five for (an american long weekend) friday

happy friday, everyone! happy long weekend, south–of–the–border friends! and happy quilt-auction-preview evening for mom and dad and me! i am so excited – i love this annual friday evening social very much, and i hope today flies by (i am at theOTHERstore) so we can head on out to new hamburg!

1. i am still waiting for my free reebok tshirt to arrive. in the meantime, remember how valumart had 1,001 types of cereal on sale this past week? when i saw that some of the sale cereals had the free tshirt coupon offer on the box, i got greedy i had to snap up two so that i could order another tshirt (the one i already chose is black, and i wanted #2 to be the white one).

tshirt offer! tshirt offer! i know i need two coupon codes!

i used to buy alpha bits all the time, but have not for a very long while, now. i brought them back into the casa just to aid me in the tshirt chase!

i had to hack up the boxes massively in order to retrieve the necessary codes:

not pretty, no patience

well, the joke is on me:

wah!

so, consider this a public service announcement – leave those specially marked boxes on the shelf if you are hoping for a reebok shirt. and if you want some (slightly destroyed) alpha bits, drop me a line.

2. while i will forever be loyal to my tommy…

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…and my george…

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…a new and rather unexpected hunka-hunka is on my radar:

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i cannot explain the appeal, but i have decided that chef michael smith has ♥ *it.* ♥

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of course, seeing as how aunti doesn’t cook, i personally would have no clue as to whether or not his recipes are any good.

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but mom has two of his cookbooks, “the best of chef at home” and “chef michael smith’s kitchen,” and can attest to the fact that he has some great ideas. for example, mom picked up his strategy of freezing lard, butter, or shortening then grating it into your flour when you make baked goods, and swears that chef smith’s idea works perfectly every time.

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me, i am content to simply gaze from afar.

3. for whatever reason, the other day at theOTHERstore our regular radio station (CHYM) was all static-y and the only station that came through loud and clear was the local country music station. listening to six hours of country was a thoroughly enjoyable experience! [uh oh, i fear the desire to purchase a pair of cowboy boots may be looming on the horizon]…oh! and good thing the uptown country festival is coming up on june 16th!!

4. the bay had a full page ad in the globe and mail last week, advertising their HBC summer collection. i would very much like the bikini and the flipflops. and the k-way jacket. and the tshirt. (and the traditional blanket although that iconic item is not part of the summer set). **family, you could buy an item now, and put it away for xmas!** just sayin’!

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5. this weekend is OTTAWA RACE WEEKEND. our half and full marathon clinics have been training since january for these running events. these two clinics are held on tuesday evenings at the store, and go for 18 weeks. i bet i have worked 16/18 evenings, and as a result, i have really grown fond of the clinic members, and their instructors, derek and donna. i am going to miss seeing these folks on tuesday eves! i hope everyone has a super great time in ottawa this weekend (the ottawa marathon is one of canada’s premier marathons) and i want to hear stories upon your return!

one of the clinic members with whom i have gotten chummy is sandy (the same sandy who inspired me to purchase aviator sunglasses). sandy just returned from peru on victoria day, and she presented me with a giftie this past tuesday eve:

a genuine peruvian knit toque!

back in the winter, i had rhapsodized enthusiastically over sandy’s own hat (identical to the one, above) that she had bought on a previous trip – it’s so cute and colourful.

what a sweet r.a.o.k.!!

now, what do you think of this summer 2012 fashion idea: the toque + compression socks + aviator sunglasses + peacock feather earrings??

🙂

tell me something random and fun! seven months today is christmas day!

🙂

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wiggles no more

my neighbours were away over the long weekend, and as a result, i got to inherit their saturday edition of the toronto globe and mail. so, what news reports do you think i read the most avidly?

it was not the coverage of charles and camilla’s visit to canada.

it was not hockey play-off final scores.

it was not even the scoop about madonna’s new perfume.

nope, what grabbed my attention was this article by marsha lederman:

why i love the wiggles (and will be sorry to see the original cast go).

first of all, i was gobsmacked because i had not heard the news that jeff, murray and greg are leaving the group.

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then, my thoughts turned nostalgic.

ever since little e was a baby, i have brought down wiggles cd’s to toronto as part of my aunti visiting routine. for over five years, we have listened to every cd that the wiggles have ever made – numerous times. out of all of the children’s cd’s that we have tried, the wiggles are far and away my favourite. their tunes are catchy, their banter is energetic, and who does not enjoy hearing an australian accent? little e has been a loyal fan, too – many an hour we sat curled up on the couch, listening to music and looking at the cd covers. [sidenote: we’ve talked about the wiggles on the blog before, most noticeably here and here!]. in fact, little e’s very first sticker book featured the wiggles at the beach!

now, the globe and mail article does state that the wiggles are going to carry on – three new members will join the group. well, imho, if you replace 3/4 of a group…they might as well be a new band (esp when, as is the case here, one of the new cast members is female! do we call her a wigglette, then?!).

the original wiggles foursome is going to do a final farewell tour (cha-ching, why would you not?!) and will play TO this fall. then, it will be the end of the jeff/murray/greg/anthony wiggles era.

i guess i also feel a bit melancholy because little e is already over 5.5 years old, and it won’t be all that much longer until she outgrows the wiggles altogether. [as is to be expected, little e and cutie c have different personalities, and c has just never gotten into the wiggles – at least in my vicinity – quite like little e did. in fact, cutie c will be quite relieved that “wake up, jeff!” will be no more!].

to be optimistic, i am sure there are more fun musical discoveries that lie ahead as little e and cutie c get older. while it would be a real thrill to take the girls to the wiggles final appearance in TO, should that not prove to be possible, that is all right. cuz aunti will be more than ok with volunteering to take the girls to go see whoever is the next miley cyrus or justin bieber. in fact, i can’t wait!

no wake up jeff!

it’s aunti day!

file photo from this summer

this autumn, we’ve *fall*en (punny!) into a lovely routine in toronto: after everyone’s home at the end of the day, the brother and sil ana duck out for some time to themselves, and little e and cutie c and i get to have girl-time all together.

after supper, we typically gather around aunti’s computer while the girls enjoy their fruit dessert and we watch the wiggles!

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our usual routine is that the girls take turns picking from the list of songs that pops up when i google “wiggles, watch online” – they now have their favourites: little e is big into “brown girl in the ring” and “ensalada de fruta” while cutie c quite loves “five little ducks.” i like ’em all! we have a lot of fun cuddling up and having a sing-along.

the other week, i decided to get a wiggles dvd from the library. i think aunti will *forget* to pick up another one…while i truly don’t mind the wiggles’ songs (i know they are not every grown-up’s favourite, but i’m cool with them) the dvd was a little much. let’s just say the wiggles songs, one by one, are much better than their inane overly-enthusiastic bantering and cheesy dialogue!

anyway, also over the past few months, a funny situation has developed with little c: as soon as we settle in to enjoy our music time, she turns to me with a look of terror in her eyes and implores, “no wake up jeff!” she doesn’t mind the character of jeff when he’s in other songs or on-screen – she just has taken a huge dislike to the SONG entitled “wake up, jeff.” i’m not sure why! it’s a really upbeat song, so i doubt it’s the tune. the running gag with jeff is that he sleeps a lot…and snores. so, i’m not sure what aspect scares cutie c, but we just can’t watch that song! (luckily, there are 200 other songs for us to choose from).

cutie c’s reaction made me think of when i was little – i didn’t watch a lot of tv, but mom let me watch mr dressup and sesame street. i distinctly remember that on sesame street, there was a segment that popped up from time to time: it was a guy dressed up like a chef and he was carrying a platter of cakes. he’d walk up stairs (i think the purpose of the sketch was to count from 1-10) but then at the top, he’d fall down the stairs. for whatever reason, this skit scared me to pieces! as soon as i’d see this chef-guy, i’d quick run and hide behind the couch. mommy would tell me when he was gone, and then i’d go back to watching the show. what scared me was the tumbling down the stairs – maybe i thought he’d hurt himself? or maybe i was caught off-guard the first time i saw the chef fall, and it surprised me too much.

so, never fear, cutie c! we’ll avoid wake up, jeff. we’ll just go bananas, instead!

any characters that you had an inexplicable fear of, as a child? or, if you’re a parent/relative/caregiver, any funny aversions from your little darlings? it’s interesting how something adults find harmless and funny can evoke quite the opposite reaction in kids!

~*~*~*~*~

continuing on from yesterday’s cereal theme, towel #3 arrived in the mail yesterday:

three for three, all free!

this one is my favourite, colour-wise. too funny that i have never had a lucky charm in my life, though!

The Wiggles are Coming! The Wiggles are Coming!

So there I was at the store the other evening, casually going about my business, when the announcer on the radio mentioned she would be taking her son to The Wiggles concert in Toronto this summer.

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Be still my heart!!! I just about started jumping up and down!!

See, I have a genuine deep and abiding affection for this wildly popular children’s quartet from Down Under. The Wiggles draw flack from some quarters; I think they’re great with their catchy songs and energetic personalities.  (The running gag of Jeff snoring never fails to make me laugh!).

For years it’s been an Aunti Tradition to bring CDs from the Waterloo Library to Little E and Baby C.

a recent week's selection: 2/6 cd's are wiggles - quite the norm!

Ever since Little E was BABY E, the Wiggles have been a constant in the CD rotations. We all love the Wiggles!! When I arrive with a new batch of CDs, Little E is quick to investigate how many and which Wiggles discs Aunti found this week; Baby C is convinced that Dada is one of the group (she’ll point to the cover art and repeat, “Dada! Dada!”).

So, you can bet that when I got home the other night, I was quick to Google “Wiggles, Toronto, 2011.” Sure enough, I found that they are touring this summer, and will stop at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto on July 23 & 24 for four shows.

My wheels started turning…how much fun would it be to take Little E to see The Wiggles??! (At <2 years of age, Baby C is just a little too young, still). What an amazing New Experience such an outing would be!

Unfortunately, my excitement dissolved into disappointment. With further investigation, I discovered that the least expensive tickets were $70-$80 each. And these seats were wayyyyy at the back of the stadium (see sections 113, 117 in the chart, below). The Wiggles would be mere ants on stage from that vantage point.

As much as I would love to see The Wiggles live treat Little E to a Wiggles concert, those ticket prices are just too extreme. It would be a really expensive afternoon: two tickets, transportation (Waterloo to Toronto, then transit to the Ricoh), a souvenir or two , snack treats….with regret, I officially shelved this concert idea.

Maybe when Little E and Baby C are a bit older we can reconsider and start a Wiggles Trust Fund today.

For now, we’ll settle for another round of “Wake Up, Jeff” on the CD player while enjoying a Wiggles Dance Party in the living room.

What would you consider a fair price for tickets to a children’s concert? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Who was your favourite children’s entertainer, growing up? The Brother and I loved Raffi! In fact, I still remember Auntie Anne taking both of us to a Raffi concert!

Favourite children’s group today? I like the Funky Mamas and My Bedbugs!

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Today’s Great Grocery Challenge Moment!

I ran out of cereal which is never a good thing.

Bulk Barn sometimes has some pretty good deals and fair prices, I thought to myself; plus, I know they have the best price on my favourite Almond Breeze.

Good call, Kiki!

nature's path GF cereals - 25% off!! and they're already super-saver size!

i like these cereals as the finishing touch to a multi-layered bowl! Also 25% off

The same sales associates have worked at my local Bulk Barn for years. On my way out, one of my favourites slid me gave me coupons, good til next Thursday:

truly, it's not what you know, but who you know...

So I can save 25% AGAIN on Almond Breeze and Nature’s Path. You know what this means…

Yup, more stashes.