Check out my latest submission to Island Child magazine (before it's even published!)

So, what did you do all day?

The question I loathe to be asked and loathe even more to answer. How can I describe to the insensitive cad who has asked it, that I have accomplished many miniscule miracles, but none that might impress them.

Being a stay-at-home mom, even for a finite period of time (Mat leave) is a tough job. We have all heard that. Most of us moms know that. But what about everyone else? What about the dear spouses, who ought to know better, but who still come home after their day of work and conversationally ask for a list of today’s activities. Or the ever-hopeful, "What’s for dinner?” Ha!

And then there are the family members, co-workers, friends...who insist you regale them with an extensive list of your goings-ons. Because, what could you possibly be doing all day while the rest of the world actually works? Well, if you must know, the baby ate peas for the first time, I avoided ten possible stains on the carpet, we actually ate lunch around noon for once and (drum roll please), I finally got to have a shower! Alone!

Okay, maybe this doesn’t sound so impressive to the average Joe, but to any mom, it’s going from base camp to the snowy peak of Mount Kilimanjaro in 8 hours. In flip-flops.

Getting anything of note done, amoungst feeding, pureeing, bathrooming, rocking, sanitizing, cuddling, singing, bathing and never-ending diaper changing would be a wonder. Heck, I’m proud if I can run a vacuum cleaner over our foyer or find a second to respond to an email.

And all joking aside, I am truly happy and lucky to be able to stay at home with my kids, for any amount of time, because I learn more from them than any class or any job could teach me. And it is probably just frustration and lack-of-sleep that makes me hyper-sensitive to the ignorance of others. There’s probably a bit of guilt in there too. Why don’t I get more done?

The most dangerous thing I can do is compare myself to others and their impeccable homes and well-mannered children. Their babies who sleep on a schedule and toddlers who love spinach. But, I am intelligent (really, I am!) and I do know that comparisons aren’t fair because everyone is different and appearances can be deceiving.

To heck with anyone who looks at my busy day and finds it lacking! (Including myself).

And the next time someone asks me what it is I do all day, I’ll simply drop my kids by their place for a weekend, and then they’ll really know.

Whiskers On Kittens

I'm on Mat leave which means I am at home...a lot. It takes me a long time to relax in the evenings as that is when I am go-go-go, trying to make up for the time when I am single-handedly putting out a 3-year-old and 3-month-old's fires. So once my husband comes home, I take times to get things done and I also take time for myself. This may mean painting my nails, having a bath, returning my emails...but, more often than not, it means going on Facebook and checking out the newest updates to my favorite sites. Here are a few of my faves: 1) The Selby: http://www.theselby.com/ (Awesome photography of famous/cool peoeples places. Gives me something to aspire to). 2)The Sartorialist: http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/ (Fabulous photos of street style from the most stylish cities around the world). 3) Style.com: http://www.style.com/ (My favorite thing about this site is the pics of style icons and celebs at ridiculous NY/LA parties and the Look of the Day that enables you to make your style vote count). 4) Lainey Gossip: http://www.laineygodssip.com/ (Celeb gossip with a Canadian twist). 5) Funny or Die: http://www.funnyordie.com/ (Hilarious sketches by our favorite comedians and some surprising celebrities). 6) And of course Goop: http://goop.com/ of which my little blog is inspired from. (Gwenyth Paltrow tells us how to live. If I had money, I'd like to think I'd be half as stylish & cool as she is). Enjoy my pretties and have a wonderful new year.

Roxanne

Here's my submission for the latest issue of Island Child. Enjoy Yummy Mummys!

Bringing Sexy Back A couple months ago, when I was still a working mom, it seemed everywhere I turned I was hearing people talk about a “work-life balance.” Now that I’m a stay-at-home mom on my mat leave, I am more concerned with a mom-hot lady balance. I love being at home with the kids, I really do. I mean, I’m only 3 months into this year long mat stint but the bloom is still fully on the rose. The kids and I have a blast at play groups, on walks to the park, or cranking some tunes at home and staying in our jammies all day. But, there are some days, when I lurk out of bed, stare at my closet and think, “What’s the point?” What point is there to carefully selecting my most adorable outfit if it’s only going to get puked on? What point is there to plastering on my make-up if there is no one around to appreciate it? The point: self-preservation. When I was on my first Mat leave, over 3 years ago, I felt alone and isolated. I baked cookies and ate them all miserably in front of the TV. I rarely felt like I had time to shower and I never dressed nicely. As a result, I put on weight, had a bad attitude and barely left the house. Looking back, I probably had some symptoms of post-partum, but I really feel doing some things a bit differently could have made the world of difference. So this time around, I had a game plan. This time I am taking time for myself, making sure to shower and dress everyday (even if that means showering at night and laying my clothes out for the next day). I almost always put on my face now, and although I may not always have time for the best hair-do I have invested in some excellent hair bobbles and cute hats so I can at least fake it. (And if there’s some extra cash at the end of the month, mama’s getting her hair done!) I’ve donated or stored any clothes that “used to fit” and have picked up some flattering, comfy, cute clothes that make me feel good about getting up in the morning. Seems like such silly, easy things but they have given me the confidence to want to go out and do things outside the house. And heck, I look great doing it and isn’t that the point?

All the Pretty Things

I absolutely love online shopping. It fills me with unbridled excitement to scan through pages and pages of gorgeous clothing, shoes and accessories. I love the thrill I get out of clicking "Add to my Shopping Bag" and when the box comes in the mail? Well sometimes that's just better than...well, you know. But I am not on Net-a-Porter or Gilt Groupe. Nope, I need a deal. I want a deal. I love a deal. I LIVE for a deal. So my three new favorite sites are as follows: Charlotte Russe (http://www.charlotterusse.com/) This site is the cheapest of the cheap. LOVE! We also don't have the store here in Canada so that adds an extra wow factor. I got 4 pairs of RAD boots, a studed clutch, a belt, a vest and some other general bric-a-brac all for $180 including S&H. OMG! The boots abobe are one of the pairs of boots I got. Major! Not real leather but that's ok because I won't feel bad about tossing them at the end of the season. Which I totally will. Forever 21 (http://www.canada.forever21.com/) Another store that is nowhere near where I live. I got some adorable stuff on sale from summer for my impending trip to Hawaii in January. A maxi dress, a couple of shirts & tanks, a great tunic and a belted brown dress shirt that has become part of my fashionable/functional mom uniform. All the stuff was good quality and totally worth the small amount I paid for it. I love that the site lets you see things in zoom and in the various different colours that it's available in and I also adore the fact that S&H is free. FREE! They have various "lines" through them as well from the teeny-bopper look to the more mature Contemporary 21 line. Covering all facets of my life and personality. Other sites I have found in my online voyages but have not YET ordered from: 1) Chadwicks (http://www.chadwicks.com/). Looks a little mommsy but there are some deals to be found. 2) JC Penny (http://www.jcpenny.com/) which has a link at hte top to some awesome deals through Sephora 3) Landsend (http://www.landsend.com/). I have numerous friends who swear by their bathing suits (AND of course monogrammed beach bags!) 4) Kensie and KensieGirl (http://www.kensie.com/). Really cute stuff but a tad pricey. 5) And of course the old stand-bys: Gap/Banana Republic/Old Navy/Piperlime which I can all be accessed from same site and I actually have ordered from. (http://www.gap.com/)

Sirens Call

Wow! Long time, no write. I guess I can blame that on on having a baby, changing careers, moving? But it's been over a year or something and to tell you the truth, I forgot how to sign in to my Blog and things like that just frustrate me into immobility. Sheesh...

But I'm back. Mostly because I have been so inspired by other blogs I've been on lately (a list of which are coming soon) and also because I now am on Maternity Leave which means I a) am not on a computer all day at work and enjoy my leisure time on it much more and b) I actually have time to go on the computer.

My second child, a son, Jack Dallas was born October 2, 2010 and he's such a prince. Ava, Jack, and I have a great time doing absolutely nothing on rainy BC November days together. We are all snuggle buddies and reslish our time inside.

That being said, I need some connection to the outside world and the realms in that world that I love: fashion, art, design.... And so, like a sirens call, I am back to navel gazing.

Fabulousness to follow...

Roxanne

Eat, drink, and don't die.

This is me feeling sick and pale after the drs appointment. Why, after you know you are actually ill, do you feel a million times worse?

Well, I seem to be the palest person in the world. Ok, well, no. I am not exactly the palest. And I am not exactly pale. I am more green-tinged. Some people look great pale: Winona Ryder, Dita Von Teese...and then there's me. Blonde hair, blued eyed, sickly looking and bags under the eyes. Does it get any cuter? I went to the doctor about 2 months ago, complaining of fatigue. And as I am a young, relative active ann fit, I thought it a bit weird that I couldn't even keep up on my thrice weekly Curves excercises with my 50-year-old co-worker. But I couldn't. I honestly thought I would die when three o'clock rolled around, talk about a brick wall! It made me long for my school-girl days when we were encouraged to put our heads on our desks in the afternoons so Mrs. Mulholland could have a Diet Coke in peace. But, alas, I am not 8 and I should have more energy. So, long story short, I had low iron. Whoopie...pretty lame, right? SO, I started taking Iron pills and eating better (more broccoli, less donuts) but I started to get dizzy and disgusting feeling all the time. You know those "stars" you sometimes see when you get up too fast, well I was getting them when I turned around to look at people in the backseat of my car. Not good. Again with the long story being shortened-I have low blood pressure. I haven't got the results back but we (dr. and I) are pretty much dead set on it being caused by dehydration. That being hte most common reason for blood pressure for someone at my...ahem...young age. I've turned into one of those people who drink three cups of coffee, have lunch, have a cup of tea and then come home and drink wine until I pass out at 8:30. It's a miracle I'm alive, basically. So the day we figured this out, I drank a 1.5 litre water from about 12:30 on....I didn't go to the washroom until bedtime! Scary! May this be a lesson to us all: don't be stupid with your health!

Something Lost, Something Found.

I was awoken at 4 this morning by my pseudo husband telling me that the keys to his vehicle were missing and he was going to take my car instead. Which left me to deal with the mess when I woke up 2 hours later. Where were the keys and what was I going to do if I didn't find them? The last time I saw them they were...oh!...sitting in the very cute Urban Barn plate I photographed for my last post. So I loggeed onto my blog post from last nightnand sure enough there they were. I did my best sleuthing and deducted that the photo was taken between 8 and 9 p.m. so now all I needed to do was figure out what happened to them in the meantime? And all this before my first cup of coffee. Long story short, I found them in the enormous u-brew wine jug we keep in the livingroom for spare change. So after dumping our 2 lbs. of loose change, I got the keys and was off and running. But it just shows you the kind of life I lead: nothing organized, nothign ever in it's place. The fact that our tiny apartment has no storage to speak of and is kind of an agonizing dump with tiny closets, terrible blue-grey burber carpet and cigarette burned linoleum. Not to mention the other crazies in our building...yikes! So we went rental hunting after work today and say three places. They were all overpriced and one smelled of BO and cigarettes. Oh, Duncan, is this all you have to offer? Dejected, I came home and half-heartedly coninued my search on UsedCowichan. I found a one bedroom + den that sounded neat and modern but, alas, it really was a den and not a bedroom (re: small, windowless, and nary a closet in sight) so I guess we continue our search another day. But I will not give up hope. The smell of Spring in the air rejuvenates me. I have stopped reading the cheesy shopping novels and smutty romances that keep me warm in the winter and turn to thicker, heartier fare. Sounds the opposite of most people, but I am one of those people who love to hibernate in the shade of warm days, choosing to enjoy the summer in a cocoon of literature. Not that it is exactly summer here yet (it snowed for a few seconds today) but the air does have that special feeling about it that only the spring can bring. Some of my favorite Spring reads: Diary of Anais Nin (not for the faint of heart or people with no patience. For a taste of the time and for Nin, rent the movie about her, starring Uma Thurman as a young woman: Henry and June) The Great Gatsby (a classic that can be enjoyed by everyone) The Sun Also Rises (I dare you to read this book and NOT daydream of an exotic summer approaching) The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (maybe it will encourage you to do something off the beaten path this summer?) There are a million other cliched "great reads" out there that I could recommend that are all, truely, great reads; but sometimes your favorite books are those silly ones you pick up for $1 at the flea market and when aksed why you like them so, you can't quite put your finger on it. It just makes you think of something... Roxanne