This Could Get Messy

August 22, 2010

A watermelon showed up at my front door. This is not the beginning of a joke. It's my life.

Along with this water filled fruit came instructions for Watermelon Popsicles. Seeing as my kids are out of camp and I'm desperate for any make-busy activity, this was a natural.

First - the good news: Watermelons are healthy (who knew?). They are 92% water content and great to keep you hydrated. They also are the source of a bunch of vitamins - C, B1, B6, and A - and they're low in fat.

Now for the bad news - my son looks at me, spoon in hand and with a big smile says, "This could get messy."

Kids scooped out big chunks of watermelon. Once the watermelon was de-scooped, we poured the chunks into the blender and pureed the pink stuff.

Next, the mini-chefs poured the mixture into 4 popsicle molds.

Finally both kids were allowed to pick another fruit each which they dropped into the mixture. Our final conconction included cantalope chunks and blueberries.

Three hours later their creations were frozen - the kids devoured all four popsies.

Delicious, healthy and, best of all, it kept them busy. Yummy summer fun.

Try it and let me know how it turns out!

Summer Camp For Moms

August 10, 2010

I'm jealous. This summer my kids have been having an awesome time at camp. New friends, a ton of activities, and always cool stuff to learn and try. My grown up summers are spent behind a desk working or behind the wheel of our minivan shlepping.

But last week I went to Summer Camp for Moms - aka - Blogher...thanks to Julie Cole and my friends at Mabels Labels who brought me as their guest.

So,

I packed my duffel bag and in it I put:

 YummyMummyClub tshirts - cuz they make me feel cool
 Comfortable walking shoes like the camp list suggested
 Lots of fresh undies and socks
 A dress for our social night
 My mom even gave me some spending money for our excursion.

When I was a kid, the fun started on the bus as we all travelled together up to camp. This camp experience for moms started in the departure lounge of Porter Airlines where I finally got to meet a lot of my pen pals in person (twitter friends) - @SharonDV, @SeeMummyJuggle, @CLBuchananan @MrsLouLou @EmmaWaverman @CBadov @KimberlySeldon @sleepdoula @Bweikle @nummiesbras.

The party kicked into gear as soon as we arrived - all of us split off to meet our respective groups, collected our schedules and headed to our bunks...I mean rooms. My bunkmate was Sharon - editor of YummyMummyClub. I couldn't wait for our PJ parties!

My Blogher itinerary was filled with 3 days of pre-planned activities - seminars, networking activities, swag rooms and lots and lots of parties.

I was on the "let's shop, see New York and network" stream. Rather than hang out learning about blogging, I hung out with my friends and played. I work enough, right? This mummy needs to play!

The first night started with a party for all the Canadian bloggers put on by SweetMama.ca and MomCentral.

It was a freaking treat to finally meet the cool kids from across the country who I chatter with online at all hours of the day and night. One of my faves was meeting Jen Taylor aka @LittleMissMocha from Saskatoon who consistently writes amazing articles for us.

Friday was all about the Swag

Sharon and I went to a Sketchers party - where 25 bloggers were given Sketchers Shape Ups walking shoes to test out along the streets of NYC. I was interviewed by a reporter for the Wall Street Journal about the experience, but sadly, when I saw the final interview - I was tweeting in the photograph so you couldn't see my face. OY! Nonetheless - it was a great morning activity - combining exercise, fashion and shmoozing.

Next Sharon, Candace (See Mummy Juggle) and Theresa Albert (Mummy Eats) attended the Get Gorgeous party at the elegant Warwick Hotel - thrown by my twitter friend Audrey McLelland. Frankly, I have no idea how she pulled this spectacular event together while raising a handful of little kids.

Picture this - walk into one of three large rooms, each filled with amazing products and just TAKE ONE. You heard me. We all had bags FILLED with things to try.

My faves:

Miracle Body Jeans - These jeans claim to have tummy control and make you look 10 lbs lighter. I could choose which style to keep, boot cut, skinny or jegging. I went for skinny (in the hopes that's how I'd look) and they really are awesome. I'm already a fan of "Not Your Daughter's Jeans" - these are the same idea but half the price. Sad news - they're not available in Canada...yet.

Lia Sophia jewelry is stunning. It's business model is home parties and I will tell you the pieces are stunning. The collection I saw were all made from a variety of stones and sparkly gems in the grey, black and slate colour family. Gorgeous.

Remington Pearl Curling Iron - I am TERRIBLE at styling my hair. For some reason I cannot get a curling iron to work properly. This is a new design that, for me, is revolutionary (meaning it works). Instead of a metal clasp to hold my hair in place as it curls, this puppy comes with a heat protective glove so I can wrap the hair around the curling iron and then hold it there. Time's up and the curl slips off perfectly. Life changing. That is all.

Could a mum have any more fun than that? Apparently yes, because next stop Maureen Dennis from Wee Welcome and I walked the steamy streets of NYC to visit the American Girl Store to stock up on guilt gifts for our daughters.

Evenings were awesome - no mess hall for us. This camp for moms allowed us to eat and drink copious amounts of wine at gorgeous restaurants with eclectic groups of friends. I actually found it overwhelming to be surrounded with so many spectacular women each night - finally getting to know everyone face to face. Way better than virtual chats.

And while all these delicious dinners and playful activities were being enjoyed by multi-tasking mummies like me - a couple of moms were having one of the most surreal experiences of their lives.

My friend Catherine aka @herbadmother and her sister had organized a 5km run through Central Park in conjunction with Blogher to raise funds for her nephew suffering from a debillating disease. After an online tweetathon organized by our UnDaddy, Scott Stratten, raised over $25,000 - Catherine had a series of unfortunate experiences witih Air Canada while bringing her ten year old nephew to Blogher to witness the run in his honour. This triggered a massive media frenzy and Catherine and her sister were literally stalked by reporters.

This is when camp became intense for all, as we rallied around our friend - no campfire, just the glow of candles on the tables in the bar - as we raised a toast to her and her family and to all who so generously helped her deal with this crazy series of events.

Other highlights..

Hanging out at Hotel W with a gang of my fave friends
 Sorta kinda stealing a purse from a street vendor (long story
 Watching Sharon get all excited meeting Bruce Jenner at the Tropicana booth
 Shopping at Macy's with pal Candace from Name Your Tune Cds and her ubercool hubby
 Fondue with the Mabel gang
 Sneaking out of a big party with Sherri Guthrie and hiding in my room gossiping
 Celebrating Sharon's birthday with a chic brunch in Manhattan

Camp for moms is short. Unlike our kids who long to be free of parental shackles, we begin to ache after 3 days away from our little monkeys. Not to mention the laundry and emails piling up back home. So, in a blink of an eye - we were packing our overflowing bags and sadly heading back to the airport.

And like the end of any good camp session, we hugged our new friends, teary eyed, promising to keep in touch and to book our getaway for next year. Blogher 2011 - Sign me up.