new Londsale location while filming in Vancouver, and with the new venue opening in Olympic Village in July, it’s now skytrain accessible. But don’t fret if you can’t come to YVR in person. That’s what the web shop is for.
Our favourite finds?
- Scarves and perfect-for-Coachella ponchos by Jackson Rowe
- Bags by Lloyd and Wolf
- Happy Spritz
- Everything Rahua
- Verso and Rouge Bunny Rouge (exclusive to Kiss and Makeup)
- Sjal Beauty (The Canadian version of Creme de la Mer)
- Blind barber from NYC
- Ilya beauty, CV Skinlabs and rms beauty – (local brands and have exploded into the celebrity market)
I bought some Creme Ancienne by Fresh that was hand-mixed by Monks in France – (I couldn’t make that up). After using it a month the compliments just keep rolling in. But more are always better so feel free to keep them coming. Or you can tell me in person when we bump into each other at Kiss and Makeup.
What mother doesn’t dream of reading to her baby in a stunningly beautiful space like this luxury nursery by Savio Fermino? The canopy above the crib softens the lines of the room, and classic cream is used both to soothe and promote gender neutrality.
Savio Firmino was established in Florence in 1941 by Mr Firmino Savio. The Company has been operating for 70 years. And lucky us.. there is now a store in the US located in Coral Gables. Petit Tresor is the exclusive dealer and ships worldwide.
We sourced these images while on a jaunt to Harrod’s in London and the trip certainly rekindled my true love for everything baby!
There has been a lot of crappy sadness in the news this week, month and year. It’s no secret that our children are directly or indirectly exposed to and aware of life’s most difficult occurrences, and in their true curious nature, they may have questions.
Whether your child has observed a loss or dealt with one of their own (death, divorce, moving away, deployment, etc.), helping them understand it all can be challenging. Tiffany Papageorge, sought-after speaker and author, addresses this difficult topic with her inspirational new picture book, My Yellow Balloon.
Breathtakingly illustrated by a Dreamworks artist, My Yellow Balloon tells the simple, powerful, and heartfelt story of a young boy who gets a yellow balloon while visiting a fair with his parents. He loves the balloon dearly until it accidentally slips from his hands. Without his yellow balloon, all of the color drains from the boy’s world, until one day when the boy sees the yellow balloon reflected in the sun and knows it will always be with him, even if it’s not in his hands anymore.
Providing comfort and clarity, My Yellow Balloon can help parents begin a difficult conversation with their children. Loss is very real, but doesn’t have to be so scary.
We also have a few pieces on helping kids deal with grief. Hug them tight.
I don’t like new year’s resolutions because they usually amount to more pressure and disappointment. I try to look at life as progress – are every few years getting better than the last? Are we happy? Over the past two months I’ve been focusing on living simply, eliminating stress and organizing life. Along with drinking lemon water, buying a juicer, there are 10 things the family has undertaken to ensure we are living simply with as little stress as possible.
1. Unsubscribe from as many email lists as possible. Keep the ones that you covet, but recognize that your time – even that 5 second glance to your phone when it dings – is worth gold.
2. Do a closet overhaul. (It doesn’t have to be a What Not to Wear episode where you feel guilty and depressed.) Put anything that doesn’t quite fit in a suitcase labelled with the size and date. Check for stained items, holes, pills and shoes beyond repair. Invest in new, thin felt hangers (Homesense is a great place for these) and take metal hangers back to the drycleaner.
3. Place all of your jewelry on the bed. Separate any broken pieces that need repair, and start a collection of unwanted or broken costume pieces for a little girl in your life. When I was a little girl, a friend’s grandmother did this for me and I was thrilled by my treasures. Polish the silver and clean gold, pearls and gems with a soft cloth. I hung chunky necklaces on scarf hangars and places bangles in shoeboxes.
4. Pull out your makeup and toss anything that is too old. Wash brushes with Dawn and water and dry flat on a cloth. 97.9 % of us, according to a study on the use of cosmetics, are guilty of using make-up after the expiration date, with mascara being the most frequently mentioned product. Products with a higher water content have a shorter lifespan after opening due to the ability for bacteria and microbes to breed in moisture.
Expiration Dates for Makeup:
Mascara (regular or waterproof), liquid, pencil or gel eyeliners: 4 to 6 months
Cream, Liquid or Stick Foundations or Concealers: 6 months to 1 year
Powder-based products (including mineral makeup): 2-3 years
Lipsticks, Lip Gloss, & Lip Pencils: 2-3 years
Skincare:
Cleansers: 1 year
Toners: 6 months to 1 year
BHA or AHA Exfoliants: 1 year
Facial or Body Moisturizers and Serums: 6 months to 1 year
Lip Balms: 1 year
5. Eliminate undue travel stress. Note passport expiry dates in your calendar and apply for a Nexus/Global Entry pass to skip long airport security lines. Keep travel chargers and ziplocks sorted with different currencies from past trips in your go-to suitcase, and have a few key seasonal clothing items at the ready in case you take a trip to a different climate. Check balances on hotel points cards and ensure you are using them to your advantage.
6. Be ready for sick days. Check first aid kits for expiration dates on medicines. Have homemade chicken soup in the freezer. We use the homemade chicken stock recipe from Kitchen Stewardship, which provides incredible healing benefits, including boosting the immune system, aiding digestion, increasing efficiency of protein use and providing easily digestible minerals, including calcium. You also get none of the ‘fake’ foods and preservatives when you make it yourself. Get rid of the dust. Give your kids an extendible duster once a week and give them a quarter if they can cover it with dust from the tops of frames and chandeliers.
7. Grab all of your gift cards and see if some can be amalgamated. If you have a stack of cards you will never use, use Cardswap.ca to exchange them for cards you will use.
8. Are your computer and mobile phone systems working well? I hadn’t backed up files, and my phone and computer contacts were duplicated or not being saved properly. Not being able to find a number for a mom during a playdate or losing precious photos to power surges can be devastating or just stressful. Calling Geek Squad or heading to the nearest Apple or Microsoft store could sort out all of your tech woes. Oh, and write your printer toner numbers in your wallet along with your license plate number. (Or am I the only one who always forgets these?) You can also photograph it all, along with membership cards and parking passes and store the photos in a special account in the cloud.
9. Evaluate the entertainment options. Our family is a bit over the top. We have a huge cable package, a Netflix subscription, Next Issue, and regularly make purchases on iTunes and Google Play. I sat down with the family and we discussed our needs. There isn’t enough time in the week to watch, play and read everything. We decided what is most important (English football and Netflix) and eliminated a few unnecessary distractions from there. It can be worth a call to your providers to check the options. Amazon Prime can cut down on entertainment costs. For film buffs in the US, Fandango is your best friend.
10. Do you and your kids do a weekly activity? We were always searching for shin guards, cleats and ski helmets, so we now have a system. Monogrammed bags for each activity (ours are from Land’s End) are packed and in the mudroom. We take them to the activity and then right to the laundry room afterwards. When the clothes are clean and dry they go right back into the bag and to their permanent home. Ditto for library book bags.
We’d love to hear your tips and tricks for living simply! Write them below and we will choose our favourite at random for a special gift card!
