Triple the Fun

What?  An outfit post, on this blog???

That's right, I loved one of the outfits I bought in Edmonton so much that I had to share it.   Not to mention three of us bought the exact same outfit and 4, almost 5, bought  the same skirt.  

A little back story on the outfit.... Deena showed up hunting for the striped skirt that she saw on Lisa's blog.  

If you don't already read Lisa's blog, you should!  We went to H&M on Friday night and Deena set out on her hunt.  It was a hidden gem in the store, literally.  She walked out one happy lady with her striped skirt.  

When she tries it on for us that evening in the hotel room she had us all sold.  This skirt is stretchy, long, flattering , and only $14.99.  

Three of us went back the next day to buy it.  

While we didn't set out looking for the floral top that Lisa pairs with the skirt in her post, we stumbled upon one anyway.

 

When the mall opened on Saturday morning we were standing outside Anthropologie waiting to barge in.  Lucky for us, it was 30% sale items so that is where we headed and surprise surprise Dee and I ended up with the same shirt in the change room and eventually it came home with both of us.

I love this outfit.  I'm not going to lie, it is a little out of my comfort zone.  Maybe a lot.  But I love that I could see it on my friends and witness how great it looked giving me confidence to wear it. In public.  

   

Friends who shop together stay together!

Celebrating Friendship

Our annual girls trip has once again come and gone.  A weekend that always leaves our hearts fuller and our wallets lighter.  This is at least our 11th annual get together and one that comes with certain expectations, or shall we say traditions that have developed over the years.  Let me tell you about them.

Copious amounts of coffee consumed

It seems when we all get together there is always a pot, or 6, of coffee on the go. Not to mention the multiple stops to Starbucks, second cup, and most recently Dee introduced us to the yummy tasting mint tea.  When there is women, there is always coffee!

Wine (and beer and cocktails!)

When there are woman, there is most likely wine, or any other beverage you can get your hands on!  Lucky for us we have cheap taste.  Three of us were happy to drink our massive bottle of Moscato white and my fave bottle of red, Apothic.  All at under $20 a bottle... score!

Playlists from the 90s

I was lucky enough to be the DJ for the weekend using my 90s mix full of songs that remind be of the gals I've known for 25+ years!  There was Salt and Peppa (Deena), Cher (Sara), Dirty Dancing soundtrack (me) and many more.  In preparation for the weekend, on the 3 hour drive up to Edmonton I cranked up my play mix and sang at the top of my lungs.  Thankfully, I was travelling solo.

Dance Party

Along with the singing and 90s tunes comes dancing. Mostly by me.  Though we no longer dance in the clubs, there is dancing in the room, in the mall, in the change room, anywhere really.   I didn't realize how much I danced when I was with my BFFs until Dee kept video taping me.  The boys in my family (all three of them!) don't put up with any singing or dancing with out whining so I guess I save it up for the annual trip.  Lucky ladies.  Ha!

Early to Bed

Yes, we have fun. Yes, we have drinks.  Yes, we are in bed by midnight.  No regrets!  We are all tired mamas that need to catch up on our sleep when we have the chance to be kidless.  There may be a pic of me sleeping since I was the unfortunate soul to fall asleep first on Saturday night.  Sigh...

Early to Rise

When you have 6 gals sleeping in the same room you go to bed with the last and get up with the first  The first is always up before 7.  When you are used to getting up at the crack of dawn it is hard to sleep in.  In this case it is a bonus to be up early so we have time to drink all the coffee before the mall open.

BMs

I'm just going to put this out here.... I have been on multiple girl trips with different groups and the conversation eventually turns to talking about p-o-o-p.  There is one who claims she doesn't poo, one that says she poos all the time, and others that want to go and can't.  Please tell me I am not alone on this one.

Shopping

Our trip is focused around the mall.  We park at the mall Friday and leave again on Sunday.  WE eat  and sleep at the mall.  It is fantastic.  There we are, standing outside our first store as the gates are opened at 10am sharp...  This year, that store happened to be anthropology.  While I had the most success at Loft.  We collectively agreed that Simons was the our most successful store for the second year in a row!

Waiting

Put 6 girls in the mall with different tastes and different must have items and you spend a lot of time waiting in the hall or jumping forward a few stores and texting where you are.  We don't split up per se but we stick to the same general area of the mall and move together.  Patience is a virtue.

Eats

We are creatures of habit.  On Friday we eat at earls.  Saturday for lunch we do food court and I always get Taco Time.  Saturday night we have Cactus Club.  At each meal at least 3 people got the same meal.  Like exactly the same.  I was never one of those people since they would always get some type of seafood that I wasn't into.

Twinning

Just like our food... we also like to dress the same.  We always come home with the same outfits.  This year, 3 of us came home with the exact same skirt and shirt combo.  Stay tuned for Wednesday when I show you that popular outfit.  We also take a break mid afternoon when the mall is beyond busy.  We have a fashion show where some decide to go back and return items they aren't crazy about and others decide to buy something that looked great on someone else.  I was happy to report back to James that I spent the least amount of money this year.  He said unless it was zero it was too much.  

Choosing the next date

As we prepare to say good bye we always choose a date for the following year to make sure that everyone has it in their calendar  It is not a weekend that any of want to miss so we want to make sure it is the first item in the calendar for the following year.  Hello June 2018!

Celebrating Friendship

I have known these ladies for 25+ years.  Deena I've known for 33 years.  I am never going to make friends like these again.  They know me like no one else ever will.  Friendship isn't always easy. It is something that you have to work at.  But I firmly believe that you get what you put in.  Someone once told me that I wouldn't always be friends with the same people since life changes and so do people. I am adamant to prove this theory wrong. These are my people and I want them to be a part of my life always.  

Here's to friendship, because its worth it!

five on friday: first week edition

Just like that the first week is over and I'm calling it a success!  Why you ask?  Well let me tell you.

This kid is my favorite!

{one} No tears.  Grady came off the bus smiling every day.  Other than the night before school started, he has not been nervous about going to school.  He even gave one day a 10 out of 10 since he has his friend in his class.  My little man is a child of few words so the fact that all the words have been positive tells me that he is going to do just fine.

{two}  He loves the bus.  The part that I was dreading the most is the part that he seems to love.  The second he was told that they could have electronics on the bus was the same moment he decided that he loves the best.  I took the bus all of my elementary years and made some really great friendships and it looks like Grady is headed down the same path.

{three} A great teacher.  We had meet the teacher last night and I am really happy with his teaching team.  They teach in 'pods' which means that each grouping has a Math/Science teacher and a Humanities teacher and they teach 2 classes.  He has one younger and one more experienced teacher which is a great mix.  Also, the 2 classes have gym, art and field trips together.  Both his friends are in the other class of his pod so he'll still see them plenty!

{four}  Vending machines.  Grady is thrilled to have vending machines at school and has brought money twice to use them. He is also excited to be able to wear hats and chew gum in class because apparently 'it doesn't interfere with our learning'.  Ha!

{five} Excitement.  Some of the fear he had about going camping without us or dragon boating on the reservoir are turning into a excitement.  He tells me now he is only 'a little' nervous about dragon boating.  From what I can see they do a really good job of making learning fun and interesting.  I certainly wish they had a school like this when I was growing up!

One week down and I think we are off to a great start.  The premise of the school is great and if he can meet a friend or two in his class I am confident he will have a fantastic year.  It is perfect for my child who is generally hesitant to try new things.  This is going to push him outside of his comfort zone in a good way.  I hope that the rest of the year goes as smoothly as the first few days.  Fingers crossed.

First Day of Grade Four: Grady

Yesterday was Grady's first day of Grade 4, a full 2 weeks before the majority of the city goes back to school.  You may remember a post back in February where I shared that we were struggling with where to send Grady to school this year.  In the end, we decided to take a chance on the charter school and pull Grady from the school he had been attending for 4 years.

It was an early start to the day.  Grady has to take the bus to the new school which means that he has to leave that much earlier to get to the school by 9am.  When i woke up at 630 to get the lunches started and to enjoy a cup of coffee before the chaos of the day began, I found Grady reading a book in his bed.  So he joined me for an early breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes.  His choice, not mine.

Originally we planned to drive him to school, but in the end decided to send him on the bus and meet him at the other end.  He has a good friend joining him at the school who just happens to be on our bus, so we decided to put them on at the same stop.

As the bus pulled up, the kids rushed on and didn't look back. He is growing up so so fast.  I found myself feeling more sad sending him off on the bus then I did when I sent him off to kindergarten 4 years ago!

Part of that may be since I was just as nervous today as he was.  Grady gets his anxious personality from me.  Last night at bedtime he started asking so many questions and has a hard time sleeping.  I tried to answer as many as I could, but unfortunately, I didn't have the answers for him.  We talked about introducing yourself and some of the things that they may do on the first day.  I ended up reading in bed with him until he was asleep.

For the first day, we decided to meet the bus at school to make sure he made it and also to help him navigate to where he needed to be.  Sending him on the bus the first day was actually a really smart decision since the bus was next to empty.  I was a little stressed about beating the bus to the school since there is only 1 stop after Grady and I knew parking would be horrendous.  His bus was one of the last to arrive and it parked super far away not giving us enough time to make it over for when he got off.  I wanted to sprint over and James made me wait for them at the school door.  We watched him follow the group of kids and met him right in front of the school.

Speaking of the bus, they have this super cool app that uses GPS to track the bus.  So we could see exactly where the bus was.  Maybe this is normal but I had no idea they did this.  I am just excited to know where the bus is on the super cold days so we don't have to spend extra time out in the cold then we have to!

Once we found the Grade 4 hallway and located the class lists we dropped him at his room and he went right in.  He didn't hesitate or even look back.  Just like that, he had started school and he didn't need me.

One unique thing about this school is that for the first 3 days they don't know their class.  In 4 groupings they meet all the teachers and spend the day with a different group of kids each day.  It helps the teacher get to know the kids and to place them with the right teacher and classmates.  As much as we both want to know his homeroom I think it is interesting that they take a few days to get to know them before allocating them.

By the time 4pm rolled around I couldn't wait to hear about his day.  We were waiting at the bus stop 10 minutes early even though we knew the bus still had a ways to go. I gave Cooper my phone and told him to update me every minute and show me where the bus was.   As I saw Grady get off the bus with his nervous smile I just knew it was going to be okay.

I'd like to take a minute to brag on Grady.  I am so proud of him.  I would have lost my ever loving mind if my mom tried to change me schools in grade 4.  I like routine, I like consistency, and I don't like change.  Grady is exactly like me.  Yes, he was nervous. Yes, he was unsure.  But he did it anyway.  There were no tears, there were no tantrums.  Despite having reservations, he hopped on that bus and didn't look back.  I couldn't be prouder of the young man that he is growing into.

Here's to a great year!

Camping: Right and Wrong

Back in Feb I got a random text from a friend asking if we wanted to go camping in the summer.  I wasn't really feeling it but I said I would ask James feeling confident that he would say no.  James hates camping.  He pretended he liked camping until we got married, then we never went again.  I kind of got used to hotels and we left our camping days behind.

Boy, was I wrong.

James surprised me and said we should go on the camping trip.  So... I booked the camp site knowing that we could cancel for a full refund 30 days prior.  I marked the day in my calendar.  The date came and went and we were fully committed to our camping trip.  I guess it was time to finally buy a tent.

This weekend was our camping weekend and is was a huge success.   Considering that this was my first camping trip in over a decade we did a few things right... and a few things wrong.

Things we did wrong

We didn't bring our bikes.

I can't even say we forgot them since they weren't even on my list.  Last time I went camping I didn't own a bike or have kids.  How was I to know all the other families would pack bikes for their kids??  Grady was not impressed.

We didn't pack a heater.

This is where all the real campers roll their eyes.  Our site had electricity and water and again, we were the only ones without a heater.  I went to bed on Friday night wearing my clothes for the day, pants, shirt, sweatshirt, and jacket.  Yes, I wore my jacket to bed.  And I put on a tuque just as I crawled into my sleeping bag, and I was still cold!  Luckily, someone arrived on Saturday with a spare heater for our tent.  Saturday was much more comfortable!  

We didn't pack enough beer.

Technically we did, but others may not have as all of ours was consumed on night one.  Thankfully I was drinking wine and you could by more beer at our campground!

We packed too much clothes.  

Like triple what we needed in.  I wore the same 2 outfits the entire one we were there, including sleeping.  I didn't wear my PJs once since I kept wearing my clothes to bed.  I didn't use my bathing suit, shorts or half the tshirts I packed.  Though we did use every single sweatshirt!

My bush pies 

After having so many great bush pies at Blaire's house I immediately came home and bought my own bush pie maker.  I was so pumped to do pizza and dessert ones over the fire.  Yum!  I thought I was doing an upgrade and got a double one.  Wrong!  The bread hung over the edge and burnt off and I never got the bread to brown up.  It just melted the butter off and stayed soggy bread.  We still ate them, but what a disappointment...

Things we did right

Used fire starter sticks

I happen to have some of these in a random container of camping stuff I've kept for over 10 years.  These things were the bomb, especially since no one gets the newspaper anymore to use as fire starter!  James was kick @ss at getting a great big fire going.  These things were fantastic!

Packed Tuques

I had a few people to tell me to pack tuques even if you think you won't wear them.  I was SO happy to have these when I went to bed on at 1:30 on Friday night in the rain.

Chose the correct campground.

Don't get me wrong, Wilderness village is not for everyone.  It has running water and electricity at every site, 2 pools, a playground, multiple hot tubs, a general store, an ice cream shop, and a pancake breakfast on Sunday mornings.  It is for beginner campers like us. Ones that don't do it often and don't want to survive without a tent heater.  It was worth every minute of our 2.5 hour drive to have all the amenities.

Pro Packing.

I made a list and brought absolutely everything.  Countless times James would stop, look at me, and say 'we probably didn't bring XX' and I proudly told him we did.  From his speaker to can openers to pillows.  We packed it all.  From the lack of extra room in the back of the van, it looked like we packed half the house.  Ha!

Arriving before sundown 

We chose to take a few hours off work to make sure that we arrived at the camp ground with enough time to put up our brand new tent (that we didn't put up before we left) before it got dark.  It was a good decision since James ran a few minutes (like 40!) late and we stopped for gas and dinner arriving much later than we planned.  Not to mention our tent was massive and it took a bit of time to get it up and filled with all our sleeping gear.

Head lamps

One of the parents picked up head lamps for all the kids to wear once the sun went down and it turned out to be one of the best things we purchased.  The kids did wear them to run around, I wore it to read while I put the kids to bed and the adults used them to put up tents for the people that arrived after the sun went down.  Very useful gadgets!

Camping with friends

Going with friends is a win-win for everyone.  The kids had other kids to play with and the adults had people to help you set up your tent and to let you eat their bacon when you run out.  You share your beer, you share your food, you are each other's entertainment.  

My favorite moment of the weekend was on Friday night, after all the tents were finally set up, an most kids were sleeping, it started to rain.  Five of us stood in the entry way of a tent, in the dark, drinking beer and wine, and laughing until into the wee hours of the night while wearing head lamps.

I'm calling this weekend a success!  I still don't think I'd want to do it more than once a year as it was a lot of work. By the amount that we packed I am confident that we could have stayed a week!  I think it is safe to say that this will not be our last camping expedition and that if we do make it an annual thing, next year our luxury purchase will be cots for the tent, and a space heater!

five on friday

{one}  The busyness of my summer is finally catching up with me.  This weekend will mark the 5th weekend in a row of being out of town and I'm ready for a weekend at home.  I'm such a yes person.  Yes, I want to go to Vancouver, Yes, I want to go to Kelowna, Yes, I want to go to SK. YES, YES YES.  I need to learn not to over book myself and book in some me time.

{two}  Our fifth weekend away will be spent on our first ever family camping trip.

I used to be a camper.  I loved to camp.  I even have a camping stove.  Then James and I got married and we never went again.  It's been over a decade since I camped and I can't say I'm looking forward to it.  First, it is costing us a fortune between buying a tent and sleep bags for the kids and James won't let me buy a queen air mattress so we'll both be sleeping on a double which, let me tell you, is not going to go well.  If you have any suggestions of things not to forget, leave them in the comments.

{three}  I've stopped reading blogs regularly.  I used to read them like I read the news paper, every morning with my coffee. It just isn't happening right now.  I know I'll get back to it once the kids are in school and I sleep at home for more than 4 nights a week.  If I've been neglecting you, don't take it personally, I promise I'll be back.

{four}  Grady starts school on Monday.  We did decide for him to change school this year which involves starting school 2 weeks earlier than regular schools in the city.  I am nervous for him.  He is nervous and I don't want him to know I am nervous.  I've been busy figuring out the bus route and reading all the newsletters.  Starting a new school and new routine is a little scary for everyone in our house.

{five}  I haven't run since the Seawheeze.  A part of me is scared to find out if I've injured myself.  I don't think I have but I won't know for sure until I do that first run.  I've done spin and strength training but today may be the day I strap on the 'ol runners.

Have a good weekend!

Things I learned: Seawheeze 2017

What a weekend!  This 1/2 marathon weekend was one that I looked forward to and dreaded all at the same time.  I was excited to get away with some new friends and check running a 1/2 marathon off my bucket list.  I am happy to report hat i finished uninjured, in my goal time, and learned a few things along the way.

Corkscrews are not allowed in your carry on luggage.  I carry a corkscrew in my travel toiletry bag.  I bought it on one of our girl trips to Edmonton when we had a bottle of wine and we couldn't open it since the front desk didn't have one.  Ever since then I've carried a travel corkscrew around with me when I travel.  This was my first carry on only experience and apparently they aren't allowed.  I no longer have an emergency corkscrew... Sigh....

Patience.  The crowds were huge everywhere we went. From getting our loot bag, to doing yoga, to riding the bus, to going to the bathroom.  There was a lot of waiting.  I was reminded how little I like crowds.   Patience isn't my strength and I had to relax and just accept that waiting was a part of the event.

The pace bunnies are only relevant if you start the race with them  For those of you that don't know, the pace bunnies are people that run with a sign holding a goal run time.  So if you want to finish in 2:15 minutes (like I did) you would try to keep up with the person holding that sign.  Unfortunately for us, it was so crowded when we arrived that we couldn't make our way to the right area and instead started with the 2:45 runners.  With 8,000 runners, that was a lot of people to weave through to get to where you needed to be.   Since we started later than the the 2:15 bunny we couldn't catch up to him and we kept running with the later times which made me feel like I was far from my goal.  I learned to not pay attention to them and to rely on my Garmin watch instead!

Great signs and shirts are a welcome distraction.  While running I found myself reading all the shirts running in the opposite directions and also some of the signs held by the spectators  There were some good ones!

I hate running (shirt)
Run like Trump is behind you and Trudeau is at the finish line.
Pizza > Running (shirt)
Ryan Reynolds is at the finish line! (he was in Vancouver so it was possible! but not true in the end)
She signed me up (on a shirt)

Go Harder, Go Harder #thatswhatshesaid
This parade sucks.  Where is the Candy. (sign held by kids)

Hold your Bladder.  While training I went to the bathroom every single run over an hour.  It only adds less than a minute when there is no line so I never thought twice about it.  Well some of the outhouses on the race had line ups of over 15 people.  Yikes.  So I immediately decided there would be no pee breaks on this race. No time for that!

Window Shopping.  To pass the time I also found myself looking at all the different outfits people were wearing.  Since it was a lulu run there was the biggest assortment of lulu wear I have ever seen!  As part of the run there is a special shop full of limited edition items.  The colors of the store this year seemed to be lime green, coral, and Christy blue.  We all bought matching lime green tanks to wear and noticed all sorts of gear from the sale that was sold out before we even got arrived!

Have a goal.  My goal was to finish the 1/2 in 2:15 and I just slid under at 2:14:25.  I had literally 45 seconds to spare.  I sprinted the last 3 km.  I knew for the last half that meeting my goal was going to be tight given our slow start but when I saw how close it was going to be in the last 3km I decided to run my heart out and give it my best shot. Without a goal I would have just continued to run at the same pace and not speed up like I did.

Pace yourself.  Looking back I realize that I could have run faster in the first 10k than I did.  I blame part of that on the quantity of people that were all clustered together making it impossible to pass anyone.  Instead of weaving in and out and being aggressive I chose to just slow my pace until it thinned out.  How was I to know it wasn't going to thin out until more than half way??  If I were to do it again, I would arrive extra early and start with the correct pacer so I would have fewer people to pass.

Protect your phone.  After the race when I went to answer a few texts that I received during the race, my phone was acting funny.  I reset it twice and I couldn't use the space bar, the backspace or any of the icons on the bottom of the phone.  It appears that my phone absorbed sweat from my running band and made the bottom inch of my phone go wonky.  I sent some pretty long emails with no spaces for that first hour.  Happy to report it is working perfectly again!

Racing was easier than training.  I don't know if it was the adrenalin or the sea level running but it felt so much easier running the race then I ever felt about training.  With training the runs could feel like punishment rather than fun.  With this race, there was so much to watch, and the scenery along the sea wall was amazing.

Be proud of yourself.  People congratulate you for finishing a 1/2 marathon because it is an accomplish.  Accept it with gratitude and be good to yourself.  We treated ourselves to a day of yes.  Yes to bacon, yes to vodka, yes to chicken tenders, yes to burgers, yes to dessert.  Yes, yes, YES.

As you may have gathered, I had a great weekend.  When I set out on the weekend I did it thinking it would be my first and last race, now I am not so sure.  I loved the actual race.  I felt strong, I felt motivated, I felt confident.  The feeling I had after crossing the finish line is one that is hard to explain.  That is, the feeling after I felt like throwing up after sprinting for 3km!  I loved a weekend dedicated to fitness and spending time with other runners.  We stretched together, yoga'ed together, and finished together.  While I wouldn't say that I am ready to sign up for another one tomorrow, I could easily be convinced to train again next year. Trust me, I'm as surprised as you!