Simplify Sister. My Springtime Simplification Plan.

Simplify Sister. My Springtime Simplification Plan.

by | May 18, 2017 | Moments of Perspective

Oh sweet friends, this life we are on is a journey isn’t it?

I am hear to tell you that in the midst of busy, chaos, changes and decisions I have felt a simple yet consistent pull to SIMPLIFY. Simplify from the soul out to the world. Simplify my processes, my space, my to do lists. Simplify my thoughts, pace, finances and frustrations.

But it’s kind of ironic how COMPLICATED I can make the journey of simplifying… Trying to make lists for everything, plan every part into every day, and become overwhelmed with the hugeness of how much needs simplifying.

This is part of the problem. My life has always been chaos, running here and there making changes and trying new things without sitting back and evaluating the why behind the choices and where the value lies.

When we were at the Awesome Life Retreat last weekend we did a wonderful Clarifying Values workshop with Jeana from The Coaching Connection and the same thing kept coming up. Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.

And so here I am, letting you know that I am starting further down this journey of simplifying my life. I know that it won’t be a perfect journey, and this is in an imperfect post, but if I keep waiting to have the perfect post, or the perfect plan, my life will be at a stand still.

Here is my basic plan to simplify :

Use one page per day and don’t worry about the rest. Write what needs to be done, our schedule, random thoughts, grocery list…whatever that day needs on that one page. If it doesn’t all get completed that day, carry forward to a new day and get rid of yesterday’s page. Let go of what didn’t get done, move forward to today. If I need to write down a huge master to do list to get it out of my mind that’s ok, but it’s not what I want to be working from. In fact, I want the to do list to get paired down in general so I have more time to just BE.

Start each day with prayer, journaling and quiet. I certainly was one for picking up my phone when my eyes opened in the morning to see what messages I had, what emailed needed dealing with and would instantly get overwhelmed with STUFF. Without intending to I was already setting myself up for an overwhelming thought day. By putting my faith as my foundation for the day, and starting with quiet in my heart (by waking up BEFORE my kids, not to the sound of them calling my name) I have found overall to have a better start to the day.

To me Simple = SLOW

I used to run around all day and feel like it was a huge accomplishment to just get a million little things done. Now I feel like the best times, the times when I am happiest, are the times when we are moving just a little bit slower. Having time for tickles, story reading, gardening and colouring. I am in the process of cutting out unnecessary busyness and running here and there.

To me Simple = Less Expenses, Less Stuff & Less Spending

Often the reason we feel like we need to be super busy is to make more money to buy more stuff, or to pay for more childcare, newer, different, “better”. But if we simplify the STUFF we have we can see how little we actually need.

I will emphasize that this is a WORK IN PROGRESS for me. I read the Secret Art of Tidying Up and it was a good read, and has certainly helped in the process, but where I struggle is in the time that it takes to go through all the stuff. I am actually writing this from taking a break from decluttering. This morning I filled the back of my Forrester with another load of stuff that is getting gone. Seriously I have lost count and we still have so much! I’ve been trying to in general buy less in everything, from groceries to clothes, books and toys.

PS I have been loving the Overdrive App for being able to download books to online “borrow” from the library. It saves money AND it means less books lying around the house. (Especially when more than half of the books I read I have been not been finishing!)

We are getting our house ready to list for sale (It’s an awesome house and we are definitely having mixed feelings on selling, but when we evaluate what we want in terms of our values : we want a smaller home, smaller expense, less driving and even still less stuff.)

We’re being picky. I do not want to be running here and there and everywhere to a hundred lessons and classes, we’re option for one thing at a time. One commitment per child.

 

 

 

Take a Look at What’s in Store – Awesome Life Retreat

Take a Look at What’s in Store – Awesome Life Retreat

by | Apr 19, 2017 | Adventures + Travel, Moments of Perspective, Tools for Awesome Living

Last year was the first Awesome Life Retreat. A group of 28 of us got together and shared experiences, laughs and learning.

I cannot get over how amazing the group was that came together, and the amazing people and companies that supported us.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the reasons behind why I started The Awesome Life Retreat you can check it out here.

I am going to give a full list of credits below but I amazingly thankful and in awe of all of the amazing contributors. It was amazing to step out and do something that I really felt we needed in our area, and that my heart was just wanting to pour into, and have it so well attended and supported locally! It’s a scary thing to move forward and do something new, but so worth it in the end!

2016’s retreat was held at Windhorse Farm on a beautiful April weekend. In fact we could not have imagined better weather to explore the beautiful trails and property and explore our hearts through learning!

This year we simplified and upgraded! This year’s retreat will be at Oceanstone and their kitchen staff will be handling almost all of the food as well as handling the coffee (Which for the coffee drinkers is a very very good thing!)  I wanted to be able to ENJOY the retreat with my amazing attendees and be present and not running around organizing food and setting things up and tearing them down and doing dishes. This place is simply amazing and I am in love with the venue and the people!

If you don’t know what to expect from the retreat and are on the fence, check out the photos below (taken by the Amazing Brittany of Hind Hart Studios! THANK YOU!!) and though this year will be different, it will give you a good idea of our vibe!

You can check out our tentative itinerary here (with just a few more details to firm up next week!) :

Awesome Life Retreat – Oceanstone Seaside Resort, Spring 2017

 

I wanted to  make sure to thank LAST YEARS contributors (Check out the link above for who will be a part of this year’s line up!) But below is a list of those who contributed to our first retreat!

Meals + Desserts Provided by :

EnVie – a Vegan Kitchen, Layers Cupcakes, Weagles Bakery, Kitchen Door Catering, Mike Crosby, Freshii Burnside, and MOI 🙂 (that’s a fancy way of saying me)

Amazing Speakers/Workshop Contributors :

Dr. Adrianna Wilson – Inspired Living Medical, Angela Van de Reit –  Life Coach- Engaged Living,  Meghan Osborne – Awesome Woman & Arbonne Representative, Rebecca Dimock – Paper Chain, Lisa MacPherson – Scribbles and Script. Stephanie Kincade – Abundant Path Wellness.

We also had giveaways from :

Duly Noted, Paper Chain, Scribbles and Script, Harper & Honey, Halifax Cookie Cravings, Shauna Carter – Mary Kay consultant, This is Boudoir, This is Photography, Lure Chocolates, Abundant Path Wellness and all of our amazing speakers. Decor help from the Wedding Vogue and special shout out to Jenn and Emily for help the weekend of!

 

You’re Not Worth It – How You Treat Yourself Matters

You’re Not Worth It – How You Treat Yourself Matters

by | Apr 9, 2017 | Moments of Perspective, Real Life. Real Thoughts.

You’re Not Worth It – How You Treat Yourself Matters

Photograph by Maurice Crosby

You’re not worth it; or at least that is the message that we are telling ourselves. Either straight up by beating ourselves up over everything, or subtly by not making ourselves a priority and not taking care of ourselves. Not thinking we’re worth it, or that we matter, keeps us stuck thinking that the life we have is all we deserve and that we are where we are and that is it.

Listen, for a long time I was the queen of not believing I was worth it.

From relationships where I allowed myself to feel small, and “friendships” where I was a doormat of convenience to never ever doing things for myself. I remember feeling guilty for buying a specialty coffee (not the boozy kind , the amazing Caramel Light Frappichinio kind), because who did I think I was? spending that much on something for myself because I just WANTED it? There was no need, just a want, and why would I deserve that.

If I wrote it all out in great detail this would make a super long story, and I just tried to say I would try to write it in point form, but I really don’t think that that would do this story justice. So grab a special coffee (you’re worth it!) and get set for a long read. Or you can browse the photos of last year’s Awesome Life Retreat and take my word for it, you really should come. It is going to be awesome, and you are worth it!

Enter the longest hardest couple of years of my life. At a whopping thirty three years old you may think “just wait” because tough times are coming. I am sure that tough times, unfortunate circumstances and a whole bunch of cruddy things will happen in my life after this point. I don’t expect my life to be easy breezy from now on. However, learning that I matter, changing my perspective, and leaning more on the Lord than ever, has made me realize that no matter what comes my way, it’s going to be ok.

It’s not how I felt. When my identity of doing “all the things” was stripped away I felt completely useless. All of my worth was tied up in what I could ACCOMPLISH. How much I could DO. And no matter how much I did, there was always MORE to do. I set the bar so high that I would always fall short. And if I was only worth what I got DONE then I was never going to be worth enough. I was never going to arrive.

To be honest with postpartum after Finn was born I fought back by trying to do more. To be the super mom that worked full time, breastfed, was home with her kids and made Pinterest Parties (which I actually still love!) and over deliver, plan all the social events, cook all the food and do all of the errands. I wouldn’t really let anyone help, because they would be taking away opportunities for me to gain worth.

As I started counseling I was told time and again that I couldn’t continue to do all of the things, or I wouldn’t get better. I am a woman of willpower (or at least used to be lol!) so decided that no one was going to tell me I couldn’t do it. Anxiety hit me like a five hundred foot wave, crashing over me and leaving me floundering, spinning and not being able to do anything. My insides were kicking and screaming, my body was reacting to the stress with tightness in my chest, breakouts in my skin and constant tummy troubles. I would freeze, crawl into bed and just cry, and honestly turned off all feeling except when it came to my kids (and I am so thankful for that) After 11 months of trying to handle this on my own I finally I “gave in” and started medication and talked about making changes to how we functioned. It was designed to make me slow down, spend time on myself… for someone whose self worth was wrapped up in doing and accomplishing… well this was just not going to work.

Then enter the accident. Yah, that thing again. But honestly it was a pretty pivotal moment for me and when I was in the midst of it I couldn’t process it, let alone talk about it…and now I can’t really stop.

I was fully encapsulated by the sea, wave after wave crashing on me and I was left to the mercy of the world that surrounded me. If I was staying afloat by what I could do… I was now sinking…and fast.

The anxiety that had crashed in waves just held me down. The darkness of how I felt was drowning me, pushing me further into the dark. It felt easier to give up than to fight. But it wasn’t. My littles kept pulling me up for air. Without knowing it, being gifted with so much love and sweetness, they would hug me, rub my back, laugh or just snuggle. They would dance, play and show me that there was still air up there, worth coming up for. I get sad a little when I think about how little I had to give them at that time, but then I remember that what I have learned will allow me to give more for the rest of my life.

And this is what I had to learn.

How much I could DO wasn’t how my worth was measured. I mattered just because I matter. My family loved me not because I provided, but because I was worth loving. That even if we ate burnt rice and boiled over every pot on the stove, my kids would still think I was the best mamma ever. My real friends cared for me even if I didn’t plan every event like it was the next coronation. And most of all that God created me, and loved me, no matter what. Period. Full stop.

I am still learning it. I am still working through it. And the next little part can be point form.

I met Dr. Adrianna Wilson, she is a freaking amazing woman and I am so thankful that she has come into my life. Her ACT Group and one on one sessions are a big part of my learning, and an integral part of the puzzle that took me to the Making things Happen conference.

I was at an ACT Booster where we were talking about “Drawing your Future”  (Based on the Ted Talk here)

I am an artist in many ways but drawing off the cuff is definitely not my biggest skill. However I drew a picture and it was pretty clear. I no longer wanted to feel like I was being measured by what I did, I didn’t want to feel chained to my computer and I wanted to be happier. My camera was still in the picture, and my kids, I was out in the sun and felt strong. Yup, I had a picture of what I wanted. A great first step. But HOW. How do I get there?

After the group I had a couple of hours before I would be picking up my kids, so I sat at a coffee shop and journaled and prayed. I felt pretty uneasy. I mean if now I knew what I wanted my life to look like, how would I be ok just being where I was. Was it practical? Was it realistic? What about my business? What about our bills?

And then I ran into the ladies from Elegant Productions, a beautiful boutique wedding planning company I have had the amazing pleasure of working with. We chatted quickly about how we had all just had (or were having) our last weddings of the season and how it was going to feel so great to have a break. I asked if they were planning a big vacation or taking any time off, and they mentioned that they were going to a thing called Making Things Happen. I asked Katie what it was all about and she said “kind of a retreat for creatives where you learn how to do the things you want to do and make your life what you want…or something like that”. Heh? really? Isn’t that what I was just working on? Thinking and praying about?

So I asked if I could join them. By that time the next day I had invested almost $3000 on something that I didn’t really know what it was. I just felt a tugging, some intuition, something telling me that I needed to do this. Did we have the money just sitting around? Nope. But I was learning this process of believing that I mattered, that I was worth it, and that changes were coming.

I honestly had no idea what to expect when I headed to North Carolina just a couple of weeks later. But it was NOT what I was expecting. It was so very much more. I think I had an expectation of how to be more productive, how to find the perfect balance and how to do it all successfully. Nope. It was more about stripping it all away and looking for what matters MOST.

Lara Casey, Amber, Gina, these beautiful souls touched my heart and encouraged me in ways that I didn’t expect. Lara prayed for me, my marriage and spoke such truth that it totally turned around my family.

While I was there, I realized that it was big in my heart to help others find this knowledge, either through sharing my experience or connecting people with what they need to get there.

I know that not everyone has the money to invest in going to the Making Things Happen workshop. And I know that not everyone can even afford the Awesome Life Retreat. But my heart was to offer something similar for the people in my world, that would help them to live the life that they truly want. To give an opportunity to get away, reflect and figure out what matters most to them.

So yes, it is a LONG story on how I got to be here and how I ended up hosting this retreat and why my heart is so much for it.

Tomorrow I will be posting about all of the amazing people who supplied and took part in the Awesome Life Retreat 2016 and who is being a part of the this year’s amazing retreat!

Find out More about the Awesome Life Retreat

Click Here
What my Heart had to Say about Food on a Crummy Day

What my Heart had to Say about Food on a Crummy Day

by | Mar 21, 2017 | Moments of Perspective, Real Life. Real Thoughts.

What my Heart had to Say about Food on a Crummy Day

Note: I wrote this post last week ad then didn’t share because I still get nervous sharing the real stuff. But this morning I was cranky as a bear. Addy decided to let a metal bucket swing from our stairs to make a “trap” and it made some nice gouges and scratches in our TV, Finn had a little accident so our day started an hour earlier than usual and didn’t allow for my pre-craziness personal quiet time. My new necklace (that I got last night!) was used as a rope for Finn to pull himself out of the tub, and of course it broke, and a litre and a half of maple syrup spilled in the fridge after one of the door shelves broke. I am pretty sure I will be finding maple syrup in and on things for a good loonnnnnggggg time. It was one of THOSE mornings, but though I was frustrated, I didn’t spiral in my thoughts like I did last week (see below) I am believing that this is progress!

Here’s the original post:

I didn’t have the best of days today. I honestly kind of felt like crying from the moment I got up this morning. I don’t know if many of you mammas know the feeling of losing your sanity a little bit at a time due to lack of sleep, and the truth of having toddlers…but it’s legit.

All day today I felt like something more was going on.

I have learned to listen to myself pretty well, and when I am not in a good mental state things tend to spiral downward pretty quickly. Not being able to find my keys turns into : “Why can’t I find my keys? Why am I always losing things? If I could only get my house more organized. I am obviously a failure as a housewife, and now I may be late for Addy’s field trip, so I am a bad mom too. I wasn’t eating sugar this week, but if I don’t take yogurt in the car I will not eat breakfast. So now I am failing at that too. No wonder I am still fat.”

(note: I am not saying this so you will tell me that I am not fat, in fact, I’m asking that you don’t. I am healthy and getting stronger, but I am clinically actually obese class 1…so though I am still beautiful and valuable…my body is currently fat. I share because I want to be honest about what goes on for me sometimes, because so many feel like they are the only one that this happens to!)

The day goes on with not being able to get into my office, spilling lunch on myself and finding out I had a cavity…and a handful of other things that in and of themselves are not really a big deal. And to be honest, I know really are NOT a big deal. If any of these things happened to my kids I would say:


“Everyone loses things sometimes, and spills happen but we’ll wash your scarf when we get home…” etc. Oh what having kids does for perspective.

But because I am me, and I am big into feedback these days, I wanted to not only NOTICE that I was feeling this way, but wondering WHY. Why do I associate a mistake with complete failure, why do I think that anything less than perfection is worthless, but only when it comes to me?

A big realization today was about food. It’s always been a thing for me.

When I was talking with my dad the other day he mentioned feeling guilt that we struggle with our weight, wondering if he fed us too much balogna, but that the effects would have worn off by now. And that is totally true. The balogna didn’t make me struggle with food (I actually had some the other day and it was fabulous) but the thing is, somewhere along the way I really did learn that some food was “bad” and I felt shame about eating it. I remember being a kid and buying “junk food” at the store on the way home from my school and hiding it in the closet and eating it a little bit at a time. Maybe it was because my parents were often dieting, or that I ate more than my friends, or the time a family member scolded my brother for eating smarties. It could be the marketing of things that surrounded me, or things that classmates whispered behind my back. I really don’t know what brought it together, and it’s likely a combination of many MANY things.  I am not blaming anyone, I am a grown adult who now realizes that I have stories about food (and many other thing)  (Mom and dad if you’re reading this, I love you to pieces! And look, I turned out pretty awesome and I’m strong and healthy and overall getting happier and healthier by the day… so high fives to you guys!)

Fast forward to now, I have NEVER struggled with my weight like I have in the last couple of years. Stress, anxiety, fight or flight and more medications than I had ingested in the rest of my life combined left my body in a constant state of “what the heck is happening!”. Things that I had always done to lose weight were not working, and it was stressing me out, and that was making things worse. So then I kind of gave up. It wasn’t worth it to me.

So I let the pendulum swing the other way. I would just have whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I was going through enough. If I wanted ice cream, I was going to eat ice cream. And to be honest, I still feel like there are much worse vices that I could have leaned into.

Rewind to last month, in Florida. I was working out, feeling great, eating balanced and having fun with my kids. And then my headaches started to come back. Doing high impact workouts hurt my neck and head, so I slowed those down, I got tired, my eyes hurt. And so, I turned back to the treats. Until I was pregnant I didn’t even like sweets. I would have opted for another piece of pizza instead of birthday cake….well not anymore. Somewhere along the lines I had become a full blown sugar addict.

I was feeling convicted about it. Like I was relying on a substance for happiness, instead of dealing with what was making me sad. Maybe a less dangerous one than cocaine (though I hear sugar is more addictive, but I’m still gonna keep away.).

This week I cut out sweets and refined sugar, and caffeine. There has been a little sugar in a couple of things that I have eaten, but in general have been eating really well. I have been praying more about what has been going on and haven’t eaten at all to “fill the void” though I can tell you, I have wanted to, and that is eye opening in and of itself!

I want treats to be something that I enjoy to celebrate something with people I care about. Not just things to pick me up when I feel tired, cranky or bored.

However, in order to get to that place, I had to get off the all-the-sugar-all-day-every-day wagon. And that has been a tough one for sure. It has been a pretty good week, other than my day one meltdown with the kids and a couple of killer headaches and energy slumps.

But today, this was the day when I realized that when I tell myself that I can’t have something at all, it reiterates to myself that it is BAD, and then I am obviously BAD for wanting it, bad for having enjoyed it.

We could debate on whether sugar is bad. Sure, studies show… but also generations grew up on homemade sweets made with real sugar and they were less obese. So I think that for me, as I am learning with all the things in my life…it comes down to balance.

I am going to finish off this week by staying off the sugar and caffeine and then I am going to thoughtfully and carefully consider how I want to integrate it in my life. I don’t want to be ruled by it, but I don’t want my life to consist of daily rules of what I can and can’t have.
The bible says not to worry about what we will eat or what we will wear, and I definitely want less worry in my life.

Here’s my thoughts. I want exercise more (because I have learned when I start my day that way, it really does feel better!)  and take joy in making tasty food and truly enjoying treats when I have them. I want to  fill my life with the things that bring joy and simplify my closet and surroundings so that they fill up less of my mind space.

Sound like a plan?
Let’s get after it.

PS I am guessing that I am not the only one who has stories about food, and I also know that many people will likely read and think that I am a wackadoodle, because food is just food to you, but thanks for reading anyway.

 

Secrets to a Simple Wall Gallery

Secrets to a Simple Wall Gallery

by | Mar 17, 2017 | Creative Corner, I like Pretty Things

Secrets to a Simple Wall Gallery

A wall gallery can be so much fun. You can use it to showcase images, mementos, quotes and a variety of other things. Personally I love mixing colors, textures, shapes and media types in my galleries but some people like to keep it really simple and go with all the same frame and black and white images or use symmetrical lines and consistent colors. You can find a lot of “rules” to follow when it comes to gallery walls, but to be honest when it comes to mine, I pick what I like, and I put it on the wall.

I am going to show you my simple way to set up a gallery wall and get it onto the wall in less than an hour. I had a little help from a friend for mine so that we could tape things up and so I could get some pictures of me in action, but really this could be done solo pretty easily!

Here’s what you need:

A large roll of paper (Kraft, white, the backside of wrapping paper….I love using what you’ve got!)

Painters Tape (you can use masking tape as well, just be careful not to pull paint off the wall)

Pencil

Picture Hanging Kit

Measuring tape

Photo corner bumpers

Take your roll of paper and measure out how large of a space you would like to cover with your gallery wall…plus at least a few inches on either side. I am not big on being super specific, I want it to be fun so I eyeballed this one because I had a pretty big space to use, but if you want it centered above something, or in a small space I would measure a bit more precisely. Tape together pieces of Kraft paper if you need a bigger canvas to work with, and then secure it to the floor with a couple of pieces of tape.

Start placing your gallery pieces on the paper how you think they will work together. Move them around, try different spaces. If you need some inspiration we have pinned a few that we liked. I don’t need my galleries to be symmetrical but I have helped clients who did, and that’s definitely doable as well.

I see a lot of people pinning how to do a gallery wall the right way with individual pieces of Kraft paper. I haven’t tried that method, but so far this one has worked for me so I am going to stick with it.

Back to it…. place your gallery images on the Kraft paper and see what you like. Step back and look at different angles and try a few things before you settle on what you want. If symmetry is important to you or if you are going to lose sleep over having one image 3 inches apart and others 4 inches, then measure your spacing while you have them on the paper.

Next, trace the edges of your gallery pieces with a pencil, as true and accurate to size as possible.

Then one by one remove an image from the paper, flip it over and measure to the point where the image will be hung. If it is a single hook measure to the middle of the hook from the side, and the top of the hook from the top. Then measure this same distance and mark it with a small “X” on your paper. Repeat for all other gallery images.

Once you have done this to each image, you can un-tape your paper from the floor and take it to the wall where you will be putting your gallery and simply tape it in position. You’ll want to measure the middle of the paper and make sure it lines up with the middle of the gallery area on your wall, and make sure that the paper is level with the ceiling (in doing this multiple times I have learned that many ceilings are actually not perfectly straight at the meeting of the wall, but do your best)

Carefully nail your hanging pieces into the “x”‘s on your paper. A single nail or a hanging doo-hickey (yup, that’s the right word…I’m sure of it :)) and then carefully pull the paper off the wall.

Hang your images on their nails or doo-hickeys.

Make ’em straight and keep them that way by attaching little photo bumpers to the bottom corners of your images!

VOILA! Pretty wall gallery for you! (or super macho wall gallery if that’s what you’re going for!)

create a gallery wall | Halifax Blogger
encourage inspire gallery wall
heather crosby gionet xoxo
Addy’s Under the Sea Birthday Party | Parties and Pretty Things

Addy’s Under the Sea Birthday Party | Parties and Pretty Things

by | Mar 7, 2017 | I like Pretty Things, Parties + Events

Addy’s “Mermaid Theme” Birthday

mermaid under the sea birthday party

When it comes to birthdays I often go a little overboard. And when it comes to balloons, the same thing happens. So with balloons and birthdays….it ends up being a LOT of birthday and a LOT of balloons. This birthday though, was by far the most balloons. Addy’s third birthday when we did a balloon drop had a lot as well….but we blew those all up the old fashioned way. This time we got an AIR balloon blower from GLOW, which was an upgrade from even the hand pump I had purchased a few months ago! Basically I am balloon obsessed. Alex says that there is a rubber tree crying somewhere…even though I am not sure where latex comes from, I may have to check that out once I have internet again!

ANYWAY let’s get to how the whole thing came to be. Addy LOVES the water. She’s a fish (just like her mama, brother and Aunt Sally!) and I loved some water themed birthday pins that I had found on Pinterest. So it was done. I did the facebook invite for Addy’s party and mentioned it would be mermaid themed. I was wrong. In the end other than that mermaids theoretically live in the ocean, there was nothing really mermaid related…. but it was fun!

I worked with GLOW the Event Store to create a focal feature for the party. Once again I opted for a dessert table; they are my favorite to do, and they offer so many options for display and colour!

I TRIED to make an ombre ruffle mermaid cake (ah yes, this was the mermaid detail I added last minute by painting a tail and sticking it into the cake!) At the suggestion of my friend Jenn at Layers, I got a turntable for the cake and a ruffle piping tip. I watched three or four tutorials on you tube and went to work. But well, apparently watching a video doesn’t make you a pro. I kind of got the hang of it but by the time I did, the icing in the bag was too warm and got all droopy. SO I just smoothed the ombre all the way around. I still think it was pretty cute, though the icing got REALLY dark overnight. Is that normal with the Wilton icings? Anywhooo no one would have probably ever known that this wasn’t the cake I intended, but I’m all about being honest, and letting you know that not everything goes perfectly in planning these parties, but I am getting a bit better at letting it go and going with the flow.

Oh and I also forgot to put icing between the layers of the cake!

When I was pinning ideas for the party (you can see what I pinned here) I kept coming across this balloon tunnel, and I just had to figure out how to do it, or something like it. The balloon artists at the Event Store were able to give lots of guidance and direction on what type of balloons, how I could connect them, how what I saw was likely put together etc. If I had given them the right measurements it would have been pretty much perfect the first night, but since I made a boo boo I had to get another fifty or so balloons the next morning. (NOTE: doing this the night before the party was a great idea, but the dollar store masking tape did NOT do the trick, so when we woke up the next morning ALL the balloons were on the floor! EEEK!!!! Dollarama is fun for a lot of things, but I do not recommend their tape!)

I needed to go to the Event Store to pick up the helium balloons (aren’t the balloon octopuses amazing!!!) so grabbing another bunch of balloons wasn’t a problem!

I also picked up a few more props to fill the treasure chest, and Finn was very excited to have a new sword out of the deal!) We rounded out the treasure chest with toy pearls, some curtains to look like sand and a scarf to look like seaweed, candle holders, costume jewelry and favours including the little candy fishbowls and gold chocolate coins.

I tried to do all themed food and drinks with fun seaworthy names, like carrot crabs legs and grapes on a stick as seaweed. Bulk barn was a great spot to get themed candies and the mix to make our ocean punch. I froze Sweedish Fish into ice cubes so they would float and made some little labels to match the theme.

I made hot dog octopuses which were a huge hit. I cut them all the night before and then boiled them at the party so they were fresh (does having a fresh hot dog really matter?) and papa made some amazing mac and cheese but with shell pasta. Not a spoonful was left!

My biggest #fail was the attempt at creating a giant jellyfish out of iridescent beads/fabric and an umbrella. I actually injured myself twice and it still didn’t look great! I thought that it would bring the theme into the living room, and though it was understood to be a jellyfish by many, it certainly did’t have the wow factor I had hoped for. If I hadn’t decided to make a balloon tunnel then I would have worked on it some more, but I had to let that one slide as well! (you win some you lose some right!!!??)

The blue fabric and iridescent backdrop was simple to put up and had a huge impact, and the pop of the gold balloon was a huge win! It was Addy’s favorite, partially because it was pretty but mostly I think because she was SO excited to be turning five!

(though I did almost have an anxiety attack the other day because I couldn’t flatten pizza dough. I do not say that lightly, I have been battling anxiety the last few years and for real, panic set in on this…)

The dessert table was completed with cupcakes decorated as turtles and simple “sand” and icing. Little oyster shells with pearl candies, sand dollar cookies (I think these were my favorite)

I don’t know where she gets it, but my Addy girl loves to play hostess. It was her birthday but she wanted to pass out plates to everyone,  made sure everyone got some supper, made sure every grown up got to come to her room and see everyone play in the balloon pile after the balloon wall was demolished. She wanted to put her own candles on the cake and then pass cake out to everyone who wanted it before she had any cake of her own!

I want to say its just because she is so darn sweet, but I know that she also loves to be in control!

And what is a party without the people? We are so happy that so many people we love could come out to celebrate with us!

 

Thank you to Glow the Party Store for helping out with the tunnel balloons, octopus balloon characters, giant “5” gold helium balloon, draping iridescent gems, treasure chest, pipe and drape, blue curtain backdrop and iridescent overlay, blue tablecloth runners and netting, treasure chest, sword and pirate “shooter” (so far we don’t use the word gun in our house!) and matching plates, napkins and cups (they have a huge array of colours!!!)

Michaels : seafoam glass cake plate

Papa: awesome shells and cheese

Dollarama : White square plates, “fishbowl” favour jars

Bulk Barn : theme coloured candies

Pinterest : Inspiration

Your Race is Your Own | Moments of Perspective

Your Race is Your Own | Moments of Perspective

by | Feb 21, 2017 | Adventures + Travel, Moments of Perspective, Real Life. Real Thoughts.

Your Race is Your Own | Moments of Perspective

Yesterday I was in the pool with Addy. 

We were on hour two of swimming and Mimi had just taken Finn back to the house (he tends to get cold quickly…not sure what it’s like to have zero body fat lol!) so it was just Addy girl and I. 

She is a little fish. Actually she probably more resembles  mermaid. She loves to swim under the water and she is FAST.

There are some times that she’s trying to “get me” that I can’t swim away fast enough. It’s seriously impressive.

So when she wanted to race across the pool, I knew that I would have to actually try, at least a little bit. But the thing was, she wouldn’t just swim. She kept looking to see where I was… if I was behind her she was slowing down to look at me, if I was next to her she would swim towards me instead of straight, and if I was ahead by just a little, it would make her want to give up.

This revelation was pretty clear, and something I have been thinking about quite a bit. This quote popped up years ago when I was at a boudoir retreat/workshop and it has stuck with me over the years. I often find myself comparing in some way or another, to other mammas, photographers, bodies, stories, and this little quote pops up in my head.

It mostly works as a reminder, but doesn’t always work completely… old habits die hard…and all that jazz….

And in talking to anyone really honestly, I find out that I am not alone. A lot of us seem to be doing this. And while maybe MAYBE in some cases it’s benefitical (ie I am not an Olympic coach or anything so maybe sometimes you have to see where your competition is) but for me and my life, comparison doesn’t add anything positive to my life. And old Teddy agrees :

Swimming with Addy reminded me that instead of focusing on what I shouldn’t be doing (comparing)….which, in fact, I shouldn’t be doing…what I need to focus on is my very own race.

I can’t worry about who is in front, who is behind, where anyone else is. It doesn’t matter if I am first or last as long as I am running the race that I am called to the very best that I can run it. So lets run/swim/walk/paint/dance our way along the path we are meant to take.

Your path is your own and just as no two fingerprints or snowflakes are the same, your race is not going to be the same as anyone elses’ and neither is mine, and that is  ok.

Am I right friends?

Well I know that I am on this one! Here’s to being uniquely ourselves!

I am taking some time this week to think through exactly where my race is meant to be and make sure that my daily life is lining up with getting me trained up to do my very best. I hope that today you can feel content with where you are, it’s a challenge I know, but so much joy can be found in contenment.

 

Have a blessed day!

Walking in the Waterfall. A Matter of Perspective

Walking in the Waterfall. A Matter of Perspective

by | Feb 15, 2017 | Moments of Perspective, Real Life. Real Thoughts.

Tonight I got an email announcing the next Inspired Retreat! I am so excited to put my hat in the ring to be a speaker at this amazing retreat (and am so pumped that our next Awesome Life Retreat is rounding out to be extra amazing in just a few short months!).

It served as a reminder that I wanted to share a little bit about my favorite experience at the Inspired Retreat this past fall. The whole experience was wonderful. I felt spoiled, and loved, and learned so many amazing things for business and personal life. Most of all I was surrounded with likeminded women who just kind of got me. Women who want to balance their passion for their family with their passion to create and run their business. What a gift it was to share space with these beautiful people.

One day their was an optional hike to a waterfall. I had a pretty awful cold, and headache but wanted to get out there with the crew. One of my beautiful new friends and I had decided we would swim in the waterfall, but I told her before we went that I wasn’t sure I could, or that it would be a good idea, seeing as it was so cold. (side note… these people talked about how cold it was, they are most certainly not Canadian….the water was refreshing!!!) So when we did the hike and got there to the majestic waterfall, no one was getting in. So I decided to go for it! It was a little chilly and Kristie and I started the process of getting in…. but the process was slow and I know from experience that the rip-the-bandaid method usually works well….so I hugged my friend right into the water. After the squeals and giggles we swam over to the bottom of the waterfall and it was HUGE. The perspective from down there was just so impressive, there were a few ladies who were on the edge of getting in, but hadn’t worn bathing suits (I didn’t either) so I came back and helped someone else in, and then she went back and helped two others in. By the end of it I think 8 or 9 ladies had gotten in. I don’t say this because I was the first one, I say this because it’s amazing what can happen when we encourage and support each other. It was amazing to see the domino effect of one woman encouraging another to step out of their comfort zone!

So if that wasn’t enough of an encouragement from this magnificent waterfall, the next morning Kristie and I got up and went for a walk. We were going to run, but my sick self couldn’t handle it. We found a trail that was to go to the top of the waterfall, and after a little exploration we found the trail and got to the top of the waterfall. And it was um…tiny. Honestly, TINY. The same waterfall that the day before, that had seemed magnificently overwhelming, was now TINY.

Did the waterfall change?

Nope.

Did the size of it shrink?

Noperoonies

So what changed?

My perspective!

It reminded me of a sermon I heard years ago about having a higher perspective, “God’s Eye View” by Tommy Tenney pretty much sums it up. But the reminder is that we need to think higher, view things how God would… from above!

A problem or situation can seem overwhelming when it’s looming on top of you, but when you change your perspective, give it to God, climb a little higher and you’ll see that it’s not so big, the crashing sound of the water will lessen the further you remove yourself, the higher you go, the smaller it seems.

I am learning to not drown under the problems that come my way, but try to change my perspective and get out from under them!

Eeeekk, the Truth of It All.

by | Jan 29, 2017 | Real Life. Real Thoughts.

Is pretty simple.

I am not nearly as willing to be vulnerable as I thought.

It’s easy for me to post when I have something that I am “supposed” to post, or something that I have promised someone I would post. But when it comes to just posting what is in my heart, I have been kind of crummy… I probably have about twenty posts started, and then I chicken out. With no “pressing need” to post, I just, don’t.

And I need to change that. I want to post what’s in my heart and share it well. But sometimes it’s scary. Well always scary. Scarier than I thought it would be.

But I didn’t start blogging again to just share pretty things. I wanted to be real, and honest. So here I am. This is where I am at today, right now…

I am sitting at my mom’s house in Florida, and feeling torn about how I want to spend my time here. The last two times I came to Florida I needed to just rest. I took breaks, I laid down a lot, but that was about it. I mean I played with the kids, but headaches and dizzy took over a lot of the time. And this year I feel better. Not 100% better, but today I was able to be present with the kids, exercise, play, run errands, and still end up with just a wee headache mid-day.

So here’s the thing. I usually have a plan. I know that I planned to be active, do some media and marketing work. And that was the extent of my plan. But then I feel like it would be a waste not to use this time to work on my body. But then I just want to be able to enjoy being here. But is it possible to enjoy WHILE counting points? Seems like too much work for vacation… but then this is a month, more than a typical vacation. And this leads me to the post I started on where I am in terms of weight loss. On the wish want commit scale side of things (I’ll actually be sharing that soon…) I think I am still firmly in the want stage… it just doesn’t seem to be a priority for me right now. Being healthy in general is pretty good.

And I’m watching This is Us, sitting next to my Mamma, thinking this is kind of a silly thing to post. Yet, here I am, this is me, I am hitting “send’ (well its actually “publish”)

Promise I will be back soon.

Enjoying Staycationing before Vacationing at Oceanstone Seaside Resort

Enjoying Staycationing before Vacationing at Oceanstone Seaside Resort

by | Jan 19, 2017 | Adventures + Travel, Tasty Food + Recipes

Enjoying Staycationing before Vacationing at Oceanstone Seaside Resort

Thirty six hours since I left my amazing weekend at Oceanstone and I think I am still in ultra Zen mode. Actually I know that I am. Honestly, I am going to run you through the awesomeness that was this weekend, but in all the places we have EVER travelled, we can not recall EVER having been as relaxed as we were this weekend. I have always loved Oceanstone, from the first time I photographed a wedding there, and through the many that followed. I also held my first charity event there, my first photography workshop, and it’s where we will be holding this year’s Awesome Life Retreat. Alex and I are going to be apart for over a month and I will be with the kiddos all day everyday. We wanted to rock a winter Staycation locally and to me there was no better choice than Oceanstone Seaside Resort.
The team on site really makes you able to relax and unwind by taking care of everything. We knew we wanted to enjoy some meals at Rhubarb, but we also wanted to stay in our sweats all day and eat in our cottage. Chef Steve stocked our fridge with “Chili and some fixings” and it was a complete feast!

Oceanstone Seaside Resort

When we arrived on Friday night we came into the lobby and were greeted by the smell of warm cider, a crackling fire and friendly faces. We got checked in quickly and found our way to our cottage. Ok, it wasn’t that difficult for me to find, being as I have photographed people getting ready for their weddings in almost every Cottage on site… BUT almost all of the cottages are directly overlooking the water, so finding your totally awesome spot is not hard to do!

Our little cottage was stocked up with some treats (You can arrange to have things left in your room! They now carry some great local craft beers (ok I am ASSUMING that they carry them because they are great, we all know I don’t drink beers!) and their Chef often puts together special packages (for example you can pre order chocolate covered strawberries or a creatively curated stay in snack basket for Valentines day!) I haven’t tested their limits, but I am pretty sure that you could make any reasonable request and they could probably make it happen! I couldn’t have been happier that I had a mixed box of LURE Caramel Co. chocolates waiting for me. I had already fallen in love with their Chocolate Covered Sea Salt Caramels but when I tried “Wunderful” well that’s just, well, ah-ma-zing. I think I would have purchased another box just of those if they had had any left up at Rhubarb (so it’s probably better for my waistline that they didn’t!)

Most cottages are fully equipped with kitchens, so you can also bring your own stuff with you. We totally brought our favorite ice cream and stuck it in the freezer. Now it held no candle to the homemade CREAM CHEESE ice cream that was served with our dessert at Rhubarb, but we enjoyed it on our night in.

Sunset at Oceanstone Seaside Resort Nova Scotia

Oh gosh, I’m not even to dinner on Friday night! Ok let’s get to it. We arrived just before sunset so we unloaded our stuff and went down by the water to see the sunset. Well that was the intention. But there were something like 90km an hour winds, and I didn’t have socks on with my flats, so we grabbed some pictures and headed back inside. We found the beautiful deck upstairs and I kept sneaking outside to grab some shots as the sun went down and the sky turned all kinds of vibrant hues of orange and pink. It was STUNNING. I can totally picture sitting out there with a drink and a book pretty much anytime other than right now! We chilled and chatted and headed up to Rhubarb for dinner.

Rhubarb Resturaunt at Oceanstone Nova Scotia

Rhubarb was already pretty full when we got there just before seven and the musicians were getting set up to play music. We were right next to the stage area and we were a bit concerned that it might be too loud, but it wasn’t! Andrew Gillis played the harmonica and sang and Mike Lee played the stand up bass. The tone of the music was wonderful, the fire was warm next to us and the food was full of flavour, our server was fabulous so all in all it was a win win win! It was busy, but we were never without water. Honestly it doesn’t sound like a huge thing, but we drink a lot of water (I say as I finish my third tall glass of water since I started this post!) and it just means that she was present, she didn’t hover or intrude, but made sure we had everything we needed, and kept us up to date on what was happening. We decided to both start with the soup of the day which was a maple squash. It was a perfect blend of sweet and savoury. I have made a few carrot soups and squash soups, but this blend was rich and light. Alex said had he known how good it was he would have just ordered a large bowl and another biscuit, but I am glad that he didn’t know because we got to share two meals. This is now a rarity for us. Much like Joey on friends Alex’s usual mantra is “Alex doesn’t share food”. When he was trying to woo me when we were dating we would share meals often, only once we were married I learned that it was something he despised doing, he likes to know that the food set before him is his, and his alone! BUT we both we enticed by the homemade pizza dough made with Canada Dry Ginger Ale (the only ginger ale worth drinking IMO) and the chef’s specialty pasta of the evening was a Chicken Alfredo with fresh tossed Tomatoes. We hadn’t had a real alfredo style pasta out in AGES so we decided to share both. Yay!

We didn’t want to leave because the music was fabulous, and it was so cozy. I am not often enticed by desert when I’m already full. I am usually a “I’ll come back JUST for dessert another time” type gal (and I do!) but their pastry chef Kate (who also makes the LURE chocolates!) makes all of the desserts and when one of the owners, Diane, told me about the Beet & Carrot Cake with the homemade Cream Cheese ICE CREAM, well we just HAD to try it. Alex and I had carrot cake for our wedding 10 years ago, so it holds a special place in our hearts… and this most certainly did not disappoint. Now, I hate the word, but this cake was moist! Yet light, and there was no icing on it, so you ate the cream cheese ice cream with it, and it disappeared before the end of the song!

Breakfast in Bed, Oceanstone Staycation

We drove back to our cottage, (Yes I felt lazy but it was stinkin COLD out!) Alex got a fire on, the heat filled the room and drifted wonderfully up the stairs making the bedroom extra cozy! We chatted while sitting by the fire (actually we were motivated to look at houses, because this cozy little cottage made us firmly believe we could LIVE in a smaller home, so we started re-exploring that option). Our full bellies and the warm fire made going to sleep early a non negotiable for us, and honestly when we woke up the next morning I thought we could be in a resort in the south. It was still warm and toasty in our room, and the sun was shining in the windows. The room was light and bright and with some reclaimed wood features, it just felt so homey. We slept until almost 8am, and started a fire again before heading over to the lobby to grab some items from the continental breakfast. They have some tables set up if you want to eat in the main building but I wanted to have breakfast in bed (because I have only ever done it twice before and it seemed like the perfect opportunity) so we brought our breakfast back to the cottage. Alex boiled a couple of eggs that we had brought because he needs to start his day with some protein, and before I knew it it was 11:30 in the morning. The wind had died down some so Alex convinced me to dress all cozy warm and go outside. Oceanstone had a left a little sheet with some local walks and hikes for us so we checked it out. We had done Polly’s Cove before and I didn’t know if I wanted to commit to that long of a hike by the water so we decided to explore the Whaleback trails. “Informal trails” is how they were described and that was definitely a good note to have, some of them were pretty difficult to follow. We only walked about a kilometer but it took us an hour and a half because I kept wanting to stop and take pictures (or hide from the wind behind the rocks) and Alex wanted to keep breaking the ice. Not going to lie, I definitely got in on that action! After our adventure we grabbed a quick burger at the finer diner, then headed back to the our little Crow’s Nest cottage.

Whalesaback Exploration Peggy's Cove

The fire embers were still glowing so we fired that back up again. I left the bathroom door open to warm it up and had a bath, it was so QUIET! Since we COULD, we had a nap at about 4pm. Such an odd time for nap but we really couldn’t help ourselves. I woke up just in time to snap a few sunset shots again, and then we got prepped for supper. It was pretty tough…we had to put the chili pot on the stove and then take the fixins out of the fridge. Honestly I need to explore some of the local options for meals that you can take and cook at home (Rhubarb was actually doing this with Chicken Pot Pie on Sunday, but Alex doesn’t like it, so it was a no go on that one!) Because it was FABULOUS. We got to stay in, be cozy, and lazy but have an amazing meal! It’s amazing what “fixins” can do to a relatively simple meal! Totally motivated to do a chili bar for friends sometime soon!

We watched some of the most recent Jim Gaffigan special on my laptop, I laughed until I cried but then I saw alex dozing off next to me. He went up to bed and I spent a few hours working on my website (I hope you like the changes, it’s still a work in progres, don’t worry…I know!) and then I stoked the fire and went up to bed. We may have gone a little overboard on the fire because it was HOT up there, but I didn’t mind!

Sunday morning I grabbed some photos around, and then we went up to Rhubarb for brunch. We were the first ones there (I had actually gone in before they were officially open to grab some shots) but it filled up pretty quickly! Definitely worth making a reservation if you’re going to be going around eleven or twelve. Apparently Alex and I were carbo loading because he got pancakes and I got french toast, both came with bacon (for the win!) and I mine also came with roasted potatoes. I didn’t used to like breakfast foods at all, my poor dad and the creative ways he tried to make breakfast interesting for me! But a lot of it came down to texture, so I am always a little leary of french toast, because when it’s not cooked properly it just ends up being a soggy mushy mess….but this was PERFECT. It was one THICK slice of homemade bread, I’m talking a few inches thick! So the egg mixture was cooked on the outside and the fresh bread was perfect on the inside. Served with a blueberry compote and creme fraiche and a side of maple syrup, with a light dusting of cinnamon somewhere….it was lovely. Having the savory bacon and potatoes with it was a great mix. I love variety so this meal choice meant Alex didn’t have to share with me (although I did steal some of his maple butter to try! TASTY) Neither of us really drink coffee, but I did see some pretty good looking lattes going out. I also had a glass of OJ, I forgot to ask if it was fresh squeezed, but if it wasn’t, it certainly tasted like it was! They offered dessert, and honestly I was so tempted to have more Beet Carrot Cake, but my breakfast had been pretty much dessert, so I couldn’t justify it!

We went back to our cottage and packed up so we could pick up our kiddos from our very generous parents who had watched them for the weekend.

Lure Chocolates, Rhubarb Restaurant and Gallery
Brunch at Rhubarb

We loved everything about the weekend, but what I have to say was the best part was the feeling like we didn’t NEED to do anything, that it was OK to just relax. In the winter this is much easier for me, and I think that we really needed it. The atmosphere made it possible for us to really relax, which lead to lots of authentic and much needed conversation about what we want for our family and for our year. I know that may sound crazy, but our lives are a bit helter skelter, and though we are being much more intentional about time together, it’s often at the end of a day when we are tired, and we have to deal with real life logistics (Like you know, you need to pick up the kids from daycare, and don’t freak out when you get home and the TV is gone, I took it for my workshop) So often the big stuff just doesn’t get covered.


So although the food was AMAZING and the fire was cozy and comforting, the real gift to us was the ATMOSPHERE that was created by the entire weekend that gave us this relaxing time together.  

Oceanstone & Rhubarb (and of course LURE Caramel Co.) we can’t wait to be back! Counting down the days until the Awesome Life Retreat (May 7-9)

Give yourself or someone you love the gift of going to Oceanstone, or rock it with the gift of going to Oceanstone AND our retreat (a win win win! Food & accommodations included!) You seriously will NOT regret it!

This post was partially sponsored by Oceanstone and Rhubarb. As always all opinions are mine and are honestly how I feel! I love this place! All images are Copyright This is Photography 2017 Please do not use without permission.