Fawned Friday

01. I'll be recreating this outfit come Winter.

02. A gorgeous sweatshirt revamp.

03. The sexiest pair of tight's I'll ever covet.

04. My friends are in this. It's awesome.

05. Neato poster.

06. Something that will make my daughter smile big!

07. Braid love.

08. She reminds me of Mattie Ross.

09. And now I want to watch True Grit for the 786th time. Just about.

10. Vintage balloon style.

A Hometown Sort Of Saturday

My first Peterborough Folk Festival was 18 years ago, and I LOVE sharing this fabulous tradition with my daughter. She danced her little heart out tonight, and is sleeping soundly after a late night out with mama. 

My own mother, who brought me to my very first festival at the age of eight, spotted us in the crowd tonight and gave me a hug. She knows how much this festival means to me. 

Our Saturday morning was excellent as well. A trip to the market and a picnic on the lawn. Gretchen was so excited when I pulled a big blanket out of the trunk. (My favourite thrifted afghan, actually!)

I hope you're all having a gorgeous weekend! I'm looking forward to more PFF activities tomorrow at Millennium Park, a visit to the Silver Bean & spending time with my loves. Sundays are often errand-filled, as my only day away from the shop, but we love making time just to be each weekend. We all need a little slow-down now and then.

I've shared bits from the PFF over the years... check out snippets from 2009, 2010, and 2011 (plus this cute encore of Gretchen dancing it up last summer... can you believe how much she's grown?)

Fawned Friday

01. Love her hair so much.

02. Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

03. Just beautiful. 

04. This lass always wears lipstick so well.

05. How cute are these potholders?

06. Our tree is just begging for these. 

07. Just beautiful.

08. I'd like to be wearing this right now.

09. Looking back.

10. This will make you smile a lot.

Epic Tea Time

I adore Alan Rickman.

Whole30: Days 1 & 2

I'm two days in to my Whole30 adventure with ZERO slip-ups or cave-ins! I'm optimistic about my remaining 28 days and SO grateful for all of your support! Thank you to everyone who commented yesterday, sent tweets & Facebook messages! I'm surrounded by supportive friends and you're all making me smile. Merci, merci!

Day One
Breakfast: Watermelon, cranberry tea, steak, green & red peppers, broccoli, lemon water, cashews & almonds, scrambled eggs w/ black olives & sundried tomatoes, ground chicken, coffee w/ coconut milk.

Notes
Feeling pretty good, enjoyed a trip to the grocery store with my daughter. Can already feel those sugar cravings & urges for silly things like a diet soda or the popsicles in the back of my freezer. Time to rid my house of temptation. Peace out, Nutella.

Egg Scramble (chicken, salsa), Tomatoes w/ a dash of sea salt

Day Two
Raspberries, avocado, black coffee, grape tomatoes, almonds, strawberries & raspberries w/ cinnamon, egg scramble (above), pitted dates w/ almond butter

Notes
Morning: It took EVERYTHING I had to drag my exhausted butt out of bed this morning. Miss Gretchen was VERY grumpy with a mama who didn't want to get out of bed til 8am. Thank you Magic School Bus for granting me some time to be sluggish. The Whole30 timeline tells me I'm in hangover mode, and they're not joking: "Many Whole30ers report headaches, fatigue, and general malaise during this part of the program. This, my friends, is completely normal." Well, alrighty then. Thankfully, this should only last a few days & I'm stubborn enough to tell my SWEET cravings to piss off. 
Evening: Now that it's nearly bedtime, I can say I'm feeling pretty darn good & already less bloated than I've been feeling for weeks. Well THAT's kinda nice, eh? Dinner was fantastic & I'm feeling pretty happy!

For anyone else following the Whole30 (or thinking about it), here are a few posts I've found ultra-inspiring and mouthwatering!

• My Whole30 Journey via Today's Letters
• Grocery Shopping For Your First Whole30 via The Paleo Project
• Seriously Tasty Paleo Meatloaf via Health-Bent

Peace!

The Whole30: Let's Make A Change

Alright. I know that if I don't say it here, and commit myself in some way, it won't happen. So here it goes: Starting tomorrow, August 19th, I will be doing the Whole30. If you've never heard of it, take a peek over here to see what the heck I'm talking about.

My decision to do this comes from my recent feeling about my health & body. After taking over the shop, my diet and my thoughts around eating were pushed aside. I've been drinking too much coffee, eating out more than I should, and generally just not taking care of myself in the way that I know I can. My weight has gone up, and despite never stepping on a scale in recent months, I know that my clothing is more snug and my energy levels are dropping.

It's time to change some things up.

I know I can eat well. I know I feed my daughter better than I feed myself, and I need to make the time to reconcile these differences. When my daughter is in daycare, she eats lunch/dinner away from home, and I eat poorly while at the shop. I'll just admit that. I shouldn't be living off coffee & restaurants during the week, and eating well on the weekend. It's not good for my body, my mind, or my finances. Since I'm at the shop about 50 hours a week, I haven't been cooking the way I used to. Due to our current schedule, Gretchen and I have breakfast together at home, but I often eat nothing as I get ready, or just sip coffee. I'm not always hungry in the morning, but I know I won't have that mid-morning crash if I eat something fantastically nutritious when I wake up. Gretchen likes fruit & toast, or cereal w/ soymilk, or smoothies, or eggs in the morning. At this time she lunches/dinners at daycare, which means that I either eat nothing for dinner, or I snack sometime after she's in bed, usually around 9pm, which also doesn't make for a happy belly. Starting in September, I've made the decision to start Gretchen at a new daycare (for one last year), a daycare which meshes better with my parenting philosophy. It's been a difficult choice, but I wasn't feeling completely at ease with the current situation and so I've made a change.

Just as I'll make a change with how I eat.

This will also mean that after September begins, my little one and I will be having dinner together more ofte. This makes me a VERY happy mama. It'll be great to be cooking again. I've missed it. The slow cooker is coming back out & meal-planning will once again be a part of my life. Thankfully, the little miss LOVES coming grocery shopping with me. She's such a helper.

Now, thinking about the Whole30 brings a few things to mind: What I anticipate will be easy and what I believe will be a challenge. So here we go:

The Easy Bits:

• I am NOT a picky eater. Veggies, fruits, meats, whatever you give me, I'll at least try it and probably I'll like it. Gretchen is this way too. I just don't believe in being a picky eater. Healthy food always tastes good to me, so there's no excuse not to eat that way.
• I WANT to do this. No one is making me. And it's the sort of thing you have to want to want. 

The Tricky Bits:

• I like my coffee with cream & sugar. Yup. And that's a big no-no. So if I really want it, it'll be black. Just like when I was vegan.
• I like my stout. I enjoy a bottle of stout at the end of a long day, but for the next 30 days, I won't be touching it.
• I'm a carb junkie. It's a fact. I adore bread and pasta and all of their glutentastic friends.

However. If you've ever met me, you know how stubborn I can be. Which means I'm going to kick this program's ass and I hope you'll ALL hold me accountable. Send me tweets to check in, pester me on Facebook, email me, shout it from a rooftop. Because I'm doing this. And I'm not going to let myself down.

Have any of you made a big change in your eating habits lately? Have you ever done the Whole30? Adivce, tips, stories, ideas? I'd love to hear about your experiences. Feel free to link blog posts if you've chatted about this on your own sites. I'm eager to get started and to jump right in!

August 19th. Day one. A big change. 

I can do this.

PS. Thank you to bloggers like Nicole who have really given me that push I need to do this. Reading your stories has filled me up with motivation and a craving for change. Thank you.

Denim Shirt Love

Check out my latest post over at Mom Spark for fab ways to wear this trend.

Psst... thanks to this gal for wearing it SO GOOD.

Fawned Friday

01. This should happen in my living room.

02. Social media style.

03. Hottie.

04. A really neat design tip.

05. This little person's got the right idea.

06. Would you schedule your sex life?

07. Stylish slingshot.

08. Delicious rings from a fav gal.

09. I absolutely need to see this place in person.

The Kissing Checklist

More smoochable quotes, sayings & lists.

{Wordless Wednesday} 100% Awesome

On Dock Of The Bay

Sometimes, when we find ourselves with a full day together, we visit the water and sit and spy for fish and talk to the ducks. She's growing up so fast. 

I'm cherishing every moment.

Simple Stationary Love

This beautifully designed USB storage stick by hum Stationary would make a great gift for a loved one. Can you imagine filling it with photos from a vacation? From your first year as newlyweds? Baby photos, memories, anything & everything.

How about a tape dispenser made of brick?

Or these unique magnets?

Check out more from hum right here.

First spotted at Spoon & Tamago.

Summer Sale At Tango!

We're getting ready for Autumn at the shop... this means BIG summer savings for all your fabulous gals! Just wanted to share a few of my favourite pieces that are in the sale... be sure to check out shoptango.ca for more! (We also just got in a new shipment of Yoga Jeans! Without a doubt, the most comfortable jeans you'll ever put on your body!)

Have a fabulous weekend, lovelies!

PS. Tango ships worldwide. Check out our shipping page for details on FREE shipping options, no matter where you call home!

PPS. Our newest bamboo line will be on the site soon! New jewelry & accessories as too... stay tuned.

Cattoos

I know right?

Available at Harriet Gray Illustration.

This One's For The Cat Ladies

How sweet are these prints from Kate Gabrielle (who just happens to write one of my most favourite blogs, Scathingly Brilliant)? Love, love!

Prints available at Flapper Doodle. So darn cute.

Bit By Bit

Each night, after Gretchen falls asleep, I've been whipping our new apartment into shape. My room looks like a room, the dining nook is now usable, the living room is... well, a box repository, but it's coming along.

Bit by bit.

Slowly, surely.

Here are a few late night snapshots from last week.

Last week, Gretchen crawled into bed with me one morning -- the morning after I'd hung new curtains and all of the artwork in my bedroom -- she nursed and snuggled, then starting peering around the room, taking in all the new additions.

"Oh mama, it's just beautiful. Are those new? That's lovely! Thank you so much for decorating this room for me! Can we decorate myyyy room?"

Sometimes she speaks as if she's a little lady, and it melts my heart. She's wise. An old soul, if you will.

She makes my heart happy.

{Wordless Wednesday} Our Weekend Getaway