what will you create that will make the world awesome?

Do you need a pep talk this morning? Jordan apparently thought I did and sent me this. Who is this kid?? He is my hero. I seriously can't decide what my favourite line is, so you need to watch it. 

"The world needs you to stop being boring. Yah, you. Boring is easy! But you're gooder than that"

Not cool, Robert Frost! 

my new favourite word is...

Mmmmama! I know, I know. The "experts" say that they don't associate the babbling sounds they make with people yet...whatever. I love hearing it and the first time I heard it clearly he was looking right at me while he was playing with Jordan (take that dada! I mean...it's not a competition). He now seems to use it whenever he is unhappy though, so I'm not sure how long I will love hearing it. It seems to mean "feed me", "I'm bored", "save me from this horrible place you call my crib" etc.

Jordan got a clip of it on video yesterday: 

tuesday tune and happy fit

Over the last week I have started thinking about getting back in shape and repairing the damage that cute little Westley has done to my body. Pregnancy itself had a few perks (for example my hair was extra thick and shiny, people were (usually) nicer to me, I got to eat a lot of ice cream without a lot of guilt) ...but in the end the baby vacated and left a path of destruction in his wake. Anyone who's been through it before can attest, it's a damn good thing they're cute. First, your body is taken over for 9 months and then they arrive and continue to demand more of you (they are sweet and defenceless babies so we will forgive them). As West is now 6 months I'm beginning to feel like I have the energy and motivation to fight back and take control of my body - make it mine once again.

To do this I have enlisted the help of my friend, personal trainer Lisa from Happy Fit (pic below, how cute and happy and fit is she?). She has promised to kick my post-natal behind into shape over the next 12 weeks, which is great because I need the motivation. Burpees and squats won't get rid of my stretch marks, or help my hair to grow back in (hair loss was an awesome postnatal side effect by the way), but at least I will be fit!

This is what I have been listening to on repeat while I've been workout out - Forever, by Haim - I am loving the 80's vibe (their other songs from the EP are catchy too):

Happy Tuesday, XO

hello rue daily!

My favourite online magazine Rue made an announcement today - I'm so excited about it and wanted to share if you haven't already heard. Rue mag now has a website full of daily inspiration: Rue Daily. It used to feel like half a year before new issues would be out (in reality it's bimonthly), but now there is a place to go whenever you want a taste of their beautiful finds and features...Decor & Inspiration, Fashion & Style, Trends & Shopping, and Lifestyle & Entertaining - basically all my favourite things! Since this is only day one of the site there is a good starting point for content, but they will obviously be adding more each day. Admittedly the site is a little buggy right this minute, but we will give them some leeway because it has only been live for a few hours...In the meantime, here are a few images from the site...but you should really go check it out to see for yourself.

um, yum. lifestyle & entertaining features this espresso and walnut dark chocolate cake recipe.

love this freestyle wreath DIY in decor & inspiration

style inspiration from the life styled blogger Catherine Sheppard 

(I need all the help I can get in this department)

monochromatic home styling and tips in decor & inspiration

                                          

6 short months

Today our sweet little monkey is 6 months old! I feel like I barely remember when he was the squished tiny baby in the photo above...it's unbelievable how much changes in just six short months. Our life as we knew it is gone, and in it's place is this new one where life revolves around a tiny someone. It was scary at first, the idea that we were wholly responsible for a life. Loving him was easy, but there was always this anxiety there about keeping him safe. For the most part as he has become less fragile, we have found our confidence and now we at least can pretend that we know what we're doing! Then again, every time we think we have him figured out he changes and surprises us with something new to worry about...but I'm guessing that's a constant as a parent and we have years of that to look forward to.

At 6 months, Westley is always keeping us on our toes. He is a happy baby, and he thinks his parents are hilarious, and that his mom has a beautiful voice (or maybe when he is smiling and laughing at my singing he is laughing at the terrible pitch or my goofy face...we will never know for sure, but I'm going  with the first thing). His newest love is watching his Daddy hit me over the head with a cardboard tube. Apparently pain infliction is hilarious, which scares me a little about what this means for his budding personality. He rarely stops moving, even in his sleep. Speaking of sleep, we are still seeing each other a few times throughout the night...He has been eating solids for a month, sometimes he is up for it, and other times he would rather spit it all back at us, or down onto the floor and watch it go splat. It's a great game, we love it! His big eyes seem to absorb everything around him and we love watching him learn new things, it seems like they do that at such an alarming rate over these first 6 months. The other alarming thing is how much our love for him grows every day, how is that even possible? I'm hoping it slows down soon, because I think my heart may burst if it doesn't. 

wishing i was here...

Isn't January feeling long? Today I'm wishing this was my view. Dias Beach on the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but when you stand on the beach you are surrounded by high cliffs and the waves are so massive and powerful as they crash towards you that you have to yell to be heard. It is breathtakingly beautiful and one of the few places I've been that truly made my heart sing.

the twelve tribes of hattie

Looking for a good book to pass the long January days? I just finished The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis and it was a beautifully written, powerful novel. I picked it up at Christmas because it was an Oprah's Book Club book and a "Heather's Pick", so I figured I couldn't go wrong - Oprah and Heather have never failed me in the past and this was no exception. 

The emotional story of Hattie and her family is told over the course of 5 decades as a succession of narratives surrounding each of her eleven children and one of her grandchildren. It gripped me from the very first page, and I actually think I might read it again...it was that good! 

If you're interested, here is an excerpt from the book cover (written much more eloquently than I ever could!):

 "In 1923, fifteen-year-old Hattie Shepherd flees Georgia and settles in Philadelphia, hoping for a chance at a better life. Instead, she marries a man who will bring her nothing but disappointment and watches helplessly as her first-born twins succumb to an illness a few pennies could have prevented. Hattie gives birth to nine more children, whom she raises with grit and mettle and not an ounce of the tenderness they crave. She vows to prepare them for the calamitous difficulty they are sure to face in their later lives, to meet a world that will not love them, a world that will not be kind...

Beautiful and devastating, Ayana Mathis's The Twelve Tribes of Hattie is wondrous from first to last - glorious, harrowing, unexpectedly uplifting, and blazing with life. An emotionally transfixing page-turner; a searing portrait of striving in the face of insurmountable adversity, an indelible encounter with the resilience of the human spirit and the driving force of the American dream, Mathis's first novel heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction."

Are you convinced yet?

youngblood hawke: a tune for your tuesday

Happy Tuesday! Here's a song to get your morning going. I don't know about you, but I need some help in that department this morning.

Youngblood Hawke - Stars (Hold on).

If you haven't already heard their single We Come Running add it to your playlist too. Actually so far every song I've heard by them on their EP is uplifting and catchy. I'm loving it! You can listen to the EP here.

shepherd-less pie

I cooked last night!! I know, Jordan was shocked too. Most nights it seems to be frozen lasagne, pizza, wraps, or just good old eating out on the menu. Not quite the gourmet meals I imagined preparing while on mat leave. I would say we are lucky to have a home cooked meal (that involves more than setting the oven to 375 degrees) once or twice a week. So, starting the week off right!

On the menu last night was a meatless Shepherds pie, shepherd-less pie if you like. There are all kinds  of ways to make a shepherds pie without meat (most commonly with lentils), but I had veggie crumbles in the fridge that needed using up, and I'd say it turned out really well! Close to the original hearty Irish meal, except I threw in a few other changes too (my meat-eating Irish father is most likely shaking his head at this point). 

We have a friend who is going meatless for a month (you know who you are!), so this recipe is in honour of him. Good luck, can't wait to hear how it goes...

Shepherd-less Pie

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup diced onions

1 cup diced parsnip

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup diced red pepper

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1 pkg veggie crumbles

2 cloves garlic, minced

Pinch cayenne

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon flour

1 1/2 cups of dark ale (or 1 bottle) or 1 ½ cups stock (vegetable, mushroom or…beef)

1 cup crushed tomatoes

2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tsp tomato paste

salt and pepper to taste

11/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered (I replaced half of this with sweet potato for a healthier and tastier topping, steamed separately) 

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup milk

1 cup grated cheddar

1. Prepare veg. Chop away. Bring potatoes to a boil and cook until softened for 12-15 minutes. Steam or boil sweet potato if using.

2. While potatoes are cooking, heat oil in saucepan and saute onions, carrots and parsnips until slightly softened (around 4 minutes).

3. Add mushrooms, red pepper, garlic, thyme and cayenne. Saute for around 3 minutes, until mushrooms and red pepper are cooked. Add flour and bay leaves.

4. Add ale, soy sauce, tomatoes, tomato paste and bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring down to a simmer for 20-25 minutes until sauce is thickened. Add mashed veggie crumbles and frozen peas. Heat through for 5 minutes and season to taste.

5. Prepare potato topping. Mash cooked potatoes and sweet potato with butter and milk until smooth; then whip with a hand mixer until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Pour meatless mix into medium casserole dish (I used a 9x13, but a slightly smaller one would have been better for a better filling to potato ratio). Top with potatoes and grated cheddar.

7. Cook at 375 for 20-25 minutes until hot and bubbling. Broil until top is slightly browned and crispy.

(again, the photos don't do this dish justice, it's hard to make shepherd's pie look pretty, but you get the idea!)

westley's week in photos

Happy Saturday! Here's a few pics from our week. 

Westley LOVES to bounce. It's almost impossible to get him to sit because he immediately straightens his legs trying to stand and bounce. So obviously, he loves his new jolly jumper we borrowed from a friend this week. 

Last night he was in there and we looked over and noticed it looked like he had spat up on his feet. On closer examination though, it was clear that it was not spit up, but poop. And not only was it all over his feet, he was jumping in it and squishing it into his mat and the carpet. Awesome! I don't entirely know how to explain this. It leaked out of the side of his diaper, and I wish I could blame Jordan, but that diaper was mine. I tried to get a picture of the event for you, but apparently Jordan thought it was more important to clean the poop off the baby.

These were taken for the sole purpose of getting a picture of his new teeth. Number 2 popped through last night...which is weird because he actually slept better than he has in 2 months. I can't figure this kid out! Oh well I will take what I can get. 

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend so far! 

XO

faux taxidermy fun

We've been in the house for over a year, but we still have a lot of sad bare walls. I want to remedy this as soon as possible, but I'm always scared to buy something and make a decision about "art"...so I endlessly look and never purchase. But we need fun and pretty things to look at in our home. That's why when I was in Marda Loop yesterday and saw some great faux taxidermy busts at Wild About Flowers I got very excited! ...but as usual didn't buy. Instead I decided to look around and see what else is out there. Look what I found! I am not a fan of actual taxidermy, but the resin and papier-mache versions are fun and whimsical. What do you think?

West Elm's papier-mache animal sculpture; $102.41. 

Made in Haiti as part of a Caribbean Craft, a project that works to create jobs for Haitian artisans.

1, 2, 3, 5: 

Mahzer & Vee (Etsy) - Resin animals - Prices range from $40 for a small bust to $110 for a large one. They will make the animals in any colour you would like, or you can just go for flat white. 

6: 

Anthropologie - Smiling Hippo Bust - Papier-mache; $198

4, 7: 

White Faux Taxidermy - Resin animals - Prices range from $30 for a miniature to $170 for more ornate, large busts. 

I think my favourite might be the gold bear, but I can't decide! We will probably end up with white, because it "matches" everything...that is if we can make a decision at all. 

perfect night: cheap wine, cheesecake and "girls"

My night started with a little bit of this cuteness: 

And is ending with a little bit of this:

Jordan is out tonight, but don't worry, I don't plan on drinking that entire 1.5L of cheap wine to myself. But I'm not going to lie...I will most likely be finishing off the cheesecake. And I don't feel guilty about it. A glass of wine (or 2), half a cheesecake and as many episodes of Girls that I can possibly fit in tonight before passing out (because I'm tired and get no sleep, not because I drank 1.5L of wine). Who needs to go out? Pretty great night if you ask me.

Speaking of Girls, have you seen it?? I know I'm behind the times, but I finally started watching it and I think it may be the best thing on television. I can't get over how hilarious and perfect it is! I need to stop writing immediately and get back to it.

Here's a clip from season 1 when Hanna finds out her ex-boyfriend is gay: 

caramel sage latte

I love coffee, seeing a Starbucks on the horizon for me is like seeing a friend - a reliable friend who never disappoints you (...but always makes you pay). A latte in Calgary tastes the same as a latte in LA or London, and I kind of love that about Starbucks, that no matter where you are you can rely on Starbucks to be Starbucks. My seasons are defined by pumpkin spice, gingerbread, cinnamon dolce, and coconut. I hate being such a slave to a giant coffee corporation, but I can't deny it. Don't get me wrong, Starbucks isn't my only coffee buddy, but it is the one that has been there for me the most over the years. So of course I was thrilled when we decided that one of our "just-one-last-trip-before-baby" trips would be to Seattle, the birthplace of my friend Starbucks.

So of course one of our first stops in Seattle was to Pike Place for a latte, where it turned out they were celebrating 40 years of world coffee domination and serving free coffee. It was good, it tasted just like the coffee I had that morning at the Calgary airport. The next morning however, on our way back to the market we were lured into a different coffee shop by a sign promising freshly baked pumpkin muffins. They were out of muffins, but thankfully we stayed for breakfast anyways because it was at Cafe Fonte that I had the best latte of my life.

A caramel sage latte. Milk infused with fresh sage, sweetened with caramel and poured into espresso. An odd, unforgettable combination that you won't find at Starbucks, ever. I was sure I would see herb-infused lattes everywhere soon after...but it's been over a year and I must have been wrong, so I tried to recreate it this weekend. Although it was a bit of work (tip: buy your own caramel and save yourself the trouble!), I felt like the end result was comparable to Fontes multi-layered taste experience and so worth it...that is until I made one for Jordan's brother whose glowing review was "It reminds me of gravy". So apparently it's not for everyone...but you should try it anyways.

Caramel Sage Latte:
(makes one) 

3/4 cup sage-infused steamed milk (see below)
1-2 tbsp caramel (see below) - depending on sweetness preference 
2 oz brewed espresso

Pour caramel into espresso and stir. Add steamed milk and top with more caramel (mmm and whipped cream would be good too!). Drink up and try not to think of gravy. 

Sage-infused milk:
For more on infusing milk and cream, check out this article on thekitchn.com to inspire you to try all kinds of combinations...

3/4 cup milk
4 sage leaves torn in half

Bring milk and sage to a simmer. When bubbles form in the milk, turn off the heat so that the milk doesn't burn. Taste, if you want it sage-ier repeat the process, but I found it strong enough after a few minutes of simmering.

Caramel:
If you want to put yourself through the caramel-making process, this recipe worked well for me (you have to scroll down a bit, I left out the salt for this particular recipe). I don't know how many pots of almost-caramel I have burnt, but it can be frustratingly finicky - David Lebovitz has some good tips here. 

vegetarian poutine

Oh, dear. This picture does not do this justice at all. In fact it looks pretty unappetizing...but it's poutine! and it's vegetarian! Fries. Cheese. Gravy. Goodness. You can't really go wrong. The vegetarian answer to the original. Quick, easy, and the perfect comfort food for a snowy cold day in January.

Mushroom Gravy:

It all started over Christmas when I decided to try a vegetarian gravy for the first time. I'm not sure what took me so long, because it's just as good, I would even go so far as to say better than regular fatty animal gravy. I started with this recipe here and modified it a bit.

3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp finely chopped onions
2 minced garlic cloves
1 portabella mushroom, roughly chopped into bite-size pieces
3 tbsp flour
2 tbsp soy sauce
1.5 - 2 cups vegetable stock (depending on desired thickness)
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in pot and add onions and garlic on med-high heat. Sauté for a couple minutes, then add mushrooms and sauté until softened and browned slightly. Reduce heat to medium. Slowly add flour, continuing to stir onion and mushroom mixture for one minute. Add soy sauce and half of vegetable stock, and continue adding stock until you have the desired gravy consistency. Sauce will thicken as it cooks. Season to taste.

Poutine:

1. Throw some french fries in a bowl. If you're feeling ambitious they could be homemade, or if you just want the cheesy goodness stat, go for frozen like I did.
2. Top with grated mozzarella (traditionally it would be cheese curds, but we had mozzarella and it melted well).
3. Top cheese and fries with gravy and green onions.
4. Devour.

XO

Golden Globes: a sloppy, loud, party.

Excited for the Golden Globes tonight? I am! Who doesn't love Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. And Silver Linings Playbook should win for everything. Never mind that it's the only movie nominated that I've actually seen (not to mention the only movie I've seen in theatres in roughly 5 1/2 months...)...it's funny, romantic and smart and Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Deniro and every other actor in that movie should get an award, nominated or not. Then again, maybe I enjoyed it so much because I was out of the house and eating popcorn. Who knows. Either way, I'm excited to watch Tina and Amy be their hilarious selves while I eat poutine and popcorn. (If the veggie poutine turns out I will post the recipe tomorrow, stay tuned.)

Also, we watched Contagion last night. It should win for Most Realistically Terrifying Movie Ever. I plan to stock our basement full of canned goods, water and flashlights for the inevitable bat-pig flu outbreak and not leave the house at the first sign of it. Truly though, have you seen it? It makes me want to either never touch any piece of public property again, or more realistically, douse myself in sanitizer constantly. Good movie though!

XO

westley's week in photos

Let's face it, my parents are this blogs biggest (possibly only?) fans...and that's because they are hoping to see photos of their grandson...and instead I post pictures of my pantry and dish soap. So here are some photos and a few Westley updates. 

I don't want to brag, but I got 5 hours of sleep in a row twice this week. I know, I know, you're jealous, but I had to share. (side note: this bunny - who we have named Wallace - is Westley's best friend, he reaches for him as soon as his head hits the mattress and cuddles or pets him into slumber)

My dad got West a play pen for Christmas, and for some reason he loves to play within it's 10 square feet and four walls. He hasn't realized yet that it is his baby jail and I'm hoping that his love for it lasts. He actually rolls himself over to it and grunts until I put him in it.

Speaking of rolling, he is having a great time these days rolling from underneath the chair to underneath the couch. Toys are boring, furniture is way more exciting, as are remotes, iPhones and cardboard boxes.

We have been feeding Westley solid foods since Christmas. So far rice cereal (he's a fan, when he's not busy watching things drop on the floor), egg yolk (not a fan), bananas (we expected his face to light up when he tasted it, it didn't, but he also didn't gag so we will assume he's a fan) and avocado. 

Tomorrow we are going swimming for the first time, can't wait! If his love of the bath is any indication, Westley should have a good time splashing around.

Happy Weekend!

XO

sapadilla = eco-clean love

At the risk of having you think I'm a good housekeeper, I am posting a review of my awesome new cleaning products following my newly organized pantry post. Don't get the wrong idea, I am not a fan of cleaning (although admittedly organizing is so very gratifying)...but this stuff is so good it makes cleaning bearable, and even (almost) enjoyable. And really, they are too good not to share.

I am all for natural cleaning products and getting rid of nasty chemicals in the house. Ick, do you know what's in most cleaning products? Horrible things, I'm telling you (see "The dirt on toxic chemicals in household cleaning products" on David Suzuki's website). I have used Norwex microfiber for years and still love it, you only use water with the cloths so what could be more natural than that?

But, I'm branching out. Sapadilla baby! A line of "nice little eco-cleaners" developed and made in BC. It should be called Spaaaadilla, because it smells that amazing. And the scents are all natural essential oils, combos including grapefruit-bergamot, rosemary-peppermint and lavander-lime. I just want to eat them they smell so good. They have dish soap, concentrated liquid laundry detergent, counter-top cleaner and an all-purpose cleaner all made with natural ingredients and biodegradable and none of the harsh chemicals of the usual suspects.

So far I have tried the dish soap ($4.99) and laundry detergent ($10.99 for 30 loads) in grapefruit + bergamot and I am loving them.

Dish soap: smells good (ok, I think you get the idea); a little liquid-y, so comes out fast, but you actually don't need that much; added glycerin for a hand-treat.

Laundry detergent: I had a particularly icky baby outfit to clean, and the combo of the Sapadilla detergent and the natural stain remover stick I got at Once Upon a Child did the trick, no gross yellow stains! Leaves the slightest scent on your clothes, nothing obnoxious and no unneeded fillers that stay in your clothes (tide etc. add pulp and drywall dust to their powder detergents).

I ordered them from spud.ca (our online grocer, save that post for another day). Smells great, good for the environment and our health and cleans well...overall I'd say I'm in eco-cleaning love. Try it and let me know if you agree!

XO

pantry pretty-up

I love January. For the first couple weeks of it anyways, before winter starts to feel like it's dragging and we're feeling cooped up and craving sunshine. This first couple of weeks though is time for a fresh start, and I always feel inspired to begin new things, make goals, and chip away at my mile long to-do list. First on my list was to start a blog - accomplished...really, I feel so productive already I should just stop now. That's enough for me this year, I can sit back and eat those bon bons I was promised on mat leave and then blog about how good they taste and how tight my jeans are. 

But NO! I will carry on (and continue to eat bon bons while checking things off my list). The next thing on said list was to organize the pantry (as well as the office, garage, basement, bonus room, kitchen cupboards, closets, aka every-room-in-the-house). I finished yesterday - the pantry only, the rest will have to wait for another day. I'm sure you're all dying to see the finished product, right? Well you are in luck because I took pictures! Not the best pictures mind you, maybe I will add "learn to take better pictures" to my list, too. 

    * chalkboard labels - Martha Stewart Home Office - $5.99 from Staples for a pkg of six (I love the       look of these, and Jordan assured me that he appreciated the labelling because he had always had a difficult time telling the difference between white and brown sugar...)

    * lazy susans for oil and vinegars - $5.99 from Homesense 

    * can display - $5.99 from Homesense

    * glass cannisters - bought at Ikea forever ago

    * green boxes - from the dishes we got for our wedding, too pretty to throw out!

    * note all the pretty cookbooks I have, aren't they so pretty? One of these days I will have to cook something from them instead of looking up recipes for free on the internet. 

And for fun here is the song that I had on repeat while I was organizing "True Romance" by Citizens! - hadn't watched the racy video until now: 

wes the mess

This new eating and drinking thing is a messy business. Apparently it is way more fun to first fling the milk out of the cup and then watch the cup fall to the floor. He's lucky he's cute. 

 

baby loves gangnam!

I don't know what it is about Psy's Gangnam Style, but Westley loves it. Crying Westley? Turn on Gangnam. Westley doesn't want to eat? Gangnam. Want to get a laugh out of him? Hit play on Gangnam and start dancing. It is our secret baby weapon for the moments when nothing else seems to work. It is a guaranteed fuss-free 4 minutes and 13 seconds. It's fun times, as long as his first sentence isn't "Heyyyy, sexy lady!", then we will know we've gone too far. 

new years resolution chili

So, both Jordan and I feel fat. After weeks of Christmas meals, baked goods, easy frozen pizzas and lasagnas we were desperate for something healthy and delicious for dinner. We had this Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili for dinner last night from Allrecipes.com...so tasty and healthy too. And it made a huge pot and leftovers are the greatest. You roast the sweet potatoes first so they're nice and crispy on the outside and they don't turn to mush in the chili. Try it!

happy monday!

This is what I'm listening to this morning while I enjoy my views from the couch with coffee in hand...Django Django (silent d), from the UK, their sound has been labelled folktronica - I'm loving it!

this little life of ours

Let me introduce myself. I'm Kaley. I'm married to Jordan and we have a wide-eyed 5-month old named Westley, which makes three of us. This little life of ours as a threesome is still new and surprising (and admittedly occasionally anxiety-inducing!). It's full of wonder as we watch our son take in the world around him and learn new things daily. There are a lot of laughs and a lot of sleepless nights. Jordan and I celebrated 10 years together in December and having spent a third of our lives together we have shared so many "firsts"...but this one takes the cake. It's all at once exciting and terrifying, but I think we are starting to get the hang of it. Although ask me tomorrow morning, tired and groggy after a long night with West (who like many babies is opposed to the general idea of sleep) and I may tell you a different story!

Me: Beautiful things make me happy - beautiful places, people, books, food, design, art. I like to cook (when I find the energy) and love to bake (mostly because fattening baked goods also make me happy).  I'm vegetarian for personal, moral, and environmental reasons and finding great meat-free recipes is always fun. Travelling makes me happy too, especially when it involves good food, wine and views - although my time spent drinking wine in beautiful places is probably limited for a while...

Jordan: It's painfully cliche, but I'm so lucky because I married my best friend. He makes me and everyone around him laugh. His inappropriate jokes and booming voice are always entertaining....he's also very nice to look at. And as much as he tries to hide it, he is so loving and thoughtful (shhh, don't tell him I told you...). He loves wine, food, and travelling too, which makes it pretty easy to want to spend time with him.

Westley: He is an energetic little monkey and I'm exhausted just thinking about our life when he figures out how to crawl...as it is he doesn't stop moving! He has lots of personality and he makes us laugh all the time. He's got big bright eyes, watches everyone and everything and will win any staring contest. Recently he's taken up screaming at an alarming pitch, both to express his delight and his dislike...you can literally hear him from outside of the house. I probably wouldn't describe him as the most easy going baby you've ever met, but when he's happy he is so generous with his laughs and smiles and quickly makes up for the times when he's not!

So that's us, pleased to meet you!

XO