I don’t even really care for downhill skiing though. It’s just an experience that I’d like my children to have. But when you visit a ski resort for a weekend, it is a HOLIDAY! And I love holidays. So I am so excited that we’re going to visit Smuggler’s Notch, or “Smuggs,” as it’s often called.

I’ve heard about Smuggler’s for ages and the thing that really caught my attention was the stellar reputation of their kids’ programs. The resort has invited my family to visit for a three-night stay this winter season. To help us learn more about the resort and plan our stay, we were sent a package, which arrived this weekend.

Wow, this is no ski hill and a few restaurants. This is like a winter Disneyland — there is so much to do!

We watched the DVD that came in the package on Sunday evening. Stella, who’s nine, is particularly excited about the zipline and the arts & crafts programs. Max, who’s three, is interested in the skiing with other children. And Hubby, who is snow-crazy, is excited that not only can he ski and snowboard, but he can also go ice-climbing.

As for me, I’m looking forward to having a proper ski lesson (normally I just point my skiis straight ahead and hold my breath down the green hills!) and taking part in a guided snow-shoe trek. But I’m also hoping that if the kids’ programs are as great as they are reputed to be, that I can grab a bit of “me time” while we’re there as well. Is that so wrong?

Sadly, I think this might have been a case of living in suspended disbelief. My first hint should have been the fact that Hubby does not let me do the grocery shopping. His chief complaint is that I come home with nicely designed cleaning products, expensive granola, and black licorice but not enough ingredients to make a meal with. He is so picky.

Anyhow, I digress. I went to New York City and I have yet to tell you about the shopping. The Shopping! In New York City!

One of the first places where I made a purchase was in a store called Bird. Kerry had these groovy pocket-sized cards for different neighbourhoods all around New York and on this day, her card told us to check out Bird. So we did. We’re obedient that way.

Bird is one of Brooklyn’s first fashion destinations and also the very first LEED-certified retail store in New York City. It was recently voted Best Women’s Boutique in New York City by New York Magazine and Top Visionary Boutique in the United States by Lucky Magazine.

As soon as I stepped in, I couldn’t believe my eyes! Just that morning I had whined to Kerry about how I had always wanted a pair of glasses but the frames were always too expensive to justify for clear lenses. (You see, I don’t actually need glasses, I just covet them. I never needed braces as a kid either, and I wanted those too.) And yet here were a whole slew of frames to choose from — all priced at $99! Okay, I hear you … a hundred bucks is still a lot of money to spend on an accessory, but for glasses, these were a good price.

I was ridiculously excited and started jumping up and down. Kerry did her quiet shaking-of-the-head-thing-while- being-secretly-amused-but-not-enough-to-warrant-being-associated-with-me and immediately wandered to the other end of the store.

I was in heaven. Here’s me in the store, sporting the glasses that I chose:

Trying to do my best sexy librarian look.

After the thrill of this find, I immediately set off to see what other wares the store had. I picked up a great looking pair of boots. $720? Ouch, no thanks. So I went smaller and looked at the scarves. I found a beauty, which looked to be of standard material but with a bit if flair. I took a gander at the price tag: $185. I think I may have laughed out loud. Kerry insisted she’d seen the same scarf on her trip to Vietnam for $1.50. Maybe less. The store didn’t hold much appeal for us so we didn’t stay long. But I was still just as pleased as punch with finding the glasses.

Then, just this week, long after the NYC trip was over, I learned that Kerry is actually going in to have laser surgery on her eyes so she won’t have to wear glasses ever again. For her, they’ve been a necessity since age 5. For me, a frivolous joy at age 40.

Don't tell anyone that I don't actually need glasses, k?

Granted, there were always far more books than art. Much of the artwork that we had on the walls when I was a kid was of his own creation. He’s a very talented painter. But as time went on, and the house filled with more children, he had much less time to devote to his painting. But the books, they were always there. My dad always — always — has at least one book on the go.

I’m not sure where he acquired this taste for books and art. He grew up in a house with little money, and although both his parents were literate, I don’t recall a lot of books in my grandparents’ home. (Although I do recall with great fondness how my grandfather would pull you over to share an article from the newspaper. It made me feel special that he wanted to share it with me.) As for art, well … there was a massive velvet matador rug hanging on a wall. Let’s just leave it at that.

As for where I acquired this somewhat irrational need, especially in this day of e-readers, to surround myself with pretty paper bound together … I place the blame squarely on my father’s shoulders. I must have observed him with his nose in a book so many countless times that I concluded books were like a magical spell to which one happily surrendered themselves. In fact, as of late, I have joined the crowds on pinterest (an online bulletin board that allows you to pin up items that you find of interest and enjoy a voyeuristic tour of the pin boards of others), and I have a board titled “Books are little lovers.” Because, really, besides a book, what could hold a person’s attention with such force other than a new lover?

It will come as no surprise to you then that when I took my recent trip to New York City, beautiful book stores were visited. One of these was in a Brooklyn neighbourhood called Williamsburg. Home to artists and indie bands, and more recently, a gentrified collection of boutiques and shops, my friend Kerry and I were staying in a nearby area of Brooklyn and we toured over to Williamsburg on foot.

As soon as you walk in, your heartbeat slows and you melt into the vibe of Spoonbill & Sugartown Booksellers.

First opened in 1999, this bookstore specializes in both new and used books — contemporary art, design, architecture, photography, philosophy, and literature. Although I could spend an entire day in practically any bookstore, I know for certain that I could have spent at least two days in this one. Which is saying quite a bit since they are open from 10 am to 10 pm every day of the week!

Needless to say, I did not leave empty-handed. For Hubby, I found this really interesting used book titled The places of houses: Three architects suggest ways to build and inhabit houses.

Published in 1974, the authors believe that there are three elements fundamental to a successful house: rooms to live in, machines that serve life, and the dreams of the inhabitants. As someone who pours his soul into everything he builds, I really thought he’d enjoy this book.

I also picked up a book for my three-year-old son Max. Impossible to resist, I am a Bunny is a recreation of an original Golden book first published in 1963.

I loved the large images, with simple text. There’s much more to this book that I love, but I just don’t have the right words to describe it. And Max, as I suspected, adores it too.

Now, do I need to admit that I also treated myself to a book? Well of course, mes amis! It was “Month of Me,” wasn’t it? So, the book that I picked up for myself has a NYC beat to it. Titled Netherland, the publisher description reads:

“Unexpectedly finding himself marooned among the strange occupants of New York’s Chelsea Hotel, feeling lost in the country he has come to regard as home, Hans van den Brock begins an unlikely friendship with Chuck Ramkissoon, a charming Trinidadian who introduces Hands to an “other” America populated by immigrants and strivers of every race and nationality.”

I wish I could say I’ve read it. But for now, it sits prettily on the mighty stack of books by my bed. I have a lot of books waiting to be read. They are all so lovely;  just having them around makes me happy.

Disclosure: if you click on one of the book images above, the links are what are called “affiliate” links. What this means is that if you buy a book from one of my links, I will receive a 4% commission from the total price of the sale. So, if you are going to buy one of these books, please use my links because I will get rich if you do. Rich! Rich, I tell ya!

Okay, so I’m back in Toronto. Again. For a blogging conference. Again.

I know … to most of you, this just sounds coo-coo! And I certainly don’t blame you for thinking that. But hey, it’s my month and I do love me some bloggers and some blogging fun. So I am here to partake in the bliss that is Blissdom Canada, a major conference that focuses on social media, blogging, marketing, and public relations. Plus, lots of connecting with women from all walks of life, with so many diverse talents.

I was already very keen to come to Blissdom Canada, and then I received an invite to participate at the event as a Tribe Leader for Travel, so it was a no-brainer — I was not going to miss it!

All of the Blissdom attendees were treated to an opening night reception at CBC’s home. To get from our conference hotel to the CBC building, we were chauffeured in Chevrolet Orlandos (a car that has flip-up seats that give you the space of a mini-van, but still drives like a car). We got all doll’d up and felt pretty special.

That’s my buddy Andrea and I. She’s pretty much a celebrity now (Which she can’t stand me saying. But, if you click here, you’ll see what I mean. Plus you can probably even see the pores on her face the photo of her is so large! I think she’ll love that I said that too.) It is actually quite difficult to bask in her starlight since she’s the modest type, but I still do my best.

Speaking of trying to get a little star dust …. here are some of my fun photos from the CBC Live party! Above is a terrible photo, but it gives me a lovely memory kick-back to the little “squee!” feeling I had when arriving to this stunning building, only to find a red carpet laid out for us and photographers waiting inside.

Ann Douglas has been my personal hero since finding myself increasing depressed (and distressed!) when I was first pregnant in 2002 and reading What to Expect When You’re Expecting. I was so relieved to find Ann’s book The Mother of All Pregnancy Books, with its warm, calm and intelligent tone. Since then, I pretty much try to read everything she writes. She is quite active on twitter and we chat every now and then, and last night, I got to meet her in person for the first time. She gave me such a big warm hug! Meeting her made me very happy. The rest of the conference was just going to be icing now.

On the far left of this picture is Nora Young, who is host of CBC’s show Spark. Most of us in the Ottawa bloggy community (standing beside Nora is Dani, Shannon, Karen, and Andrea on the end) are a little ga-ga over CBC Radio in general, but to meet Nora Young? Well, everyone was trying to act cool and not totally star struck!

And last but not least, I tried to get a photo with Casey. You know — Casey, from Mr. Dressup! Remember Casey?

But no dice. I knocked on his door, but it must have been past his bedtime or something.

CBC Live also covered the event and posted a great video with live footage. If you’re interested, you can check it out here.

I am more interested in street art these days than I used to be, and I attribute this to the documentary-styled film “Exit Through the Gift Shop.” I’ve embedded a clip of this movie below, if you’re interested.

And below are pics of some of the graffiti/street art from my trip to NYC. (I flew home late Thursday afternoon and went to work on Friday … it’s Saturday now.)

#1:  Stayed in Brooklyn, New York. I’ve never visited Brooklyn before. But I would encourage anyone to do so, it’s very vibrant and there are a ton of interesting neighbourhoods. Williamsburg, in particular, is quite “hip.”

#2: Baseball played on concrete. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that there is no sliding into home plate. On this large concrete are, two teams were playing back to back.

#3:  A store devoted exclusively to meat balls. Don’t you love their “We Make Balls” sign?

#4: A pop-up store. This is a new concept that I have never even heard of. But my girlfriend Kerry had heard that some of her favourite clothing brands were going to “pop-up” for two days in a location in Brooklyn.

#5: A chain attached to your garbage can lid. Sure, it made sense in the circumstances, but it was still something neither Kerry or I had ever seen before.

#6:  A bathroom that was full of graffiti … on the ceiling, floors, mirrors, and even the toilet. I’m not gonna lie, it was a tad frightening.

#7:  A full human skeleton hanging out on a couch. This was in a storefront for a nail shop. If you look closely, you can see the skeleton has the tell tale signs of a pedicure.

#8: The NYC subway system. I’ve never had the guts to try taking the subway, even though I’ve been to New York about 7 or 8 times now. But, with Kerry as my fearless leader, I had my first go on them. Very convenient and cost-effective!

#9:  A baby grand piano played in the middle of a public park. This was Washington Square Park, and it was a beautiful experience. No idea how he got the piano here or how he’ll get it back.

So yesterday started off very bright and early (actually, why is it “bright” and early because, really, it’s “dark” when you need to get up early, isn’t it?)! Me and my bloggy buddy Andrea (otherwise known as @missfish and she is AWESOME  and she totally didn’t lock the keys in her car) drove to Toronto to attend the first day of the She’s So Connected Conference.

We had planned to arrive just in time to hear the opening keynote, but alas, we were a touch late. Thankfully, we did catch the end-half though, because it was given by Sheryl Connelly, who works with Ford Motor Company as a Futurist. Yes, a Futurist — fascinating, dream job, me thinks. She was very articulate and had an excellent presentation deck to share with us, so I was relieved that we had managed to squeeze ourselves into the back of the room.

Then, after the keynote, there was a lot of mixing and networking to kick off Day One. Here’s a photo recap of some of the fun stuff.

Ford Canada did a great job with their set-up here at She’s So Connected. There was “car-eoke” where you could sing karoke while sitting in a red sports car, test drives of their auto-parking feature, and tons of others things. One of my faves though was this video race set-up. I tried it and crashed so many times, it was hilarious. Here, my buddies Lara Wellman and Andrea Tomkins are having a go.

I have no idea who these weiners are!

Friends from our Ottawa social media contingent enjoying nice, cold Molson Canadian 67 Sublime beers, which has a new lime and lemon twist that I liked.

But as much as a enjoyed this light beer all on its own, I have to say that this cocktail, made with beer and not spirits was even better! It was crushed ice, frozen blueberries, simple syrup and a top of beer and a sprig of basil. Mmmm….

And of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the #ShoesConnected after-conference party at the Town Shoes flagship store on Toronto’s Bloor Street. It was two-floors of good times …. fancy finger foods, wine, music, and shoes-shoes-shoes!

After a good long look around at all the shoes (I won’t even go into the bags … oh, they were nice too!), I decided that these Miz Mooz boots were my true love. But alas, I held to my budget and did not make the purchase (you are proud of me, aren’t you??!)

I’ve decided to kick off the #MonthofMe a little early. I was invited to a conference called ShesConnected, which takes place on September 29th and 30th.

I was curious about this invite-only conference that aims to connect Canada’s “digital women” with brands, but the timing was terrible. For a number of reasons, not the least of which was the time I’d have to book off work and the cost of attending (the conference itself is free for the chosen digital women, but you still need to get yourself there and have a place to lay your head at night), I was going to reluctantly decline.

But then the agenda was released. Unlike many conferences which are a parade of successful men speakers, this one had some really fabulous women speakers lined up. These were women I’d really love to hear from.

So I was really sitting on the fence at this point. I could manage to squeeze it into my schedule, but it wouldn’t be easy — I’d need to start the drive up to Toronto early Thursday am and then do the drive back on Friday, arriving home late after the kids were already in bed. Before collapsing in bed, I’d need to unpack from Toronto, and pack up for New York City, since my girlfriend would be picking me up early Saturday am to make the long drive to the Big Apple together. Hectic, right?

I try to avoid hectic.

And yet, I’m going for sure now. Why, you ask? What pushed me off the fence?

Here’s what: a post-conference party is being held from 7 to 9 pm at Town Shoes on Bloor Street called “ShoesConnected”!

You know what I say to that? SOLD!

On this day 40 years ago, a young woman was seven days overdue to give birth to her first child. Due on September 15^th, there was no doubt in her mind that this baby was conceived during her husband’s short break during army boot camp training. They had only been wed for just over a year, but they’d been high school sweethearts and were ready to start a family. If only this baby would make its entrance ….

I often wish I’d known this petite, feisty young woman. For she is certainly not the same woman that I know now as my mother. There is no way that this young woman, raised in a small town in Ontario, could now be the same person after having travelled the world; tucked undergraduate, master and doctoral degrees under her belt; and learned how to navigate not only a hospital but a boardroom. But I’d venture that giving birth had been the most transformative of her life experiences. This young woman couldn’t have known forty years ago that she would go on to birth four more children after her first, and that she would know not only the joyful relief of a baby being put into her arms but also the excruciating pain of grief.

The woman my mother is now, in many ways, is still as much of a mystery as the woman she was back then, with me comfortably curled in her womb. And she might say the same for me. We’ve never been similar, we’ve always had our own ways of doing things … ways that likely make no sense to each other.

And yet, as time goes on, our physical appearances become more and more similar. I look in the mirror, and I see her. It is a strange sensation. As I age, the woman in the reflection sometimes feels like a stranger to me; she bears so little resemblance to the young woman who used to look back at me. But the eyes – they are my mother’s eyes, and they comfort me. They tell me that it will all be okay; that aging, while it may have stripped me of former physical joys, will bring its own rewards.

I love and admire that young woman who birthed me, just as much as the one who now acts as my counsel and friend.

And I am growing to love this newly emerging woman in my mirror. The one with wrinkles and sunspots. With hair that’s gone thin, and a face that is starting to fall. Forty years is a long time to know someone, but life is long and I plan for this face to keep looking back at me for many years to come.

If I’m lucky, I’ll still be looking at this face when my own daughter turns 40. And Stella, who is now aged nine, will ping me off a note asking me to come with her to New York City to celebrate my birthday. That, I think, will be a very sweet moment.

And that is precisely the kind of sweet moment I hope my mother felt when I did the same to her. That’s right, my mother is going to fly into New York (which is might cool of her, don’t you think?) to join me on her birthday, which is so close to mine. Because a “Month of Me” just wouldn’t be the same without her.

Then a friend told me she was moving to New York City for the whole month of October. It was going to be a cool experience – to live as a bonafide New Yorker. I offered to grace her with my company for few days. Why not, eh, it’s my birthday month after all?

And from there, I’m afraid I have let it turn into all kinds of crazy. I decided that this October, the month of my 40th birthday, will be the “Month of Me.” I had a glass of red and then told my Twitter friends about it too. They happily spurred me on, as Twitter friends are apt to do. And a hashtag was created: #monthofme

Now that a hashtag has been created, it’s official. Right? Right.

So, my friends, you’ve been warned! I am going to beg, borrow and steal (okay, well not really any of those, but you get my drift) to make the month of October a mighty grand experience. While some might simply refer to themselves as 39 forever, I am going to CELEBRATE my 40th! I am really looking forward to my 40s; I have a feeling it’s going to be a fantastic decade.

First on the list? I am going to spend at least part of my Month of Me driving around in this beauty, courtesy of Ford of Canada:

It’s a luxury family car called the Ford Lincoln MKS. It looks might pur-dee to me!

Some of the cool features I’m looking forward to trying out are: the rear-view camera at the dash, that works with a reverse sensing system as well as a technology that scans blind spots for you when you’re changing lanes.

The interior also looks mighty fine. You know how nice seat warmers are in the winter? Well, this car comes with standard seat warmers in the front and the back. I really like that because the back-seat passenger often gets overlooked in a car’s design, so I thought that was smart.

Anyhow, part of the deal with driving this car will be to review it on the Coffee with Julie blog. I have been asked to review it for both what I liked AND what I didn’t like.

A sweet ride, some Broadway shows, and hanging with bloggy buddies … the Month of Me is really starting to take shape!

Edited to add: I didn’t win the Go Girlfriend’s Follow Your Bliss contest for a ticket to the Blissdom Canada conference, but happily, I received an invite to be a Tribe Leader for the topic of Travel. You can see some of the fun pics from Blissdom here. Also, through no fault of Ford, the car-testing thing got logistically too challenging for this month. However, I’m looking forward to test-driving one of their new Hybrid cars in the new year.