"Heads up" the Mini-Mister got his first hair cut!

As a mother I've found that I am emotionally connected to things I never thought possible. I mean really, what do I care if the baby gets a hair cut? Hair grows back! Well, of course it does but as far a milestones go, it totally counts. Our little guy was born with a full head of straw blond hair, just like his daddy was. It never occurred to me that could happen. I had black hair and I guess I just never imagined having a little blondie. Nevertheless, he was and had plenty to spare too. Shortly after birth, half his head of beautiful hair fell out leaving him quite lopsided, but over time it came back in as gorgeous as ever and quickly caught up with the other half. Fast forward 11 months and someone was starting to look a little scraggly. I mean, I still thought he looked pretty cute and I love, no LOVE his hair but with his first birthday, parties, and pictures fast approaching, a little dignity was in order.

On the recommendation of a friend, we decided to forgo the typical kid salon and take the Mini-Mister to a proper barber. She's taken her son (a friend of Mini-Mister's) to "Heads up" Barber Shop a couple times now and has been pleased each time. This barber shop is a total throwback, and it's perfect. Babies get their first cut free (yay free!) and a cute certificate to mark the occasion. Frank, the owner, even saved us some hair, and gave the little one his very first comb (a big fat win in the baby distraction game). We were very pleased with everything, from the keepsakes, to the haircut, to the extremely down to earth nature of the two people working while we were there. I can honestly say that it really took the sting out of my baby's first haircut. The loss of hair that I was inexplicably attached to. Oh man, what a sap.

I took pictures (you're shocked, I know).

So, umm, before -

The rest -

In case it isn't obvious, he was a champ! There was not a tear shed by either of us. The only thing that made it a little challenging was that he kept wanting to see what was going on!

Oh and as if this place isn't super cool already, they're opening an ice cream shop in the next week or so. AN ICE CREAM SHOP! Be still my heart.

Read more about "Heads up" here.

Do you judge?

Go ahead, admit it.

I'll go first - I do, but I shouldn't and I know that.

I had to do some running around today. Apparently, the province thinks that the best birthday gift they can give you is the need to run errands and give them money. Hold on, I'm not one of *them*, I don't hold governments responsible for simple things like licensing fees, I get the need. What I don't get is why someone, somewhere thinks that I want to be doing these things around (or on, thanks to my procrastinating self, some years) my birthday. Anyway, rant over, moving on...

After my errands, I had to kill time until the Mister was finished work. I hit up a couple thrift stores (people seriously need to thrift cooler things around here, please and thank you), and then headed off for some clothes shopping. Unfortunately, the Mini-Mister had other plans and decided to nap. Since he was terribly overtired and I didn't have the heart to move him, we sat in the parking lot instead. Since *I* wasn't the one fortunate enough to be napping, I started composing a blog post in my head. I do that a lot and I'm not really sure what that says about me. I swear I post more than I actually do because I imagine all these 'posts' that never actually happen. Weird, I know. Another tangent, sorry. 

Anyway, back to judging. It's been something that I've been thinking about a lot lately (not only while sitting in parking lots). I've read about it, talked about it, and witnessed it, more often than I would care to admit. This is reason number one why I'm trying to be more cognizant of my crimes. Witnessing cattiness in the form of judging, is downright infuriating. Feeling like the target of it is even worse. It's something that everyone does though, in some way, shape, or form. I'm told that moms are major offenders, but from what I've seen it's just a woman thing in general. Don't shoot the messenger. It happens at work, among friends, and even by strangers. That's crazy right? I can't be the only one that thinks that.

So what is it all about? Nothing important enough to do it, if you ask me. Anything is fair game when it comes to judging. It can be about; your looks, your personality, your choices, your home, your routine, your expenses, and so much more. Why are these things anyone else's business? They're not. I'm not at all implying that we have to like everyone, or that we have to agree with their choices. What we do have to do however, is respect people enough to not impose our beliefs on them. Just because *you * think that they should have done *this*, doesn't necessarily mean that they should have or that anyone cares to hear your thoughts about it. Also, wouldn't our own lives be better if we didn't have to spend time weighing in on the lives of others? Hmm... Not so crazy, right?

I guess my point is that it's not fair to the folks around you, to assume that you are always right and that your decisions are better. Also, just because everyone is entitled to my opinion, it doesn't mean that they want it (or need it). All this judging leaves me with a sour taste, and makes me scared to associate with known 'judgers' for  fear of being judged too. You catch more flies with honey, and all that...

Happy Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday/Pancake Tuesday 2013!

Because nothing is better than breakfast for dinner, who else is partaking in some pancakes this evening?

I shared a great pancake recipe for the full-sized diners on Pancake Tuesday a couple years ago, here. For the littles however, I had this recipe suggested to me awhile back and the Mini-Mister cannot get enough!

If your littles are sharing in the pancake feast tonight, I highly recommend that you give this Cottage Cheese Pancakes recipe from Weelicious a whirl.

Enjoy!

Gearing up for the big game: Make-ahead Egg rolls

Anyone else around here getting ready for the big game?

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 While we are a football household, neither of our teams made the journey this year, but that doesn't matter now! Now we prepare to spend next Sunday eating and enjoying (one hopes) some quality football, just the same.

We'll be making a variety of finger foods, one of which was prepared today. I'm going to help you out by sharing a recipe for egg rolls that can be made ahead and frozen, so they can just be popped in the oven on Sunday. They're delicious and easy, can't ask for much more than that!

Egg rolls
{Makes approximately 24}
 
What you'll need-
 
{Filling}

1 lb ground pork (We try to ground our own meat, wherever possible.)

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp garlic powder

2 cups shredded cabbage

2 ounces shredded carrots

 

{Glue}        

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons water      

 
{Vehicle}
20-24 Egg roll wrappers (This will depend on how full you make them, we got 22)
 
{To Cook}
1 quart peanut oil
 
What you need to do-

In order to get the best ratio, keep your vegetables and meat separate, otherwise all the meat sinks to the bottom of the bowl.

Fill with vegetables and meat, then brush a little of your paste at the top {as seen here}.
If you need it, the wrapper package will show you how to roll.

They really do not have to be pretty {as you can undoubtedly see}.

Fry to your favourite shade of gold.

Like I mentioned before, if you don't want to make these on the day-of, no problem! After step 8, just package and freeze. When you are ready to eat them, they can easily be reheated in the oven while you drink and cheer on your {possibly adopted} favourite team!

Discussing open shelves in the kitchen

'Removing kitchen cabinets will affect resale value.'

True.

BUT...

What if your kitchen has plenty of cabinets but is lacking in 'personality'?

While having lunch today with my bestie, the topic of open shelving came up in conversation. She just bought her very first condo (yay!) and is in the process of injecting a little 'her' into the place. On a related note, she loves my mason jar pantry and would like to do the same, but doesn't have any room to add any shelves to her kitchen. What she does have however, are MANY kitchen cabinets, for a condo. Would it be so horrible to pick a spot or two in the kitchen and create the open shelving look, while leaving the rest (and majority) of the cabinets intact? We discussed how kitchen cabinets were a definite + for resale value, but that when there was no lack of storage space couldn't a little personality be just as important?

If my own kitchen doesn't spell it out clearly enough for you, I'll help... I LOVE open shelves in a kitchen. I firmly believe that not only have they hit the ground running popularity wise in the recent past even if they have been around forever, but they also inject a certain level of personality given that they are so atypical in our spec house world. I was left to consider if I would still like it as much when it wasn't actual shelving and simply cabinet doors removed? A little research yielded many results of both varieties and I find myself enjoying both. In the condo in question, it would likely be best to consider only the doorless varieties. This way, she could either just remove the doors and use as-is or fancy it up a little with some trim or moulding and mill work. The one benefit of going with either of those options versus removing the cabinet boxes and replacing them with actual shelves is simple; if you really must, when preparing to sell, just put the doors back on and no one is the wiser!

Here are some examples to help you form your own opinions -

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Mason jar pantry? BINGO!

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Oh and by the way, if it's good enough for Martha, it's good enough for me!

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I love these! With all of these examples, I cannot be the only one!


With all of that said, does anyone have any opinions one way or another that they'd like to share?