Kids Say the Darndest Things

Hi guys, this is not really related to anything, except that perhaps it is helping with the moving stress.  I have watched this about 15 times and it cracks me up every time (my favourite line is when he knocks on the doorbell...and rang it).  I went through a few others and they are also amusing, but for some reason, this one just gets me!

Things I never thought I would say

You know, it's hard out there for a blogger.  Any time I see something funny and cool I want to pass on, I scroll down my Facebook feed and see that it has already been sent around 20 times.  But whatever, I am posting these posters anyway, cause they are damn funny.

I know everyone has had at least one moment with a child where you say (or, more likely, yell) something outrageous at your kid. It's only then, once the words have left your mouth and you have heard yourself say them, you stop, slightly surprised, and think "Wow. That's the weirdest thing I have ever said."  Then you post it on Facebook and file it away to trade with other parents at a later date.

Well, Nathan Ripperger is WAY more industrious than that.  He takes the crazy and insane things that come out of his mouth and turns them into really cool posters.  And then sells them in his Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/nripperger.  Wish I'd thought of that.

I have definitely said the toilet seat one.  Actually, let me think of some of the things I said this week:

- No penises on the table. (How many times do I have to say it??)
- Why is there toothpaste in both your eyebrows?
- Just because your brother is sitting on your head does NOT mean you get to stay home from school.
- Yes, you can bring Giraffy the Turtle to the dentist.
- Everybody has to wear their OWN underwear.
- No scissors in the bath!
- Yes you can take a bath with the farm animals.
- Stop wiping your nose on my arm.

Do you have any memorable "I never thought I would say that" quotes?

Boy Crafts: A Parking Garage

When I stumbled across this great parking garage craft on Spoonful, I got ridiculously excited.  Seriously - a craft my guys would love to make, love to play with, and that would use up some of my out-of-control stash of toilet paper rolls.  Major score.

The full instructions are on Spoonful, and I won't bore you with the details (not surprisingly their garage also looks way more profesh).  It is a pretty simple craft - cover toilet paper rolls with coloured paper, cut one side off a cereal box, draw on parking spots, glue rolls between the two sides of the cereal box, and add ramps.  It was a short enough activity that Cam and I could do it while Will was at school, which meant that Cam could actually get to participate in all the making (Will is a little... um... enthusiastic when we all do stuff together).  I have to say, he is a pretty fun co-crafter.

Weekend Update

Many of you have been asking for a basement report and I always oblige my dear readers.  These are photos of my basement on the 15th of November.  Should you photoshop out the heaters and fans, and add a lot of dust, you would have a completely accurate image of our basement as of tonight.  Did I mention that this is also our guest room and that my in-laws are arriving (with their beautiful white boxer Sunny) two weeks this Saturday?  Just checking to see if I had mentioned that...

Anyhoo...  Hopefully the nest two weeks will be FULL of basement reports!

Instead of worrying about our basement, we threw ourselves into family time this weekend.*  We had our last swimming lessons, made our way through Santa in the Junction (which was really fun) and went to see the Canadian Pacific holiday train.

The next day we all went to see Raffi, and the boys and I were so excited.  After the concert we went for dinner at the pub for a special end to a special weekend.  I wouldn't even trade it for a finished basement...

What about you - how was the first weekend of December?


*Actually, I threw myself into Mommy-Night-Out a little too forcefully on Friday night and felt the bruises thoughout family weekend...

The Steven and Chris Adventure

How did I suddenly end up showing my home on Steven and Chris?  That is a mighty fine question.  About a month and a half ago, I got an email out of the blue from their Senior Decor Producer (awesome job title BTW) asking if I would be willing to do a tour of my house for the show.  I responded enthusiastically (i.e. many exclamation marks were used).  There was no set timeline, so I got my butt in gear to finish off a few things, like the photo wall in the dining room.  Then suddenly, while I was at the ROM with my kids and visiting Mother-In-Law Diana, I got an email on my phone asking if maybe they could come the next day???    Wowzers.  I like to think I remained calm, but I have no doubt my mother-in-law would argue otherwise.

That evening I cleaned like a MOTHER... so many things were stuffed into drawers and closets that have yet to be re-discovered.  Then, as I checked my computer, thinking of everything I had left to do before they came, I realized that the next morning I had parent duty at Cam's nursery school until 11:30.  They were coming at 1.  Swear words were uttered.  To say I was a little distracted while setting up the kids' snack would be a bit of an understatement.  

Luckily, I got another email that morning saying that they would have to reschedule.  THANK YOU UNIVERSE.  By the time they came the following week, I even more time to stash away the clutter and 'style' my house (as in, I made my son's bed and put the toaster oven on the back porch).

I wish I had taken the opportunity to grab some good photos of the house that day, because Lord knows it will never, ever be that tidy again!  However, I was a busy bee for the 3 hours that the producer Barb was here, discussing wording, trying to remember the wording we discussed, fussing over every object in every room, doing voice-overs and on-camera takes.  They did the whole house, although the segment on my bedroom was cut and we discussed many, many more items than were shown!

After Barb left, the videographer Ved stayed for another 2, almost 3 hours taking shots of all the details in the house.  I think he did an amazing job.  The fabulous Diana was thankfully still in town and took the boys out for the entire afternoon (I have no idea where!).  There was no way I could have done this with them in the house - there is no way they could have been that quiet for that long!

Diana was a little surprised to see the cameras and equipment still here when they got back at 5pm.  The boys were great about not making a huge mess in the rooms Ved hadn't shot yet.  We asked him to shoot the kitchen first so that Diana could start making dinner (yummy knedliky!) before the boys lost their minds.  Below is may favourite shot of two professionals hard at work.

Then off they went, and I think before Ved had even finished pulling out of the driveway Cam had emptied a bucket of cars all over the living room floor and Will had an armload of trains dumped on the sofa.

Then Diana left, and my parents came, along with Chris's brother Dave.  (Did I mention that during this I also had William's birthday party - two days after the above scene - and Halloween, and had enjoyed visitors for about the last 5 or 6 weeks, starting a few days before my brother's wedding?)

The great news is that Mom was able to come to the studio with me to tape the "live" interview with Steven and Chris.  When I was in the green room, they asked if I thought she would mind being mic'ed as well - and I thought it best not to tell her in advance and make her freak out.  So just before the taping started, they gave a very shocked Barb Mackay her mic!

Photo courtesy of Flora Di Vetta

We had a lovely time and I was so glad she was there. It was really neat to see how they put the show together.  For example, the banana ice cream they showed at the end actually took about 15 minutes, and they were having a fit about it.  Also, the interview with the singer was done in front of a totally different audience, and we did not actually watch the entryway segment either!  Plus they actually asked me a few more questions, but I guess my nervous blathering responses needed to be cut in the interest of time. :)  But I am glad they kept the part with my mom - although she later confessed that she had no idea what they were meant when they asked her if she DIY'ed. :P  (She does by the way - she has recovered many chairs, sewed many curtains, and done more than her fair share of painting; I come by it naturally.)

So there you have it, my whirlwind adventure with fame.  It was a blast and I am hungry for more! They may have created a monster - I am crafting reality show pitches as I type. :)  WELCOME to anyone new who came from the show and actually read this whole thing - I would love for you to stick around!  And thanks to those of you who have read from the beginning - you are the wind beneath my wings. Don't worry, I won't forget the little people. :)

I love you more than...

During craft-time at our house (pretty much a daily occurrence) I usually dive in and do my own stuff too.  Sometimes I get so into it that I may have been known to tersely spit out "In a minute..." while one of the kids empties the rinsing water onto the floor, or his brother's hair.  Ahem.

Yesterday we got out the construction paper, pencil crayons, stickers, scissors, and stamps and made cards.  I made this one for my husband.  I figured it was appropriate since the internet is pretty much my constant companion and his biggest competition for my time.  And I really do love him more.  Honest.

He was underwhelmed.   (I'm not sure he believed me.)

A Visit to the AGO

Last week, the boys and I and their Baba went to see the Picasso show at the AGO.  Will was really keen to go, as one of his favourite books is Picasso and Minou.  We had lots of fun trying to find the faces and guitars in his cubist works, and Will insisted I buy this postcard, because it was "hilarious Mom.  For Real." He even brought it to school the next day.

Here are some more photos of our outing, including some fun times had in the family learning centre and a short shopping excursion in Chinatown.  It is shocking how seldom I take advantage of living in this amazing urban metropolis!  I here-by pledge to go downtown more often (especially when armed with a visiting grandparent/wrangler).

Check out my little coolio in the shades.  I swear I did not tell him to pose this way...

Blog Podium Inspiration = House Tour Completion

I had SO much fun at Blog Podium this weekend and learned a ton about how to monetize a blog.  Nicole Balch of Making It Lovely (one of the first blogs I ever subscribed to) gave an honest, relaxed, and informative keynote.  The ever-amazing Lindsay (of Aubrey and Lindsay's Little House Blog) and Jen (of Rambling Renovators) blew my mind with the fun, professional, absolutely-perfect event. Seriously - I want to be them when I grow up - FOR REAL! (as my 4-year-old keeps saying).   I went home with a huge to-do list for Wicked & Weird and will probably be tweaking things for months to come, or until my energy runs out.  Today I FINALLY got a chance to pull together some photos and text for my House Tour page that I made the link for months ago.  Hooray!

There are many great recaps of the conference out there, and if you are at all interested in the busine$$ side of blogging, I urge you to take a look:

1. Interior Groupie 
2. September and Sun
3. Bijou and Boheme
4. My Daily Randomness
5. Adding the Finishing Touch
6. Gallery No. 8
7. The 236

Here are some of the lessons that I will be taking to heart:

• Stats aren't everything  I have never considered to be "worthy" of advertising because I am such a small blog.  However, big numbers aren't the only thing the larger brands are looking for.  They also want to find blogs large and small that are a good fit content-wise, writers who are well connected to the 'scene' and are well-informed with a professional-looking blog, and bloggers who are engaged and engaging, with comments, tweets, and conversations.
• Oh Canada!  Brands large and small, international and domestic are looking to target geographically.  Let readers know right off the bat where you are writing from and that you are Canadian.
• Tweet Tweet Twitter Twitter  Be active and consistent on Twitter.  Many brand marketers are short on time and need to be on Twitter anyway for their job.  It makes things much easier if they can find you where they are and can see that you are engaged with the community.  Have a great Twitter List that shows you are connected with people these brands want to reach.
• Do your homework Reach out to brands you want to work with, don't wait for them to find you in a sea of blogs.  Research their products, their projects, and their style so you can prove that you really know them when you make the pitch and aren't just cut and pasting their name into a generic ask.
• Dress for the job you want  I have always tried to dress for the job I wanted and not the job I had.  I may have been Marketing Coordinator, but if people were looking around at all the coordinators in the city for a Marketing Manager, I wanted them to know in a glance that I was professional and prepared and ready to step right up.  So when Nicole said "Looking bigger than you are is the best way to get bigger than you are" I knew exactly what she meant: have a blog that looks established, that has a consistent feel to it, and write honestly and authoritatively.  
• Don't quit your day job  Errr, too late for me! :)  But I have confirmed my suspicion that while I can definitely make a little bit of fun money from the blog ("Canadian Tire money" as Christine said) I won't ever be earning a full-time income from it.  At least, not in Canada, and not now.  Things may change!

So you may notice a few changes here and there, and maybe a few ads popping up on the side.  (If you are interested in some seriously cheap test ads, let me know!)  I would love to hear if there is something about my blog that makes you come back, something you think I should make sure to keep up.  Likewise, if there are posts you just skip through when you see them, let me know that too!  I am crazy curious about what you all think about the stuff that I put out there.  Maybe I should start paying for comments?  Oh wait... that's actually the opposite of the idea... right.  I guess I won't be keynote speaker anywhere any time soon. :)

An Encaustic Encounter

Yesterday was cold and everyone in our house was sick.  I had agreed to attend an all-day encaustic painting workshop but I was thinking seriously about not going.  I was tired, had a wicked cough, and almost no voice.  However, I had committed to going and I knew there weren't that many in the class so I got my butt in gear and made my way to the Distillery district where Joya Paul has her studio. 

I am SO HAPPY that I did not bail on this!  Joya is so much fun and a great teacher, and the two other gals in the class were hilarious.  And I discovered that encaustic painting (painting with wax) is THE BOMB.  It just has so many possibilities - there are so many ways of working the wax, so many potential applications... 

I went armed with some printouts of my photos and the intent to do a piece of the boys.  The photo above is actually a composite photo that required some work in Photoshop - I had one photo with Will in focus and the other with Cam in focus and had to put them together.  Joya helped me glue it to a board and then I mixed some colours and did some layers trying to blend in the edges of the photo.  I am pretty pleased with it (although part of me finds art like this a little cheesy...sorry...).

But from my first practice piece in the morning I was hooked.  HOOKED.  The others went for a coffee break and I kept on going.  They went for lunch and I kept on going.*  I tried all kinds of things, from etching, to drips, to collage, to building up layers, scraping the wax away... I did abstracts, textures, representational things... I blew a fuse using the heat gun.  I was in the ZONE people.  

The stuff I brought home is not going to be hung in any galleries any time soon, but the experience of giving in to every creative impulse from 10 am to 4 pm was such a joy.  It solidified what I have come to realize are essential truths for me:  I love MAKING stuff, and I love working with creative, inspiring people.  Whatever I end up doing next, I have to make sure that it includes these two elements.

Practice piece 

Practice 2 - Blossoms

High Park Blossoms

Ripples

White on White

Tangles

Beneath the Surface

thoughts reel

I think you should all call Joya immediately and book a workshop.  Bring your friends.  You can thank me later.  In fact, I may see you there - this encaustic stuff is addictive!

*Not long after they left for lunch, Joya came running back to get me - President's Choice was filming a commercial and there was a free BBQ with any kind of burger, all kind of fixings, salads, chips, dips, drinks, ice-cream - you name it!  Galen Weston was walking around chatting to people and handing out food.  It was delicious - the ice-cream sandwiches made with the cookies are unreal. I ate enough lunch for 6 people.  :)

The Almighty OPRAH

On Monday afternoon/night, thanks to the ridiculous generosity of my friends Lisa and Mike (you guys ROCK!!) I found myself basking in the presence of the one-and-only Oprah Winfrey.  The 5-hour line-up also included Tony Robbins, Deepak Chopra, Iyanla Vanzant, and Bishop T.D. Jakes.  I have never been to a revival meeting, but I am pretty sure they wouldn't feel much different.  There were a lot of AMEN!!!s, whooping and hollering, women shaking and crying, and at one pont we all stood and held hands, raising them up with a mighty yell.  It was AWESOME!

Never mind that we got in line at 3pm and got to our seats at 5:10 (the event was supposed to start at 4).  At least it was one of the warm days and the rain held off, although the wind was fierce!  Never mind that by the time we got there we sat in the back of the 9,000-people audience, squinting to see the stage, let alone the people on it. Never mind that the hotdog we scarfed down while waiting in line was the only food I had until I got to Union Station at 11pm (and had a nasty breakfast wrap).  Never mind that because of the crowd-control, the speakers' times were shrunk to 30 minutes each instead of an hour.  The fact that these people could generate such a powerful vibration in a huge warehouse of a space spoke to their gifts as speakers, and the resonance of their words.  Iyanla in particular was really fantastic, her enthusiasm completely contagious.

Oprah herself was impressive.  This woman is a PRO.  She was just the right amount of gracious - she acknowledged the effort it took people to get ready, to get themselves looking gorgeous, to make their way to Toronto, and to stand forever in line, all to see her.  It was a kind gesture, and most importantly, it felt genuine.  To watch the taping of the show, it was managed down to the second, with each speaker having a segment, questions from twitter, comments from the audience, and contributions from Skype.  Oprah was unflappable, professional but personable, making everything feel spontaneous and of-the-moment.  She joked about how tiny she must look to those of us in the back, she laughed about the height they put the chairs to minimize the difference between her and (6'8'') Tony Robbins, she ribbed those in the audience who had gotten pedicures for the occasion - "Oprah ain't never gonna see your toes girl!"

I could not stop thinking of Gran and wishing she were there with me.  How many times did she call me randomly at University and start off with "Sweetheart, I was watching Oprah..."?  

"Sweetheart, I was watching Oprah....and if you were a lesbian, you could tell me."  

"Sweetheart, I was watching Oprah...if you are doing drugs, you have to tell me."

"Lisa honey, I was watching Oprah...and I just had to call and tell you how proud I am of you."

Thanks Oprah, for prompting all those wonderful, and sometimes hilarious phone calls. xo

She was also great at distilling the sometimes heady discussions into "snackables" - small digestible summations of the conversation.  Some of my favourites were:

• Forgiveness is being able to able to give up the hope that the past could be any different.
• Until you clean the wounds of the past, you will continue to bleed into the future.
• Holding on to resentment is like holding your breath - you'll eventually suffocate.
• Don't strive for success, strive for significance and excellence, and success will follow. 
• There are 'Gallon" people and "Pint" people.  You have to adjust your expectations of someone based on their capacity (They might be giving their all).  And if you are a Gallon person, you can't have only Pint people in your life.
• Empowering your past robs power from your present.
• And my favourite: Forgiveness is a laxative for the soul.

Look for these all prettied-up in Pinterest soon. :0  Thank you again Lisa and Mike for giving me this tremendous experience.  I feel like it gets more amazing the more I think of it!  Did anyone else see the Mighty Oprah?  Did you have any A-HA moments?