Baby Naphan

Have you ever seen a 2-day old baby with a full head of red hair?

If you haven't, I feel sorry for you. Because it has got to be THE CUTEST SIGHT in the entire universe. Hubster and I witnessed it last night while visiting our best friends at the hospital.

Kim (blond and petite) and Charlie (VERY tall and redheaded) now have another addition to their family of 3. Along with their first son, Liam (blond and petite), they welcomed little Nate (can't tell if he's tall... but definitely redheaded) into the world on Saturday morning.

Liam's a mini-Kim and Nate is a mini-Char. A-freakin'-dorable.

(Oh - and when Kim asked Liam who the little guy was, Liam answered: "Baby!" When Kim said, "Baby who?" Liam's response: "Baby Naphan!" Ummm... cute much??)

Those little boys are going to have the perfect blend of love, laughter and happiness in their lives... because their parents are caring, fun, loving people who will adore their kids, and at the same time, won't take life too seriously.

Welcome to the world, Nate. You've got one heck of a start.

Me time

Is it just me or is the world getting busier and busier and life getting faster and faster?

The weekend went by in a blur before I had time to even begin to feel rested up. Maybe because I crammed in breakfast with friends, dinner (2 hours away) with more friends, a 16km run, a shower for my nephew, hubster's hockey game, laundry and 2 movies.

And even though I really enjoyed myself and everything I was doing, I felt a little frazzled - and found myself wishing for those precious weekend mornings spent lounging in your pjs until you're good and ready to get going.

You know those mornings... when the house is quiet, so you pad down to the kitchen in your bare feet and make a big breakfast you can lounge over slowly. You wrap yourself in a blanket on the couch and catch up on some silly TV while eating. Or you make yourself a big mug of steaming tea and curl up with a book.

And in the back of your head, you know there's laundry to do and groceries to shop for. You really should exercise, clean the bathroom, work in the yard, do those dishes... But you just don't care. Because right now is your time. You're not working or commuting or making meals or running errands. You're just revelling in your time.

Indulging. Relaxing. Recharging.

And you're a better person for it.

I love the smell of Starbucks in the morning

Right now I'm drinking a fabulous Starbucks latte in an attempt to wake up out of my stupor. (If I were a hip, early-adopter, I might make that very same statement on Twitter. But I'm not. Don't understand the Twitter. Fear the Twitter.)

I'm getting close to zombie-like status - and am about to use toothpicks to hold my eyelids up - because I was out drinking pints of beer with hubster's hockey team until 1am. On a school night.

I am so smart. S-M-R-T.

(**And now... a musical interlude! Tall and tan and young and lovely... do do do do do do do do do...**) That song is STILL stuck in my head. Blech.

Anyway, as I was saying - Wait... what was I saying? Oh that's right: Nothing interesting!! Seems that this dead tired thing affects my writing. Which is rather unfortunate since that's how I make a living. Won't the big wigs at work be happy to hear that little tidbit of info?

I'll be all: "Buy this cellphone... blah diddy blah... I'm tired. Leave me alone, dammit!! Blah blah... rate plan... Wha? Where am I? Who are you???"

And then they'll be all: "You're fired. Get some sleep. You look like hell."

Me: "Fine. I don't need your stinkin' badges anyway."

Big Wig: "What badges? We're in advertising, stupid. You write copy to sell cellphones to people who don't need them."

Me: "You're stupid, stupid. (Pause. Blink, blink.) No wait! I need this job. I've gots to support my Starbucks habit. I need the job to pay for the Starbucks to keep me awake so I can do the job. It's a vicious cycle, yo."

Big Wig: "You're boring me."

Me: (Hanging head in shame) "I'm boring myself."

Big Wig: (Staring at me with look of disdain)

Me: "I'll just show myself out."

Tall and tan and young and lovely

This tune was played over and over and over again at the resort in Mexico.

Now, it can play over and over and over again in your head.

The club sandwiches definitely make the list

I've been to paradise, y'all.

You may have heard of it? The Mayan Riviera?

Anyway, an all-inclusive, lie-on-the-beach kind of a vacation is not usually mine or hubster's first choice of getaway. But, as you know, we were going to a resort for a destination wedding. And we were really looking forward to getting the opportunity to do something different: relax, lie around on the beach, eat and drink as much as we possibly could. You know - all the stuff we haven't really done much of on our sight-seeing, adventure vacations so far.

And people... this vacation did NOT disappoint. There was much relaxing, lying around and eating and drinking to be had. Among that, a few other highlights:

• GORGEOUS resort. And I mean Gorgeous with a capital G. The grounds were beautiful, the staff was really friendly, our room was incredible.
  
  
• Amazing beach. White sand and aqua waters. Need I say more?
  
  
• The food... oh, the food. SO good! They had "dressy" restaurants that just opened for dinner. We tried out the Italian and French ones. And let me tell you this: It. Was. Incredible. (You know I wouldn't lie to you when it comes to food).
  
  
• Snorkeling right off the beach. Saw a few stingrays among the other incredible fishies. Amazing.
  
  
• 24 hour room service. They brought us many, many club sandwiches and Coronas at all hours of the day and evening.
  
  
• The nightly beach-side bar hangout. Our giant group found our way there each night for a few beverages. There's nothing like hanging out, laughing and chatting over drinks as you listen to the ocean lapping the shore and feel the warm night air on your skin.
  


• Being with a big group of our friends. It just made the vacation. There was always someone to hang out with, dine with, go swimming with, chat with, have a few Mexican beverages with. I met a lot of great new people and got to spend quality time with friends. Honestly could not have been better. (And - we've got a whole ton of memories and inside jokes now... which make us all giggle whenever we bring them up.)
  

Sigh. Such a blissful experience. Definitely one that I won't be forgetting anytime soon.

Another cervesa please

I'm back from Mexico, peeps!  I don't think I've ever consumed so much food, alcohol and guacamole in one week, ever. EVER. I really mean it... ever.

Anyway - update on my lovely week to come. Right now, must deal with an enormous pile of laundry, do something about the fact that there's no food in my house and overcome this insane climate change. 

But... it's all okay. Cause I'm so happy right now. 

So very happy.

If you see me wandering the aisles, please confiscate my credit card

I've already posted today. But my recent trip to a certain store warrants another blog entry. People, I have a sickness and I am fully willing to admit that.

Me and the fine, fine establishment known as Shopper's Drugmart? Yeah, we've got a love-hate relationship. I LOVE everything about the store. The well-spaced aisles. The colourful bottles and lotions. The fact that you can find EVERY SINGLE THING you need in that one place. (And usually in a cute, little package).

I love that I can go for last-minute items for my trip - and find something to soften my skin, give my hair more shine, protect my lips in the sun, save my sensitive tummy, freshen up my underarms and soothe a sunburn. I love that I now have a bag full of products in bright blues and oranges and pastel greens and pinks. (I know. I'm weird. I totally get that.)

But the "hate" part of the relationship? The fact that I walked out of there having spent $130 on said products.

Oh yes. I have a sickness alright.