A Mothers Love

I have been reading this book from the library lately, which has caused me to think about the traditions that I want to bring into my family life someday.
This book has caused me to think about all the wonderful things that my mom has done for me and my family over the course of our lives, and makes me grateful for the way that she made every day more special with the little things she did for us. So I just wanted to share a few of them here with you...

- When my sister and I first got our periods, my mom allowed us to take the day off of school, took us out for a celebratory meal and bought us a new outfit to celebrate our change into adulthood. What a special way to come into our bodies, as it can be such an awkward stage of life. She was also always there (and still does this) for us with any questions that we ever have about our bodies (its awesome having a retired nurse as a mom).

- Every year when we were teenagers, my mom started a tradition where my mom would at the beginning and end of summer vacation, no matter where we were, we would go and have a meal together and then walk to a local body of water. There we would collect three stones and at the starting of the summer we would make three goals for the summer ahead, and throw our stones in the water. Then likewise at the end of the summer we would say our three favorite parts of the summer, sharing them out loud with each other. It was a great way of connecting with my family and learning to make good goals, which is something do a lot of in my life now.

-Every Christmas eve we would go to midnight mass together, which is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season, and then every Christmas morning, we would wake up to the same album - Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" (which I have now bought on vinyl for my new player) - and open our presents. We always get a new pair of homemade PJ's for Christmas to open on Christmas eve,  which used to be new pajama pants but now my mom has moved onto a new fad of making us long flannel pj's. Nate has adorably nicknamed my flannels, my "Easter egg", my "Christmas bauble", and my "spring onion" due to their colour combinations. She has sparked my interest in sewing from a young age and now knitting, which is a large part of my life, and I am so grateful to have such a talented mother.

-Even into high school, mom would put little love notes into our paper bag lunches which was always a nice little surprise during our long days at school. And on one long camping trip in particular, I was worried about going, and missing home, so my mom took a little necklace that I had with a knitted pouch on it, and stuffed it full of notes for me to open every time I got home sick. It was something I will never forget and I am glad that I still have, with all the notes still in it :)

-She has always been a big part of my life from being my tawny owl in brownies, to taking us annoying spice girls camping, she has always been there for me, and still does so everyday of my life. Poor mom has to deal with the me still calling her almost every day with life questions, and suggestions.

 Thank you mom for being so inspiring, and generous, I hope to be able to be half the mom that you have been for me and Jess.
    Love Britt xoxoxo etc...

Weathering the Storm to Come

With the storm of September busyness waiting in the wings, I've been trying to relax and enjoy the rest of my summer before my schedule hits. September brings : my distant cousins out of town wedding, fringe festival volunteering, moving!!!, starting back at school, having my friend from the UK come to visit and stay at my place... just whole bunch of awesome with no time to breathe... but it will be worth it :)

Two things have helped with this...

1.) Last weekend Nate and I, went on a unexpected trip down to Portland with my lovely mother and sister. We were supposed to go camping in the suburbs but since the campsites were all booked up due to BC day, we decided to skip town and hit the gorgeous city of culture and trees...

Long car rides with ocean trivia cards,

free beers at hair salons,

new geeky classes,

brunching at mothers, 

knitting, knitting stores, and more knitting,

wandering Powell's with bellies full of voodoo donuts,

drinking in hotel rooms whilst watching shitty reality TV,

hitting the local poetry slam and getting surprised by a streaker,

and most importantly, 

getting to be with my loved ones whilst exploring a glorious city <3

2.) Since I am in the midst of moving, and my world has been turned upside down with cardboard boxes, I feel as though I am half living between my old place in my physical body, and my new place in my mind. So its interesting that I am feeling this urge to create and my mind is just running wild with ideas.... but my whole craft area is all packed up into said boxes and I have to wait until I've moved, and for that matter also gotten my craft table built for me. 

Instead of putting my hands to fabric and paper, I have been turning to cooking to explore my creative side. 

          The other night I made for myself : Corn on the cob with homemade garlicky walnut pesto, Parmesan kale chip and couscous with cubes of smoked tofu, tomatoes, spiced green olives and red onions... It blew my mind. I also washed it down with homemade mint lemonade with blueberries and strawberries... Delightful!

        I went out for dinner last night with my best friend Chelsea, to a new vegetarian restaurant in town called The Acorn, which further inspired my healthy food kick, with great uses of ginger, kale, tempeh, and polenta, I can't wait to try more of their menu.

        I hope you are all enjoy the rest of your long summer days, and eating many tasty treats on your weekday adventures <3 

    

 love Britt

Hot Air Balloon Rising

I have been feeling pretty low recently which I alluded to briefly in my post yesterday but I wanted to share a little more about my state...

In my group of friends I am more commonly known as the cheerfully optimistic one, who writes lighthearted blogs and who gets stopped by friends in the street and praised for writing inspiring Facebook status's... That's the Britt I know.

True there are times when I don't feel like this as everyone has their moments... but mine usually occur when I am spending too much time by myself and am afraid that I am not doing enough.
That's where my true insecurities reside, and its something I am hoping to address fully when venturing into living on my own.

As of lately though I have been feeling like staying in and not going anywhere, not really seeing anyone except for my closest friends (who feel like an extension of myself), or going into a situation where I don't really have to communicate with anyone.
It has been an inner digging if you will. Trying to find something there that I could cling to and not having to face anyone till I had found the treasure.

The treasure in fact was my happiness, and I had surprisingly lost it in the heat of the summer sun. Getting trapped into routines, and craving adventure and exercise with no motivation to do anything about it, I was stuck in myself.

I put it out there for my friends to see my inner workings and with the process of baring my soul for them, I in turn felt better, and continued to reach an acceptable feeling of self worth, with comments of encouragement and inspiration... The best part though was seeing that others were going through the same pain. The idea that I was not alone in this personal doubt and change of mood, encouraged me to see a light at the end of the tunnel and to respect the process that my body and mind was going through.

Since then, I have been feeling a lot better, making the necessary adjustments to my body and mind to keep on living a full and happy life.

Good pointers for keeping on this way of thinking :

- Starting the day off with some form of exercise to get my endorphins pumping - I did my first bikram yoga class in 2 years, this morning at 8am!
- Trying to do something new everyday! - I tried my hand at making granola last night, which turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it would be
- Keeping up with my blog writing - I find that it helps to keep my confidence up and my thoughts in order
- Crafting something every day!

Life will just keep on happening whether we want it to or not, so its best to just try and roll with the punches, even if that means sometimes listening to our bodies, waiting for the storm clouds to pass, and then safely letting our balloons rise up again,

  Love Britt

I can teach you how to...

- Make an origami paper crane
- Sew a quilt, knit a cardigan and write a pen pal letter
- Make someone feel like they are the only person in the room
- Make addictive oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, that taste like Terry's chocolate oranges
- Inspire others to make the time to be creative and follow their bliss
- Create an indoor picnic garden on a rainy afternoon
- Dance like you don't give a dam what others think, and just let the music guide your limbs
- Not eat meat for 3 years running, and not even think about wanting it anymore
- Shamelessly burp on command louder than anyone you know
- Take charge and help kick start various clubs with your friends because you see a joint interest
- Compost your kitchen wastes
- Feel more comfortable and beautiful in your birthday suit than in a bathing suit
- Reenact the fake orgasm scene from "When Harry Met Sally" in New York, at the same table that they filmed it... and get free cheesecake as an added bonus for doing it!
- Fall in love multiple times over
- Create a lovely space to live in that reflects ones inner self


I've been feeling a bit down lately so I thought this list would make me feel better, and allow me to see my talents in a time of darkness.

My self image has been taking a bit of a nose dive lately, so I decided to hit the gym this morning and sweat out m frustrations... and man did it ever feel amazing! I also jumped on the scale to find that even though I haven't been to the gym in 2 weeks and have been eating poorly I have remained the same weight and even lost 2 pounds! *phew* I love my walking paper route for that, and the summer weather where I have the motivation to bike everywhere.

In other news : I got the apartment I wanted!!! I signed the papers this weekend and will be moving in just before Sept 1st! It is a beautiful small studio apartment in a character house. It has a large kitchen, high ceilings, gas stove, and is all mine all mine. It is a miracle that I have found all of this for under $700 and I can't wait to put my Britt style all over it! (I've already picked out paint colors, and a new kettle for the stove!)

Stay tuned for more love in the future,
     Love Britt

Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days Of Summer

What a lovely couple of weeks :

Prom Themed Party at my sister and her man Chris's place

Followed by a Canada Day Fireman's Pancake Breakfast 

And out to Maple Ridge for a good friends 40th birthday,

where one of his friends bought 24 remote controlled helicopters for us grownups to play with

The weeks included...

-Dancing at 50's 60's sock hop

-Knitting and Quilting

-Long Bike Rides 

-Rainy farmers market trips

-Movies in the park ("Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures" and "Zoolander")

-Got a record player cabinet for free!!! 

-Attended a balloon themed movie night, with only one person I knew

-Soup Social with close friends

Where I got addicted to making fondue 

and since have made it for 3 different events 

and wowed my friends :)

Two Garage Sales :

One large one I attended and the next day my own :)

Where by playing cards, doing puzzles, seeing old friends, 

planning quilts, and meeting neighbours... 

I made $80 sitting on my front lawn in the sun!

Biked down to Granville Island and lazed in the sun with my love <3

And last but not least I got to FINALLY ride in a Hot Air Balloon...

Which obviously was amazing! <3

Its a good life :)

Love Britt

100 KISSES GIVEAWAY! *Contest Closed!

Yahoo My Blog Turns 100 Posts Today!

And you get to benefit from that as much as I do ;)

First of all I send each and everyone reading this 100 kisses

for all their love, support, 

and kind words they share with me,

because without your constant inspiration in my life I could never have done this. 

Secondly as promised here is my giveaway for one lucky reader!

I teased to all the other day...

And now here is the final product!

You will receive :

- A pull apart Japanese cupcake eraser (from my work!) 

-A custom made Pippi Longstocking Pin (her getting into trouble baking of course!)

And

-A one of a kind homemade leaf brooch made completely from yours truly

(My brooch never leaves my summer jean jacket and gets a load of compliments,

Its really a gem piece to any outfit!)

(See I'm sporting it in this lovely outfit here!)

Now how to enter is probably your next question!

Please make sure that you are following my blog 

and then comment on the post below,

telling me all about your favorite things to do this summer!
And make sure to include your email address so I can contact you for your smail mail address :)

I will send the parcel anywhere in the world so please don't be shy about entering!

The contest closes first thing Tuesday morning! :) 

Much love, and good luck my friends

Britt

xoxoxoxo etc...

Inch by Inch

Last night I completed all my 36 squares for my log cabin quilt. It is going to be quite the large quilt and I am excited to finish it off and give it to myself as a housewarming gift. Hopefully in the next month or so (I still haven't found the place) I will be moving out on my own for the first time in my life... which means :

1.) No roommates

2.) No boyfriends

Only me and possibly a loving cat to keep me company. 

The idea frightens me to no end, which is why I know I must do it.

I love my home, and my loving roommates. 

And I adore my partner.

But this is something I have to do for myself.

To experience on my own.

I have so many of my friends living as a coupling,

but I know that's not for me right now...

I've been there, done that... and now its time to really get comfortable with myself.

I need to experience, and learn to be me...

and be happy with only hanging out with myself, which may just be the hardest lesson I have had to learn yet in my life. 

I will keep you posted as always when I find a place,

and thank you for your support, whether silent or loud.

Love Britt

xoxoxo etc...

p.s. The next post will be my giveaway so stayed tuned,
and start subscribing now :)