Thank you for reading my words here.

xo

Fab Brunette

But of course, life always seems to get in the way of that plan! Sleep when baby sleeps! That was my intention. But as soon as baby got to sleep I thought of all the wonderful things I could do while baby was napping - laundry! meal planning! meal prep! cleaning! blogging! – and I just knew I couldn’t sleep the morning away.

The past couple of days I’ve been helping my husband set up the company office. It was fun to see a dreary and boring space turn into something a little more professional with a slight female touch added. Once it is completed, I will take some pictures, all that’s left is to hang up some frames, some art, and little more organizing and the place will be perfect! But it’s definitely been a bit of work, especially with a baby in tow.

I have to admit that my weightloss has taken a bit of a back seat at the moment. After losing 12 pounds last month, I was stuck with a few days of a baby who wouldn’t sleep, and when baby doesn’t sleep, mama doesn’t sleep. No sleep = a carb breakdown for me. When I’m that exhausted coffee can’t even help – only spoonfuls of Nutella & Peanut Butter will. Seriously. Try it. It’s heaven. Except for your ass.

While I haven’t gained anything back, I’m definitely looking forward to getting back on track. This Monday I start a jogging stroller circuit training class, which goes on twice a week for 8 weeks, and I’m hoping it actually makes me start to enjoy jogging more and want to eat healthier foods again. It’s such a silly thing, this mind over matter thing.

My mind knows that there are “bad” foods out there. I know that when I eat bad food (ie. ice cream, nutella, white bread) I feel like crap afterwards, almost immediately I get a sugar rush and then I’m stuck with a downward spiral of getting more and more sluggish by the second…. until my next bite of something sweet or chocolatey!….

SIGH… Do you know how hard it is to hear your thoughts with 2 kids shouting in the bathtub?

Along with this busy week of mine, I’ve also started working on a side project to Fab Brunette, which I’m super excited to share with you guys as soon as it’s ready…. which may be never as I hardly have time to update anything without my daughter shouting from the bathtub… “Hey mommy! Hey! Look! You don’t want to miss this!”

LE SIGH.

(that’s a sigh in french…)

I should get back to my super exciting life of drying off kids, putting one to bed and watching Harry Potter with the other one.

Bon nuit. More to come soon when I have a chance to gather my thoughts. In peace…

xo

Fab Brunette

Each night this week I slept a little bit longer than the night before. Monday my precious little Prince decided he didn’t want to sleep until 2 am, so Tuesday I was a zombie. Wednesday I felt a bit more human, and so on and so on. That was my week. It is so immensely boring to discuss sleeping habits of an infant – especially when that infant is hardly an infant anymore and is almost a 1 year old!

There have been many trips to Starbucks this week. Many Verona Blondes and Hazelnut Macchiatos and Grande Non-Fat Cappuccinos were consumed. I am drinking one as I type this. I think all mothers should get a discount to Starbucks for life.

Proposed Starbucks Membership for Mothers:

• If with child, you head to the front of the line – no questions will be asked.
• If without child, you only allow those with children to go ahead of you.
• If you look like a zombie and sound like one too, the baristas should use their psychic powers to get you your drink without having to ask you ‘What’s the name for the cup?’
• If you look like you need some adult conversation, the barista should know to have a sweet and darling conversation about how great you look without all that heavy makeup, no matter if there is a line-up behind you.
• Free treats should always be given with purchase of beverage – preferably non-fat, no-sugar, no-carb treats that taste indulgent and rich.
• Every third drink shall be free.
• The membership will never expire.

Understood?

xo

Fab Brunette

These past few months my husband & I have attempted to adopt a more budgeted lifestyle. I think after looking back on 2012 and wondering what we spent our money on (answer: pizza, beer, dining out, impromptu hotel stays, and a new vehicle), we’ve decided to cut back on the “luxuries” in life and try to focus on necessities. I quoted “luxuries” because obviously my definition of a luxury & my husband’s would not be the same, I digress.

Regardless of what’s a necessity and what’s a luxury, I’ve slowly been teaching myself to save money and shop more conscientiously. Online shopping is almost non-existent nowadays, and I’m certain I was a problem case because the POST OFFICE LADIES commented: “We never see you anymore! No big packages anymore? No more online shopping? Good girl! I’m sure your husband is happy!” I am not joking. This exchange happened multiple times.

Most recently I’ve been thinking more and more about how to save money on groceries. It started when I spent a whole day planning 3+ weeks dinners in advance. In one day I prepped and froze over 20 dinners. Not a day goes by where I have to wonder what we’ll eat, how nutritious is it, are we getting our vegetables, etc. And buying a lot of groceries in bulk actually worked out to my advantage – imagine shopping for 21 dinners at once – it cost me $250.00. And that’s before I started couponing.

I’ve recently discovered whole blogs devoted to couponing, as well as places online to print coupons from, and companies that mail you coupons. I’ve started looking in the clearance bin at the store. I have trouble buying things full price now - I want to use a coupon! I want to save money!

….Who am I?

I wrote this post about Extreme Couponing, the TLC tv show, a while back – and I still watch it occasionally and am still always in awe of how these people shop. Now, you don’t have to worry, I’m not about to stockpile 72 bottles of mustard or 12 packages of paper towels, no no. But here is what I did today:

Shoppers Drug Mart was having a ‘secret’ Optimum points special – spend $50 & receive 18,000 points (which equals $10+ for your next purchase) with a coupon. So my goal was to spend $50 before taxes. I have a stack of organized coupons and I started shopping. Here are some of the deals I found:

• Downy Fabric Softener, reg $9.79, store sale $3.79 – $1 coupon: $2.79
• Huggies Baby Wipes, reg $17.49, store sale $10.49 – $2 coupon: $8.49
• Tide, reg. $10.99, store sale $5.99 – $1.50 coupon: $3.49

Basically I’ve ‘stockpiled’ coupons, sorted them into mini folders (Food/Baby/Cleaning/Pharmacy/Misc), then I go shopping for what I need. I needed wipes, I had coupons for both Pampers wipes and Huggies wipes, but the Huggies big box was on sale, with my coupon, it was a great deal. I just kept looking to see what was on clearance in the store, what was on sale, and matching it up with a coupon to get the best deal.

It took a while to check out, but at the end of my shopping trip, I spent $54, and saved over $45 – Meaning my total cost would have been almost $100 and I spent only $54. Plus I got Optimum Points for my next visit!

I sound crazy. I feel crazy. But I’m saving money, and it feels great.

Do you save money on groceries? Do you have any tips to share or questions?

xo

Fab Brunette

This is me in 2007, my hubs hated this Victoria Beckham-inspired haircut!

The other day I found the first blog I ever created, still online, still intact, all the way from 2007. I had forgotten all about it, but there it was, in all of its’ pre-crazy blogging days. No fancy schmancy design, no mind or matter, no over-thought posts – it was just me. My life, extremely unedited.

It’s fun to read old blog posts, almost like unearthing a journal from your elementary school days – you are reading your own words and you know that they belong to you, but it’s almost like a different side of you that you had forgotten about. My hopes & dreams for the future back then were so different, things I hardly remember, but there they are in black & white on the screen to read.

I learned that when my little Princess was a year and a half old, I did indeed suffer from baby fever – I was insanely broody in some posts – in other posts I was considering becoming vegan (I had just read the book Skinny Bitch and was tres inspired!), I was constantly writing about trying to lose weight, I posted pictures of expensive shoes, I wrote about opening my own salon & spa one day, and I was trying to learn to cook by using my crockpot.

Which goes to show that although some things seriously change, some things have always been there – my current slow cooker adventures are proof of that!

One thing I did not ice is that my blog lacked any nuances, it was the voice of a less mature, starry-eyed young woman. She lacked any sense of “homemaker-ship” and was the complete opposite of frugal, rather spoiled, I would say. But she was unapologetic in her ways, her opinions weren’t edited & she certainly didn’t care how she appeared.

I’m not sure what I would say to her if I could go back in time. Would I let her know that “leggings as pants” will indeed be her future? No, no, let her be idealistic and young.

I think I would just let her know that no matter where life takes her (and it’s going to take her everywhere BUT Paris!) that she’s going to be okay. Better than okay, her life will be perfect, in its’ own way.

xo

Fab Brunette

ps. What would you tell your 2007 self?

As kids get older, planning birthday parties can become tricky. It’s no longer what the parents want (simple colours, modern designs) or what a toddler wants (Thomas the Train or Dora), but a party has everything to do with a little one’s personality. If my Princess was a real Princess I would throw her a pink & black Parisian-style party, complete with an Eiffel Tower as a centrepiece and macarons for dessert! Yet, as spoiled as my little Princess may be, she has a tomboy side to her, and her parties always include boys & girls, so I always try to do a party that caters to both genders and is fun and age-appropriate.

I kept scratching my head for a while – what to do? what to do? And it finally came to me, through her obsession with all things Lego, that we should do a Lego party – and she loved the idea! I found some great Lego-themed invitations all over the internet, Etsy especially, but I chose a Lego invitation from Tiny Prints which was super cute:

The morning of her party, J took her and her little brother out for a birthday breakfast while I decorated and got the place ready! I found this large Lego poster online at a party shop and used it as a backdrop for pictures. Crazy mama that I am, I stayed up late at night spelling out my daughter’s name in Lego, complete with a few Lego Minifigures on each base plate (that’s what those blue & green lego boards are called, base plates. You’re welcome.)

I started the planning process a couple of months in advance, trying to find sales on Lego in order to save money for the party. I had to purchase a bit more Lego for everyone to play with, I bought the base plates, the big yellow Lego Head (which is a storage piece for Lego) – and I bought a lot of the Lego Minifigures on sale and put them in the goody bags as well.

I used a simple colour scheme of red, yellow, blue & green, which was repeated throughout the room in balloons, paper lanterns & decorations, plates, tablecloth, and goody bags.

One thing I was worried about was games – what are we all going to do? I planned out a few games but the only one that we had time to do was “Guess how many Legos in this Jar!” The kids kept themselves busy with colouring sheets that I printed off from the Lego website, a huge pile of Legos in the middle of the room, the kids danced and danced and danced (I think we heard Gagnam Style about 10 times in 2 hours!), and I also brought in a Body Artist that did Glitter Tattoos on the kids.

The yummy chocolate cake was from Le Gateau Bake Shop in Vancouver. After overdosing on Lego pins (pinterest is a great source for kids birthday parties – but so overwhelming!) I still had no clue what I want for a birthday cake, so I gave Tanya some ideas and she created this cake, which my daughter and all her friends absolutely loved! Along with these delicious vanilla cupcakes:

A Lego-themed birthday is a perfect choice for a gender-neutral party, everyone had a ton of fun and I loved every bit of the planning process as well as the party! And I believe the birthday girl had fun as well:

Sources:

• Invitations from Tiny Prints
• Lego T-shirt from iHeartBricks on Etsy
• Lego Crayons for Goody Bags from 123polkadotty on Etsy
• Lego-themed party supplies & photo backdrop from Party City
• Print-Outs from Lego Website
• Cake & Cupcakes from Le Gateau Bake Shop
• Glitter Tattoo Artist from Mehndi & More

He wakes himself up with a cough every twenty minutes or so. I’ve let him sleep in my bed most of the night, but at times he awakes crying, wanting his own crib (for maybe an hour, then it’s back to mama!). So from the sounds of it at my house, you could probably tell that I’ve given up on my appearance.

I haven’t worn makeup in days. My hair is a disheveled mess – it alternates between a braid at night to a ponytail during the day. It’s clean, because I forced myself to take a shower during the spare 20 minutes I have while I pray that our baby stays sleeping. But it’s a mess. And as soon as I drop off Princess (who is recovering from her cough and flu!) at school, I change into a tank top and a lightweight robe. The yoga pants are uniform now.

I’m trying to incorporate more activity into my day, even thirty minute walks would help, but I honestly, really don’t feel like it.

You know what I really want?

Is a pedicure. A massage. A whole spa day – no sick kids, no food to cook, no house to clean – a whole spa day WITH my own TV set to all the shows I DVR but haven’t caught up on yet (Hello, Downton Abbey, I haven’t yet watched a single episode, but I will, one day!). Is that too much to ask for?

For now, I’ll be dreaming of a day just for me, but I’ll really be doing laundry, cooking, cleaning, and cuddling my two sick kids.

xo

Fab Brunette

My life has become so extremely busy these past few months – and in finding more time to devote to family, our home, and myself, I usually wind up not finding much time to blog. That isn’t to say that I don’t want to blog – I am constantly creating blog posts in my mind! I will think of paragraphs and phrases for posts, I sometimes write them down, but usually those ideas are pushed to the back of my mind until they resurface at another time when blogging is near impossible!

Recently I’ve been trying to reorganize many parts of our family life – from planning out our dinners for the month (more on this later!) to sporadic spring cleaning to scheduling our time better – I’ve realised I should also make time for me. And what am I without writing? Writing is a large part of my thought process, it’s how I figure things out, create new ideas, fix problems and feel better about life!

Today marks the first day of April (how have 3 months of the year already gone by??), and we have been having incredibly beautiful weather! And when you live in BC or anywhere in the Pacific Northwest, you know sunshine is hard to come by, so when it’s here – you take full advantage of it! We are getting spoiled with sunny days and warm weather, and this means that many trips to the park, afternoon walks, bike rides, and hiking is happening! It means there’s been t-shirts and sandals and less layers and more outdoor fun happening!

This month I’ll be continuing on trying to find balance in a healthy lifestyle, eating right, exercising, having fun (which includes blogging!) and giving thanks for all the wonderful things in my life!

What are you looking forward to in April?
What are you thankful for right now?

xo

Fab Brunette

I have seen people all around me reaching for their dreams, some are constantly in motion towards them, others have achieved and are living their dreams. I have always been a dreamer, but have rarely put in the time and effort required to reach them. Can you relate? Or are you one of those people who are constantly re-evaluating your goals, figuring out ways to reach them and checking them off your list?

I remember a while back I bumped into this post about quitting drinking from a well-known blogger, and it made me roll my eyes. A life without alcohol didn’t seem like a pleasant life to me - why not enjoy a glass of wine with a meal, or drink a few beers while watching a game? Isn’t that what Sunday afternoons (and Saturday & Friday nights, & Thursdays, &…) are made for? But Nicole’s post stuck with me, because although I had never been her #1 fan, I had followed her blog for some time, and it went from rants about tequila and vaginas and boys into taking care of yourself, losing weight for your health, and finding happiness through it all. And that is something I can relate to.

My main goal throughout most of my life is trying to find balance in happiness, and happiness in balance. I’m always trying to attain some kind of perfection in my mind that would make everything wonderful and make me happy. But I never honestly tried to do it. I never put in the effort. Even when I had a personal trainer a few years back, I worked out at a gym and ate diet foods and lost weight – I hated every minute of it. It was a necessary evil to look good on vacation and drop the extra baby weight, but I never embraced it.

Embracing a lifestyle change means recognizing that what you have been doing is not working. It doesn’t mean you’re failing at life, it doesn’t mean that everything you’ve done up ’til now sucked, it just means that at this point in your life whatever you’re doing is not working for you anymore. It may not have worked for a long time, but it really takes an honest and scary look at yourself to see this.

My husband & I ‘quit’ drinking a month ago. That was something I didn’t think was possible, and yet, we did it. 2013 is my year of no excuses, living life full of good intention and challenging myself to change myself for the better. Get rid of the things that don’t make me happy. Embrace a clean, yet balanced, lifestyle.

I took a hard look at my diet, and almost couldn’t figure it out – I wasn’t drinking, I thought the pounds would just drop off, but they didn’t. When I kept a record of what I was eating, I noticed that when I was bored I ate carbs. I would devour english muffins and toast, spread thick with Nutella and peanut butter, and often more than just once a day. On top of that, I would sometimes struggle with dinners, whether it be shopping last minute for it or buying something pre-made or ordering it in – and it always led to unhealthy choices.

I started my actual diet on Monday. Here is what I’m doing to achieve my lifestyle change:

• Planning my Food – I have planned what my family is eating for dinner for the next two weeks, and planned my own breakfasts & lunches as well. I know that sometimes things will change, but I’ve made almost all dinners in advance (using frozen slow cooker meal recipes, which I will share with you soon), and it’s saving my sanity.
• Using My ‘Lose It’ App – There are many weight loss & exercise apps out there. I recommend downloading a few free ones and seeing which one works for you. The ‘Lose It’ app is perfect for me, I use it as a food journal, which logs my calories and it’s easy to use since food can be searched for, or the barcode on food can be scanned by your phone. I use it as a weight log, as well as for my hip & waist measurements. I use it to keep me on track by using their ‘Challenges‘ section, and I get badges for following through on things. The app also asks what your goal weight is, asks you how much you want to lose per week (.5 lb, 1 lb, 1.5 lbs, or 2 lbs), and gives you the amount of calories you need to eat per day and when you will achieve your goal.
  
• Portion Control – in addition to using my app to track my calories (which I do with caution, since I am breastfeeding, so I don’t mind if I go over), I measure most of my food now. Like adding cream to my coffee - who knows how much I was adding before? It was definitely more than 2 tablespoons because my coffee used to be a lot whiter, but 2 tablespoons of half & half cream is all I really needed. It helps me realise how out of whack my food portions were before.
• Holding Myself Accountable – I’m holding myself accountable to this diet by blogging about it, I’ve opened a new tumblr that will serve as a weight loss & food diary of sorts, to get a glimpse of how I’m doing and what I’m eating.

After I get used to these food changes, I will start to focus on which activities work in my schedule – what type of exercise: yoga, running, kick-boxing, zumba, etc. But for now I’ll be focusing on eating healthy, balanced meals, full of vegetables and fruits and lean proteins.

I’m ready to jump on this path towards health and happiness.

xo

Fab Brunette

(image sources: one, two, three)

I’ve been taking a lot of design notes lately for the new house – ideas for the kids rooms, the master bedroom, furniture placement, kitchen design, light fixtures, and on and on… Needless to say I’ve been flipping through a lot of magazines and logging too many hours on my Houzz app. When taking a look at my favourite pictures, I’ve noticed there’s a LOT of white. (images sourced from Emma’s design blog)

All white interiors can take my breath away.  I immediately grab my husband and throw the magazine at him, or text him the pic if he’s not home. He usually shakes his head or doesn’t respond. Men. And it’s not because he’s not into design, I think he’s better at it than I am, but he doesn’t think we could handle an all-white room.

Will it stay clean? Will it feel cold and lifeless? Will I be bored in it? Will I freak out everytime some child’s grubby little hands touch my white sofa? Will I hide all the markers and crayons? *le sigh* I suppose it’s not the most practical choice for a family with kids. But it looks lovely, doesn’t it?

xo

Fab Brunette