Oh how life in the Okanagan is delicious...

The Okanagan is known for it's beautiful wineries...106 at last count!  Along with our growing wine industry is a strong and vibrant culinary industry.  Restaurant events are increasing all the time and winery restaurants are appearing at a brisk rate. 

This year I have the pleasure of coordinating the Thompson/Okanagan Wine and Dine, and it's going to be a great event! The event this year will be starting off with a Launch event at the Delta Grand, and it's going to be a good one! 10 restaurants & 10 wineries will be there handing out samples to over 200 attendees.  The tickets went fast, what a pleasant surprise!  

Once the launch night is over, then the real fun begins.  Restaurants have put together fixed price menus of $15, $25, and $35 paired with beautiful wines from BC Wine Institute BC VQA wines! You can check out all the menus on http://www.bcrfa.com/.  And come and check out the Wine and Dine Facebook Page for a chance to win Gift Certificates, and hear the latest news!

Time for a change?!

http://forum.xcitefun.net/

New Year's is upon us, as we come to and end of a year and the start of a new one...is it time for a change?! How do we decide what changes to make?

Life is a whirlwind, so we need to take time to slow down to even decide what changes we want to make for the new year. Wait...maybe that should be on my list...slowing down!

First I need to clear the table, so that I can sit down and think clearly.  Wait...maybe I should add getting rid of clutter to my list.

Let's make a snack while we decide.  Oooooh, let's add some ways that I can lose weight.

Maybe I should phone a friend and ask their advice.  But I haven't talked to some of them in such a long time. I should reconnect with old friends.

Well that was easy, but haven't I been adding those to my list every year?  Maybe I should be more specific.  Maybe I shouldn't be trying to do all these things at the same time.  What's the trick to making these changes?

If you have any advice on making positive changes...let me know. Happy 2012 everyone!

Halloween costumes...how far do you go?

First of all, sorry for the delay in posting...life continues to be incredibly busy. So, although Halloween was 6 weeks ago, I thought I would still post about it.

This year's Halloween was the first one where my son could participate. My little one was only 2 months old last year, so this year I decided to make him a costume.

Now, I am not a sewer (wait that doesn't look right!!). Maybe I should say...I'm not a person who sews. A friend taught me this summer, and it wasn't as scary as I thought. I tried several little projects and they all turned out great. So why couldn't I make a costume?

First though to decide what costume. I love when you theme it up with mom/dad's costume. So since Dad loves fishing, why not a fish costume. I did a little research online, and then started to formulate a plan. A visit to the fabric store to get supplies. And I was off and running.

I started my project, freehanding a pattern. And it turned out! Ok, the colors were a bit girlie, and some people said he looked like a mermaid...but he's not, he's a fish! It's very exciting to have a project turn out, it makes all the work very satisfying. And it really didn't take me that long, I could have easily spent that same amount of time shopping for the right costume.

What do you think? Fish/mermaid?

Shatobu...a girl needs all the support she can get!

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http://www.shatobu.com/

I've always wondered about these blogging opportunities that everyone was talking about...and then I was one of 25 moms chosen to test out the latest Shatobu wear. It all sounds very fancy but Shatobu is the latest in support wear. Yes, I said support wear!

Ok...not as glamourous as the latest smart phone or some cool kitchen gadget. But as a mom (of a now 14 month old), a very needed piece of additional support in my life. (no pun intended) So in September, I received my package of support wear...just as our fall heat wave hit! But I made a commitment and I wasn't going to wimp out. I pulled on the high waisted bicycle short version. And surprisingly they weren't that warm. I had committed to wearing them every day for 5-6 hours, for 30 days. And I did it! 

They were comfortable, easy to get on, and held a pleasant shape (no squiggy bum here!). What was also awesome about this support wear was that not only did they keep all the jelly in the belly in check, but the snug fit help suppress my appetite. (I felt full a lot quicker.) And that excessive back fat that usually occurs after putting on this type of garment did not get out of hand! Shatobu stands for Shape, Tone, Burn. It definitely shapes, but does it tone and burn? Who really knows, but since I ate less, I did lose weight. Yay!

I would say that this is a good thing and worth trying!

Oh no!! I've dropped my baby!

Yes, I finally did it!  The infamous "dropping of the baby" that every new parent does.  Lucky boy, he was almost one before it happened.  Just to clarify, it wasn't so much a dropping of the baby, but rather carelessly allowing him to fall off the change table.  :(

I had heard all the stories from other mom's, variations of dropping, falling, and knocking the baby's head on something.  I remember one mom telling me that the day after she got home from the hospital, the public nurse stopped by to see how they were doing.  And as she rounded the corner to greet the nurse, she banged her baby's head on the edge of the wall.

When my son fell, unfortunately it was a lot more preventable.  He had started standing up on the change table to look at the shelf next to it.  I leaned over to place something in the closet next to the change table, when I heard a noise and turned to see him falling off the table.  Luckily, he slowed his fall by grabbing the change table on the way down and landing on a small rug.  Unfortunately, as he landed he fell back and hit his head on the hardwood floor. 

Well my heart stopped!  I was trying to figure out what to do.  I waited to see what my son would do.  He then proceeded to do the “silent” cry, where it takes (what feels like an hour!) for him to make a sound.  I couldn’t believe that I had let him fall!

But within a minute, he was fine...I hadn't broken my baby!  These little guys really are tougher than they seem.  :)