Pie Life
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How to get deported from Cuba: A love letter
While perusing twitter yesterday, I read that it was the 40th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens on May 18th 1980, which gave me all the feels as I recalled a trip with my mom and my brother back in 1990-something, when we flew into San Fran, rented a mustang convertible, and cruised up the west coast all the way to Seattle, stopping at every notable lighthouse and redwood tree along the way, snapping and savouring every Kodak moment. For the youngins reading this, Kodak is/was a film company, back when photographers used film, and a “Kodak moment” was what we said when something was truly photo worthy.…
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New And Improved Mom Group Acronyms, AF!
If you’re already a mom or a mommy to be, we’re willing to bet you’ve spent some time on a mommy forum, reading mommy blogs, or joining one of the millions of Facebook mom groups and meet-ups. If so, you’ve surely noticed by now that there’s an entire language out there of mom-related terminology, that has been carefully crafted into acronyms, and you’ve probably spent some time googling, guessing, and asking yourself, seriously, WTF?!? We have no clue who came up with most of them (or when, or why) but we’re sick of seeing them, because (IMHO) they’re lame and, well, we thought we could do better. So before you…
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Cannabis Debunked: 7 Alternative Facts
If you haven’t taken a stab at skimming through C-45 (aka. The Cannabis Act), the new draft-bill being handed down by the Canadian government in preparation for next year’s proposed legalization, here’s a small spoiler; it stinks. Some might say it’s better than nothing, but in many ways, it’s actually far worse than the status quo, in terms of the restrictions it aims to impose and the millions of citizens it will continue to criminalize. While they may be calling it “legalization”, most members of the Canadian cannabis community have already dubbed it “prohibion 2.0”. If you recall, Justin Trudeau campaigned on a promise to end the harmful arrests of…
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We The Fentons: Views From The Family Vlog
Like many kids these days, my 10 year old son Chase is addicted to Youtube. He’s only allowed to use the iPad on weekends, in common spaces of the house (ie. not alone in his bedroom), and with strict filtering mode enabled (of course), and if it were up to him, he’d do it all day. Sometimes it’s to watch a shark fighting an octopus (you’d be surprised who wins), sometimes it’s America’s Funniest Home Video –esque bloopers, but the majority of the time he’s either looking up game cheats, or literally watching someone else playing a video game… weird right? In fact, sometimes I think he enjoys watching gaming videos even more than…
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MLM Schemes: May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favour
We all know at least one person who’s relentlessly tried to pitch us their multi-level marketing (MLM) “opportunity”. You may have even attended a pitch party or two (even if it was just to be a supportive friend). Whether it’s Avon, Mary Kay, Herbalife or Amway, the pitch usually sounds something like this: “Do you want to take control of your life and be your own boss? To empower yourself and earn extra income? I decided to transform my life, and you can too.” It sounds too good to be true… And that’s probably because it is. While the products these companies pedal may vary from cosmetics and health supplements to vacation packages,…
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The Sorority Stereotype And Why It Needs To End
We’ve been labeled pretty much everything under the sun based on the fun fact that we were in a sorority in university. The labels existed back then, and have persisted since, with the very mention that we were proud members of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority in university met with eye rolls and comments like, “obviously you were,” or “how shocking.” Rude, right? The thing is, joining a sorority is one of the best decisions I could have possibly made in my life. It resulted in my first taste of philanthropy, an infectious sense of confidence thanks to my driven sisters, unmatched teambuilding experiences, and a large network of supportive girlfriends…
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Birthday Girl’s Royal Treatment
I’ve always found that birthdays are overrated. We spend all this time planning how we want to celebrate, and then most of the time our plans don’t live up to our jacked up expectations. Not to mention, the phone doesn’t stop ringing, and the messages just keep building up on your wall and inbox, from all the family, friends, frenemies, acquaintances, exes, and social media strangers, all eager to remind you that you’re no longer a spring chicken. Well this year was no different. My birthday fell on a thursday, and I was anticipating being depressed all day while my hubby was at work, and another regular day just passed…
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Why My Muskoka Will Never Be The Same
My parents bought our cottage (for next to nothing) in a little known cottage country two hours north of Toronto, the summer that I was born. This year will be our 33rd season on Lake Joseph. For the first ten years or so, we had pristine views, unobstructed by any neighbouring cottages. Muskoka was a hidden gem; quiet, peaceful, and all natural. All of our neighbours respected the woods and the lake, and built their cottages at least 100 feet from shore (a law at the time), and you could barely even tell they were there, because they were shielded by the beautifully majestic hemlocks and cedars. I can remember…
