Category Archives: Random

This is truly the season of giving.

Last night my doorbell rang just before 8:30. I was upstairs, just about to slip into my jammies when I heard it, and a storm cloud immediately began brewing over my head. I had just settled Ruby and was sure that it was going to be someone selling something.

I was wrong.

As I threw open the door, I found a lovely plate of Christmas baking waiting for me on my step. Attached was a card that wished us a Merry Christmas, signed simply from “Your Friends”.

As my grinch heart grew three sizes in that minute, I immediately regretted my immediate angry response and my heart filled with gratitude. So, I decided to pay it forward and give a little something back to you.

Last night I introduced you to the magic that is minted.com. I was emailing back and forth with a contact with the company, and I was able to score a little something for you! If you’ve been hemming and hawing over whether or not to send out Christmas cards this year, here’s your chance.

You can win 25 customizable photo Holiday cards from minted.–absolutely free! The winner of this giveaway will receive $64 off their order, which (if you peek through the majority of their cards) equals 25 cards. For free. If you decide you’d like more than that you can tack them on to the order, but if you just want the 25, they’re all yours. For freeeee. :)

So. Here’s the scoop: because the clock is ticking, this giveaway will be quick and over in a blink. It is open NOW, and will close at midnight tomorrow (December 7th). That way you’ll have time to choose your card and mail them out before the holidays!

And remember how they address all the recipients for you for free? *swoon*

So. Here’s how you enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I’ll announce the winner on Saturday morning. Good luck!!

{via: http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b143/belabela1980/MORE%20Pictures/Untitled-78.jpg}

Have you entered my giveaway yet?? It’s open until midnight on Friday!

As you know, I am a great lover of music. If I could, I would have music playing just about all the time. Before the wee-bean arrived, my iPod was a constant fixture in my purse and I would often pop in my ear phones and listen to something while out and about.

Now that I’m in mummy-mode, I haven’t had many opportunities to lose myself in my music like I used to. I couldn’t really use headphones while I was constantly waiting for my non-napping wee one to jolt herself awake after 6 minutes of rest.

But the other night she was fast asleep, and the Hubster and I were sitting in the living room. He was watching a show I wasn’t particularly interested in, and while I worked on my computer I found myself craving a little music. I didn’t want to give up my cushy spot on the couch, but I also didn’t want want to try and compete with his tv show. Since he was there to listen for our wee bean, I decided to pop in some ear phones.

I normally reach for the ear buds that came with my iPod, but I decided to try out my Bassbuds as they’re new and have pretty crystals on the ends.

(I like pretty things. So sue me.)

I’ll be honest–they are a different shape than my regular ear buds, so they felt a little weird at first… but then I realized I didn’t have them in all the way.

*facepalm*

I settled in with my favourite version of Sleigh Ride and I was immediately blown away by how clear the music sounded. Maybe the headphones I had before were just old, but the sound coming through my Bassbuds was incredible. And they cancelled everything out. I was sitting five feet from the tv and couldn’t hear anything but the Boston Pops blaring into my ears, making me nostalgic for old holiday Gap commercials.

Pretty crystals? Amazing sound quality? No distractions?

Win, win, win.

If you’re in the market for a new pair of headphones, or are thinking about a gift for someone, take a minute and check Bassbuds out. If you use this code (BB75251), you can even get a $30 discount!

Anyway, it’s worth a look. I’m impressed. Check’em out here:

www.bassbuds.net/canada
http://www.facebook.com/Bassbuds
http://pinterest.com/bassbuds/followers/
https://twitter.com/Bassbuds

Happy Shopping!!

I like nice things.

Do you know what I like more than nice things? Being able to give YOU nice things. Isn’t that nice?

I’m fortunate in that I know some incredibly talented and creative people. Recently my friend Andrea launched a new business that I love. She and I got to talking, and thus this little giveaway idea was born.

Andrea is creator and brains behind Colin’s Closet–she makes wonderfully stylish and cute bow-ties for the little man in your life. Seriously. I have always loved tiny boy dress clothes, but these bow ties?

Courtesy of Colin’s Closet*

Courtesy of Colin’s Closet*

I melt.

Here’s the best part: she is giving away not one, but two ties to the winner of this giveaway. And you get to choose which two you want.

Does it get any better? I think not. They are a perfect gift idea for your son, nephew, grandson, brother, godson, friend’s son, future son–you name it. With the holidays coming up, you can’t go wrong.

So, how does one enter this giveaway, you ask? Here’s how it works:

The giveaway is open now until 10pm on Thursday evening (November 22nd), and I’ll announce the winner here on Friday. The giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents, and there are a few ways that you can enter, with a maximum of 5 entries per person:

1) Visit Colin’s Closet and browse through the cuteness. Then come back here and tell me which tie is your favourite in a comment on my blog. (If you need directions on how to comment, please see the bottom of this post.)

2) Like Colin’s Closet on Facebook.

3) Like Shop Girl* on Facebook.

4) Share this giveaway post on Facebook.

5) Share this giveaway post on Twitter.

Once you’ve completed an entry, come back here and leave me a comment on this post letting me know. Each one is worth one entry into the giveaway (with a maximum of 5 times per person) and you can tell me all in one comment if you like. If you already follow me on Facebook, just let me know and I’ll count it as an entry.

Easy peasie, right?

Lastly, because she is awesome, Andrea is offering all you lovely readers a  discount this week. From now until midnight on Friday, you can receive a 15% discount on her products using the code SHOPGIRL15 on her site.

Good luck!!

(To leave a comment, click on “# people love me“ underneath the title of this post. Then just fill in the required fields and you’re good to go!)

Oh lovelies, what a week.

First Ruby decided to play a really fun game called “Newborn Baby” where she went back to waking up every two hours at night. Thankfully it only lasted a few nights and we’re back on a regular routine now.

Then last night my throat started feeling a little scratchy, and I woke up this morning with the beginnings of a head cold. I hoped I could try and stave it off by taking it easy and resting today, but after a nap this afternoon I woke up feeling like my head was completely underwater.

So, it’s been a bit of a week. I actually wrote out a post for you on Wednesday, but then WordPress ate it when I tried to post it.

Ugh.

C’est la vie. All sad news aside, this is going to be a faaaabulous week. I have an amazing giveaway starting tomorrow, and another one coming up the week after. BE EXCITED. I’ll post the details tomorrow morning–keep watching!

Anyway. What does all this have to do with sleep hands?

I’ll tell you. NOTHING. ha

But in my late night wakings with Ruby strange thoughts enter my head. Have you ever done something unconsciously and automatically until one day you consciously think about the action and then it’s just… weird forever?

Let me explain by posing a question: when you curl up in your bed at night, what do you do with your hands when you sleep?

Are you a folded arms across the chest sleeper?

A hands clasped under your ear sleeper?

A clutch your blanket or pillow sleeper?

One night when I was trying to get back to sleep after waking with the wee-bean, I couldn’t get my hands into a position that was comfortable. Bizarre, I know.

But really, what do you do with your hands when you sleep?

I know how to roll to just the right spot on my side that’s perfect, just how to position my hair so it’s not on my face, and just how to snuggle my cheek into the sleep-dent on my pillow.

But for the life of me, the other night I could remember what I normally do with my hands.

I tried 8 billion different positions until I finally clutched my pillow and was able to drift off.

Now, because my stupid brain acknowledged the problem, every night I go though the same thing. It’s one of those things that I never ever thought about… until I did. And now I can’t stop. haha!

I think I’m a hold-on-to-something sleeper. I find it easiest to clutch my duvet or pillow and drift off. But some nights nothing feels right.

*sigh*

Silly, silly sleep hands.

{via: http://forevertwentysomethings.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/dreamphone1996.jpg}

So, I’ve been thinking.

Last night I called my mom. That in itself isn’t out of the ordinary–my mom and I chat on the phone a few times a week.  I call her to tell her about my day and catch up on the family news.

After I got off the phone with her, I sat for a minute and realized: my mom is the only person I call “just to talk”. Sometimes we talk for 2 minutes, sometimes it’s closer to an hour. But aside from calling her, and the occasional check-in with the Hubster if we haven’t seen each other all day, I rarely use my phone to, you know, phone people.

I’ve been thinking about this off and on for a while now–and actually a good friend of mine brought it up a couple of weeks ago when we last talked.

So, I got to wondering: do people still talk on the phone?

Flashback 10 (eek!) years ago: I’m 17, and personal cell phones were just becoming popular. It was super cool if you had a cell phone, but it was totally normal if you didn’t. My friends and I went to school during the day, played sports or worked part-time jobs before dinner, then the evening was phone time. Each night I’d spend 1 – 2 hours on the phone chatting with people I had just seen at school a few hours earlier, or I’d be on the phone with my friends from up north that I missed terribly after my big move. Often I was on the phone and on MSN at the same time–how’s that for multi-tasking?

Back then, we weren’t debating politics or work, we simply… talked. We rehashed our day, talked about TV, music, boys, hopes and dreams. It was nothing to be on the phone for an hour or two at a time.

Now? I find it’s sometimes difficult to be on the phone with someone for more than 10 minutes.

So what changed?

I think ICQ and MSN were the start of a major shift in the way we use the phone. Suddenly having a conference call with 3 people was not nearly as exciting as being able to chat with 10 people at the same time on the computer.

Then cell phones blew up in a major way. At first it was even more convenient to call my friends as I could do it any time, from any where. Then as texting became a big thing, I found that I could say what I needed to even if I was in a place where calling wasn’t optimal (like from a lecture hall. Texting in class? Don’t I yell at my students for that? Oops).

Slowly but surely I found that the amount of time I used my phone for actually calling people dwindled until it was just me and my mom.

Sometimes I miss it.I miss curling up on the couch with an enormous portable phone, calling someone just to talk. No agenda, no multi-tasking. Just catching up.

I still have one amazing friend who I can always count on for a fabulous phone conversation. I don’t feel like she is preoccupied by the things she should be doing around her her apartment while we talk–she calls for that purpose. I am bad and don’t call her nearly as often as I should, but when we do catch up it’s always fabulous.

But other than that, I find I primarily use my phone for the data plan, and use far more texts, Facebook messages and emails to connect with people than I do the phone itself.

So I can’t help but wonder… is a good conversation on the phone a dying art?