Day 22: What I Love About My Job

Being the owner of a shop means that I get to constantly flex my creative muscles, choosing lines that speak to me, finding the right fits and styles and brands with fascinating backgrounds and stories. I love carrying the most comfortable jeans in the world, Yoga Jeans, which will make you a believe if you ever put your butt in them. I love coming to work each day not knowing who I will meet or what opportunities will present themselves. I love taking a space and, bit by bit, making it my own. I love being able to employ a wonderful gal to work with me at the shop & I love being a part of our downtown. If you've been reading my blog a little while, you probably know that I grew up in this city and I really do love raising my daughter in this community. Having a shop in the middle of downtown Peterborough means a connection to the city that's tight knit and supportive. What I love about my job is the freedom to make changes, to express myself an to make Tango a place for women to come and feel at home, comfortable in their bodies & just to have a good time. I love decorating for the holidays and hosting events. It's not an easy thing to run a retail shop. It's a lot of hard work and long hours, but it's rewarding and fulfilling to know I've carved out a spot for myself, and can support my family in this way.

Thank you to everyone who has visiting my little piece of downtown. I hope you'll come say hi if you ever make it to Peterborough!

PS. To my local loves, come out to the Fashion Night for Health -- part of this year's Festival of Trees action! We'll be rockin' out at The Venue 6-10pm. See ya!

Day 21: A Self-Portrait

Day 20: Something That Means A Lot To Me

Becoming a shop owner has been a huge change in my life and for all of the work I've put into it, I'm grateful for the support I've been given. It means so much to be able to be the proprietor of a business, something I can grow, something which facilitates in my ability to provide for my daughter. It's incredibly, and this journey could take me so many places. Cheers to what the future may hold.

Day 19: Myself, One Year Ago

November 19th, 2011.

Day 18: What I Wore Today

Dress: Against Nudity // Tights: Leave Nothing But Footprints // Jacket: Gap // Purse: Gentle Fawn // Scarf: Not sure of the brand, but funnily enough, I purchased it at Tango when I was in university

Last night some gals and I enjoyed a little girls' night out together, drinks & dancing & lots of laughs. So much fun to get out and dance the night away! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend, mes amis. Peace!

Day 17: My Family

Day 16: Someone Who Inspires Me

There is someone by my side who inspires me daily and reminds me what I'm capable of. I generally refer to his as my mister, but I suppose I ought to tell you his name is Rich.

He believes in me & wants me to succeed in everything I attempt. He inspires me in his unfailing dedication & kindness. 

He makes me laugh til my cheeks hurt, he's brilliant, creative and incredibly hard-working. He makes me want to be a better me. And I don't even care if that sounds corny, it's true. 

Thanks for being my rock, mister. You're one of a kind.

Day 15: Three Blogs I Always Read

There are far more than three blogs that I check on a regular basis (usually through Google reader, but often scrolling through Reeder on my iPhone in bed) but here are three and will never leave that list:

• Thoughts & Biro Sketches
• Bossy Femme
• The Noisy Plume

How 'bout you?

Day 14: Style Inspiration For The Season

Scarves. Cowls. Mittens. Oh yes.

I'm pretty obsessed with cozy styles right now and we've been getting lots of awesome new items in at Tango. My favourites... our chunky circle scarves from BLANK and our new handmade, recycled sweater mittens from Edit Shoppe. I love bringing independent Canadian designs into the shop. Cute stuff!

Shopgal Steph is showing off some cozy mittens!

Iris rocks the cowl like it's her job. Oh how we adore the herringbone.

We've had some really gorgeous and unseasonably warm days lately, but to be honest, I'm vying for some colder weather. I'd love to see snow soon, actually. I want to get decorating and baking and excited and sparkly and eggnogy! Gretchen adores snow and she's been asking about all sorts of winter activities. I love that she's a holiday season lover like her mama! Plus, it's way more fun to get all bundled up for the Santa Claus parade. I love seeing G all cozy in her snowsuit and knitwear and boots.

Bring on the snow, Mother Nature!

Day 13: Something I'm Proud Of

In a heartbeat, what I'm most proud of, is my girl. My wonderful, cheeky, loving, caring, sweetheart of a daughter. She lights me up and she's brilliant. Every single day she learns a new skill, new vocabulary, song lyrics, games. She continues to amaze me and I'm so proud of the little person she is growing into.

So Fawned On Cityline

Something pretty awesome is happening this month, mes amis!

Cityline -- Canada's longest running daytime show for women -- has asked me to be their featured blogger for November! Neato, right? I'm pretty blushy over this, I've been watching their show for years & it's an honour that they'd want to share my blog with their readers/viewers. Merci!

A snippet...

On your blog, you post about a variety of different topics, from your life as a mom to your fun finds on the internet. What do you like about posting on a variety of topics? What are your favourite types of posts to write?
The tagline of my blog reads, "My life, love, inspirations, style, motherhood & tea." This is me in a nutshell. I love being able to share stories from my daily life, quotes from my daughter, a geeky item I spotted in an online shop, a song I can't get out of my head, an outfit I'm wearing, a recipe and the things that make my heart flutter. It's an outlet which has brought me close to a wonderful community of fellow bloggers, readers and friends.

Pop over to their blog to keep reading!

Day 12: The Last Item I Purchased

After seeing this image -- which was taken to promote some new arrivals at my shop -- can you guess what my last purchase must have been?

Oh yes, much quicker than I thought, I've joined the iPhone 5 club.

My 4 actually lasted significantly longer than I'd estimated, if you consider that I got my first cell phone when I was 20 and have had nine since then. Nine. Dropped in a river, cracked screen, washing machine... you name it. I am a terrible clutz. I break everything. Once, as a house warming gift, my friend Karen gave me a set of wine glasses from a very specific brand because she had tested them herself and knew they could stand a bit of a beating.

I broke them all within three years.

This is why we can't have nice things oughta been written on my family crest.

So yes, let's see if we can make this phone last at least until my next contract upgrade. And go!

Day 11: Three Years Ago Today

Would you believe this photo was taken exactly three years ago?

I'm feeling pretty stunned. And heartachey for tiny babies in my arms. Any other toddler mamas feeling like this?

Day 10: A Favourite Recipe

For today's recipe post, I'm going back in time to my favourite, easy peasy, chili recipe. I first posted it back in March of 2011 and just reading it again now is making my tummy all rumbly.

Easy, tasty, excellent. And here's how you make it happen...

The Fawn's Quick & Easy Chili
2-3 cans of beans (kidney, chickpea, whatever you'd like... just be sure to rinse them really well)
1-2 peppers, chopped (green, yellow, something colourful)
Big handful of mushrooms, quartered
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp (or more) chili powder
1/2 tsp (or more) cumin
1/2 tsp onion powder, garlic powder (or not, I just use what I like)
salt/pepper, a dash, a sprinkle
1 big can of diced tomatoes
1 big can of tomato sauce
1-2 packs of ground round (ie. soy ground beef, totally optional)

Click here to keep reading...

Day 09: A Close-Up Of My Day

Just a few snapshots from my day. Friday's usually look like this: Wake up with G, breakfast together, daycare drop off & then I'm off to grab coffee before opening my shop at 10am. Friday's are a fun day at the shop, and on this particular Friday I had visits from lots of downtown friends and more. It's nice to see folks I don't always get to see since I'm at the shop six days of the week.

I always grab my coffee from Natas, a fabulous cafe just up the street from Tango. I've definitely mentioned them before. They're my Central Perk, if you will.

My shopgirl, Steph, takes over at 3pm on Fridays & G is off to her dad's, so after leaving the shop I was off to visit a doula client and her baby boy, before making my way to my mister's house for dinner & a mellow evening together.

Thanks again for taking part in our 3rd annual #30DaysHathNovember. I'm enjoying reading all of your entries... don't forget to use the hashtag when you tweet about your adventures. Much love!

Day 08: Three Inspirational Quotes

"Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." Mark Twain.

"Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?" Friedrich Nietzsche.

Image spotted here. 

How Canadians Apologize

Last night, or in the wee hours of the morning, I woke up to our smoke detector going off. In our building, they are connected, so if a neighbour's starts to sound, the rest will chime in about five seconds later. Around 1.30am my neighbour had a cooking incident which set the smoke detectors off several times, which is definitely jarring and (thankfully) loud enough to pull me out of a dead sleep.

Fast forward to this morning to my neighbour visiting me at my shop, with a Timmy's coffee and muffin in hand, to apologize for rude awakening. How sweet is that?

Thanks again, neighbour!

PS. Would you believe the alarm going off twice didn't actually wake up Gretchen? I peeked in on her when the ordeal was over and the only evidence that she heard the noise was that she'd pulled her stuffed cat over her ear. 

Day 07: A Song For The Day

I'm addicted to the sound of her voice. This is definitely my favourite song these days. Just love.

And I am done with my graceless heart
So tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart
'Cause I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn

Day 06: A Book I'm Reading

It must be guilty-pleasure o'clock, because I'm about to admit my long-running love for historical fiction... ahem... ok... historical romance novels. Especially those written by Judith McNaught.

I'm currently re-reading Whitney, My Love. By the image along you might have guessed that it's been in my possession for some time, and you'd be right. If it still had a cover (which tore off ages ago, along with the first few pages before Chapter One begins) you would see the inscription which a dear friend wrote on my 16th birthday when she gave me the book as a gift.

Ten years I've had this book, and though I've read it more times than I can count, I know that it has often been discussed with hatred, and is littered with controversial scenes. This isn't a post for me to dive into the matter, but a quick Google search will do it justice if you're interested.

This book is absolutely a guilty pleasure, as I've mentioned, as are the rest of her stories, however, the writing is captivating and I enjoy feeling transported to a period of time so different from our own.

And despite being fraught with issues, I know I will continue to read it, because I'm not one to shy away from taboo topics. Perhaps I view them as tools, solidifying my own beliefs, challenging my views or confronting things which are often hushed or pushed aside. Many have taken offense to some of the scenes in this book (to the point where it was actually edited to tame them), but for those who are sure of what they know to be right, should it be a concern? If 50 Shades of Grey can outsell Harry Potter as fastest selling paperback, then the worries our culture may have toward sexually explicit content do not seem to be reflected in our choices of reading material. But perhaps that's another discussion altogether.

Judith McNaught does write very strong female characters, but any feminist reading her works will cringe along with me at those moments when those same women turn to puddles for arrogant men. But it's all fantasy and dreamland and perhaps, if there are fellow historical romance readers in the audience, you'll weigh in on why we keep reading.

I promise I didn't start this post by stepping up on a soap box and I hope I didn't end up there, but I really am re-reading Whitney at this moment, and as soon as I hit publish, I'm going to cozy up with my tea, and devour another chapter before I fall asleep.

PS. While we're on the topic of guilty pleasures... what are yours? Reality TV? Sauce'n Cake? The Twilight series? No judgement here, but c'mon, I'm curious.