Father's Day 2013...Experiences vs. Things

photo via Wikimedia Commons

There's nothing like Father's Day.  Except for Mother's Day...that's kinda like Father's Day.

This year we want to do it up for the Father in our lives, and since he's a minimalist who doesn't like "stuff", "junk", "knick knacks" or cards, the girls and I are planning on providing him with an experience rather than a thing (though I'm sure some "things" will be coming home from daycare and kindergarten for him...).

We are planning a picnic (we scoped out the perfect spot the other day), perhaps with a growler of this local beer, and will then present him with...sailing lessons!  He's a fan of boats, having spent most of his boyhood summers ass firmly planted in a canoe, with a small amount of sailing experience.  Fast forward 20 years, we live on a fresh water ocean, and he could probably use a refresher.  This way, he can spend one fun weekend sailing around and enjoying himself and relaxing in a way, because the guy cannot relax.  Not that I'm being completely altruistic. I hope this encourages us to one day buy a boat on which I can have dinner and cocktail parties and sunbathe (completely lathered in sunscreen and topped with a hat, who am I kidding?).  All of the things I want to do on the boat require it to be docked though, since I have terrible sea legs.  I literally have no legs at sea.  Tie me to the starboard (?) while I heave out my lunch.  Yeah, I don't boat well.

I've seen a slew of other awesome Father's Day gifts around the web, and I'm sure more will surface in the next few days, but if it wasn't sailing lessons, here's what I'd be looking at:

Jordan has a great Travel Map DIY which would be perfect for my map loving husband.  I had already found a great Asia Pacific centered National Geographic map that I wanted to get for us anyway, just to get a different perspective on the world...literally!

You can find a pile of hammocks on Etsy...I particularly like these colourful numbers from Costa Rica.

Otherwise, maybe I would make all of his favourite foods:  bacon and eggs for breakfast, a BLT for lunch, hamburgers for supper, and pecan pie for dessert.  All with butter (shudder) and accompanied by this refreshing gin bevvy from Shutterbean.

Happy Father's Month!  Way to go dads!

Things Fall Apart: Chinua Achebe

(Photo credit: Craig Ruttle/AP via Guardian)

Listening to the drone of news this morning, regurgitating  some highlights and lowlights of our Federal budget, the only real story that made my ears perk was the announcement that Chinua Achebe had died at the age of 82.

What does the death of an octogenarian Nigerian author mean to me?  Well, I’ve indirectly been influenced by Achebe for years.

Achebe is best known for his book, Things Fall Apart, and while for years I’ve meant to pick it up, I never actually got around to reading it.

The first time this sentence entered my realm of consciousness I was a 17 year old buying her first hip hop CD.  The Roots Things Fall Apart.  (ok that's not true.  I had actually bought the Ma$e CD in the 8th grade...)

And with that began my forever love of The Roots...

The next time I heard of Achebe was nearly 6 years later.  Even throughout the completion of my Bachelor's degree in International Relations, I still never picked up Achebe's novel.  

But then someone introduced my to the writings of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi and I became a superfan.  There are some writers that you read once, and you know you'll read everything they ever publish for the rest of your life, or theirs, whichever lasts longer.  My list isn't long, but includes Margaret Atwood, Bill Bryson (weird I know), Zadie Smith, Joseph Boyden and Chimamanda Ngoza Adichi.  

I quickly read everything by Adichi that I could get my hands on, and Half of a Yellow Sun remains one of my favourite books ever (for-ever, ever?).

(photo credit: Amazon)

Adichi references Achebe throughout that book, and I've read articles where she has discussed the influence that Achebe has had not just on Nigerian writing, but on African writing on the whole.  

Now, Adichi's writing about Nigeria opened my eyes to the Biafran Nation, something I knew nothing about.  In fact, I had only heard the word Biafra once before, as the last name of Jello Biafra, the lead singer of the 80's punk band the Dead Kennedy's.  All of a sudden this entire new nation unfolded before my eyes, page by page.  And the it collapsed.  And while at a nation-state level it was likely inevitable, reading about it for the first time through the humanistic writing of Adichi made me so sad for it, so sad for the Biafran's, and for everyone starved, killed and injured in that pursuit.

Since then, I've kept Nigeria in my heart and in my mind.  I love to listen to both Fela and Femi Kuti, and was lucky enough to catch Femi Kuti in concert in Vancouver in 2007.  I follow Nigerian current events on international news, and I hope to visit the country one day.  

And I think that if it weren't for Achebe, I and a million non-Nigerians the world over who have become transfixed with the country, and who maybe even feel invested in it, even in some.tiny.way would be left perhaps never having been introduced to this country.  I think this a very big public service that Achebe provided for his nation.  

So, here's to you Chinua Achebe.  Thank you for opening up the world to me and to millions of others.   

Thirty One Things...

(photo credit: moi)

I am only vaguely going to address the nearly six month gap in my writing here. I didn't quite reach six, so there you have it.  But, you know, life has a funny way of catching up with you, and the like. (I feel like I gleaned that last sentence from a Disney princess movie, maybe?)

But what better way to start back into it by declaring on my birthday eve a grandiose to-do list for the next year?  Totally unoriginal, plenty of list-makey types do this , so I was inspired to create my own.  Plus I love a little structure in my life...it's like my own personal annual corporate strategy!

And while I have a mental list of about a million things I would like to accomplish with and for my girls this year, I tried to keep the focus more "self" relevant, so the list doesn't include "potty train D" or "make sure both girls can back float".

So without further ado, my list:

1. Finish my Master's degree (which means finish my research and write about it)
2. Get Published.  Either a story, a journal article, an essay, hell I'll take a haiku (that.won't.happen.).  I just want to see my name, on paper, preferably glossy, followed by 500-2000 words of my choosing.
3. Make donuts (or doughnuts) and macarons.  Because I like a challenge, I'm scared of hot oil, and I'm pretty good at cupcakes by this point.
4. Read two books a month. I'm not fussy about fiction vs. non-fiction.  Last month I read NW by Zadie Smith.  This month I'm thinking of finishing Makers: The New Industrial Revolution and The Conflict.  
5. Teach H how to read.  Ok, this is kid related, but only because I loved to read at her age, and she's SOOOOOOO close to reading.
6. Buy a second house.
7. Plant and maintain a veggie garden.  I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle last year, and all I wanted to do was be my own food producer.  Realistically, I'd like some squash, some lettuce, maybe some tomatoes...
8. Take better pics.  Or, learn to take better pics.  Or think more before pressing "click" on the camera.
9. Join a hiking group.  My family hiked a LOT when I was young, and then I rejected it in my rebellious stage, but I really love it, and I love sharing the experience with others.
10. Run 10 km/or a real race.  
11. Learn to swim properly.
12. Sew this t-shirt.  Sew this dress.
13. Re-finish a piece of furniture at minimal cost.
14. get a cool hair cut/colour that is relatively easy to maintain.  Nohing funky, but something less blerg than my current mop.
15. Make green smoothies a habit.  Good people do this (my dad, my sis-in-law, etc.).  I wanna do this too.
16. Get a skin care routine for my thirties.
17. Get glasses or contacts.  My eyesight is less than stellar.  I try to ignore this, but I end up squinting. A lot.
18. Find the perfect shade of red lipstick.  My bestie and I are both into achieving this totally vain goal this year.
19. Set up and keep a real budget.  I've set up a personal budget before, but more as a challenge, and I didn't really stick to it.  I'd like to actually stick to it for a period of time (3 month minimum).
20. Learn more about graphic design.  I like it, I'm interested in it, and I'd like to learn more about it.
21. Stay up to date on my industry (professional communications, marketing and PR).
22. Stay in touch with people who are important to me and to our family.  This means making an effort to schedule phone calls, write letters, send postcards, etc.
23. Make more, convenience-buy less.  Homemade meals, homemade doodads, etc.  This may prove challenging as Target moves into Canada this Spring (I've still never been to a real Target.  Only online.)
24. Get my family into broader food interests.  We're already great about limiting meat intake, but I want to try more Thai, more Korean, more Ukrainian.  Try more.
25. Get hooked on meal planning.  I get so bored having the same spaghetti once a week.  My 4 year old loves it, but it sorta kinda gets me down.
26. Get in better shape.  
27. Pursue writing as a career.
28. Continental travel!  Minnesota! Chicago! DC! Quebec! Northern Ontario! BC! I wanna see what I can see!  Without flying overseas!
29. Become more cultured.  Meaning, hit up cheap opera matinees, take in plays, leisurely stroll through art galleries and museums.  Perfect my contemplative postures.
30. Attend a film festival.  Nothing major here, I'm not talking TIFF.  Even just some local film fest.  I just love movies and used to love film festivals.
31. Be more in the "now"with my kids, husband, friends and family.  I'm starting to get it about how quickly kids grow, so I want to really savor it.

And that is it.  I mean, some of them could be easy to scratch off, others (like the last one) are way more abstract.  But it'll be nice to have some guidelines to look back on throughout the year.  So tomorrow, I'll turn 31, and I'll start on my list.  And groundhogs will determine the length of Winter.  (My forever connection to B. Murr).

A New Sunday Tradition

Library of Congress via Flickr

Our Cinco de Mayo party was a blast, with roughly 40 people, including 12 kids.  The pinata was a real hit (required pun) and what made it even more exciting was that Hazel was the one to break it open.
Of course, prepping for the party all night Friday, and then again all day Saturday, and then partying until 11:30 PM (that's late for kids!  And for parents of kids!!), followed by a quick blitz clean up, left our whole house crawling into bed early Sunday morning, only to have to get up again (due to my internal alarm clock) at 7:30 AM.

So, after we finished the last dregs of cleaning, and made up some delicious pancakes, we decided to all go back to bed in the Big Bed, to watch Winnie the Pooh and The (Oscar Winning) Muppets Movie, while the adults read books or napped, and Daphne nursed and slept.   

And, man!  Was it awesome!  We were all still in our PJ's, drinking tea and apple juice, and chomping on raisins in bed.  I'm sure Daphne thinks we'd all lost the plot as we free-formed renditions of 'Man or Muppet' the rest of the afternoon ("I'm a manly, manly muppet!")

The rest of the day was spent reading books (SJ: Game of Thrones book 4, H and I: Charlie & the Chocolate Factory), colouring, painting wood magnets from the pinata, and playing chutes and ladders. We didn't even have to make supper since we had so many leftovers.

I decided that the best thing to from now on would be to get all household duties done on Saturday, so that we could dedicate Sundays to rest days, as a family.

I know this concept is older than the bible, but we've always sort of kept busy and started the weeks prep for Sunday, and now I've seen another way, I can't look back.  

Our family is young, so family traditions are only just beginning, but I'd love to hear a few more ideas from you.

Cinco de Mayo!

The 5th of May must fall on a Saturday, what like, once every 7 years? 


 The last time it fell on a Saturday, I was a Uni student in New Zealand, and probably studying hard trying to get every penny's worth out of my tuition since I was paying exorbitant international student fees.


Now, of course, I'm living the weekend life.  But really, my husband likes to socialize and I like Mexican food, so I can see no better way to enjoy this weekend than with a Cinco de Mayo party for our friends and their kids.


And so begins my scouring of the interwebs for wonderful ideas for the party.  So far, here's what I've found:

diy cinco de mayo pinata from studiodiy

 

diy geometric cinco de mayo fiesta garland from ohhappyday!

These dulce de leche cupcakes from Joy the Baker

Any of the 36+ recipes provided by Serious Eats

Agave Margaritas from Bon Appetit

Tequila (Gummy) worms (my husband's idea & for the grown ups)

So, even though I'm fairly sure it is a holiday enforced by the companies in charge of the Jose Cuervo and Corona brands, I raise a glass to Cinco de Mayo, giving the world an excuse to party every 5th day of May!

Any other awesome ideas?

Happy Birthday to Me Chandeleur-Style!

Today is February 2, a day forever associated with Bill Murray, burrowing rodents with ridiculous names, and my birthday.  And today is my 30th birthday.  And it has taken me 30 years to realize that there is a better way to celebrate my birthday than by determining whether or not we're in for another 6 weeks of Winter*. 

There are crepes!

                                                                                                 (photo credit: Association Fabrication)

In France, Chandeleur (which I gather is essentially Candlemas day?) is celebrated by cooking and eating crepes.  Although, they have to be cooked after 8 PM and the story goes (according to the lore of wiki) that if the cook can flip a crepe in the pan while holding a coin in the other hand, the family will have a prosperous year.

Our crepes will be of the sweet variety, and we won't be waiting until 8 PM to eat them (wouldn't that be cruel to the 3 year old?  Wait until she goes to bed to have dessert??  Not happening.) but I think we'll try our luck at the crepe flipping, and we'll see who can come up with the most delicious flavour combination.

Joyeux Chandeleur!

* when you think about it, we don't even need the Groundhog to make his predictions.  If he sees his shadow, there's 6 more weeks of Winter.  Well, if he sees his shadow, its likely because the sun is shining because it is too cold for cloud cover.  Therefore he ASSUMES that we're in for 6 more weeks of Winter (or people ASSUME for him, yeah I know its a hoax, I'm just venting 30 year's of groundhog aggression).

Thanks to everyone's favourite DesignMom for turning me onto this new (to me) celebration!