Category Archives: Fashion

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The “It’s My Birthday Month!” Edition

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How was your weekend? Mine was filled with birthday festivities, not all of them mine. In fact, the only birthday festivity that was mine was a birthday lunch with my dearest friend, who I don’t see often enough but we always catch up on our birthdays, and pick up exactly where we left off. Don’t you love friends like that?

Friday night my older son went to one of his best friend’s sleepover birthday – this friend shares his actual birthday, which was a month earlier. Then, Saturday, we were hosting my son’s birthday party at a trampoline/ obstacle course park. I had wanted to have his party closer to his actual birthday, but one of his friends, who is very athletic and competes frequently, could only make it this Saturday. Unfortunately, that friend ended up being stranded out of town and couldn’t make it, because we had the craziest blizzard you can imagine. In fact, we had to cancel the party at the obstacle course because the roads were so incredibly dangerous and visibility was zero. We ended up having ten teen boys at our house, since they all live in the neighbourhood and I didn’t have to worry about their parents dying in fiery crashes on the highway. Or, as my mom always says, dead in a ditch. As it was, one of the moms told me it took her thirty minutes to drive from her house, pick up another friend, and come to my house, a trip that normally would take no more than eight minutes at worst.

The view from my front window, while waiting for guests to arrive.

As you know I am a woman with a plan, and spontaneity is NOT my strong point. I was not in the least prepared to have an impromptu gathering at my house but it all turned out rather well. There is a pizza place a block away, which was handy, and I had already had an ice-cream cake custom made by a woman who specializes in nut-free items, since one of the friends is severely allergic. It turned out great, and even though very few of my son’s friends actually watch Seinfeld, they were all familiar with the quote, which my son repeats several times a day:

The noise level did escalate a lot, but in a good way, since we now have a full drum set and an electric guitar. One of the guests is extremely musical and treated us all to a very good rendition of Crazy Train – which really spoke to me, given the situation – and Stairway to Heaven.

When the kids were eating cake, I listened in on their conversation, which revolved around the earth being flat, of all things. “Obviously the earth is flat because maps are flat,” one kid said, as everyone responded with much hilarity. “What’s a globe anyway?”

Normally I would be partaking in wine with so much noise and activity, but I had scheduled blood work for the following morning, and so I embraced the noise with complete sobriety.

I’ve always loved the month of April, and not TOTALLY because it’s my birthday month. Related: don’t you think we should all celebrate our birthdays the whole month long? One day just doesn’t seem sufficient. I love April because – massive blizzard notwithstanding – spring is in the air! Even the coldest, snowiest Aprils have my daylilies and yarrow popping up, and leaves budding on the shrubs and trees, and just the feeling that winter, real winter, is over. Yes, there is a foot of fresh snow, drifted everywhere with ice underneath it leading to perilous road conditions and flattened tulips, but it will melt!

Therefore, it is time for…

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The “It’s My Birthday Month” Edition

The Watch

Well, I think I have probably written about this enough , but I really am enjoying my Garmin watch. One of the things I like best about it is that it’s pretty. I know! It’s not all about esthetics, and beauty is found within, etcetera, but I like pretty things. It doesn’t look like an unattractive fitness tracker – to me, anyway – and I will maintain that it is very satisfying to see steps taken/ stair flights climbed when bringing home and putting away groceries. No wonder I feel exhausted after a Costco trip – there are many, many steps and flights involved!

Don’t you love those bracelets? They were all gifts from former yoga teacher apprentices of mine. Pretty things. 

Pandora Charms

Speaking of bracelets, I have a number of Pandora charm bracelets and for my birthday, my parents often give me a new charm. The little pink flower is what they gave me this year, and I love it!

Things That Are Pink

Speaking of pink things, there are not many in the Boyhouse, so I enjoy the ones that I do have. As I mentioned before, my mom makes me a pink cake for every birthday, I have a lot of pink flowers in my garden (none of which are clearly blooming, thankfully; see above photo of the yard for details), and every once in a while I bust out these pink pants:

I have to be in the right mood for them; whenever I wear colour that is not black or grey, I feel a bit showy, like a male peacock doing a mating ritual. Look at me, I’m a peacock. I think extreme weather in the spring is the perfect time to put on the pink pants. I’ve got my pink pants…I’ve got my pink pants on…

My Back Yard

This is not a euphemism, although it could be; we should all be happy with ourselves the way we are, including our “back yards.” But I am specifically referring to my literal back yard, which is currently – as shown – snow covered. On my birthday, though, it was not.

Once this snow melts, things will be lovely and green, and hopefully not too smushed from the weight of the ice and snow. Speaking of which, it feels appropriate that Game of Thrones is on tonight, although I won’t be able to watch it in real time, as that will take me way past my bedtime.

Enjoy what’s left of April, my friends. xo

Random Long Weekend Thoughts

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The Targeted Ads Algorithm Is Broken

Several times a week I am the bemused recipient of advertisements for various stylish online shops, and currently, they are exclusively showing me jumpsuits. Jumpsuits! God bless you all for wearing and enjoying them, but the day I wriggle this mortal body into a piece of clothing that, by its very design, will end up puddled up on the bathroom floor every single time I use the facilities, is the day I find myself, as one of my senior yoga students said yesterday, on the wrong side of the grass.

At least the first few advertisements were black; I’m trying to envision myself wearing an exotic-floral print of anything and failing. I also seem to get a lot of advertisements for floral, one-piece bathing suits, which are right up there with tailored shorts on the list of things I am not going to wear, ever. I mean, I have worn them, in my checkered past, but never again. As we live, we grow.

A while back the Co-Op stopped giving out gas coupons and instead began sending something called Me-Wards, which I assumed would be tailored to my consumption habits, given the Me-Wards are linked to my account. Sadly, it appears there is no linkage whatsoever, or if there is, it’s so cryptic that no one could ever decipher the algorithm within. This week, my Me-Wards include frozen pizza, Coke products, some kind of cookie, and fresh Atlantic cod fillets so that I can, as it suggests, make my own chowder. Co-Op, it’s like you never knew me at all.

Getting the Girls Checked

It’s that time of the year again to get the girls checked out. I always smile in the change room when I see the directions on “how to tie a medical robe” because yes, I have gone into my mammogram with the robe on the wrong way. So if you ever wonder who would need these directions it is I who needs them. I asked the technician today, as she neatly arranged my sad excuse for a breast on the machine, if this was a strange kind of job to have. It’s actually really fascinating! she said enthusiastically. And everyone’s breasts are so different, so it’s never boring! I appreciated her zest, it’s refreshing to see someone so excited about their work. She handed me a remote control so I would have autonomy over the squishiness of the procedure, which is a new thing, I guess. Just go ahead and press the “plus” button until you feel you can’t stand it anymore, she said, and when I did this she became alarmed. Okay, stop, that’s enough, STOP! I think she thought I was going to flatten myself completely like a cartoon character run over by a steamroller.

Circling back to the robe, the first thing the technician did after confirming my birth date and being reassured that no, there is NO chance I’m pregnant, was ask me to remove it. Why then does it matter if it’s on the wrong way or not if it’s only going to be immediately removed? Perhaps it’s a medical robe faux pas? Perhaps it’s a conspiracy among diagnostics centres to make us all into uniform patients? Most likely, though, is that tying it in the back is actually quite difficult and feels ridiculous and really, who would do such a thing? Who indeed.

It’s Mini-Egg Season

I’m quite proud of how these little cuties turned out:

I took a recipe from my old copy of The Lutheran Ladies’ Family Favourites for “haystack cookies,” modified it by using coconut oil and cutting the sugar by a third, and then molded them into little nests. I’m nesting!

I feel extraordinarily crafty now; the next step is to figure out how to draw a bunny as I’m dividing up Lindt truffles into little paper bags for our Easter egg hunt this weekend. I usually give the boys – yes, they are teens but they still like chocolate eggs – a cryptic lists of hints, for a treasure hunt. This year I was feeling quite ambitious as I wrote a few poems for the hints; I wrote the kind of poems they learned about in school: limerick, tanka, haiku, acrostic, and couplet.

You may be saying to yourself, who doesn’t know how to draw a bunny? Well, the same person who has been known to tie her medical robe incorrectly, that’s who.

It’s Birthday Season

As puzzling as the Me-Wards are for Co-Op, I was gratified to see this on offer in my inbox:

I also refer to April as my birthday month; a mere DAY is not really enough to celebrate, is it? Last weekend we visited my parents and my mom made me my favourite strawberry-angel food cake, complete with pink non-dairy whipped cream. I have always had a pink cake on my birthday.

Pink cake goes beautifully with red wine; two of my favourite things. This year, for the first time ever, my birthday falls on Easter, and so I guess that means extra mini-eggs coming my way!

Speaking of red wine, my husband/ Santa gave me a beautiful bottle of Amarone in my stocking this year; I think this is the weekend to open it!

Happy long weekend to you all, and Happy Easter to all who celebrate. May your blessings and chocolates be many! xo

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Puerto Vallarta Edition

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I just got back from my THIRD grocery trip since returning home on Friday; Friday being five days ago. Back to reality and my part-time job of teaching yoga, along with my full-time job of feeding my family. You people are pigs! I may have said to myself as I pulled out ingredients for pumpkin loaf; the banana loaf and batch of blueberry muffins that I have baked in the days since returning are both mere memories. Yesterday I read a book I picked up on impulse at the library; it is actually a self-help book about pursuing your goals and dreams. Perhaps I should have read the back cover more thoroughly. Anyway, in it is a suggestion that a person should track every minute spent doing an activity every day for a week to get an idea of how to allocate time more wisely. I should do this; I would be interested to see just how much of my week is spent in food acquisition and preparation. Not to mention putting away the groceries! Maybe I do need a fitness tracker just to see how many steps are spent in that activity.

Well, life is good no matter how you slice it, and perhaps it’s because of my full-time-feed-family job that I really appreciated our vacation last week in Puerto Vallarta. When the kids got hungry they just popped over to the poolside grill for hotdogs and hamburgers. The biggest decision we made was which restaurant to eat at in the evenings and if we wanted Cabernet or Merlot for dinner. I mean, honestly. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Puerto Vallarta Edition

The Scenery

Puerto Vallarta is a beautiful place. On a guided beach walk it was brought to my attention that Puerto Vallarta, as we know it today, did not really exist until John Huston – who lived there part-time – decided to film The Night of the Iguana, starring Richard Burton. At the time he was having a steamy affair with Elizabeth Taylor; the gorgeous locale was exposed and became a lively tourist destination. It is GORGEOUS.

That’s my older son jumping off the rock in the last photo (the other two are unknowns). This was after a very dusty Razr ride, which I will circle back to. Isn’t it beautiful? Ocean, mountains, and jungle.

Sunsets

I am generally a sunrise girl; I am always up before the sun and I do love a good sunrise. But part of the benefit of being on the Pacific Ocean was the ability to really appreciate those gorgeous ocean sunsets. I mean, look at this:

Pool Service

Because I am a spoiled princess, I absolutely love pool service. Coming home was rough; by 2:00 on Saturday I thought what the hell, why has no one brought me a margarita yet? Ah, day drinking. One must stay hydrated in that hot Mexican sun, you know! My favourite drink was a mango margarita, on the rocks, no sugar, with a spicy rim. What? I’m Sally Allbright on vacation too. I have no photo of my drink so you must be contented with this shot of the pool:

One-Strapped Bikinis

I don’t know if they are called that or not; they are likely out of style now since I bought this on massive sale at La Vie En Rose last fall. I wasn’t sure what it would be like but I can tell you it is more comfortable and supportive than any other bikini top I have owned. I also love this because it’s black, naturally, but with a little zip of embroidered colour. If you buy one, be excessive with the sunscreen and shade or you’ll end up with a weird tan line. I am always excessive with sunscreen and shade, which is why no one can tell I was actually in Mexico.

This Lululemon Bag

Every vacation I buy a beach bag and by the end of every vacation, it’s completely trashed. I guess it’s my issue, since I like to carry lots of things in it, but isn’t that what a beach bag is for? I was tired of the waste, always having to throw out a bag that became damaged beyond repair just from taking it to the beach. Last fall I bought – on huge sale – this bag from Lululemon, and even though on sale it was still three times as expensive as a beach bag, it’s durable, waterproof, wipeable, and has a little pouch to keep room key, phone, tip money, and lip balm in.

Dressing for Dinner

I feel so glamourous after spending the day by the pool or beach, covered in sunscreen, salt, and sand, to get all prettied up for dinner. I love wearing dresses and fancy sandals and red lipstick to go out for dinner. It’s a far cry from my real life, where I am wearing yoga pants and end-of-day makeup to eat my homemade stir-fry.

Zip Lining!

I have always wanted to zip line, and this trip, we did! My husband booked us into a combination Razr 4×4 tour and zip line adventure, and it was just the best day. Well, not the Razr part. My husband grew up riding dirt bikes and utility vehicles and ATV’s and so is very comfortable taking hairpin turns on dusty mountain roads. I, however, kept picturing us all plummeting off the mountain to our deaths. Well, at least we’ll all go down together, I thought at one point. But we made it, safe and sound, and let me tell you about dust!

Can you feel my terror?

But zip lining! What a blast.

I think this was the best vacation of our lives; I am already thinking about when we can return! There was live music in the evenings, with much dancing and laughing. We went with our friends which always works out so well – all eight of us get along really well. And now it’s time for me to fold the laundry and do some yard clean-up – exciting news, by the time we had returned home, all our snow has melted. Like I said to one of my senior students yesterday, who just moved here from much warmer climates to be close to her grandchildren, spring can come and go in Calgary. So I shall enjoy it while it lasts, hanging on to those beautiful Mexican memories. xo

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Yes, There Are Good Things About February, We Just May Have To Dig A Little Deeper Edition

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You guys, this month is on track to become the coldest February since records began. SINCE RECORDS BEGAN. What is this madness? Every winter there comes a time when I intellectually know that there will be a time and a season after this, but emotionally I cannot register it. Like, it’s just going to be winter forever now, like we are in Game of Thrones and the White Walkers are going to come and kill us all or turn us into similarly zombie-like creatures.

Recently I discovered that some people have a favourite season, and that favourite season is winter, and I just cannot at all comprehend it. We are all different and life is a beautiful complex tapestry, but how is that possible? I suppose winter is different in different places, perhaps instead of months on end of spending a solid five minutes just getting enough outdoor clothing on to dart from the door to the car, it’s a soft wonderland of fluffy snow and moderately cold temperatures, that end in an actual spring. Well, we can dream, and although there is no end in sight to this frigidity, I will remind myself that I am not waiting for the trains to get through, living in danger of starvation and ruining my hands while twisting hay to burn.

Where’s my inner invincible summer?

Anyway, on to more positive things. March begins THIS COMING FRIDAY and at some point, although I cannot imagine it right now, at some point the snow will melt and my sunglasses won’t freeze to my face the way they did yesterday, when I walked the dog. February has the reputation of being a very drab month, but it has really flown by. I mean, the orthodontist mess was only two weeks ago! Poor February, it’s not its fault! It’s a good time to review some favourite things for this month.

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Yes, There Are Good Things About February, We Just May Have To Dig A Little Deeper Edition

Hearts!

It seems that as soon as the Santas and reindeer disappear from the shelves, there are hearts wherever we look. I love hearts! I heart hearts! So it’s a great time to think about heart-shaped cookies and cakes, and – as of February 15 – price reduced boxes of chocolates. My husband does not give me anything like that, but he did present me with this run top:

Isn’t it cute? The photo is a bit blurry because I had just finished a run. Some of you may remember that last year, he gave me a run tank that said Bee Mine with a picture of a bee on it, which was life-affirming in every way.

Chocolate

Speaking of chocolate, I still had half a box of After Eights left over from Christmas; I chopped them up and added them to one of our favourite desserts, chocolate mousse pie. It was A VERY GOOD IDEA. If you have some leftover chocolate, or want to use up some cut-rate Valentine’s goodies, this is a fun thing to do.

Isn’t that tea towel cute? I think I got it from Bed Bath and Beyond on a nice little Saturday.

I also made this cake on the weekend – I didn’t use leftover chocolate, but I did layer it with ganache, chocolate buttercream, and raspberry filling, and it was extremely tasty. I’ve been trying to get comfortable with my frosting tips, and although I have a long way to go, I’m slowly improving.

Another recent chocolate dessert was this dairy-free version of my mom’s eclair recipe, which she had gotten from a cookbook that she had in high school. I used coconut oil instead of butter, and whipped coconut cream, and everyone loved them.

It’s Asparagus Season Somewhere

Let’s segue from chocolate to produce, shall we? Is there anything more exciting than seeing the price of produce decline? Probably. But it is a pretty big thing in my life, given how much money I spend on fruit and vegetables every week. It is sure not spring here but it must be somewhere because asparagus is a third of the price it was in January, and just today I was able to buy four pounds of strawberries without feeling faint, particularly since four pounds of strawberries are going to last us between two to three days, if we are lucky, and by “we” I mean “me” because no one else grocery shops in this house. Roasted asparagus though! It’s a promise that spring will be…well…not right around the corner but coming someday. And it’s also on the fast track to Flavour Town.

Flavour Town

My friend (HI TARYN) and I have a running joke about Guy Fieri. Sometimes, because we are wild people, my husband will flip the channel to Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on a Friday night. I know! Usually by the time he does this I’m either half asleep or half cranked from drinking wine on the couch, but when I see a few minutes of it, I enjoy it. Don’t get me wrong: I find the food featured on it universally disgusting. I spend a lot of time saying My god, how can anyone eat that? but that’s pretty judgmental of me since many people do, voluntarily, and with much enjoyment. However! My favourite part about the show is Guy Fieri’s reaction when he eats the house specialty. He never has a bad thing to say about anything. I really like that. I like that if he doesn’t seem to love something, he merely gives some random description about the food. Wow, there’s a big hit of garlic in this, and I can really taste the cilantro! But if he loves it, it’s a one-way ticket to Flavour Town.

Today I was teaching a class and I noticed one student’s water bottle. After class I asked if I could take a photo of it.

I didn’t ask her why she had this water bottle, I just felt it was enough that it is in existence.

The Year of the Runaways

This book, you guys. This book. Every single spare moment I had, I was reading it. I needed to know what happened, I needed to know how it was going to end, and then when it ended, I was completely bereft. I’m still thinking about it all the time. Can I go back in time and re-read it again for the first time? No. I cannot. I also can’t conceive of what to do now that it’s ended, so I am simultaneously reading Scottish History for Dummies and The Gift of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Are Supposed To Be and Embrace Who You Are. Why am I reading those two books after this amazing piece of art? They were next on my hold list. I’m learning a lot about William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, I’ll say that. Also, that I should ask for help more often.

See? Lots of great things about this month; we just had to look for them. What are your favourite things in February? xo

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Cozy Edition

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Friday evening, a mere 28 hours after the installation of my son’s braces, two of the brackets came off his teeth. Despite 26 months of Braces Experience with my older son – who, by the way, broke every single rule in the Braces Handbook – this was the first time such a thing happened. I can tell you that it did nothing to assuage my fears about all the changes in the orthodontist office. Even though it was 6:30 pm, I phoned the office and was connected with the After Hours Line, which redirected me to the previous, no-longer-practicing-and-possibly-disgraced orthodontist. I left a message with very little hope, and then set to google “emergency orthodontia.”

Did you know that a lot of emergency orthodontia can be done at home, with everyday household objects? Alarmingly, there were many tips on DIY orthodontia using nail clippers, needle-nose pliers, and pencil erasers. None of those solutions seemed relevant; instead I helped my son put orthodontia wax in between the two flopping brackets to hold them steady, hoping that the rest would stay adhered to his teeth, so we didn’t end up with a wire held together by two brackets, or something.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I received a phone call from the new orthodontist on Sunday afternoon, apologizing for the delay. He had just received a message from the previous no-longer-practicing-and-possibly-disgraced orthodontist, and wanted to assure me that he could fit my son in at 8:00 Monday morning to fix the issue.

I don’t know if it is just because I finished reading The Alchemist, but I have been seeing signs and omens everywhere. My morning classes were cancelled this week due to some work on the studio, and when I found out about this I was slightly put out. Why my classes? Why those times? Why why why? But now it feels like a divine plan, because I was able to deal with the orthodontist with no stress or rush; if I had class I would not have been able to do so. I also was able to go to Costco, a rare treat to be able to do that first thing in the morning, not only because there are almost no carts left helter-skelter pell-mell in the parking lot that early in the day, saving my mental health, but also because it was nice to have it over and done with before my afternoon class.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should, a line from my very favourite Desiderata, has been going through my head lately, along with trying to notice signs and omens from the universe. I have, officially, reached Peak Yoga Teacher Mode. There have been many things going on around the Boyhouse, and I am trying to keep that perspective.

A few weeks ago my husband was saying that January was just DRAGGING, to which I perkily replied that no, it was flying by, and it was nearly over in any case. It was January 19 when I announced this and things have been moving slowly since then. I can tell you that with all the craziness, outdoor-education events, snowboarding, orthodontia, a minor bout of sickness for one kid, and other things it does feel like a long month, which is silly: it is exactly the same amount of days as most months.

And here we are at the very end of January, and I haven’t yet posted my monthly Favourite Things, so let’s rectify that, shall we? We have had an extremely mild month, although that is set to change dramatically on the weekend. And even a mild January is still chilly, so welcome to…

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Cozy Edition

Before we get to all the coziness, I have a few great things to say about January. I know we all like to loathe this month but I’ll tell you, there are some really wonderful things that happen in January. First of all, THE SALES. I actually went to the mall early in the month to pick up my favourite body lotion from Bath and Body Works, and they were blowing out so much stock at 75% off. SEVENTY FIVE. I asked, with some trepidation, if they were discontinuing the scents that I love – notably Sea Island Cotton – but no, they were just changing the packaging. I ended up with ten bottles of lotion with various gorgeous scents for $42. Then I went to The Body Shop and I ended up getting three of my new favourite face mask – this amazing face mask deserves its own post, so stay tuned – for $48, when ONE is priced at $28. I now have enough to last me the whole year, I think.

Another wonderful thing about January is the sunrises. Even in the middle of summer, I am up before the sunrise, so I can say with some authority that January sunrises are the prettiest. I don’t know what it is about winter skies, but everything is gorgeously pinkish-purple. I’ve tried to take photos but they never do it justice; you will just have to imagine. Many days are gloomy and grey here but when the sun comes out and the sky is blue, it’s absolutely beautiful against the snow. A few weeks ago we had a day of thick hoar frost covering everything; I would have taken a photo but my hands were too cold. Again, just imagine it; thick hoar frost on all the trees, white snow, and a perfectly blue sky. I am not generally a Winter Person but I have to give it to the season: it can be very pretty.

Long Thick Sweaters

The very best thing about the dead of winter is wearing thick, cozy sweaters. Here are a few of my favourite looks:

As you can see, I like long, drapey sweaters – especially cardigans. It’s like wrapping myself up in a big hug.

Hand-Knit Things From My Mother-in-Law

My mother-in-law is a knitter, and her knitting knows no moderation. I am the very grateful and happy recipient of many items – you should see the enormous cupboard full of knitted dishcloths I have, in a rainbow of colours. For Christmas about nineteen or twenty years ago, she knitted me this grey sweater. It is my “home sweater” that I wear when chilled and need of comfort. I am much smaller now than I was then, so it’s lovely and large on me, and I can wrap it around myself even when I have a few other sweaters on, not unlike Joey Tribbiani when he is wearing All The Clothes.

The sweater matches the roots, and no weird euphemism implied.

She also has knitted me many pairs of legwarmers, that I slip over my yoga pants or skinny jeans to keep warm while dog-walking.

Bonus downward dog shot!

Her latest gift to me was a pair of booties. She has knitted me slippers – I am wearing them right now – but she decided to make long booties for when I’m cold inside the house.

You know that meme that says “we all have that friend who is always cold” that is accompanied by a photo of a person in what looks like a giant thick sweater from head to toe? I think that may be next. What can I say, my MIL is generous and talented with the knitting needles!

Fancy Tea

When it comes to hot liquids, I am generally a Black Coffee Girl.

Hashtag: TeamNerd

Last Mother’s Day, the boys bought me this adorable turtle mug – the turtle changes colour with temperature – and some fancy tea from David’s Tea and I tell you, I cannot go back to regular grocery store tea. I will not go back. I have been forever ruined. My husband actually said I can’t believe we found a way to make you more expensive which was a tiny bit uncalled for. But also maybe a little true. In any case, I only have tea one or two times a week, and only when it is really chilly and I am home in the afternoon. Cinnamon Rooibus Chai is my absolute favourite, but I’m also a big fan of Just Peachy and Forever Nuts.

So you see, there are many wonderful things about this – and every – time of the year. And even if I haven’t convinced you to love all things cozy, well, January’s OVER now, for another eleven months. xo

Age is just a number: FALSE. Age is a word.

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“I finally figured out who you remind me of!” a man, who I have known these past two years, said to me the other day. I waited, smiling, and was not at all prepared for the big reveal. “Charlene Prickett! You are so much like Charlene Prickett.”

There were a few other people around us at the time, and they all chimed in that yes, they could really see that, and yes, that’s exactly it. Charlene Prickett, local celebrity and the star of the television fitness program It Figures, whose popularity soared in the 1980s.

I take this in the spirit in which it was intended; our personal styles might indeed be very different, but Charlene Prickett was a BOSS when it came to accessible home fitness routines. And I might not be one for brightly-coloured bodysuits and tights, but I think we can all agree that legwarmers make for an amazing wardrobe.

The last time anyone told me that I reminded them of a celebrity, it was in the mid-nineties. A very inebriated man told me I looked exactly like Shania Twain; our hair colour and cut were fairly similar in that era, and also I was wearing a denim vest over a white tank top. As I said, though, the man was not a particularly accurate judge, given his level of intoxication and probable intent of obtaining some sort of sexual favours from me, a woman who should have been thrilled to be compared so favourably to a country music sensation but was, instead, nonplussed.

Thanks to the recent Facebook “aging challenge,” the last few weeks have seen an influx of photos comparing a person’s current appearance to that of many years ago, a comparison that I find very interesting. I truly think that the people I know have all improved with age, not just in appearance, but also in spirit and personality. Society likes to disparage aging but really, it’s a wonderful gift. I may have massive Bitchy Resting Face and hair that requires colouring every five weeks due to grey roots that I am unable to embrace just yet, I may have Crypt-Keeper-level forehead wrinkles and marionette lines, but I am very happy with my life and, by extension, my appearance. Happiness makes you shine, or some such inspirational quote.

Sure, I might not have the youthful look and perky bust that I did in the mid-nineties, but at least I’m not wearing ill-advised denim vests. With age comes wisdom, I suppose, and hopefully better fashion decisions.

If you look closely, you can see where the belt buckle is situated on my torso – approximately two inches from the bra line – and also that I am wearing a knotted crop top. With denim shorts. This was in 1997, in my defense, and is likely in style right this minute. Well, it’s January, so perhaps not, but let’s wait to see what happens when the snow melts.

I’ll tell you what has not aged well: my kitchen sink. This is perhaps an overstatement; the sink itself is just fine. However, on Saturday I was washing dishes and suddenly the sink became detached from underneath the countertop and started to slowly tip forward. I did what any strong, invincible woman would do: I started screaming. My husband – after draining the sink – jerry-rigged a support beam from an extension rod used for paint rollers before whipping out his circular saw and building a more solid one out of wood. Where did he get the wood? I have no idea. It’s a good thing he didn’t Kondo his workshop, I guess.

The plumber came to fix the sink more permanently on Monday, and praised the solidity of the support beam. Even though it’s fixed now, I’m planning to leave the beam in probably forever, just in case. We don’t see undermount sinks come apart very often! the plumber said cheerfully, which made me wonder about the workmanship of everything in my house. Can ALL the sinks come detached now? Is this just something that’s waiting to happen?

I am not, obviously, very good with house-related issues, but I’ll tell you what I AM good with: quoting the entire screenplay of When Harry Met Sally. I discovered that the greatest movie of all time was released THIRTY YEARS AGO last weekend, and since I saw it in the theatre, well. Thirty years! It’s been three decades since I discovered my fictional twin; even back in 1989 I was too structured, completely closed off…but in a good way, and I am always cold when it’s 72 degrees out. I do not have days of the week underpants, but there’s still time! As far as I’m concerned I haven’t even hit middle age yet – I’m hoping to live past 86 – and so maybe that will be a thing for me when I’m in the Home. But there definitely won’t be a Sunday. Because of God.

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The “We Need A Little Christmas, Right This Very Minute” Edition

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In the last week, I have seen the following outfits on young girls: a one-shouldered bodysuit paired with jogging pants, the type that are tightly elasticized around the ankles, super high-rise lululemon tights with a hoodie, the bottom hem of which ended two inches below the bra line, Cougar boots, and a very high ponytail, and a white mock-turtleneck tucked into very high-rise navy blue flared cropped pants, the shorter hemline emphasizing the old-school Adidas runners and ruffled white ankle socks. The last outfit was accessorized by a red purse with a gold-chain strap. If there was such a thing as a blog back in 1985-1993, all of those things would have made Nicole’s Favourite Things. As it is, I find it very interesting, like I am a fashion anthropologist analyzing current trends and how they related to my own youth.

But I did not come here to talk about the return of acid-wash jeans or bodysuits. I came here to talk about Christmas! It’s time for Nicole’s Favourite Things – and I have lots of favourite things at this time of year, so hold on to your hats! Your SANTA hats, that is!

Nicole’s Favourite Things – The “We Need A Little Christmas, Right This Very Minute” Edition

THE DRESS

I alluded to the dress I bought – from Le Chateau, no less – for my husband’s Christmas party. It has sprinted past my other favourite dresses to become, I believe, my all-time favourite. It has surpassed my wedding dress, my perfect black wrap dress, and the black-and-white Sixties-style swing dress I had when I was sixteen. It’s a bit hard to tell from the photo – my older son took the pictures and we switched the tree lighting to try to capture it – but it’s a black sheath with a piece of drapey fabric that makes for a swoopy, uneven hemline. Black and drapey, as we know from all my sweaters, is my jam.

I paired the dress with my three-inch wedge heels, which looked nice, but for someone who spends most of the day working in bare feet, it was kind of painful. I paid for it the next day with the tightest hip flexors you ever did see. I used to wear heels all the time, and they never bothered me. But hoo boy, I’m glad I don’t wear them much anymore.

 

Holidays on Ice

I bought this book in 2015 and I have read it every December since then. I love David Sedaris, and his “Santaland Diaries” and “Dinah, the Christmas Whore” still make me laugh until I cry, gasping for air, even after that many readings.

My Yard

It seems that my husband has a very competitive streak. We’ve always had a lot of Christmas decorations in the yard, but as our neighbourhood demographics start to change – read: the old people are, um, leaving and new young families are coming in – we have gone from Appropriately Festive to Griswold-Worthy Light Show. My husband’s goal is to show those young upstarts up and let them know how it’s done, I guess. We have the following: icicle lights paired with red ones, colourful signs in each of my three large planters, an entire candy cane lane along our sidewalk and stairs, two light-up trees and two light-up gift boxes, two light-up deer, one moose, one polar bear, two penguins, one hippo, and two snowmen, including a six-foot tall one that has flashing lights and stars. The Mayday tree is filled with sparkling colourful Christmas balls as well:

People stop to take photos of our yard, and at least three elderly men have stopped me, while walking Barkley, to tell me that they admire my husband’s work. How did they know it was him, and not me?

These Ornaments

My mom dropped off this little cutie-pie for me:

I put it near this one that I bought four years ago. They are little friends!

I buy an ornament every year, and this was the one I bought the first year we were married:

This year’s ornament, in honour of the pandas being in Calgary:

This was last year’s ornament, in honour of the cute little chickadees that hang out in the shrub by my garage and become immensely startled each and every time I come out of the house.

Musical Decorations

I love this little cookie-making machine; it plays music and is, frankly adorable. Note the box set of Seinfeld in the background. Santa brought that for the boys last year and it was some of the best money I have ever spent. Other than my new dress, that is.

This is another musical cutie, the snowman and reindeer bop around with the music. The creche in the background is one I brought back from Mexico back in 1997.

Old Timey Ornaments

This little Santa was one I bought from a craft fair, probably circa 1998. Behind him is a bowl where I keep beautiful smooth stones, seashells, and driftwood I collected from the West Coast, back when my husband and I were first married. My mother-in-law had given me the glass bowl; it was her mother’s, and she thought I might like it. I think it was filled with chocolates at the time. She also gave me those ornaments, they were hers from the Sixties. They are extremely fragile, which makes me appreciate modern unbreakable ornaments.

Soapie and Ed

Last year my husband took the boys to Canadian Tire for various Christmassy-yard things, and came home with this adorably fluffy sheep for me. I laughed with delight and christened her Soapie, as she looked like a big foamy soap bubble. This year the trio went to Canadian Tire – AGAIN for yard items – and presented me with the snowman. “He looks like an Ed” my older son said sarcastically, but it was exactly right. Soapie and Ed sit on the hearth above Barkley’s bed, and Barkley tends to be a bit jealous of Soapie. He usually nudges her over once or twice before resigning to his fate.

Dressing Up The Dog

Speaking of Barkley, I went to buy him some food and treats and lo, there was an entire aisle of things for which to dress up your dog. I chose this scarf, which is really meant for a much smaller dog, as it is fairly fitted on his fluffy neck. I’ve been putting it on him to take our walks, and the pure joy I get from seeing him jauntily walking around like a man about town in his festive scarf is much greater than the $5.99 price tag would indicate.

Those are my favourite things this year. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and that you can enjoy all your favourite things too. Merry Christmas. xo