weekend skinny.

A weekend off with nothing to do? What's a girl... who does not have sitting still in her genetic make-up... to do?

How matchingly adorably cute are my roommates?!
Meg, Dave and I went for drinks Friday night at a saloon within walking distance from our house. Not expecting too much completely judging this waterhole by its outward appearance, you can imagine my delight when there was a {Scrabble!!} board on our booth's table!

Scrabble after Connect4 after Chutes & Ladder after Trouble! game later, RedDog is hands down my favourite bar in S. Tampa!

Saturday after a little thrifting and Chipolte with the roomz, I turned a lovely bunch of tuile in to an exciting gift for a sweet baby girl that will be arriving in August. Then I took a long hot bath, ate my weight in cookie dough and played Yahtzee via Skype with Kara in true wild-Saturday-night fashion!

Sunday...sweet Sunday... was my favourite day! Miss Kate and her lovely mama, Rhonda came down to the Lowry Park Zoo and we spent all afternoon catching up and giggling and looking at all the fantastic animals!

After the zoo, I sadly said good-bye and went for my long run Sunday. My mind has been running a mile a minute recently and my body felt the need to catch up with it last night! Coupled with my new Mizunos, Usher Pandora station and perfect, humidity-free weather at sunset I ran for forever and made a lot of little discoveries along the way...

Not just these awesome stingrays that followed me along the bayshore but I discovered the cure for my abhorrence to all things Manitoba and I am super excited to come home for an entire 10 days this summer! Let go, much? =)

my little lovelies turn six...

It's half past midnight & I'm too sleepy (& stuffed of homemade cheesecake!) to try to put in to words how wonderful being a part of my little lovely's SIXTH birthday celebration today was and also how my niece turned six months old as well & oh my goodness! how their existence has rocked my world {in a fabulous way} but I promise to post the skinny tomorrow... and hopefully finish editing my tutorial for March that included this magnificent homemade comp-pod:

01.02.11 giggles & glitter.

playdate with Miss Kate

The highlight of my weekend was getting to spend Sunday with Kate! I went over to her house early in the morning where she showed me her new cat, Abigail, that she picked out all by herself from the animal shelter. Then we went on a treasure hunt in our dresses and found acorns and fungus. It was super exciting to hear just how smart she is pointing out the smallest details along the road while informing me that she often stays up late watching the news with Mum and Dad! She is more beautiful than ever, still has that little button nose and even still twirls her hair when she's tired. She talked a lot about her friends at school and at ballet class. Rhonda and Kevin are doing wonderful as well busy planning the remodeling they are doing to their home and looking up answers on the internet, per Kate's suggestion, to questions they don't know the exact answer to. She still has that witty silliness about her that being so intelligent allows her to have. I miss having them in my daily life but my morning with her brought me right back to that little place inside me that will always be a kid.

an update from Miss Kate

Miss Kate is now four years old. I can hardly believe how grown up she is... she's not the cutest little girl anymore. As you can see, she's the most stunningly gorgeous big girl now. She was student of the week last week and currently aspires to be an opera singer because she "has a really big voice!" There's nothing I miss more than my days with Kate... helping me find the little girl in me.. reminding me that it's okay to color outside the lines.

my girl.

Before flying home on Monday, I spent the day in Tampa with Kate and Rhonda. I couldn't believe how much she had grown up in just 6 months! We went to the aquarium and got lost in conversation all afternoon. It was so fabulous spending the day with them! =)

love from kate.

Dear Jocelyn,

I love you Jocelyn. I love to play with you. I miss you Jocelyn. I miss you so much. I miss playing with you.

I like to watch Barbie and the Diamond Castle. I play with Julia at Kidworks. I learned about "T"  [the letter 'T'].

Thank you for the sniff and smell book and another things. [the other things]

I love you.

How are doing, Miss Jocelyn?

One more thing: I'm going to meet you around the holidays.

One more thing: I miss you.

[transcribed by mom, exactly as spoken by Kate (as she wrote with pencil on a piece of paper)] 

Bye,

kkate [Kate typed her own name, finding all the letters on the keyboard by herself!]

butterfly fairy.

Happy Halloween! Hope you had a ghoulish time! I had fun at my school's Halloween party in the morning, spent the afternoon with Nonna, went to Boo at the Zoo with Mom and Dad in the evening, and then went trick-or-treating with the big kids (Gavin and Kelsey and friends) in Miss Paula's neighborhood. I had so much fun. I got a bucketful of candy that Mom thinks should last past Christmas. Love, Kate

orgasm of life.

Children are the orgasm of life. Just like you did not know what an orgasm was before you had one, nature does not let you know how great children are until you actually have them... or become a nanny. 

- my lulu lemon eco-friendly water bottle ... missing Miss Kate incredibly so these days, i added in the part about being a nanny.

leaving.

“You never really leave a place or person you love, part of them you take with you ,leaving a part of yourself behind.”

lucky?

How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard?

flutter by.

a little more fancy

The day you were born, the world had to make room for a little more fancy.

"I want to be a mommy when I grow up!"

Days with Kate are my absolute favorite! She is at such an adorable age! She is so inquisitive, so bright and so funny! She has the most vivid imagination that takes the simplest toy and turns it into an afternoon of endless possibilities. She is an explorer. A ballerina. A gardener. A painter. A cuddler. A teacher. A comedian. A kitty cat. A swimmer. A sculptor. And today when I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she told me a mommy. As my last days of college are coming too fast, I finally have to decide what I want to be when I grow up. Being a mommy is at the top of my list and I am so thankful for the past 3 years I have spent with Kate refining my "mommy" skills! She has taught me a lot about patience, nurturing and the power of naps. Triumphs, failures and perseverance. Through her, I have been reminded of innocence, determination and having the world at your fingertips. A world filled with optimism, independence, laughter and love. Now if only she could teach me how to cook and clean...

polka dots and doting ducks

One! Two! Three!

The fabulous Miss Kate turned three today! Rhonda and Kevin (Kate's Mom and Dad) hosted a fantastic Hello Kitty! birthday party complete with an Easter egg hunt, burgers, homemade cake and cupcakes, and lots of presents! She was particularly excited about her new three-story doll house. I must say I may have been equally excited for the new additions to Kate's already extensive collection of toys!

FLIP FLOPS AND POPSICLES

I have spent the past 3 days studying for hours on end for the HESI - a standardized nursing exam that measures your aptitude to be a nurse. In order to complete your practicum (our last part of nursing school) you must score 900 on this test. I have failed this test twice before now and took it for my third (and final) today. Nervous and fearful of not graduating May 2, I spent over five hours carefully answering all 160 questions in which I passed scoring 98% (1093!). To wish me good luck (or as she put it "get well soon" but I think she meant to say "good luck!") Kate painted me this beautiful fridge-worthy picture in which she self-titled "FLIP FLOPS AND POPSICLES!"

Happy Leap Day!

The Shadow of the Day

will embrace the world in gray.

A Budding Shopaholic