Saturday, June 30, 2012

Private Beach

When I was a sent this lovely bag from Runway Culture I was asked to take some Vancouver photos with it. This little beach is my favourite place to wander with the boys. It's quiet and private with beautiful views of the city, mountains and ocean. Levi loves to hunt for crabs (or use a rock as a stage) and it turns out Jethro is a little rock climber. Navigating the terrain in heels was treacherous but what's the saying? "Fashion over function." Or something ridiculous like that. 

I'm still keep my camera on M, although I'm certainly tempted to revert to automatic when I'm struggling to get the lighting right. Ben was a good sport posing for me in place while I adjusted the settings.





This is what makes me smile as I pose for every shot. My little adventurers! Their dirtiness at the end of the day is often a measure of the fun they had. 

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Sushi

Last night we had an outdoor sushi making fest with some of our dear friends. Ben and I have never made sushi so it was fun to learn how to wrap a roll. Living on the West Coast I've always felt I needed to love sushi but I find the textures get my gag reflux going. I enjoy the first few bites and then I'm done. However, I like the communal culture that surrounds sushi making and it was a great way to spend a summer evening!





Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Indoor Day

Today's activity was to eat worms. I came across this jello worm recipe and knew it was the perfect collaboration for me and my little partner in grossness. I mixed up the jello and poured it into bendable straws, Levi licked the bowl. 

The recipe was simple although having patience for the jello to set was hard for a three-year-old. I also found it difficult to get the worms out of the straws and ended up having to squeeze each one out individually. I was thankful for the help of Jeremy. I wonder if he knew hanging out with me and the kids would involve eating dirt and worms?



Revolting, yet some how awesome.

We made chocolate pudding for the dirt. 


I'm making it my aim over the summer to learn how to use manual on my camera. I'm excited about honing my skills and taking some quality photos. I'm happy with how these ones turned out!  A little bit of knowledge can go a long way. I found these tips useful.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Go To Outfit

This is my summer go to outfit, cut off jeans and a bright, loose blouse. A few weeks ago there was a string of days filled with dazzling sunlight and a warm breeze. I discovered I had no shorts that button up over my gut, and figuring the cool weather had passed, I took my only fitting jeans and cut off the bottoms. Well, the joke's on me because I ended up trudging through torrential down pours in shorts, and labeled myself, the weird girl who doesn't dress for the weather.  

Once again summer has materialized and I'm back to being appropriately clothed. A while back I did a post on alternatives to cut-off jeans but alas, they are what cover my tush during warm weather. For a girl who loves fashion, I rarely shop or spend money on clothing. I don't usually post a list of the labels I wear because most of them are in your grandma's closet or some altered variation of a thrift store find. I love well made garments and if I was offered an expensive piece of designer garb (Miu Miu, I love you) I wouldn't turn it down, but it's not in our lifestyle to spend lavish amounts of money on clothes. 

High collars are great for slipping a delicate necklace underneath and my new favourite accessory is Essie's Meet Me At Sunset nail polish. As for the kicks, they meet all my criteria for a perfect shoe; cute, comfy and substantially heeled. 


What's your summer go to outfit?

I linked up this week!:

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Summer Reading: The Great Gatsby

I've heard that to become a great writer you have to become a great reader. This summer I've made it my aim to read famous literary classics. I started with The Great Gatsby since the latest film version, directed by Baz Lurhmann, comes out in December. It took me one evening to get through Fitzgerald's most acclaimed novel. The collage is just a few of the many images that came to mind while reading The Great Gatsby. For a much more colourful interpretation of the novel, watch the trailer below!

The Great Gatsby

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Outdoor Day

Daddy had to stop and play on his way to work.

Today was an outdoor day, which is synonymous with chalk, bubbles, dirt and treehouse. We tried a new activity called Bubble Socks. All you need is an empty plastic bottle, a sock, tape, dish soap, water and food colouring. 

1. Cut off bottom of plastic bottle
2. Take sock and cover the hole. Make sure it's pulled tight and held in place with tape or an elastic
3. Fill a shallow bowl with a combo of dish soap and water.
4. If you want to add colour, place drops of food colouring on the sock.
4. Put the end of the sock in the dish and blow through the mouth of the bottle.

This activity is age appropriate for kids who know how to blow out, without inhaling back in. Something we discovered the hard way as Levi was spewing bubbles out of his mouth. However, he picked up the trick quickly.


Jet didn't stay on grandma's lap for very long.



Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Cauliflower Cashew Risotto

The raw food experimenting continues and last night I made a cauliflower cashew risotto. It was excellent if you don't mind your house smelling like farts. 


All my recipes come from either Eat Well, Eat Raw or The Thrive Diet. As I get accustomed to the different ways of preparing raw food I hope to come up with some of my own recipes, but for now, these books are excellent resources.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Indoor Day

Do you remember in elementary school when the administration would declare an "indoor day" because of inclement weather? Everyone hated being stuck inside with nothing to do but pick their noses. Now that I'm at home with my boys I feel the same restlessness on rainy days. We often brave the weather but sometimes it makes more sense to stay warm and dry. Entertaining the boys indoors (Well, really just Levi. All Jet needs is tupperware) takes some serious creativity. Levi if not occupied bounces off the walls (literally). In order to survive these long days, I've dug down into the deep recesses of pinterest my left brain to come up with creative indoor activities.

Today I put vinegar mixed with food colouring into glasses. I filled a plastic container with baking soda and gave Levi a dropper. Vinegar + baking soda = hours of entertainment. This activity gets an A+ for easy, fun and age appropriate.

Levi has just learned how to pose for the camera. This is his stop-and-grin for the lens look.


Monday, June 18, 2012

Summer Loving

Today was a sunny, mellow, leave-the-house-dirty kind of day. As soon as there's a hint of warmth in the air I like to dress breezy and air out a bit.  The only major thing on our agenda was grocery shopping. A task I take upon myself because I hide out in the magazine section eating chocolate. This bag c/o Runway Culture is perfect for stashing diapers, wipes, wallet and even a change of clothes for the kidlets. The scarf is also c/o Runway Culture. I was experimenting with a head wrap but my hair is so fine the scarf slipped all over the place. As for shoes... Who needs them!? I love going barefoot in warmer weather. We spend so much time running in and out of the house or around the block visiting neighbours, it's convenient to go shoeless. 



Speaking of neighbours, ours are the best! Every year we have a block party. We barricade the street so the kids can run around safely, eat potluck style, have cherry pit spitting contests and this year, an impromptu sing-a-long. If I may challenge you with one thing this summer, it's get to know your neighbours! There's something beautiful about very different people coming together in friendship because of the proximity of our living spaces. 




I linked up this week!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Statement


I recently received a package in the mail c/o Runway Culture full of delightful goodies. It was a wonderful new messenger/diaper bag and inside was a treasure trove of costume jewellery. I love the statement flower necklace in the above photo and I look forward to taking my new bag out for a spin. Stay tuned for photos! 

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Fabulous

And we're back! After my brief hiatus on Elasticpantcity I'm excited to hunker down over the keyboard and continue this story board of our lives. I imagine the day when my kids will realize I've kept an account of our family life and can read through Elasticpantcity to conjure up happy memories.  I'm sure they'll skip through the fashion bits and be aghast about how often I talk about breast feeding, but being embarrassed by your parents is part of growing up, right (not that you ever embarrassed me, mom and dad. XOXO)? 

Last night was the Vancouver Mom Fabulous event at the Vancouver Museum. I was giddy to meet all the other mommy bloggers and get pampered by the beauty teams. It was wonderful to have a hair and make-up crew on site to touch up my appearance. Most parents know that getting out of the house to an event is a frazzling experience. I joked with the hair dresser that it's a matter of falling in and out of the car, a trail of baby wipes and toys on your tail, rather than a glamourous arrival. 

I designed and made my peplum skirt for Fabulous, after finding this picture as inspiration. The pink striped, cross fabric is reworked from a vintage 1970s dress. It was very therapeutic for me as I find sewing meditative (When there's no pressure) and I had a lot of praying to do for the people in my life.


I've been to many PR events and I'm usually forward about meeting new people but walking into a room full of such creative and beautiful women (And about five men, Ben included), I felt instantly shy and nervous. I still managed to meet a handful of lovely ladies and even Pamela Martin, who I grew up watching on the news cast. Overall the event was inspiring and fabulous!

The best part of using a museum as an event location is that when you feel overwhelmed you can disappear into the exhibits. Ben did this most of the night. There was a lot of estrogen in the room. I was like a kid in a candy shop walking through the Art Deco Chic exhibit of dresses from the 1920s and 30s. 






It was exciting to see a Schiaparelli design up close as she is currently featured in The Met's Spring 2012 Costume Institution exhibition. 
If you're in town and love fashion I highly recommend the Art Deco Chic exhibit for an afternoon of inspiration.


Thank-you again for voting for Elasticpantcity as one of Vancouver's Top Mommy Blogs and thank-you Vancouver Mom for a great night out! The site is going to be going through a face lift in the next couple of weeks so be prepared for a new look!