Warning: Self-indulgent beauty post below

While visiting my amazingly fashionable and free (read: sans children) American girlfriends a few weeks ago, I came across this cool looking little tub peaking out at me among the ridiculously-expensive-yet-indispensible-mass of beauty products that tend to accumulate on any female's bathroom counter (until you have kids, at which time said counter topples with Dora toothpaste and Mermaid hairbrushes). Intrigued by the deliciousness of it all, I inquired: it was the new Simply Ageless sculpting blush by CoverGirl & Olay, and the shade (220) is THE BEST.

Olay Renegerist Serum is swirled into the cream blush which gives it an amazingly smooth texture; it goes on super easily with a sheer dewy finish. Genius.

Oink oink

As a mum of two kids under the age of three, I am SO confused about this H1N1 stuff. Do I get the shot for them or not?! There is so much conflicting information out there and senseless amounts of "on one hand/on the other hand" banter.

Now, seeing as I work with the media on an ongoing basis, I am always a bit skeptical as to the truthfulness of what they write (let's get real people: most media stories are pitched by people like me, after all). Regardless, there's an interesting piece in Maclean's that can be found here: http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/10/19/swine-flu-fiasco/2/.

Regardless, if vaccines aren't 100% safe, why risk them, you (I) ask?

Apparently, approved vaccines -- including the H1N1 vaccine -- are calculated to be much, much less risky than the diseases they prevent. For example, out of every million people who get a flu shot, one or two will get a serious neurological reaction called Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS).

But flu itself causes serious problems, including GBS, in far more than two in a million cases. And since a large proportion of the population will get swine flu, the vaccine risk is far smaller than the disease risk.

According to some interesting info from webMD, in clinical trials, 10,000 to 15,000 children and adults have received various manufacturers' brands of the H1N1 vaccine. Nothing serious happened to any of them.

My concern lies with the fact that clinical trials cannot detect something bad that happens to one or two out of every 100,000 people vaccinated. Right?

I guess all I can do is read, read, read. What do you think?

A little post-gobble gobble brilliance

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone, and happy Columbus Day to all of my American peeps. This past weekend, I spent some requisite time thinking about the things I'm grateful for, as many of you surely did too, and obviously therefore spent some quality time thinking about LA.

One thing Josh and I have learned as we work our way through the challenges associated with Ryan's microtia and atresia (M&A, I think I'll call it from here on in...oh, that's good, like mergers and acquisitions, except 'microtia and acquisitions...of a new ear') is to have a fantastic sense of humour and a kick-ass attitude. I love it when I meet people with the same approach--to anything, really--and when I was forwarded this video, I just had to share.

Talk about injecting a little fun, eh? Don't get me wrong: world peace and save the whales are important, of course. But let's have some F-U-N people. Lighten up and enjoy:

To tote or not to tote

Every few months, I get the urge to add to my canvas tote bag collection. Yeah, I know, some of you may be thinking what can look more uncool, more unhip than this (well, this woman, specifically):

Regardless, I refuse to ignore my urge to carry this ultimate prepster carry-all. (In fact, this love for collar's up living is something I must of course revisit in posts to come.)

"What in the world?" you may be thinking. "Doesn't this busy mumma have anything better to do with her time?!" Well, yes, this may be a materialistic and....how, do you say....immaterial way to pass some time. Perhaps. But I do. So there. And, every time I reach this monumental crossroads of decision making, I am faced with the "LL Bean versus Lands' End" conundrum. But, folks, never fear. I have finally, after many years, hung my hat in one corner: Lands' End it is.

Here's the background: I loaded up in May with an entire family of navy, monogrammed LL Bean totes. Love em? Yup. But, things get lost in those vast bottomless pits of sacks. No pockets, no dividers, no nuthin'. Nada, zip, whole lotta zilch. And, with two kids in tow, it reeeally helps to have some pockets, inside and out to divvy up all the shiz, understandably.

So, a few weeks ago, I decided to begin imposing my addiction on my non-conforming girlfriends, beginning with the always fashionable, new mum about town, Ally G. I up and ordered dear Allster a fancy schmancy, 'G' monogrammed, winter violet tote from Lands' End. Well, harumph! It arrived in all its beauty, with a TON of inside and outside pockets. All different sizes and shapes, a mummy's dream. Above and beyond the ever-unfashionable diaper bag, if I may say so myself.

So, the seemingly never-ending internal struggle is put to bed for good. Until, of course, I find my next self-imposed, pain-inflicting fashion-based decision-making conflict. Stay tuned.

Off to the Mermaid Kingdom

I know we're still a year away, but we've been in throughs of planning for this trip for a couple of weeks now. I received an email from Dr. Reinisch in LA last night and he sent to me some recent before and after shots and some video of recent procedures. Thought I'd share them with you, it's amazing. We're so lucky! I haven't yet talked with Ryan about her getting a "big girl ear" since she's never brought it up with us. I don't think she even realizes that she has a small ear, actually. Last night, when we were getting ready for bed, she was playing with a little toy airplane and I said "you and daddy and I are going to go on an airplane to Los Angeles!" Her reply was "are we going to go to the mermaid kingdom?!!?" And, you know, for now that's just good enough for me. Yes, we ARE going to the mermaid kingdom, sweetheart. I guess I'll just let it play out and wait for the most appropriate time. Anywho, enjoy the pics and video, and have a happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!

Now THAT'S a potluck.

As I wind my way through my busy day, working full time at a local ad agency (fabulosity is the only word to describe it, btw, http://www.extremegroup.com/), shuffling kids here and fro, making tea sandwiches with no crusts, saving the world one good deed at a time (um....), I begin thinking about how necessary the four day work week is for working mums. I mean, this four day week thing is my vice, my light at the end of the tunnel, my raison d'etre (in addition to the deliciousness of, ahem, Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc, http://www.kimcrawfordwines.co.nz/our-wines/regional-blends.php, of course). So, I get to wondering...what are other people's vices?

Check it out (especially you, Deans). The answer herein lies, apparently. John and Tammy, is that what you're doing over there?


Pot-Smoking Parents: cookiemag.com

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Spinach salad, dressing and insurance coverage on the side, please!

Yesterday, we had our referral letter for insurance coverage submitted to MSI. Now we have to wait and see if they will cover the costs of Ryan's surgery. It's not going to be cheap: we have to travel to LA to see Dr. John Reinisch (http://www.csmc.edu/14938.html) to have the surgery done as there are no pediatric plastic surgeons in Canada who do Medpor implants (see video at http://healthcorner.walgreens.com/feature.php?f=x&s=microtia). Hopefully we'll receive good news soon...

Who is Princess Banana Pants, you ask??

Ryan - aka Princess Banana Pants (PBP) - is a hoot of a girl. Our "girlie" as we call her, loves Dora (http://www.nickjr.com/shows/dora/index.jhtml) (groan, why can't she love The City, http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/the-city/series.jhtml ?), mermaids, polka dots, girlie cakes (long story, cookies and treats), and her little sister Sara Rose.

We (meaning myself, my husband Josh, the ever fabulous Sara Rose and quite possibly the sassiest yorkie ever, Molly Ambrocius the First) live in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Josh and I met in law school, in New York (where he is from), lived and worked in NYC for a number of years and moved to Halifax (where I grew up) in 2004. We've been married since September 2004. Along came Ryan in 2007 and SR in 2008. The rest is history.

We have a cast of characters you'll be introduced to over the course of this relationship. There's Grampy Bob and Nanny; Nanny Mimi and Grampy Jim; Aunt Jana and Uncle Rob; Uncle Kevin; Aunt Tori and "the wannabe Uncle" Don; Teedle the Bed Bug Beedle, Auntie Ryan Murphy, Aunt "Kiki and the Santimaws" and numerous other friends and family along the way.

Oh, and the stories....this is gonna keep everyone busy.