Anxious!

Oh, my. My stomach is in knots. I couldn't sleep. I can't concentrate. What's going on with me? I'm waiting to find out at least one answer (that leads to more questions)....

...And that answer won't come until tomorrow. Results aren't back yet. ARGH.

Some giveaways to take my mind off things:

For baby:

• Win a $200 shopping spree for The Baby Gift Basket Co. at Minnesota Mama's Must Haves! Wow. Ends October 31st.
• Win a soy-based Cuddle Cub from Cloud B at MomStart. Ends November 2nd.
• Win The Diaper Sprayer at The First Time Around. Ends October 20th.
  

For mum:

• Win a Duffle Your Bag Standard Labour Bag at Sure Baby. Ends October 31st.
  

and if you haven't yet, go on and enter to win a great cookbook or super nice skin care here on my blog! links at top left!

Impatient haiku

The blood test is done.
We get results tomorrow.
Waiting is so hard!

____
don't forget to enter my current giveaways! an awesome cookbook and some awesome skin care. links at top left!

The list

I got a haircut today... it looks pretty good, but I decided to get some sideswept bangs (yeah, that photo on my profile is a little out of date). Now the bangs are falling in my face all the time. I forgot about that part. Hm, I should get a new profile photo!

Tomorrow's my doctor's appointment. I'm not expecting any answers but I do want to request some tests and, I think, a specialist. If you haven't been following what's going on and are interested, basically I had a miscarriage in June and now am having some health/fertility issues... lately involving trips to the ER. Not so fun and very worrisome.

Okay, on to more optimistic things - giveaways :) I've got two going on here:

$30 gift certificate to Skin Free (10/19)
and
Spice Up Your Life cookbook (10/27) (new!)

Both open to US and Canada. If you haven't entered, these are both things I have tried and loved, and I'm sure you will too. You should go enter right now!

Elsewhere -

For baby:

• Win a $25 gift certificate to Daisy's Children's Boutique and Toy Store at Buggie and Jellybean. Ends October 18th.
• Win a $75 Zutano gift certificate to their Itzy Bitzy collection (newborn clothing) at Simple. Ends October 18th.
• Two winners: a Paci Sitter or a Toy Sitter of choice from Tutimnyc at Project Nursery. Ends October 16th.
  

For mums:

• Win a Pampered Mama gift box from The Spoiled Mama at My Wee View. Ends October 16th.
• Six winners of one these prizes: three belly belts, one pair of maternity tights, one super bra or one pair of perfect fit undies from Fertile Mind at Mommy News & Views, as part of their blogiversary celebration! Ends October 26th.
• Win a Hooter Hider from Bebe Au Lait at Mommy News & Views, as well. Ends October 29th.
  

more to come... but probably not until Thursday as my hubby is taking my laptop tomorrow! See you then :)

Spice Up Your Life! Review and Giveaway!

***This giveaway has ended***
Winner: Eve

My husband and I are 'foodies'. There, I said it. It's good to have that out in the open (if you didn't guess already by my posts!). We love our food - trying new restaurants, cooking at home, baking, preserves, you name it.

We have a reputation among our friends and family that good meals are guaranteed at our house. We are also vegetarian (I am 100%; my husband is vegetarian at home, and eats meat and fish on occasion at restaurants). Far from limiting our options, I have found that having a vegetarian diet has made me a much better cook. Once you get out of the mindset of answering "what's for dinner?" with "meat and two sides", you have a whole world of opportunities to be more creative with your meals. I adopted a vegetarian diet in January of 2001 and have never looked back.

So with my love of food and interest in cooking, I'm always on the hunt for new recipes. In fact, this month alone I got three new cookbooks. Yeah, it's an obsession!

One of the books I received this month was Spice Up Your Life, by Bindu Grandhi. (I was super lucky and won a copy over at Wishing Penny.)

The book is inspired by Indian flavours, so if you love Indian food like we do, you will love the flavours - turmeric, garam masala, cumin, cardamom and coconut make appearances. If you are new to these flavours, get ready to fall in love! We find the flavours to be rich, exotic and interesting, never overpowering.

This cookbook is a proponent of a 'flexitarian' diet - which just means that "it focuses primarily on grains, fruits, and vegetables, with proteins such as seafood and poultry mixed in sparingly." (So it's not just for vegetarians like me; there are lots of recipes inside to satisfy any family's needs.) This way of eating is good for your health - low in saturated fat, high in fiber, which can help you maintain a healthy weight and reduce your risk of hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and prostate and breast cancer. Sounds good, right?

There are loads of vegetarian recipes in here, and I'm also used to adapting recipes to be vegetarian (I've been told my vegetarian tacos and burgers are better than meat versions by die-hard carnivores!), so recipes like Chili Chicken can easily become veggie meals by switching out the chicken for seitan. So for anyone, the entire book would be a great go-to book for dinner, whether it's quick weeknight cooking that you're looking for, or something to impress guests on the weekend.

The very day I got the book in my mailbox, I flipped through and immediately found a recipe to make for dinner that night. I had all the ingredients already, and it looked easy and delicious. I was not disappointed! I made the Rice Pilaf with Red Lentils. Yum! My husband loved it, too. I found the rice and lentils cooked up quickly in my rice cooker (although you don't need one, I love mine) while I prepared the rest of the meal. It was truly a 25-minute meal, filling, delicious and perfect for a weeknight supper.

You can buy Spice Up Your Life on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, or Barnes and Noble. It's a great price and I'm thinking would make an excellent Christmas gift for the foodie in your life (or for yourself!).

I was so pleased with Spice Up Your Life and the meals we've already enjoyed from it, that I contacted Bindu to let her know. She has graciously agreed to provide a copy of Spice Up Your Life to one of my readers! Here's how to enter:

Mandatory entry:
Check out Bindu's website, The Flex Cook, and share in a comment what recipe(s) you would love to try from the sample recipes section. Please do this first!

Extra entries:

• 1 entry: follow me (publicly) on blogger
• 1 entry: add my button to your blog, or if you already have it let me know - leave your blog address, please!
  
• 3 entries: blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post

Six possible chances to win! Be sure to leave your email address, at least in your first comment, if it's not visible in your profile - and leave one comment per entry.

This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada, and ends at 11:59 pm EST October 27th. Comments left after that time will be deleted. I'll draw the winner using a randomizer, announce both on this post and that day's post, and also email the winner. If I don't hear back within 48 hours, I'll draw another winner. Good luck!

***This giveaway has ended***

Hold the swearing ...

We've just gotten back from the hospital and things are still unclear.

The tech and radiologist did NOT find the mass the tech from yesterday was talking about. Which means... NO ectopic pregnancy (major, unspeakable relief).

Having the beta levels from my blood test last night... may mean that I am actually in the very early stages of pregnancy. Not for sure. Maybe.

Which doesn't explain the bleeding I've been having (I am not talking implantation bleeding) or the pain.

From this morning, mentally preparing myself for methotrexate or laparoscopic surgery, to now, wondering what is up with my body, has been a huge, crazy rollercoaster for my husband and I. It's still a big mystery. I'll have to wait and follow up with my family doctor, next Wednesday. I'm not getting my hopes up, or at least trying really hard not to.

So thank you for your thoughts and kind words.. the emails I got and comments here. Let's wait and see what happens!

uh oh

After my ultrasound yesterday, they had me rush to emergency at the hospital. My husband and I spent 6 hours there to find out that my beta levels are positive for pregnancy, but my uterus is empty and there's a mass in my fallopian tube.

Oh, shit.

Sorry, not too PG but that's about the size of it.

They want me back at the hospital today to do another ultrasound and another blood test (checking the levels again). So that's where I'll be.

Wish me luck... I'm scared.

So far this trying for a baby business has been a disaster. The miscarriage in June, I have learned was abnormal - which I didn't know because I had inadequate follow up care (as in, practically none). And now this.

:(

Back of the line!

Hi, new followers! There's a giveaways list at the end of my day's post, as usual -
just scroll on down if you don't want the blather :)

Early this morning I went over to the new Winners store that opened here in my town. The store opened at 9:00 and they had advertised that the first 100 people in line were going to get gift cards, ranging from $10 to $100 in value.

When I got there, there were about 70 people in line already. For a chilly fall morning I was surprised to see so many women there. I hit the back of the line and settled in to wait. From the time I got there to the time they handed out the cards, about 25 new people joined the line AHEAD of me. WTF? People were joining friends, meeting up with others and basically butting their big butts in line ahead of all the people that were waiting there before them. NOT COOL, people.

One lady well behind me started yelling at some of the people that butted in line. She spent about 10 minutes telling them off and then loudly complaining about others who were butting in. The butters (?) basically laughed her off and acted all put out and defensive. Rude. I was actually happy to hear someone voicing what we were all thinking - get the F to the back of the line.

Then - then! The lady who had been so vocal decided to join her friends up ahead about 30 people. Hello? Hypocrite or what?!

Anyway. It was just rude, the whole scene. People were getting so angry and eventually the store staff just came out and handed out the cards to the first 100 people they saw in line (about 200 people showed up). I did end up getting one - $10 - hardly worth waiting for, really. And guess what? I was one of the last 5 people to get one. When I was probably at about #71 in line when I got there.

I mean... how hard is it to line up? Didn't we all learn the skill in daycare, kindergarten, etc? At what age do people decide, "Oh, I don't have to be polite. I don't have to do the right thing. I don't have to follow the rules of society."

So... I got a little Christmas present for DH with it and got out of there. Madness.

I've got my ultrasound at 2:30... wish me luck... I am anxious and upset about the whole thing. I need to know what's going on... things are just not right with me. I'm trying not to worry as I don't know what's happening. But the not knowing is scary, too.

Ok, enough grumpy ranting! Here are some giveaways for today:

For baby:

• Win a HALO sleepsack in brown, size small (10-18 lbs) at Mama's Money Savers. Ends October 20th.
• Win an aden+anais sleeping bag at Minnesota Mama's Must Haves. Ends October 21st.
• Win a SmartZip sleeper from Hello World at My Organized Chaos. Ends October 16th.
• Win a Rockin' Baby Ring Sling at Dirty Diaper Laundry. Ends October 20th.
• Win a Ringley (made in Canada!) teether at There's no snakes in New Zealand. Ends October 15th.
• Win a Ringley teether at Natural Baby Goods as well - must subscribe via email to the blog to enter. Ends October 24th.
• Win a cute wooden 3 Chicks Puzzle Set from ImagiPlay at Go Graham Go. Ends October 21st.

For anyone:

• Win Michael Connelly's new book 9 Dragons (love his books! I recommend the Bosch series!) from Hachette at Outnumbered 3 to 1. Ends October 20th.
• Win Alice Sebold's new book The Lovely Bones at Tutu's Two Cents. Ends October 20th.
  

and don't forget to enter my Skin Free giveaway! $30 towards all natural skin care... nice!

more to come...

Wednesday

So there's not much up here today; I just finished up (I hope) the commissioned painting I've been working on, and am moving on to the next one.

My website is totally booched - I've been sticking my head in the sand but that's not very good business, is it? I'll have to deal with it. Apparently the server at my web host crashed and garbled my site. Not cool :(

Tomorrow is the big day (sorta) for my ultrasound and blood tests. Of course, I won't get the results until next week. Fingers crossed. Also tomorrow (I need something to look forward to here) is the opening of a new Winners store in my town. And the first 100 people in line get gift cards for $10 to $100. I hope I get there early enough, and can leave in enough time to make it to the u/s appointment!

So I'm sure that's not all that interesting (hey, it's not to me either, I'll admit it!). But I do have some fun news: I'll be hosting another giveaway coming up, starting on October 13th. It's for a great new cookbook that you will definitely want. So, you know, mark your calendars - or just follow me :) and don't forget to enter my Skin Free giveaway!

Heads up!

There are a couple of things over at Happily Domestic that I want to tell you about.
First off, she's hosting a Cloth Diaper event between October 14-20 with a giveaway posted each day! Hooray for cloth diapers.

Secondly, she's also giving away a Jeep stroller this month - and yes, it's open to Canadian residents! Nice.

Ok. Back in a bit with more giveaways :)

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the $30 to Skin Free... link up there on the left.

The list for Tuesday

Starting off with my very own giveaway for a $30 gift certificate to Skin Free! Go enter, these products are really nice!

And a peek at the lovely flowers I received yesterday ... just because ... from my parents (how sweet!)
in which you can also see one of our new wall colours... it's not really as pink as it looks, more of a warm beige. If you look closely in the background you can see one wall of the entry, which is a muted green. I'm still not sure about the green (it's in the kitchen, too) but I'm going to live with it. The wall colour is Litchfield Gray from Benjamin Moore. The entry is Oyster Bay by CIL, which I unfortunately can't find a chip for online - what's up with that? The lamp is from Pottery Barn (with a shade from Sears), and the brushed stainless steel and glass console is from Crate and Barrel - we scored the last one of these available in North America, apparently! The mirror is from a local framing shop - and I wish we'd shopped around, as I saw similar ones for half the price at HomeSense. What was I thinking not going there first?! I redeemed Air Miles for the clock in the background :)

Here are some more giveaways to keep you busy:

For baby:

• Win a plush blanket from The Modern Baby Company at A Mom's Balancing Act. I adore the butterflies design! Ends October 19th.
• Win a MetroMamma MetroWrap carrier at The Bragging Mommy. Ends October 13th.
• Win a Softbums Basic Pack at Dirty Diaper Laundry. Ends October 19th.
• Win a Drybees AIO Hybrid at The First Time Around. Ends October 16th.
• Another chance for a Softbums Basic Pack at Life Happens During Naptime. Ends October 11th.
• Win a black Sweet Pea cloth diaper at Monkey Toes Reviews & Giveaways. Ends October 15th.
• Win a Thirsties Duo Wrap at The First Time Around. Ends October 17th.
• Win a Glow Baby "Baby's First Journal" at Minnesota Mama's Must Haves. Ends October 18th.
• Win Bummas wipes at Minnesota Mama's Must Haves. Ends October 17th.
• Win a Bamboo bebe outfit at Fun and Funky Mommy. Ends October 30th.
• Win a BambooBaby gift set by Bamboosa at Monkey Mayhem. Ends October 12th.
  

For the ladies:

• Win a Lady Lait nursing gown at Green Mama's Pad. Ends October 18th.
• Win a Va Va Vroom hoodie at Sweeps4Bloggers. Ends October 14th.
  

For anyone:

• Win a Bored, Inc. tote and tee at My Wee View. Ends October 9th.
  

Skin Free - Review and Giveaway!

***This giveaway is now CLOSED!***
Winner: Evil Angel!

Recently I won a giveaway on Night Owl Mama's blog, for a gift certificate to Skin Free. You may have seen some bloggers lately singing the praises of these products. I can honestly say, after having the chance to try out a couple of the products, that I wholeheartedly agree - these are great!

As you may know, we are trying once again to conceive our first child, so after watching and reading a lot lately about the scary ingredients in many skin care products (check out the video "The Disappearing Male" and the book "Slow Death by Rubber Duck"), I have become much more aware of what's going on my skin and therefore into my body. I've tossed a pile of products that I used to use regularly and have adopted a much safer and less chemically-laden skin care regime.

I am happy to say that Skin Free skin care products are 100% natural and meet a whole bunch of my criteria:

• All Natural, Vegan Ingredients
• No Perfumes
• No Petroleum Products
• No Harmful Chemicals
• No Steroids
• No Colorants
• No Greasy feeling
• No Animal Testing, Cruelty Free

They have lots of different products, even ones that address common skin concerns like eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis and blemishes. Plus... they're seriously luxurious to use and I love the way they smell!

The first product I tried is the Super Moisture Body Balm. This is a rich butter that comes out thick and smoothes on easily. A little goes a long way - I have been using this on my legs, feet and elbows and about half a teaspoon does the job. It smells wonderfully of shea and cocoa butter. The texture is smooth and soft but not oily. I put it on in the morning and at the end of the day my legs are still feeling moisturized and not dry at all. When I look at the ingredients, they're all plant derived oils with the addition of Vitamin E. Nothing weird or synthetic.

The second product I tried is the Acai Scrub for Sparkling Skin. Again a little goes a very long way. I have been using an amount the size of a pea and that is enough for my whole face. This scrub has a great texture, not chunky or rough like apricot scrubs, but more like a sugar scrub. The granules are fine and definitely give me that clean glow. The smell is herbal at first and I find it changes to more of a lemony scent as I am using it.

(I did notice that the ingredient list on the website and on my jars are slightly different. If you are ever concerned about the ingredients in your cosmetics or skin care products, it never hurts to ask what's in a product and do your own research. A great resource for this is the Skin Deep Cosmetics Safety Database.)

After trying the two products, I contacted Julie at Skin Free to let her know how happy I was with them. And guess what? Julie has generously offered to give one of my lucky readers a $30 gift certificate to Skin Free! So how do you win?

Mandatory entry:
Check out Skin Free and share in a comment what product(s) you would purchase with the $30 gift certificate. Please do this first!

Extra entries:

• 1 entry: follow me (publicly) on blogger
• 1 entry: follow the Skin Free Skin Care Blog on blogger
  
• 1 entry: add my button to your blog, or if you already have it let me know - leave your blog address, please!
  
• 3 entries: blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post

Seven possible chances to win! Be sure to leave your email address, at least in your first comment, if it's not visible in your profile - and leave one comment per entry.

***This giveaway is now CLOSED!***

This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada, and ends at 11:59 pm EST October 19th. Comments left after that time will be deleted. I'll draw the winner using a randomizer, announce both on this post and that day's post, and also email the winner. If I don't hear back within 48 hours, I'll draw another winner. Good luck!

Keeping busy on the weekend

We went to the local farmers' market and picked up half bushels of red peppers ($12) and tomatoes ($10), and a few more ingredients we needed. The entire weekend has been spent doing preserves for the winter :) Here's the tally:

Roasted red peppers: 8 cups, frozen in 1-cup portions
This is an easy one, if you haven't done it before. Just stick whole peppers under the broiler, turning about every 5 minutes, until they are blackened on all sides. Put them in a bowl, cover in plastic wrap and let cool. When they are cool enough to handle, core and remove the seeds, slip off the skins and slice into 1" strips. Save the juices if you can; adding the juice gives a lot of extra flavour to salad dressings, soups, sauces or even dips. The peppers are great on pizza, blended into soups or dips, or even just on bread or a cracker with a bit of cheese.You can store the strips and juice in the freezer for a few months, in the fridge for a week or so (covered with a thin layer of olive oil), or make some or all of them into...

Pickled Roasted Red Peppers: 7 250mL jars
This recipe's from The Complete Book of Year-Round Small Batch Preserving. I'm a big fan of this book and recommend it to anyone interested in preserves, from the beginner to the experienced.

White Wine and Herb Jelly: 9 250mL jars
I can't remember where I got this recipe. It's a pretty jelly with a sprig of your favourite herb inside - it makes lovely Christmas gifts (and for double the gifts, use smaller jars! lol). I used thyme from the garden and a Yellowtail Chardonnay, but you can play with different combinations. This with a bit of Brie on a cracker... Yum!

Tomato Fruit Pickle: 7 250mL jars
This is a recipe passed down from my great-great-grandmother. It's been loved in my family for over 100 years! Amazing, right?! It's a delicious combination of tomatoes, peaches, and mango (our modern substitute for pears and apples), great on crackers.

Chili Sauce: 16 250mL jars
This is my aunt Marilyn's recipe. It's another one great on crackers, sort of a chutney. We made a double batch!

Salsa: 6 500mL jars
Another from my aunt Marilyn. We added corn to the recipe - I love salsa with corn in it!

Lots of goodies for the pantry. It was a lot of work, but my husband and I did this all together which made it easier and more fun!

l-r: Tomato Fruit Pickle, Chili Sauce, White Wine and Herb Jelly, Pickled Roasted Red Peppers.

If you would like me to share any of these recipes, just leave a comment and let me know which one(s)! The only one I wouldn't share is the one from the cookbook; I imagine that's copyrighted and if you want it, it is so worth the investment to pick up the book - you could even use Swagbucks to get it for free from Amazon.

Friday and October? Already!?

Where has the time gone? Does it feel to anyone else like time is just slipping through your fingers at an alarming rate?

If anyone was wondering (probably not), my doctor is sending me for a pelvic ultrasound and blood tests next week to try to find out what's going on. Since I had a miscarriage in June, I've had some issues with pain and my cycle is just wrong. Honestly, I'm frightened that I won't be able to get pregnant or keep a pregnancy. I've "only" had the one miscarriage, but I'm 33 and I feel like time is running out. I'm trying not to worry too much because right now there aren't any answers, but I can't help feeling scared and unhappy about it.

Anyway. Trying to focus on good stuff. Here are some giveaways for today:

For baby:

• Win a Bath Luve duck at Adventures of Wanna-Be Supah Mommy. Ends October 16th.
• Win a bib and burp cloth set from The Modern Baby Co. at My Wee View. Ends October 16th.
• Win a Smart Pocket diaper and boosters at Mommies Angels. Ends TODAY so hurry on over!
• Win your choice of cute Hatley Coveralls at Piece of Me! Ends October 16th.
  

For the ladies:

• Win a book: Making Babies at Park Avenue Princess. Ends October 4th. As you can imagine I would love to read this.
• Win a Bravado Allure nursing bra at Just for Me...and You. Ends October 12th.

For the home:

• Win a set of stylish storage boxes for the nursery (or for elsewhere!) by JJ Cole at Project Nursery. Ends October 9th.
• Win a Glade prize pack (including wine and a Chapters GC!) at My Organized Chaos. This is for Canadians only! Ends October 10th.
  

I also have a great announcement for my readers... I want to let you know that there's an upcoming giveaway here on my blog! It's from a company with products that I'm pretty impressed by and I think you will be, too. Watch for a review and giveaway soon!

You know it's going to be a good day when...

...the espresso machine reaches the magical and elusive optimum point that creates perfectly steamed milk for the morning cafe latte.

I adore my Krups machine (it's mine, all mine - DH is allergic to coffee - can you imagine?!), but it does have its issues. It requires special finesse (and a ribbon, my low-tech solution) to keep the tubing for the overflow water going into the reservoir and not all over my kitchen counter. It doesn't shut off the steamer properly when you turn the dial, and you have to wiggle the dial to make it stop blowing hot steam everywhere. The steamer doesn't always make perfect steamed milk with the thick foam I love (though that may be more a milk issue, if it's not the perfect temperature to start out, or if it's a day or two past its prime).

But I love it. I use it every single day (well, aside from the couple of months during my ill-fated pregnancy, when I had an aversion to coffee). I'm drinking decaf these days but it's still amazing thanks to my Krups machine. And today's latte is perfect. Yay!

Stressing myself out

I could not sleep last night for the life of me - I was up until 3:30 am. Worrying. About work, about other stuff... I'm a little stressed over work. I am working on a commissioned painting that is taking longer than it should be... I have another, smaller and hopefully quick commission after that, and a gallery in Whistler wants 4-5 paintings for the end of November. I'm not a fast painter so this is a lot for me. I'm not sure how I'm going to get it all done. Eek.

And I'm a little worried about something more personal... things really are out of whack with me in regards to my cycle... I want to be in a place again where we're trying to conceive, but not knowing what's going on has me freaking out. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and hopefully will get some answers.

So I'm procrastinating and entering some giveaways. As usual. And I know that life would be less stressful if I didn't procrastinate - it's just a habit that I can't shake.

For baby:

• Hurry up and enter to win a SoftBums Bamboo Basic Pack that comes with 1 Softbums Perfect Fit cover, and 2 organic bamboo inserts, plus a FREE Bamboo doubler at Diapers and Dimples. Ends "sometime" TODAY, September 29th.
• Win a $20 gift certificate to The Soft Landing at My Wee View. Ends October 9th.
• Win a $50 gift certificate to Ochanga (boys' clothing) at Candid, Clever & Cost Effective. Ends October 11th.
• Win a Bath Luve Duck at Cute Like Me Giveaways. Ends October 5th.
• Win some super cute Muddy Pigs bath toys from Munchkin at My Wee View. Ends October 9th.
• Win an aden+anais swaddling blanket at Monkey Toes Reviews & Giveaways. Ends October 12th.
• Win your choice of clothing item (for little girls) from Prairie Wild Rose at Glimpse. Really cute handmade pinafores, blouses, etc.! Ends October 13th.
• Win a Banana Bottoms diaper (made in Canada!) at The Cloth Diaper Experiment. Ends October 11th.
  

For the ladies:

• Win a Bella Materna Seamless Cup (nursing) Bra at Take Time To Smell The Rose. Ends October 19th.
• Win the book Your Best Birth at The Greer 5. Ends October 12th.
• Win a $150 gift certificate to Yumi Kim (super clothing) at I Am Style-ish. Ends October 4th.
  

For grown-ups:

• Win a $50 gift certificate to Eden Fantasys at Candid, Clever & Cost Effective. Ends October 6th.
  

For the home:

• Win a $30 gift certificate to Accent Furniture Direct (loads of home decor) at Baby Loving Mama. Ends October 9th.

Little things...

One little thing that has been good for me lately is Swagbucks. Have you heard of it? You just register, use their search engine just like any other search engine when you are looking for stuff online, and get randomly rewarded with Swagbucks, which you can then redeem for gift certificates (from loads of places) and other swag. If there's a catch I haven't found it. They actually add up pretty quickly. I recommend it, it's a super easy way to get a little bonus from something you use every day. I have already 'earned' $20 in Amazon.ca gift certificates!


I used my gift certificates towards a new cookbook from the fantastic restaurant rebar in Victoria, B.C., which we visited when we were out on the west coast a few weeks ago. I found it kind of similar to another amazing restaurant in Toronto called Fresh. They are both vegetarian restaurants that serve simply amazing dishes that are inventive, full of flavour, super good for you, and so filling. Both are ranked MUST GO (according to me) if you are anywhere nearby. So on visiting rebar I knew I had to buy their cookbook... I can't wait until it comes. Yum!

Thanks for the encouraging words on Friday... I was having a rough day. I think sometimes I just need to let it out, have a good cry, and then I can get on with things. It is getting easier despite my feeling that it never would... but there are still rough spots.

I spent the weekend cooking which is totally my way of comforting myself when I'm feeling down... I made more pickled beets, two carrot-apple loaves and some carrot wheat muffins, four batches of pesto, froze a pile of prepared tomatoes, made a beet-greens and bocconcini pizza that was AMAZING (based on this recipe from Vegetarian Times), made an Indian Lentil Pilaf (one of our go-to meals for easy, yummy dinners)... all this mostly with stuff from our garden (carrots, beets & greens, basil, tomatoes).

And of course finished moving the furniture from the house painting which is finally done! Well... except he touched up our ceilings in a whole bunch of places with the wrong colour and sheen of white, which looks crappy... And then the regular vaccuuming and tidying that goes into every weekend. Busy.

We visited last night with our good friends and their 2.5 week old little girl... she has more hair and a stronger cry than she did a week ago when we saw her last! She is simply adorable. I sure hope it's our turn soon.

Okay. Now it's been a few days and of course there are some giveaways to catch up on! Here's a start:

For baby:

• Win a $25 gift certificate to JamTots at Organic Girl. Ends October 25th.
• Win a $75 gift certificate to Lola & Ben at {Natural} Mommie. Ends October 7th.
• Win a BabyBjorn Synergy Baby Carrier and bibs at Organic Girl! Ends October 15th.
• Win your choice of outfit from Kumquat at Piece of Me! Ends October 11th.
• Win a Hello Baby Gift Pack by All Things Jill from Trees and Tots at Canadian Natural Mama. Ends October 20th.
• This is a big one... win a City Jogger Micro Stroller from Country Moose Kids at Organic Girl! Ends October 19th.
• Win your choice of shirt from SnugFits at Feisty, Frugal and Fabulous! Ends October 26th.
• Win a Mini Toy Wrangler at Feisty, Frugal and Fabulous! Ends October 2nd.
• Win a Wet Happened? Wet Bag from Let's Go Strolling at The First Time Around. Ends October 9th.
• Win a 50-piece block set by Wonderworld (age 2+) from All Modern Baby at Babies Gotta Have It. But hurry, ends September 30th.
• Win a $30 gift certificate to the All Childrens Furniture store by CSN Stores at A Mom's Balancing Act! Ends October 12th.
• Win a set of Bummas cloth wipes at Mommy Loves Giveaways. Ends October 2nd.
  

For the ladies:

• Win a $25 gift certificate to GoJane (women's shoes, clothing and accessories) at All Ruby Cakes. Ends October 8th.
• Win a Bumblewee nursing top and bra at Organic Girl! Ends October 4th.
  

For anyone:

• Win a $70 gift certificate to AllModern.com (furnishings & accessories for the home) at Traditionally Modern Designs. Ends October 5th.
• Win a Coffee Beanery Gift Set at Things Moms Like! Ends October 10th.
• Win a 1 pound box of Enstrom's Milk Chocolate Almond Toffee at Sweeps4Bloggers. Mmm. Ends October 4th.
• Win a Maple prize pack from Coombs Family Farm at Wishing Penny! Another mmm. Ends October 8th.
• Win a $55 gift certificate to CSN Mirrors at It's Trickey! Ends tomorrow, September 29th, so hurry!
  

Augh...

The painter's son is sick so he's not coming today. We were up late last night moving furniture out of his way. One extra night of chaos... not cool. We are so looking forward to having our house back to ourselves, neat and tidy. He has a lot of work to do yet - our whole hall and living room, entry, closet, and touch-ups all over the house. So he's coming tomorrow. DH won't be happy about it. I'm not particularly happy about it either.

The last of my seven no-longer-pregnant friends had her baby last night - a sweet little boy named Jonah. I adore the newborns (seven in the last two months, good grief), and their moms - but here is my confession. It makes me feel so sad inside as well. I would have been just over 23 weeks pregnant if I hadn't had the miscarriage. I wish the heartbreak would ease. It is not easy to let go of what might have been when you are surrounded by others' joyful successes. It makes me feel so alone; all of my friends are now busy with their new babies and I am still wishing for one with all my heart.

The thing that also sucks is that my cycle is all out of whack since it happened. I am not sure when I'll be back to normal physically... it's a constant reminder - like I needed one.

If you've come for the usual giveaway list, I'm sorry - I'm taking a day off from that today... I may change my mind later today when I'm feeling more myself, but for now I just need to think about something other than great baby products. Most of the time I'm full of hope but today I feel so desolate and am having trouble dealing. I don't usually vent too much but I needed it today.

Two more days

It's almost over. Two more days of chaos and we will be back to normal - just a different colour normal.

Today the painters are working on the hall, powder room and dining room. I'm having doubts about the colour I chose for the kitchen (uh oh). It's a muted green and I'm just not sure I love it for that room. I guess I'll live with it for a while and then decide. Maybe it will look different once the adjacent rooms are painted, too. Hmm.

and more painting...

Will it ever end? Today the house painters are finishing the upstairs (yay) and starting downstairs.

Did I mention how chaotic the house is? I can't stand it! Hubby and I are a little obsessive about keeping things neat and tidy (can you tell we don't have kids yet!). The painters even commented on how clean our house is which I thought was nice! We are going nuts with all our belongings either piled up in the middle of rooms or piled haphazardly in the 'wrong' rooms where they have already finished painting.

Last night we reclaimed our two bedrooms (master and guest - no, we don't sleep separately!) and our great room. It was SO AWESOME to sleep in our bed last night instead of curled up on the loveseat! And then we had to move the washer and dryer out of the laundry room, the fridge and stove out of the kitchen... We have been moving furniture all week and we're so tired.

Say, if you're enjoying my posts... or not... I'd love to hear about it.

If you are really feeling the love, you can "reward" me by clicking on one of those google ads on the top left sidebar. They're not just for show - they are supposed to link to interesting stores and such based on blog content. And the clicks coming from my blog end up shooting a few cents my way from the ad sponsors. Really, it's like 6 cents or something. Not much but it (hopefully) will add up some time in the future. It's a simple way to make a blogger happy. I know I try to click on a few google ads out there in blog land when I'm enjoying a blog. Karma, baby!

Progress...

The painters are finished our bedroom, the spare room and the great room - finally - no more nights on the couch, we can re-assemble the bed! I am loving the colours I chose so far (patting myself on the back). They still have a lot to do, though... they'll be here all week. And yes, we did get a decent price - we shopped around for quotes and called references!

Just a couple of giveaways to share -

For baby:

• Priscila mentioned her giveaway in a comment, check it out at Little Miss Heirlooms - win a $25 gift certificate for vintage baby and child items.
  
• Win a diaper cake by Sweet Baby Cakes N More at The Bragging Mommy - but hurry as it ends at 10 am tomorrow (September 23).
  

Paintity Paint!

Hooray! Today's the big day... the painters are here! Our house is finally being painted after living with 'builder's beige' for two years.

Yesterday was sooo long as we cleaned, moved all the furniture into the center of each room, emptied the closets, then cleaned again all the spots where furniture was, and wiped down all the baseboards. it took about 8 hours to do the upstairs. The tv and curtain rods had to come off the walls, the beds were disassembled, it is some serious chaos up there.

We haven't done the downstairs yet (well it's clean but not the moving and second round cleaning), they are starting on the upper floor. I am SO excited to have colour in our home!

Last night we slept on the two sofas pushed together - of course hubby got the long sofa and I got the loveseat! I was so squashed all night. I don't think I got a wink of sleep. And tonight I'm teaching until 10pm... it will be a long day!

A few giveaways to share with you today -

For baby:

• Win $75 worth of Burt's Bees Baby Bee skin care products at Organic Girl! Ends September 30th.
• Win a Hotslings baby carrier at My Charmed Life. Ends September 30th.
• Win a Fisher Price Trio Building Set at Mom Central! Doesn't this remind you of Tinker Toys? I loved those. These look equally fun! Ends September 27th.
• Win a Trendy Tadpole tee at Candid, Clever & Cost-Effective. Ends September 26th.
  

For the ladies:

• Win your choice of a pair of shoes from Must Have Shoes at Jabbering Jessi. They have a huge selection, this would be great for adding to your fall shoe wardrobe! Ends October 9th. This is part of Jessi's Back 2 Blogging Bash - check out all the giveaways while you're there!
• Win a Blush topless undershirt at Helping Mommys Win. Ends September 24th.
  

For anyone:

• Win a $75 Old Navy gift card at Bargain Moose! This is for Canadians only! Ends October 7th.
• Ostensibly for children, the Nintendo DSi would keep anyone entertained. Win one at Mom Central. Ends September 27th.
• Win a Sophia's Gourmet Salad Dressing Sampler at Sweeps4Bloggers. Yum! Ends September 26th.
  

Getting back to giveaways

It's been a while! Here's a start:

For baby:

• Win an Organic Sleepy Wrap carrier at Jabbering Jessi! Ends October 9th. This is part of her Back 2 Blogging Bash - lots of giveaways, check them all out!

• You can also win an Organic Sleepy Wrap carrier at J. Leigh Designz! Ends October 9th. These look awesome.
• Win an aden+anais muslin swaddling wrap at Minnesota Mama's Must Haves. Ends September 24th.
• You can also win an aden+anais muslin swaddling wrap at Forever and Always (mind the speaker volume - this blog has tunes). Ends September 28th.
• one more chance to win an aden+anais muslin swaddling wrap at MomStart. Ends October 19th.
• Win an organic Bamboosa blanket at {Natural} Mommie - ends today (September 20th)!
• Win a Dylbug onesie (cute!) at True Cuddles... last day to enter!
• Win a Stokke Tripp Trapp high chair at Mom Central (must register with site to enter). Ends September 23.
• Win a New Native Inc. baby carrier at Penelope's Oasis (must follow her blog to enter)! Ends September 23rd.
• Win an aden+ anais Muslin Sleeping Bag from Spunky Sprout at The Veater Family blog! Ends September 28th.
• Win some really nice burp cloths from Little Luvee at Fun and Funky Mommy! Ends October 12th.
• Win an Evenflo Snugli Sway carrier at Mom Most Traveled. Ends September 26th. I won one of these recently from Mommy Goggles - I can't wait to receive that and test it out with my best friend's newborn.
• Win a gorgeous Boutique Mei Tai carrier at Natitys Design. So pretty. Ends September 24th.
  

For the ladies:

• Win a clothing item of your choice from Milan Maternity at Minnesota Mama's Must Haves. Ends October 2nd.
• Win a Hip-T at the Cute Like Me Giveaways and Reviews blog. Ends September 25th.

For cooks:

• I have been browsing my Small Batch Preserves cookbook lately for things to do with the fall harvest. Here's a chance to win a cookbook called jam it, pickle, it cure it at Views from the Farmstead! Sounds like it's right up my alley. Ends September 20th so hurry up!
• Hmm, cooks or babies? Win the Beaba Babycook (BPA-Free) Babyfood Maker from Toads & Tulips at Chic Giveaways. Ends September 25th.

For the home:

• Win a $60 gift certificate to CSN Mirrors at A Hen's Nest! Ends September 22nd.

For fitness:

• Win an Intro to Hoopnotica kit at Forever and Always! Have you seen Hoopnotica? It looks so amazing! Ends September 26th.
  

U2 and a Style at Home contest

Wow! The U2 concert was awesome, despite me being exhausted from staying up way too late the previous night. They sound as good (better!) in concert than on their albums - I love that. Some musicians seem to be exclusively studio musicians and rely on so much equipment to make their sound. It was perfectly clear why U2 is a band that has longevity, style and amazing talent last night! We had great seats too :)

All that raving and I'm not even a huge fan - I like their music, but it's my husband who is the die-hard fan. He's been to a concert for every tour they've done in North America since the early nineties. He went to see them twice this time around; last night and the night before! (He did score a free ticket for the Wednesday night concert.)

Anyway, loved it. Didn't take photos, just enjoyed.

Okay, the other thing I want to share is the latest contest from Style at Home magazine. Of all the home decor magazines, there are two that I have subscribed to for years and faithfully read cover to cover. My favourite is Style at Home. I love that they feature regular homes of regular people that have great style. When I read the magazine I get so inspired for my own home, and love when the items in the homes are not outrageously expensive (take note, Canadian House & Home! I love you too but I don't have money trees in my life!).

Plus I was so honoured to have one of my paintings on the cover of Style at Home back in January (and featured in a gorgeous display room at last year's Fall Home Show)! Can you imagine how cool it was to open up my mailbox, feel happy to see the latest issue of one of my favourite magazines, and then realize MY painting was on the cover?! So I have a soft spot for Style at Home. My work has been in magazines before, but never on the cover!

So - to the contest. The Style at Home Makeover Contest 2009 is an awesome chance for two lucky winners to receive a $2000 gift card for Home Depot, and twenty other lucksters to win $50 gift cards from Home Depot. Um, YES PLEASE!

Here's the deal... you submit a photo and explanation of the room in your house that desperately needs a makeover, and then we all vote (voting starts on the 25th of September). The most desperate can win one of the two giant prizes, and voters/commenters can win one of the 20 HD GC's. Ends October 8th... plenty of time to get the camera out. It's for Canadian residents only, and is a daily entry (by that I'm thinking voting/commenting daily, not posting the same room entry day after day!).

Good luck folks - if you enter, I'd love to hear about it!

Back and overwhelmed.

I'm back from vacation - it was great, but maybe a little too long - and feeling completely overwhelmed with the amount I have to catch up on, with work, our home & garden, friends, blogging and contests!

So some things are falling by the wayside as I get myself caught up. The blog is one, I AM coming back to it but slowly, hang in there :)

Plus my best friend had her baby (a little girl! what a sweetie) on the 11th and I've been spending some time with her helping out. I was there until about 2:00 am last night (with a half hour drive home, long night!).

Tonight we are going to the U2 concert so it will be another late night.

Next week the painters are finally coming to do our whole house... so all the furniture must be moved and walls empty for their arrival...

Busy!!

Just wanted to say I haven't abandoned the blog - I'll be back as soon as I get the rest of life into some sort of manageable state!

Just popping in

to share this info about lead in lipstick. Worth reading for you lipstick wearers.

I'm having a great time on vacation... see you when I get back!

On the Wild Pacific Trail in Ucluelet