I'm 44. I am not ashamed to admit that. By virture of my age, it means that I was growing up in the 70s. Full on polyester pants, patterns and plaids, and pepsi platform shoes. NASTY.
I remember my mom attending many a house party, Avon, Tupperware and Copper Craft. Copper craft was this plastic stuff made to look like copper and it was expensive and frankly ugly. I mean ugly. I could not help my mother get rid of that crap as soon as the 80s hit. For simplicty sake, can we not discuss the decorating pitfalls of the 80s.
Back to the copper craft. Did I mention it was ugly?
Come on, that is some ugly stuff right??
Fast forward to the shabby chic movement, frugality and using one's creativity to have a cool house. I came apon this decorative key; all scrolly and low and behold - it had a fleur de lis on it! I had to have it. I giggled and thought how much my mom would love knowing that I had purchased some of the much hated copper craft stuff I had jettison from her home years before.
Awesome right?!!
I am not going to leave it in its brutal 70s faux copper. Um no, I am going to paint it flat black and stick in my Paris bathroom. That is of course unless my eldest daughter does not get it first.
I know, you can't quite see it with my crap o rama camera but I assure you, you can still see all the scrolls and stuff now that it is black.
I guess what they say about what's old is new again and what goes around comes around. Uh oh, there is Rebekah wearing my parachute pants and my leg warmers.
What is your favourite Christmas gift ever? What is the one thing you look back on that fills your heart and maybe brings a tear to your eye?
I am a huge fan of Dr. Seuss. I love every book Dr. Seuss put other there.
As a student at school and in a new relationship with a young guy, I shared with him my love of Dr. Seuss when I told him I could not go out to the bar until I had watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas.'' It was non-negotiable. He did not laugh, but came right over to watch it with me. I knew then that I had a keeper.
It was in the fall of that year that cancer took Dr. Seuss from us. But what a legacy he left us.
When Christmas day arrived a few weeks later and there was a lovely package under the tree for me from Ian. I don't think I will ever forget opening that package. Inside, was a battered, old copy of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It turns out that this old book was Ian's when he was a kid. Inside, the book bears his name and his address. His address is spelled wrong. A sweet gesture of more innocent times.
Every Christmas, the real sign of the start of the season is the showing of the original cartoon with Boris Karlof and at home, when pulling out the decorations, sharing my special book and showing the inscription to our children.
Best wishes for a warm, safe, holiday season. Make many happy memories.
Last week, all attention was on the weather. Hurricanes always capture the attention of the media. This storm was a serious one and had everyone on edge.
I happened to have the mis fortune of moving my office on Monday morning as the weather changed almost moment by moment. It was pretty brutal. There were leaves from one end of my office to another. And my hair got messy. That night we snuggled safe in out beds and drifted off to the sounds of winds whipping through the trees. The next morning, we surveyed the damage and found a few downed twigs and my barbecue had been moved around the deck. That's it.
Fast forward to Friday night. We watched the news and the recovery in the United States. Mid way through the news I got a call from a friend looking for some help for a friend of a friend. It turns out that a mom and her two kids came to Toronto to stay with some friends to ride out the storm. This family was in need of some clothes for their five year old daughter. I happen to have a five year old daughter. (Until last Thursday, when she celebrated her sixth) We happily agreed to go through Bronwyn's clothes. We found a bunch of extra pants, tops and a decent winter coat to last for a few weeks.
Bronwyn found a school bag that she had only used for the first week of school. She suggested that this little girl would need a school bag and a barbie. But not one of her barbies. And for a brief second, I was disappointed in my daughter. She wouldn't share a barbie. The kid has about a million. No, Bronwyn said this little girl needed her own brand new barbie. We headed out to Walmart to get this little girl a few presents to put in her school bag.
Saturday morning, Ian will deliver a box of Bronwyn's clothes for a little girl who needs a few things and will surprise her with a school bag complete with a new barbie, some barbie clothes, and some colouring books.
We will not meet this family, but it was nice to take an hour of our night to put together a small care package and hopefully make this family's next few weeks a little brighter.
Here is a little Jason Mraz to send out some support to those in need. Here is You are Loved.
