Moomah

Ode to Moomah. Lets take a moment to click on the link and search through this beautiful site. This cafe is a super cool place in NY...dedicated to moms and their kids. I want my house to look like a mini version of this place...i'm going to steal some ideas for sure. When we lived outside of Calgary i would take the kids into the city to go to the Coup for lunch, and then to a kids play place that had OK coffee and a HUGE playspace that i would often lose them in. It was a great escape though and i miss having those options.

Everyone knows about ETSY but do you know about  http://www.weloveindie.com/ ? They edit what comes onto the site so they aren't promoting bad artistic endeavors that should not be online..ha. ETSY allows anyone to set up an account..which is great, but http://www.weloveindie.com/ is a bit more pared down to the really well done.

(Photo taken form the Moomah site)

ze healthiest chocolate pudding

I was at a dinner party about a month ago and the host made this delish chocolate pudding, none of us could place the taste in our mouths, but it was different and good. At the end i asked for the recipe and i couldn't believe how simple it was and foolish i'd been. It was tofu!! I just made it for lunch for my kids, since i can add random goodness and they won't notice.

Recipe: 1 pack of firm organic tofu (i like Soyganic)
            3 tbsp (or to taste) of agave nectar or honey
             bittersweet chocolate, melted  OR 5 tbsp plain cocoa powder
           * blend it up in your Vita-mix or blender and its done!

To be sneaky i add some supplements into it sometimes, like hemp oil and spirulina (but don't go overboard or they'll notice!) And raspberries add a nice touch.

to just be

  Now and then i ponder my life (almost everyday)...and i question what i do and why i do it...i almost always go back into the mania that i am and do the same things i was doing before, but at least i know why i'm doing them...i am usually running away. What from? My mortal body, the threat of death, pain and suffering in the world...or that i am really afraid of amounting to a nobody?  If i strive for something bigger and better, maybe it will make me bigger and better, no? What i should've learned a long time ago, is that striving only makes me a fool. I'm always on the lookout for a good idea, always reading a few books on new projects, when i haven't  finished the one i started. I know part of it is my genetic code( i am a Sanguine to the nose), but for the most part i like looking to the future, and maybe to just a dream. I am one of those people that can barely stand reality, if i see a child with a mother that looks unfit to be a mother, that alone can put me into depression for the rest of the day. I have a hard time editing what is my problem and what isn't, and so i find myself heading to 'escapist island' often. My resolution for 2010, is to just BE, i am not what i DO or PLAN to do...i am me and i can only do what is at hand to do. On a creative note, if i want to paint for a day, i can paint (and i don't have to go to the art store and decide on my palette for the next 6 months) or if i want to play piano again, i can, but i don't have to sign up for a year of lessons. My life is full. Full to the brim. I once read a great book called, "If you want to write", it was written a long time ago, i think in the 30's. It was about how our society (even in the 30's) was becoming a culture that needed gratification for everything they did, and how if we truly are meant to do something, we would do it EVEN IF NOBODY EVER SAW US DOING IT (both activism and creative pursuits).Wowsa. And now with Facebook, blogging, and Twitter, etc..we can broadcast all we do to the world, and feel like we're a little bit bigger and better because we do what we do (and everyone else knows about it too!)  If we could just rest in the GRACE of being who we are, and not striving to be more than we are, we would BE better...we'd be real, not so competitive and we'd have better community since one person wouldn't be trying to do everything. (Even if you CAN make that baby bonnet, just buy the darn thing from someone who already made it to give them some support, and they in turn will support you in what you do). This post just went from one thought into many thoughts, and skipped into a rant. Anyways, i am ME this year and thats it. My one and only resolution.

This Personality Test is pretty bang on (take it and let me know what you are:) I was Sanguine Choleric

Even the Ancient Greeks believed in "Humors", this is an interesting read.

Here is a painitng by http://www.nikolasdemasi.com/ titled "Sanguine View"...interesting since sanguine also means blood.

hopeful 2010

   Hello friends! I had a fun night with friends last night, good laughs, food and drink. We ended up staying the night and came home this morning to a house smelling minty fresh..why? Not sure...maybe little knomes came in last night and did a phantom deep cleaning...phantom meaning 'invisible'. Or maybe its the neighbor's essential oils seeping through the fire wall. Its bugging me, especially since its so strong i can taste it. Anyways, Happy New Year!!

slow birth

  Having just read Gloria Lemay's blog on slow birth, i am feeling awakened to how our cultural values on how fast = better have seeped into birth, even "natural birth". With my first 2 i had  average birth lengths, about 8 hours with each, always jealous of the women who could pop out those babes and then leave in their skinny jeans. (2.5 years after my third, i am still looking at those damn skinny jeans.)
  We've all either told or heard the stories, "the baby just shot out", "3 hours of labour and 2 grunts, and she was out...and that was my first!", or " i went from 4 cm to birth in 40 minutes"..OK the last one was me. I fell into the trap of competitive birthing!! How could've i been so duped?! The ironic thing is, is that the last super fast birth i had, felt like i had a semi coming out my behind...and made me feel like i was lucky to be alive afterwards. And THAT was my brag story, simply because it was fast. How lame of me. But my grace is that many of us do it, a reason many moms like avoiding new mom groups like the plague, since we will all be forced to tell our story and either amp it up with tales of horrible pain and incredibly long painful hours, or make the rest of the women feel like itty bitty wimps(or at least not very efficient) by saying how fast and easy peasy it was. Either way to say it, we still like making a statement of how powerful we are. We all have many ways in which we are powerful, and a good slow birth is a thing to be proud of as well.

Gloria's blog and article here:

A lovely birth here:(also taken from Gloria's blog)

   

good ol' propaganda

I love this poster...i'm going to hang it on a wall in my kitchen. Read the history of it here:

Merry Christmas friends:)

  Tonight was lovely..i had my folks come up from Salmon Arm, and i tried some new foods that i had never made before (always try new foods when you have company)...I made bruschetta on sour dough and then a fried zucchini, fennel and mushroom dish, with a fennel, tomato, poppy seed salad..did i mention i love fennel? I could smell it all day, well maybe for at LEAST 20 minutes. Then for dessert we had avocado ice cream, followed by raspberry sorbet with a bittersweet chocolate crispy brownie. And for the naysayers who wouldn't eat the avocado ice cream i bought some stolen and Cool Whip (to put on the ice cream to make it sort of Albertan-ish). But everyone liked it! And i got to show off my Vita-Mix in the process. Oh Vita.  Its now off to drink a little vino and wrap the presents from Santa (i switched the more expensive gifts that were originally from Santa...the cheaper ones are now from him, why should he get the credit?)

        Merry Christmas friends! Here's a poster i would love to give to every pregnant woman as a gift from their doula :)  Ashley G's drawings exude coolness.