Arabella's Artwork

Today, Arabella brought home her art bag from school. We decided to take down the "old" and put up some of her "new" artwork on the bulletin board. I loved how excited she got when she took each piece out of the bag and told me about it. This round of artwork encompassed the themes of winter, safety, hibernation and Valentine's Day!

Winter Beauty

We had snow on Tuesday and then overnight it turned to a light rain. It sounded like cracking glass when you walked on it and when I was shoveling. The light snow underneath made shoveling easy. It was beautiful.

And everything else was covered in a glaze of rain. I love the way it coats nature and makes everything sparkle and shine.

Pure beauty!

Monkey Bar Gym

As part of my transformation and in an effort to step up my fitness to be more than my Bikram yoga and treadmill work, I decided to join a local gym. I opted against Gold's Gym and the Y for something a little more intense. After doing some research, I visited Monkey Bar Gym Montreal. After my first visit, I knew it was the place for me to up my fitness level. http://monkeybargymmontreal.com/ or http://monkeybargym.com/ 3 1/2 years is way too long for me to be trying to lose the pregnancy weight and I need to get rid of it once and for all! 2 weeks into the crazy training and I am feeling great! Check out this video clip of some of the things we do in the classes...totally intense, but so amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkUPoP4b3QM&feature=player_embedded

Bedtime Stories

A few weeks ago, Arabella started talking with Grammie on the phone at bedtime. The calls then progressed into singing bedtime lullabies and Grammie telling her stories. Arabella has even asked to call Grammie when we are getting into bed and as soon as my Mom answers the phone, Arabella says, "Don't you want to read to me, Grammie?" It is the sweetest thing, no wonder my Mom can't say no! So when this started to become a regular part of our routine, Grammie pulled out a few books that she has kept that were mine and Mike's growing up. Arabella loved listening and would ask for more and more. So when Arabella asked to go to the library this week, I had an idea. We could pick out a few books and then Grammie could go to her library and check out the same ones so we could follow along when she was reading. Genius idea! We checked out Purplicous, a few Fancy Nancy and Curious George books and even some in French...which Grammie couldn't get at her library...but that's OK, Jay has been reading those to her...and then Grammie checked out the same books from her library in Florida. For the past few nights, Grammie has been having bedtime story duty and Arabella loves to follow along in the books. Thanks Grammie for starting a new cherished bedtime tradition, it sure is special.

Shopping or School??

This morning, we had room duty day at preschool with Arabella. Since Jay isn't traveling this week, we switched things up so he could join her at school today. She was so excited...it was the cutest thing when she came into our room this morning...it was all the she could talk about...it was her special day and Dad was going to go with her this time. This month they also started show-n-tell on your special day so this was the first time she actually got to bring an item with her. She wanted to bring in Rapunzel, Flynn Rider and Maximus (the dolls that Santa brought her at Christmas) for show-n-tell. I didn't want them to get lost in her backpack so we put them in a shopping bag for her. After she dressed herself...which is a big thing for her...she has to do it all alone and will ask for your help if she wants or needs it...she threw the bag over her arm and away she went. She looks just like a pro-shopper...wonder where she got that from!?!?!?

Lululemon Warehouse Sale Haul

I never knew the cult following that Lululemon had before we moved to Montreal. Sure I had purchased a pair of the cropped workout pants when we first moved to Ohio and at the time thought I was crazy for spending the $50 or so on them, but after wearing them to workout in a few times, I realized how great they were. They washed well, held their shape, looked great on, didn't fade and even made it through me being pregnant with Arabella and then afterwards. And to this day, almost 6 years after purchasing them and wearing the heck out of them - they still look pretty darn good!

I remember being excited when we moved her to find out that our mall had a store in it. But then reality set in, how could I justify the $98 for a pair of yoga pants when I wasn't working. Or even the $50 for a sports bra...they are the best I have worn and when you are endowed like I am, you need something to keep them in place while running or working out...but still. So I would resort to buying items here and there when they would be on sale. At one point, Jay even looked into purchasing their stock since it seems like everyone here has their regular wardrobe and then their Lulu wardrobe! Literally, there is a Lululemon fashion show each day at our pool in the summer - I swear there is more Lulu on the pool deck than in the store at our mall, seriously! When Jay saw that he missed the IPO and what the stock is sitting at now, roughly $61 vs. the $10 IPO in 2007, http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/lulu - he knew he missed the boat!

But in all honesty, as much as Jay can't believe that I would spend that much money on workout clothes, I have to say they are worth every penny. So when I saw that Lulu was having their once yearly warehouse sale in Ottawa, I knew I had to go. And when I heard that the prices were amazing and that they would be restocking throughout the weekend, it made my decision to go even easier. So instead of getting up at the crack of dawn on Saturday, I left at 8 am with Emily, Arabella's babysitter, and we made the less than 2 hour drive to Ottawa. (A whole bunch of my friends were going to go, but we just couldn't all coordinate our schedules...some went Friday and stood in line for 3-4 hours just to get into the sale....and others went on Sunday when the selection wasn't as great but the prices were the lowest.) Emily and I wait about 2 hours to get into the sale - which was very well organized, they only let a few people in at a time and the clothes were all hung on rolling racks in size order - and then we spent about 1 1/2 hours browsing the selection. It was nice as they kept bringing out new stock throughout the time we were in the sale. We had to wait again to check out, but I think it was totally worth it. I was able to get some new pants and tops and a special edition hoodie that I have been drooling over for the longest time (it retailed for $148 but I get it for less than half price) and I also picked up a few cute things for Arabella from the girls line that Lulu just recently came out with - Ivivva - for her gymnastics. Needless to say, she loved them all and was super excited. (Jay on the other hand, rolled his eyes - like mother like daughter - but was happy with the price I paid for each piece - $9 for the pants, $24 for the hoodie!)

So here is my haul...

Arabella's haul!
She got right to monkeying around and loved doing a fashion show for Jay of everything I scored for her!
A also scored a new Sigg water bottle for $9, a free scarf, a hat for running and a great tote bag!
My special edition Scuba hoodie! I love it!
The rest of my haul!

I actually can't wait for the sale next January, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that they hold it here in Montreal. For those of you in the US, they are having the only US warehouse sale this weekend in Chicago! Now all I have to do is go through my old workout clothes to make room for the new...

Martha Moment

I love to change out the decor in my apothecary jars that sit on the ledge in my kitchen with each season or holiday. They had been sitting empty since I took down the Christmas decorations and I wasn't too sure what to do for Valentine's Day. So yesterday, Arabella and I went to Bulk Barn to pick up a few things and when I was there, inspiration struck. The jars before...

And after....

All it took was about $5 in bulk candy. I would have done all the same color scheme, but Arabella wanted to help pick out the candy so this is what we ended up with. She even helped put the candy in the jars when we got home!

And what is even better about the decorations, as delicious as they look, we picked candy that I don't eat at all! And because it isn't chocolate, Arabella isn't too interested in trying it out either!