and the clothes came off

it's hot.

smokin hot with very little of that victoria wind that makes a hot day just a bit more bearable.

mack and i were roasting alive in our place so we decided to head out for a walk. that didn't last too long.

we tried to keep cool by sitting on the balcony or in front of the fan, but it wasn't cutting it. so the clothes came off. we sat around the house in our underthings and tried to keep cool. sorry neighbours...haha.

jer's out tonight and i am home by my lonesome pondering what to do with myself. i unpacked a bit more but that made me even hotter.

then i realized it has been way too long since i picked up my knitting. i went to go continue working on my shawl and then realized that would make me hot too. the thought of holding wool on me right now is not cool. i figure i will just check out ravelry and daydream of all the projects beckoning to me. (www.ravelry.com)

i have another project beckoning to me to finish as well. my throw pillows for our bed are begging to be sewn. finally i may just have some time to get them done. but...low and behold i need some thread and it is buried in some storage bin that i am just too darn hot to go into at the moment.

so that leaves me with the computer and some good ol'olympics in the background. ohhhh how i would love to be frolicking in that huge, cold pool right now.

thankfully mack passed out early tonight. i figure the heat go to her, especially after we had to turn the oven on to cook dinner...my oh my. she was in good spirits at least.

hopefully the sunshine sticks around for this weekend. i am dying to hit the beach. hopefully we can head off to gonzales beach early, stake a spot and frolic in the sun.

i thought i would add a pic to this post of jer doing manly things. we stayed up wayyyyy too late on sunday night trying to assemble a new desk. (i wish i could say it was doing something more fun, but no it was a desk..haha) it killed us and i have been trying to catch up on my zzzz's ever since. seeing as jer doesn't usually build things and it is me who normally does it, i thought i better capture the momentous occassion on camera.

goodies

jer and i packed up the baby and went on a gift card spending spree on the weekend.
i am posting these pics up for my mom to see some of the goodies we picked up. i know this is a boring post and there will probably be more, but it's hard to explain the stuff over the phone. (mom i miss you terribly. come back!!!!!)
a huge thank you to all that got us great gifts! you guys rock and again, you didn't need to get us anything, it wasn't necessary, so thank you. (the thank you cards will be going out in the mail soon.)

my fave oven mitts in the whole world. i want to plaster the pattern and colors on these oven mitts everywhere. love em. i love em so much i don't even want to use them...i just want to oogle them. yes, i realize i need to get out more...hahaha. (the mitts are from stokes www.stokesstores.com)

the start of the deck garden. we tried to find a few herbs and plants that would still look great over the fall and winter. (thanks tracee & lonny)

"love at first sight"

we got a great little espresso maker from stokes (www.stokesstores.com) and a bodum from jen. i am the happiest coffee drinker.

our new shower curtain and hand lotion dispenser for the main bathroom from home outfitters. (www.homeoutfitters.com)

we fell in love with this great little table at home outfitters which was just what we needed by the front door. (thanks nana and papa!) the diffuser is from pier one and the frame was a gift from my omi. the artwork in the frame is a card of one of jer's mom's paintings. (www.firesignartandesign.com)

ohhh and my 500 thread count sheets....absolute luxury. scored these during a great sale at home outfitters.

normally I am scared of sharks...but....

normally i am scared of sharks...but....this time i am in love.

jer's work asked us what we would like for a wedding gift and i sneakily suggested a new iron.

i am the one who has to iron all of his billions of shirts for work right? i thought it was perfect. after putting up with all the overtime, i think an iron was the perfect gift for us (ahem, or maybe me).

i suggested the shark intelligent iron that i had been dreaming of but could never afford to go out and get. i thought it would work lovely with my linen spray. i wasn't prepared for how much i would love and get excited over an iron. who knew. the thing is great. i highly recommend it.

bye bye wrinkles! between the linen spray and the huge steam and water spray i get from this puppy they don't stand a friggin chance.

newlyweds

we're married!
we have a ton of great pics, but way too many to post on here. the wedding was great, relaxing and romantic and best of all - no rain!
we've had a hectic few weeks and life is slowly getting back to normal (or as normal as it can be..haha).

ring it

our rings

counting

3 more days till the wedding!!!!

i am sad to say i am not going to be able to finish my shawl in time for the wedding. i am very upset about this, but i only have so much time in the day...haha. this is how the pattern is progressing right now though. i am about half way done. i can't wait to finish it and get jer to take me out on a date so i can wear it.

this has been one of the most chaotic months and it is only going to get worse. we have so much going on i feel as though my mind is overflowing with little things i need to remember and get done.

trying to get married, move to a new place, be a maid of honor, attend another wedding and plan a big bbq is just way too many things to do and have happening in a 2 week time span!!! but we are getting through it.

i decided to find a shawl the same color as the one i am making to wear and my mom/dad so nicely bought it as a gift for me. they got the something blue part. jer's mom lent me her earrings that she wore when she got married (i love them!), something borrowed/something old, and i picked up a bracelet to match, something new.



i've got a dress i love, and decided to wear my hair down (in case it rains) and curly with a flower in my hair on the side. precious mackenzie is wearing a cute, little white dress that she is very excited about getting to put on finally.

we can't wait for the wedding and are crossing our fingers the weather is nice. it will be great to see our friends that are coming and to go camping! we are curious to see how mack does in the tent. we set it up in the house and let her romp around in it and she seems ok with it, so cross your fingers my child sleeps the night before the wedding. last thing i need is big bags under my eyes from staying up all night breastfeeding the baby in the wilderness...haha. i am just hoping i also don't have to go pee in the night. i hate trying to find my way to the toilets in the dark with only a flashlight to keep pervies away...ewwwwww and the bears. (i have a bad fear of bears) i think i would rather hold it until i burst.

the next few weeks are going to be super busy for us here, so i will probably not be posting for a few weeks, but when i do i'm sure there will be lots stories and photos from all the events. hopefully sometime in there i manage to hold on to what is left of my sanity, breathe in my spanx and enjoy my new husband, my daughter and our soon to be new home!!!!!

stormy

thought this pic captured the moment perfectly. we were all down on dallas road walking along the beach and the weather was so windy i thought mack was gonna blow away in her jogger!!!

harbour

i finally got the book "eat, pray, love" by elizabeth gilbert from the library.

it took me over a year on the wait list to get this book. the loan period is over and because this book is so popular i cannot renew it. i am embarrassed to say i kept it overdue just so i could finish it. there was no way i was giving this book back until i was done reading it. i will pay the fine. it's worth it.

it was a pure delight to read. i enjoyed every minute of it and bored poor jer to tears reading paragraphs to him, quoting parts and telling him little snippets just before we fell asleep at night. i have copied out lines from this book that i will hold on to like little treasures.

one of my fave parts of this book was when liz is finishing up her stay in india and a hilarious friend of hers told her she needs to learn how to select her thoughts the same way she selects what clothes she is gonna wear for the day. she decides she needs to learn to control her own thoughts and in her efforts to do this uses the italian phrase "devo farmi le ossa", meaning "i need to make my bones". (i love that phrase)

she then decides to use the vow "i will not harbour unhealthy thoughts anymore". she describes how harbour is a fitting word for this vow and at the end of this tale says "this is a peaceful harbour, the entryway to a fine proud island that is only now beginning to cultivate tranquility. if you can abide by these new laws, my dear thoughts, then you are welcome in my mind - otherwise, i shall turn you all back toward the sea from whence you came."

i am finding it hard to put into words how much i loved this book. the author takes an adventure to find herself through three different cultures that only most could dream of experiencing. if you haven't read this book yet, go out and get it. buy it, borrow it, just read it.

little ladybug

i have been hunting for 3 months for a pair of rain boots in mack's size. i finally found some, of all places, at pharmasave. after mack lost her new waterproof sandals we knew we had to find another pair right away for the trip to tofino. i lucked out in the pharmasave and got her some water shoes to go with her cute boots as well. now she is all set to puddle jump to her hearts content.

spanx me!

yipee!!!! the spanx are finally home with me!!!!

i got myself a pair of the "higher power panty" from spanx today. www.spanx.com after asking around and hunting for a long time i finally found some stores retailing spanx in victoria. the price is a bit more than online, but i don't have to pay for shipping. i got them at a wedding store in town called "stitches by luz" and also another shop downtown carries then near paboom...but i can't for the life of me remember there name. it was a cute, funky shop though with a salon in it and all sorts of adorable lingerie.

i am happy that i don't have to worry about holding in my breath all day at my sis's wedding in a few weeks and i can secretly wear them under my clothes and revel in all the "did you lose weight?" comments...haha. yeah for the spanx!!!

shades

mack got new shades from mec (www.mec.ca) on the weekend and she is in love with them! good thing they are bendy as she likes to chuck them around and play with them. they are definitely her new fave accessory. she also got the cute little sunsuit she is wearing in the previous post along with her new beach sandals which she sadly lost today!!! we are heartbroken! she has a bad habit of kicking off her shoes wherever we go and you can't always hear her throw them off and today we lost them. what to do, what to do....time to go shoe shopping again i guess.

long weekend

we has some fun last weekend at the water park. it was our first time checking it out and mack had a riot! she loved it and had alot of fun.

crazy neighhbours

p.s. - this is what was in our backyard last night as our annoying neighbours had a bbq. what the heck is with the tent???

ponytail

yippee! finally we can put in a ponytail!

mack's hair has been growing like a weed lately and the ponytail can now be done! mind you she only keeps it in her hair for about 5 minutes and then pulls it out...haha.

let the chaos ensue

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! we are moving

bad memories of our old place in vancouver are coming back to me in flashbacks at night causing me alot of anxiety. we lived in utter chaos trying to pack and live in a 5oo & something foot apartment with an 8 month old!
i hate packing. i love purging and starting fresh in a brand new "clean" apartment, unlike when we moved in here, the a##holes didn't even clean the friggin place. we are excited regardless.


excited to get out of this noisy, loud, annoying neighbour filled suite in an old, ill repaired character house that has an ever growing spider infestation!!!!!! i will be so happy to be in a clean place. all i ask is for cleanliness. i am not spoiled, nor do i need alot. but this place is always covered in dust. it's like we are attracting it in amazing amounts. i have to dust every second day and vacuum as well to keep this place safe for the baby to play!! every morning i go to the living room, put my coffee cup on the table and then go to get something for the baby. when i return my cup already has dust floating in the top of my coffee in my cup!!! now what the hell is that about???? someone tell me. i cannot figure it out. so i will be happy to be rid of this place. seeya to the annoying neighbours who i cannot stand to even look at anymore! i already feel horrible for whoever moves in here. now we know why the rent was so cheap.


oh well, it did what we needed and the neighbourhood is great. we found our new place by fate we think. my gorgeous sissy cami phoned me the day after my bday and immediately urged us to come over to her friend's house asap! to make a long story short, we loved the 2bdrm, 2 bath privately owned condo on the top floor with no neighbours and she was moving and needed new tenants. we took it. we didn't even think about it. we walked in the door and our fate was sealed. i cannot wait to be in there. we love it. we prayed for 4 days till we heard the final details. we gave our a#*hole landlord our notice last night....it felt great. now the hard part comes. packing.

packing, moving, eloping, maid of honor, weddings, bbq receptions...the list goes on for what july is filled with. not sure how we are gonna make it work, but i will be putting my organizational skills to the test.

girlie girl in training

mackie has been showing all sorts of interest in what i do to get ready in the morning. such as putting on makeup, doing my hair etc.

she loves to sneak into my makeup bag and run off and hide things of mine. she also loves to try on all her clothes and occasionally run off with mine as well.

so i finally decided to get out an old bag and fill it with lots of goodies for her to play with. she has her own makeup brushes, a hair brush, headband, barrettes, belt, phone and the list goes on.

here is a pic too cute not to post of her model walking around the house pointing to herself saying "mama". too funny!

tofino shawl

i am making progress on the shawl. so far so good.

i have only had to rip out on row due to a mysterious extra stitch! i think i fixed the problem and had missed one of the decreases somewhere along the way. i am glad i found it though because ripping out this kind of wool is a pain in the butt and more than one row would probably have had me in tears.

thankfully the group i am in on ravelry has posted lots of great tips for lace knitting on the discussion board and i feel like i am getting the hang of reading the chart ok and have a feel for the pattern.

keep your fingers crossed for me that it continues along smoothly.

finally in the 30's

i had my bday on the weekend.

i admit i am finding the 30's hard. i had a hard time with turning 30 last year and it hasn't sunk in that well yet that i am 31 now either.

i guess i have an image of someone in pleated mom jeans and a bad perm with grey hair...who knows, but i sure am happy that 30 is the new 20!!!! women are now looking damn fine all the way into their 80's! Who says getting older can't be sexy?

Jer took me out kayaking for the day and cami watched mackenzie for us. we got to be babyless from 9-5!!! it was a much needed break for me and we had a great time. we got to explore some islands, i almost had my arm bit off by a jumping fish and we got whipped around in whirlpools, waves and strong currents. it was great fun. you can see more pics of our trip and other photos we update regularly at www.babytobe.spaces.live.com

the next day we went to our friend jaime's daughters 3rd bday party where we jumped and frolicked around in a big gymnastics center. mackenzie had a blast.
sunday was for relaxing and having fun.

ikea

i finally managed to talk jer into going to ikea. i love that place.

we went over to van for saturday/sunday and went straight to ikea right off the ferry. we packed the trunk of the car full of goodies. i wish i had room to have brought home more.

we got mackie her very own potty!!!! she hasn't warmed up to sitting on it yet, but she sure loves throwing it around the bathroom...haha.

here is a pic of our new lamp that i am in love with.

seascape

i dragged jeremy out on friday night so i could pick up some yarn for my newest project (this is what a baby does to your social life..hahah). i got a very pretty light blue lacette that i think will look gorgeous with my dress on "our special day" next month in tofino.

when i saw the pattern for this shawl called "seascape" on knitty i knew it was the one! http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer08/PATTseascape.html

it's beautiful and jer brought me home all the charts he printed out for me at work for the pattern. now all i have to do is find the time to get knitting. i only have one month to make it!!!