Thursday 29 November 2012

Milk Unleashed Giveaway

I'm writing this post for Milk Unleashed. In exchange for writing this post, I will be given a sample of the product. One lucky winner will receive a variety pack from Milk Unleashed.

I've never tried shelf safe milk before but we're big milk drinkers in our house. I'm interested in shelf safe milk for a few reasons: Grady doesn't drink milk yet but when we do introduce cow's milk, we will likely start with Baboo (shelf safe milk designed for toddlers to help transition from breastmilk or formula to regular milk.) Living in BC, we have an earthquake emergency kit with food and water to last us three days. Our kit currently has water and juice but I think I'll add some shelf safe milk (to drink with my stash of chocolate chip cookies.) Last but not least, I like the option of sending milk in Grady's lunchbox when he's old enough for school, instead of always sending juice.

To win a Milk Unleashed prize pack, check out the Milk Unleashed App and leave a comment with your tried and true on-the-go tip (bonus points if it's a toddler-aged tip.) (Just kidding, there's no bonus points.) Winner will be chosen randomly on December 5th. Contest is open to Canadians only.


Wednesday 28 November 2012

Justify Me

I get a lot of weird (unsolicited) stuff in my inbox. Pictures of celebrities wearing shoes (and if I ask nicely they'll send me high-res pictures of celebrities wearing shoes!) Tips on being a graceful single mom (yeah.) Stuff like that.

Usually I just send a quick "thanks but no thanks" reply or just hit delete because whatever, we've all got a job to do and if your job consists of sending unsolicited pictures of celebrities wearing shoes I won't judge you. It takes me two seconds to delete something I don't want in my inbox. No biggie.

Occasionally something cool comes along, though, and I'm tempted to try it out. Product reviews on a personal blog are a divisive topic, I know, but I think I've found my comfort zone. If it's something I'm genuinely interested in, or a cause I'm passionate about, I'm not going to feel guilty or weird about blogging about it.

That is a lot of words to say "my blog my rules" but oh well. There is not a lot of sleep right now. It makes me wordy and dumb.

So I have a couple of product reviews lined up (with giveaways! Free stuff! For you!) and if you're not into reviews, that's cool. I'll miss you. Come back next week and I'll tell you about some awesome Christmas traditions I'm looking forward to this year.

Monday 19 November 2012

All My Life Things Change

I turned 30 last month. I wore a too-short dress with too-high heels. I painted my lips bright red and drank French 75s. She changed her flight and flew home early, staying awake for 26 hours straight so that she could wish me a happy birthday - in person - on my real birthday.

My birthday was big and momentous and I was expecting to feel so different afterward. And I guess, in a way, I did. I left my twenties behind. I can relax now.

I spent the first few years of my twenties treating people poorly. Not out of malice, just out of laziness really. I didn't have to be nice or make an effort because I was young and cute and I got away with a lot. Then I moved to England and I was alone - really alone - for the first time in my entire life. I learned a lot about myself. I met amazing people and saw amazing things and when I moved back to Canada in my mid-twenties I was a different person.

My mid-to-late twenties were spent in a whirlwind of trying to do this before I turned 30 or trying to achieve that while I was still young. It wasn't a bad thing. I accomplished a lot. I just look back now and realize that I never really took the time to enjoy my accomplishments. I was always planning the next big thing. I consumed my achievements. Chewed them up and spat them out. There was no time to savour what I'd done because I was already knee-deep in my next endeavour.

I'm 30. I left my job three months ago. I left my high-paying, benefits-included job three months ago. I spend my days cutting oranges into bite-sized pieces and changing diapers and worrying about money. Twenty-five year old me would roll her eyes at today's me. And I'm okay with that. If there's one thing that becoming Grady's mom has taught me it's that things change. All the time. Today sucks? Well maybe tomorrow won't. Grady woke up 15 times last night? Maybe next week he'll sleep through the night. Breastfeeding makes you curl your toes with pain and tears run down your face? Maybe tomorrow you won't feel a thing.

I expected to turn 30 and wake up the next day feeling different. It actually took until I was 30 plus a month and a couple of days but it happened. I am 30 and I spent the weekend surrounded by amazing women, learning amazing things, and my life will be forever changed. I am training to become a doula. I know what I want to be when I grow up. And I am so happy.

Monday 5 November 2012

Bite My Lip and Close My Eyes

Prompted by my sister and brother-in-law, I reopened my long-dormant Etsy shop for a Faux-mo-vember sale. Use coupon code "movember" for 10% off and share your love for the 'stache. (I know. People are so over the mustache. I don't care. I love them. Unabashedly.)