If I were a better person, here is how I would have dressed on mat leave

This last weekend I had the distinct pleasure of meeting the new cutest little dude to hit the block. 2 week old...ermm...Don (I'll call him), is the ridiculously cute offspring of my ridiculously stylish good friend...ermm....Betty (I just watched Mad Men last night so these are the names I'm going with - whatever).

One would never guess seeing Betty that she just had a baby 2 weeks ago. When she arrived at the door, she was looking absurdly chic with her black tank dress, chunky turquoise necklace and practical but au currant black patented sandals.

As much as I was trying to focus on Don in all of his new-baby-looks-like-an-old-man-cuteness, I became immediately distracted by how great she looked... so after niceties and requisite telling of going-into-labour stories aside (which I weirdly love to hear, btw), I awkwardly blurted out..."How do you look so great?"

It's a weird question really and if she didn't know me as well as she did, she'd probably not know how to answer such a strange question, completely lacking in focus.

But knowing me as she does, she knows that really what I'm asking is "Where did you get your dress, your necklace...in short, what the heck?!?"

Betty explained to me that she bought 3 nursing dresses from a store on Jane Street in Toronto called EvyMama. To be clear, EvyMama is not cheap. Most of the dresses range around the $100 mark. This doesn't exactly fit within the no-decent-salary,

EI-budget does it? This is why, other than for 1 special occasion I personally stayed away from EvyMama while on Mat Leave.

I *so aspire to be one of those women who really only have 4 or 5 really super good quality items (probably black) in my wardrobe but I am a self acknowledged shopoholic so I focused on vintage, H&M, and yes, Joe Fresh while on mat leave.

But if you are the self restrained type who thrives on classic, EvyMama is a great store. I've selected a few options that I think are fantastic and versatile. And again all of these dresses have discrete little pockets for nursing. So great. And don't just use them for special occasions. These are comfortable and versatile.

The first dress above, called the Vanna Nursing dress, is $98.

I also like this dress which will be great for fall with tights and boots. Also $98.

And before you question whether these dresses are little too form-fitting for a new mom, forgettabout it. Own it.

And finally in the "didn't you know" category, nursing necklaces. No one does accessories better than Betty does and so she said she was panicking a little when she realized that maybe, her uber cool

and ornate necklaces were not so much compatible with new motherhood. But check out the Pi'Lo Nursing & Teething (yes teething - baby can chew on it when he/she gets to that stage) for $35.

I just got an email blast from EvyMama this morning saying they're having a one-day online sale. Check it out.

http://www.evymama.ca

This advertising sucks rocks.

...and so I thought I'd share.

In an email blast from Groupon about a local business that does blow-outs, they touted their services as such....

"Unlike nannies, textbooks, and Lamborghinis, faces can't be traded out for an upgrade every four to six months. Today's Groupon ensures your permanent cranium covering achieves its maximum state of comeliness: for $43, you get a makeup application and blow-dry at Do My Hair (a $95 value)."

Normal people realize that "nannies" should not be in the same category as "textbooks and Lamborghinis" right? And that nannies really shouldn't be referred to as a commodity that can be traded out for an upgrade, yes?

Maybe it's just that it's Monday but this is beyond offensive.

Just sharing.

It is not too early to be thinking about Fall fashion and you know it...

Ok, sure it's hot as Hades out there... but try telling magazine editors that.

If you look at the newsstands today, people, summer is official over. It's fall. And those big fat juicy fall fashion issues are on-stands now. And on that note, yes, full disclosure, I work for the company that owns LouLou magazine (www.louloumagazine.com) - but people, I'm telling you, go out and get the fall issue. I sorta lost touch with LouLou in the last year or so... to be honest, I didn't much care for it but it now has a new editor and a fresh new feel with a distinctively Canadian and affordable vibe. I'm officially inspired. If you see me walking around in 35 degree heat in grey, black, sweaters and boots, you can blame LouLou.

And as I was flipping through the issue I saw the world's cutest fall blouse, at a very reasonable $39.99....from...wait for it...huh? Sears???

And so as I was scouring the web for a picture of said Sears blouse to share with you all (and as you see I've found it), lo and behold do I find that fashion bloggers have been blogging about Sears new fall line-up and how they stole the show at Toronto fashion week.

The world has officially gone mad. And now you know too.

My Ode to the Air Conditioner: or Why I Would Fail Miserably at Being a Hippie

I had high expectations for yesterday afternoon - so much so that I pretty much wrote my blog before I even experienced the subject matter of my blog - which was going to be about how wonderful a day trip it is to picnic at a Farmer's Market with your baby.

I was going to write about how much I would have loved to be a parent in 1968 with all the groovy music, peace n' love vibes, and lo-fi expectations in terms of children's entertainment and...ermm hair products... and how going to a Farmer's Market as a destination fed into that deep routed desire.

I was going to show you super cute pictures of Archer frolicking on a picnic blanket with other children at said Farmer's Market while listening to local musicians singing uncontroversial political diddies about the HST and light rail transit.

It was a lovely piece. Really, it was.

But the piece (in my head, that is) started to take a gloomy turn as the barometer inched a little higher on the temperature scale (as if 27 degrees wasn't hot enough) and as the humidity rivaled a large tropical forest somewhere near the equator (I don't even know if there are tropical forests near the equator but if there are I imagine them to be quite humid... work with me people).

And on top of this, it should come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog, yesterday Archer declared it to be a no-nap sorta day. He's unpredictable like that. So you might imagine by 4pm, nevermind how tuckered he was, having 37 years on him, I was completely zombie-like.

So you'd think my being a rational person and all I'd postpone our big Utopian adventure?? Nooooo... stubborn me has to pack everyone up, tired and all, with a blanket for said picnicking, umbrellas (just in case), a pocket full of change for the yummy eats we would be eating, water, diapers, toys and head on down to Sorauren Park for its regular Monday Farmer's Market. We were going to have fun and lot's of it, gosh darnit!

Best laid plans.

It started off ok, I guess. It was lightly raining. Spitting really. It coulda gone either way. And we found a nice little spot, with potential for shelter under a nearby tent, near the music and in close distance to all of the wonderful little food vendors offering their amazing local organic wares.

We tried Tibetan Momos. A dumpling kinda a thing that was yummy and at a $1 a momo, it couldn't be beat. And there was the extra fun of saying momo to Archer numerous times.

Funny thing was, he wasn't laughing. Indeed, from the get go, if I even threatened to get up, he'd start whimpering. Not an all out cry, but I'm not sure what's more worse. Not even the funny little girl with the bright pink cast could crack a smile from him (although as I think back I'm not sure there's anything funny about a little girl with a cast at all - Archer is a wise soul, he is).

And then although we were trying to be cool with the whole thing, we started getting mildly uncomfortable with the fact that we had to eat our picnic food off of shared communal plates. And while in theory I think this is a great green idea, the whole concept had too many unanswered questions...who was washing the dishes? where were they doing this (it being in the middle of a park and all)? what if you wanted seconds? was it like a buffet where you start with a new plate or will the environmentalists judge you for not reusing your own momo-infused plate? Dude, it stressed us out.

Then there was the whole problem with the music. In addition to being a little too close to the impromptu stage for the little tired Archer, as it happens, neither Bob Dylan nor a member of the Arcade Fire were the entertainment of the day. And with all due respect to the lovely people who I'm sure volunteer their time and talents to the Farmer's Market, I still have in my head going around and around in an annoying loop (intermixed with the theme to Rory the Racing Car btw) a song that went along the lines of this "There are big maple trees...in Toronto Municipal Gardens, lalalala....there are little dandelions...in Toronto Municipal Gardens, lalalala...". People, the song seemed to go on for days.

And finally, there was the question of my hair. I think this is where me and and 1968 must completely part ways. I would not have had good hair in 1968. The technology just didn't exist to tame the wild beast that lies within my follicles. Yes, I am a vain, vain woman. Actually I'm a really insecure woman in all things hair which is why I spend an inordinate amount of time and money on it. And so when the little drizzle that I could live with hair-wise turned into a full-on rain (although not quite downpour), it was like all bets were off.

Save the hair!!

I ordered my dear hubby to quickly finish eating his organic but super yummy free range local pork sausage on whole wheat bun toute suite, packed up the blanket, and the toys and the water, quickly returned our shared communal plates to the communal plastic bin for the mysterious people to take the dirty dishes to a mysterious place to wash them (see, there are questions!) and up went the umbrellas and we were outta there faster and home in our lovely air conditioned condo faster than it took me to write that last sentence...

This all being said, in theory, this could have been the nicest afternoon *ever. And for that very reason, I encourage you to try it at your own local Farmer's Market before the summer's up.

Just bring an umbrella. Your hair will thank you in the end.

Creepy and moderately useful all at the same time.

Hmmm....Pillows in the shape of hands.

Ok, fine. Totally creepy.

World's Easiest and Best Tasting Dinner...Ever

Ok, so the whole cooking with job and baby is starting to show signs of coming together. Although I'm signed up for a hundred different daily emails that purport to give me easy recipes for dinner that very night, it's actually rarely the case. To be clear, people who make such claims, an easy recipe that I will actually make must include the following characteristics:

1. it must not take more than 10 minutes to prepare (chopping a bazillion veggies or making my own dough or pasta although I'm sure makes a dish better will never happen for me in the near future... never). I don't care if it takes 3 hours to cook, it's the preparation that always kills it for me.

2. it must only have ingredients that I have on hand or maybe just maybe can be found at my corner store. Like for example any recipe that includes the following ingredients are automatically out: okra, rutabaga, wasabi paste, rapini, blue cheese (really, do you have blue cheese in your fridge right now, really?)

3. in fact, generally speaking it should only include ingredients that keep for more than a day in my fridge I have lots to do and can really only manage to go to the store on Sunday. I realize this means I am generally more prone to scurvy.

So yes, lots of good ideas and good intentions out there - and so far I generally think the daily recipes from Everyday Food are the best (sign up for the email at www.everydayfood.com) - but all the best suggestions come from, you guessed it, my mom.

And this is a good one. Really good. We're going to have it at least 1x/week for the next 6 weeks. And then I will be completely sick of it and will never have it again but right now, pure genius!

Not surprisingly, it includes a lot of President's Choice products. I swear I receive no money from Loblaws despite my undying love for most things they produce. It's a pizza. An easy, relatively healthy totally easy pizza. Enjoy!

1 Original PC Flatbread

2 Cup Tomato Sauce

Bunch of Fresh Basil

3 tbls dried oregano

S&P

1 ball of mozzarella

3 cups Organics pre-washed Arugula

EVOO

Preheat oven to 400. Make your pizza sauce by combining the tomato sauce with dried oregano and s&p to taste. Spread over Flatbread and top with slices (don't grate - takes too much time!) of mozza and a ton of fresh basil (even I have this growing in a little pot outside - so if I have this you should too). Pop in the oven for 10 minutes. Top with a pile of arugula and drizzle with evoo.

Yummers.

Baby + Jersey Shore = Fist Pump? You decide.

As much as I love this site, Bunchland, that my friend turned me on to, it's possible they actually may have gone too far even for me - or at least maybe the makers of this YouTube video have gone too far. I'll reserve judgment on whether or not the Family Guide to Jersey Shore is useful information.

http://www.bunchfamily.ca/fist-pump-jersey-shore