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happy earth day! enjoy this precious video from our friends at tiny revolutionary.

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call me a scrooge but i have a problem with "goodie bags". the sentiment is there and i appreciate that; you go to a birthday party, bring a gift, have fun, eat cake, play with friends and your child leaves with a party favor.

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"life's most persistent and urgent question is, "what are you doing for others?" Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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alright, people, now is the time. this is your call to action. this is (or "tis") the season...

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turkey day, such a great excuse to get your family thinking about gratitude, thankfulness and helping others less fortunate (or just others, period).

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so your kid has their costume, they are thinking of nothing else but trick or treating this weekend, you've got your flashlight and all is good to go.

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every spring BIG SUNDAY arrives and this year it is upon us may 3rd. this is a day where families everywhere volunteer to help a long list of organizations. similar to michelle obama's "call to service", this day asks you to just DO SOMETHING, ANYTHING to help out. anywhere.

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here is a fun and easy project to do as a family. create a wildlife habitat for the neighborhood animals. no, not a den for coyotes or skunks, but a bird bath or feeder for your sky bound feathered friends.

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our new first-lady-to-be is a girl after my own heart. she's a mom of two, supports her busy husband, has understated style and wants everyone to give back. come on, we're 2 peas in a pod!

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now that our kids have so much "bright new shiny" with which to play, what better time to clean out the "dark old dull" ?

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so at our house, we celebrate everything (almost) and in order to keep it orderly, we get pretty rigid, cuz if you are anything like me, the thought of so many new toys makes you cringe.

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not done yet??? help the world wherever you'd like:

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firstly, DRUMMER BOY, the best looking toy i have ever seen. i LOVE the illustrations from loren long. the story is an exercise in gratitude and love. very touching and with the happiest ending imaginable.

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this is amazing.

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starting to decorate for the holidays?  how about a KINDNESS CHAIN. great for wrapping around a tree or hanging from the dining room ceiling.

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tuesday, november 11th, marks veteran's day. most schools are closed in observance, so here's how to spend the day with your kids...

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trick or treat for UNICEF is in it's 58th year!!! 

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for years i have been giving my grandparents cards on grandparent's day only to find that they had never heard of it and expected nothing special (until the year i forgot). now most calendars printed in the usa include this ode to the older gen. well, it is upon us this sunday, september 7th.

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another chance to show appreciation, this time toward people in real danger, risking their lives for our freedom.

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tuesday, may 6th, is TEACHER APPRECIATION DAY. true, it sounds like another hallmark fabricated holiday only to forget about now and be bathed in guilt later, but this one speaks to me. 

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just off the heels of earth day comes yet another opportunity to talk nature with your kids.

with lunches to pack, diapers to change and homework to correct we're supposed to celebrate ARBOR DAY???? the idea alone might push you over the edge? not to worry, it's bark is worse than it's bite.

some simple suggestions to help you see the forest for the trees;

plant a tree
hug a tree
lay on the grass and admire a tree
***sit and read a story (The Giving Tree?) under a tree
climb a tree
pick fruit off of a tree
just be together in the presence of a tree.


the lesson: reminding our kids that so much of what we need in our lives comes from trees; paper, wood and a little something we like to use quite often... oxygen. the birds, squirrels and thousands of other living beings need them for their homes. so, they pretty much deserve their own day.

***my favorite, it's a "kill two birds with one stone" activity.

here's a link for how to plant a tree from TREE PEOPLE.

here's a link for how to climb a tree.

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John Scalzi has some excellent advice for writers who are trying to make money out of said occupation. Go forth, read, take notes.

While I strongly agree with most of his advice, I have issues with two of his points:

3. Marry (or otherwise shack up with) someone sensible with money, who has a real job.

This is something that worked really well for John. I’ve met his wife, Krissy, and a more formidable, fun, amazing person I have yet to meet. And she knows from money. Seriously smart about it. I wish I had married Krissy.

But, really, this is Scalzi confusing his own excellent good luck with general advice for everyone. Not everyone’s going to meet a Krissy. I suspect there’s only one and she ain’t leaving Scalzi anytime soon. Not everyone has any interest in getting married or shacking up. And, call me a romantic, but taking into account someone’s money management skills is not something I was thinking about when I fell in love.

Not to mention the salient advice my mother gave me which was to never depend on some man¹ to look after you. Make your own way in the world. Earn your own money.

8. Unless you have a truly compelling reason to be there, get the hell out of New York/LA/San Francisco.

Rubbish! Big city living can be cheaper than being out in the burbs or the bush. Food is usually much cheaper, clothes too. Pretty much everything, really, except accommodation. That’s a very big except, I admit, but the notion that everything is cheaper outside big cities is rubbish. Sure NYC and Sydney have some of the most expensive restaurants and produce in the world but they also have some of the cheapest.

Living in New York or Sydney or Melbourne or any European city also means you don’t have to have a car. Cars are hugely expensive and they’re only going to get more expensive (price of oil ain’t ever going down, people). You live on your big property in Ohio or wherever and you have to have a car. I am a strong advocate of car-less living.

Cities are where a lot of the writing work is. We are still monkeys and face-to-face interaction is often more effective than emails or letters especially when you are starting out. Obviously, contacts aren’t everything: you have to be talented and hard working. There are many writers who have built careers without ever living anywhere near NYC or Sydney or London or wherever. But contacts can lead to work and there are more of them in cities.

There are more people in cities which means you’re more likely to find people like you. Living someplace where you are the only person of colour/writer/science fiction fan/nudist/australian/sculptor can really really suck. Sure you can find those communities online, but a real life community is pretty wonderful too.

And, lastly, cities are fun. They’re bursting with entertainment and great people and awesome food and all sorts of unexpected joys and pleasures. All of which I find incredibly inspiring for my writing. I’m not even sure I’d be a writer without all that wonderful city stimulation.

Ironically, I write this from a rocking chair in the country watching red-bellied woodpeckers feeding. I don’t hate the country; I just don’t want to live here.

1. or woman depending on your inclinations

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I just love WOTY week. It seems to fly by so quickly! Next week is Thanksgiving and I am looking forward to relaxing with some good books and eating a lot of food. The couch and my sweatpants will become inseparable! Until then here are some fun links.

RF went to school in A but is from NJ and now lives in NYC. Sometimes she goes by her initial B and she does edit a B for a living…

What not to buy the kids this holiday season.

I guess being married to an author did nothing for Padma’s vocabulary.

One of my co-workers has been having back problems from sitting at her desk too much. I suggest one of these solutions.

Stone Age feminism? That’s why I order take-out.

Congratulations to the National Book Award winners!

Almost titles.

John Oliver explains the writer’s strike.

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I mentioned to a couple of people that we got a new light for the front room and said it was a "schoolhouse" light and got blank looks. So I thought I'd show some pictures. This is a very traditional style of milk glass light fixture, in this case a semi-flushmount with a brushed nickel base. I thought everyone knew what a schoolhouse light was, but realize now that years of reading Canadian House & Home, Country Living, Domino, Canadian Home & Country, Elle Decor and Style at Home has possibly taught me things not everyone knows.

When did I become so home decor obsessed? I'm not sure. It had some practical applications when we were fixing up our condo in order to sell it, and of course we need to fix up our new home to make it comfortable, but I think you can tell it's gone beyond that. Luckily my girlfriends also seem to be a bit home decor obsessed themselves lately so I don't have to feel too sheepish for wanting to talk about tiles, paint colours and light fixtures all the time. (speaking of tiles we found some white 1" hexagonal floor tiles for our bathroom - I can't wait to install those!!)

So this front room is our living/dining room, but it's also working really well as my studio during the day. The computer is to one side in my secretary desk, and the dining table is perfect both for watercolour painting and sewing. You may notice the ironing board in the hallway - very convenient so I can do my cutting and pressing on it as I work on sewing projects. Right now I have my sewing machine out because I'm making a present for Bradley. Speaking of which, are you wondering why all the posts all of a sudden? Well it's an extra-posts-for-the-week-before-your-birthday treat for Bradley. And tomorrow is the big day! That's when I'll show you what I made for him.

p.s.



This is the old light fixture... just didn't really work with the decor and made the ceilings seem lower than they are, plus Bradley kept bumping his head. Plus environmentally speaking it was using a whopping 480 watts!

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