Holiday Traditions Exchange

This year, I participated in the Holiday Traditions Exchange organized by the creative and inspiring blogger Meg McElwee at Sew Liberated. In this exchange, you are matched with someone from around the world (most participants are in the US) and you are asked to send them:
1.) One handmade holiday decoration.
2.) Your family's favorite holiday recipe.
3.) A “Tradition” Tutorial. This is a description of one of your family’s special holiday traditions.

I know that my parcel has been received, so I can share what I sent to my partner (who, ironically, lives not too far away in Washington State!).


2 DVDs of Christmas Cartoon Classics, a Christmas Pop Mix CD, a copy of "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry, a fair trade chocolate bar, a sparkly Christmas necklace, and a recipe for Butterscotch Squares, plus:


The recipe for Aunt Lizzie's Peppermint Squares


Complete with diagram!


A pear ornament made using Retromama's pattern


A felt ornament with one of my first attempts at embroidery. Pattern from Fantastic Toys.

It was so much fun to reflect on my favourite holiday traditions while creating this package. Now I can't wait to see what arrives in the mail for me!

My cycling roots

Thanks to my dad for scanning this awesome photo of Mom taking me for a ride on Quadra Island. I'd guess it's circa 1979. Good times.

My 1 year blogoversary!

Yay, me! I've been writing this blog for one whole year now! This is my 40th post, which means I've almost reached the once a week blogging frequency. I've enjoyed having a place to share silly stories, document my progress on my 101 Things List, and show off some of the crafts I've been working on this year.

Here's to reaching 100 posts in year two of my blog!

What I learned in October

Inspired by Amber's post at Strocel.com, I've compiled a list of things I've learned in the past month.


1. Sophie isn't scared of being surrounded by chickens.

2. If your kid is sick and you end up not going to the Island for Thanksgiving, turkey dinner at the White Spot is more depressing than a regular dinner at home.


3. Rain gutter shelving is easy to install and makes for a great display area for picture books.

4. There are at least one or two members of the younger generation in the Vancouver Quilters' Guild.


5. Canadians care about climate change. If you look closely at this picture, you can find my family in the Bridge to a Cool Planet march.

6. $650,000 can get you a 100 year old house in the Main St area that's falling apart at the seams (don't worry, we didn't put in an offer).


7. Giving a toddler a Sharpie isn’t always a bad idea.


8. The camera smile that Sophie flashes these days is definitely genetic.


9. I can sew Halloween costumes for Sophie. I also learned that you can fit two full quilts worth of batting under that bee tunic.


10. Group costumes are a lot of fun! Especially when you stay in character and solve the mystery of the missing emails! Jinkies!

Happy Halloween!

We had our annual pumpkin carving night on October 29th. The soundtrack of the festivities, as always, was Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album. The taste sensation of the night were Kristi's strawberry tarts. Yum!


Sophie was a willing helper in the pumpkin gutting chore.


Kristi made a traditional pumpkin which Sophie was sure was angry.


We gave Sophie a Sharpie and let her go with a mini pumpkin. She really enjoyed "carving" her pumpkin while we were working on ours.


My pumpkin was Moishe, a monster from "Where the Wild Things Are"




Dean made the sea monster from "Where the Wild Things Are". We couldn't find it's name.



We've posted a set of our pumpkins over the years on flickr.

Blog Action Day 2009

Today is Blog Action Day 2009 and the theme is climate change. My little blog is part of a global network of blogs that will touch on this topic today. As an eco-geek, an environmental educator, and the daughter of a man who's known as "The Carbonator" because of his work on carbon neutrality, I have a bit to say on the subject. I'm going to narrow my post to how I try to reduce my carbon footprint through using alternative transportation. Our family of three lives a car-free lifestyle by choice. Here's how we do it:


Walking, walking, walking. I live in a high-density urban neighbourhood with many amenities within walking distance. We walk to the library, the grocery store, the credit union, the bookstore, the video store, gym class, music class, and any number of coffee shops and sushi restaurants. I love getting where I need to go on my own two feet!


As you may have guessed due to the name of my blog, I like to ride my bike. In the past, it has been my main mode of transportation to and from work. The addition of a child to the mix has assuredly lowered the frequency of my bike trips, but we do get out and about with the bike trailer once in awhile.


My main mode of transportation when I'm getting around with my two and a half year old is the bus. The transit-savvy of you may have recognized the bee logo from the 99 B-Line bus that runs east-west along Broadway here in Vancouver. It's a great express bus, crowded at times, but gets me to many transfer points including the new Canada line skytrain.


When walking, biking, or bussing won't work, we book a car through the Co-operative Auto Network (CAN). I've been a member of CAN's car sharing network since 2002 and I love having access to a fleet of 230 cars throughout the city (and beyond!). I typically book the sedan that's a five-minute walk from my house, but I've also used their minivans, VW beetles, trucks and cars with bike racks.

For the really long trips (e.g. visiting my family in New York), we fly. Then we buy carbon credits. It's not a perfect solution, but it's something!

Now that you've heard my two cents, head over to Blog Action Day and read some of the other 8,000 bloggers' posts on climate change!

9. Personalize at least three onesies for new babies.

I have now personalized three onesies for some little ones that have entered the world in the past year. The most recent one was ironed on and then embroidered around the edges and I was quite pleased with the results. I also made a matching pair of booties (they turned out really tiny!) and a burp cloth (sent them off before remembering to take a photo!). Such easy and fun projects!