Merry Christmas!

Someone hit the toy jackpot this morning....Which made him a very happy boy!

Scored some sa-weet hockey jammies....

Trucks, trucks, trucks galore. Or diggers as he likes to call em....

And this was just the beginning :)

A year ago.....

I had a busy month last October. Thailand, marriage, little monster under the age of one....

This girl's photography makes me almost regret the decision not to have had a wedding. She is o' so very good.

http://www.sarahrhoads.com/blog/

And because I am all work and no play these last few months, James and I decided to keep the anniversary on the DL, and made tuna fish sandwiches, greek salad, and ate a mini version of our wedding cake, which I am proud to say I polished off before the night was over.

And, about a year ago I was preparing to go to Thailand. Sigh.

Photo credit: Tara Whitney

My backyard....

This is what I get to look at everyday while I am back home in Shediac, New Brunswick. I am thinking it could be a whole lot worse.

Hello from Shediac

Quick hellos and random pictures of the start of my vacation.

Someone got married yesterday!

And someone else is loving being spoiled rotten by his grandparents. That, and all the east coast fresh air!

Splish Splash

Feeling very unmotivated to blog lately. Crazy busy with work, and pretty much everything else is on the back burner. Looking forward to my vacation time in Shediac starting next Wednesday. The Eaton clan is off to visit my mom and boyfriend who are biting the bullet and getting married after fifteen or so years. Looking forward to relaxing at the beach, sleeping in courtesy of my parents taking the kid off my hands in the morning, and working on my tan. My nonexistent tan. Don't worry folks I'll be as pastie as ever upon return. So I am taking a little time from work to show off the bug for my mom. He did go into the pool for his very first time ever last week. So here ya go mom. We'll see you soon xoxo

Rowan and Water - TBD

It's Kiss a Canuck Day!

Otherwise known to some as Canada Day. James, Rowan, the Bean and I took a ride to "the Karen's" house where yummy food was had by all. There was some steak, bleu cheese, scalloped potatoes. And some strawberries dipped in sour cream and brown sugar for dessert. It sounds weird, but it is perfect. Trust me. I really didn't feel like prying the sweats off, or brushing my hair....I may have forgotten to roll some deodorant on too. So you can guess that I was no where in sight when pictures were taken. Well, actually I was. I took the pictures. And I lovey dovey this one.

The boy takes after his parents. He is white as white can be. I like to call it porcelain :) What this means in the summer is that the Eaton's need to apply a thick layer of sunny lotion to all of our sensitive areas.

Then there is the obsession with brushing his teeth. Which he clearly didn't get from his mother. This is his favourite spot to watch himself while brushing the teethers..

Check out the gams on my guy.

A lovely time was had by all. Happy Canada day. I have dated a whole lot of countries in my lifetime, but there was never a question in my mind that I would marry Canada.

NYC - Quick Update

Been a busy bee for the last few weeks so here's some pictures of the adventure. I definitely had way more fun then I should of. And the shopping.....we'll leave that for another post.

This was the view from our hotel room window. We stayed at the Grand Soho hotel. It was quite nice. Big party scene at the bar downstairs at night.

James and I at Jules and Mike's wedding at the Bronx Botanical Gardens

James and the super duper gorgeous Jules. She looked so lovely!

Note to Mia Michaels

Mia,

Honey. Darling. Sweetie. You know I am one of your biggest fans. I adore you. You are an amazing talent. No question. But I have to ask. Who pissed in your cornflakes this season on "So you think you can Dance". Seriously girlfriend. Was there a need for such meanness and drama while talking to Brandon. Do I need to refresh your memory "I can't take you. Like I can't take what you bring to the floor, as an artist. You annoy the shit out of me. I find there is an attitude inside there, under that fake smile". Is that what you call constructive criticism? I think not. You are supposed to be a teacher and a mentor to these young kids. And then to sit there with your arms crossed and not clap while he is told that he is making it to the top twenty. I am beyond disappointed.

Please, pretty please, pull that stick out of your ass before the next episode.

Sincerely,
Michelle

The perks of blogging

Mostly I blog to keep friends and family in the loop with my life. But recently I have discovered the added perk of making new friends while blogging. New friends who actually live in my city and like to do creative, crafty things like I do. It may be too early to say this, but I think I have found a winner here! Check out what I got in the mail today. How can you not like someone who sends a package filled to the brim with goodies as a get to know me better gesture.

And before you go getting any funny ideas in your heads. She is MY new friend, and you can't have her. And I don't feel like sharing, thank you very much! :) Happy Friday!

Studio M

James and I had a favourite neighbourhood brunch place while we were living in Chicago. The place was called Hot Chocolate. If you are ever in Chicago I suggest hitting this place up. It will not disappoint. The restaurant also displays local artists' creations for purchase. I fell in love with the painter's first collection at the restaurant and we ended up by these two beauties for our home.

The artist whose name is Michelle started off with a career in the medical field. One day she just had this urging desire to pick up brushes and start to paint. She used to paint in school, but teachers critized her technique. Once she picked up her paints, she never looked back. Love stories like that. Let's just say when we went to her gallery opening, we could only afford special edition prints of these two originals. She'd be popular and doing well now! These two beauties hang above above our bedroom wall.

And these are the ones the slipped out my hands....I so want these.....They have VIOLINS people. They belong to me :)

Check out her gallery at Studio M

The man behind the curtain

Or in this case, the woman behind the camera, is usually me. Rowan will start to think that he had an absentee mother when he looks back at the oodles of pictures of him and James. But not this weekend. James took the camera and caught a few shots of the two of us together which I am super duper pleased with. We scouted out this location in Toronto. Filled with wooden gates, and vibrant colored cottages and dandelions galore. Score!

And a few I took.....

Booked the tickets to NYC last night. Our friend's wedding is at the NYC Botanical Garden. Talk about swank! And swanky calls for a cute dress..Dress is by Chicago designer Elise Bergman which can be purchased at my friend Rosie's store.

NYC shopping list

James and I will be there for a wedding so my list needs to be short and pack a punch. Here are two places that I will be hitting up in June.

Albertine. For whatever and whenever.....

Matta. For some fierce pom pom scarf love. The citrine one is a calling my name.

The Little Red Wagon that Could

I had talked about Rowan's Christmas gift from his great grandmother and grandfather in an earlier post. James finally got the wagon put together. So here are some outtakes. I am still working on the whole camera in manual mode thing, and believe me it is a work in progress. I promise a more interesting post later on in the weekend, but it has been a busy week at the office. In other news, Rowan has learned how to say the word outside. And that is ALL he wants to do. The wagon has been coming in mighty handy for both Rowan and Lola. Off to book our tickets to NYC for June!

The best presents

a mother could ask for. I am lucky that my lens and I were there to catch it!

Here you go Mom!

The good, the bad and the ugly.

Rowan started daycare of few months ago. Think Magda from Sex and the City. That would be how best to describe Rowan's nanny Sofa. There are four other children (all boys, all older) who he spends his day with. They adore him and get a kick out of helping Sofa take care of the "baby". I think it has helped speed up his progression with things like walking, feeding himself, and his newest trick, throwing tantrums and squealing when he doesn't get his way.

When James takes a shower in the morning, Rowan and I play in his room for a while listening to some Anne Murray children's songs. He actually points to the CD player in his room and says "Anne". He is a musical child, what can I tell you.

He is also figuring out how to open windows. The bump on his forehead is the result of trying to run before he has mastered the art of walking. It was a doozy. He is a tough kid though.

A little bit of basket throwing.....

Sporting his big old belly for everyone to see. My little bug. We love him so much.