Lamppostings

Finding and creating adventures in everyday life.

Monthly Archives: August 2011


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Create!

It’s one of my greatest desires that my children are inspired to create. I am a firm believer that everyone is creative – it may not be artistically, but everyone is a creative being. So I love it when my boys make stuff – whether it’s a tower made out of Legos, a chalk drawing, a Crayon Physics puzzle, a culinary “creation” or a drawing. I want to honour their creativity & display it. This is an age-old conundrum – we parents want to display the art, but there’s a lot of it! I take a lot of photos of their creations, but it’s fun to actually keep some of the art work & put it up in the house.

It’s such a fun time with Jude because all of the sudden he’s doing all these drawings that actually look like what he’s trying to draw. He’s having a blast with it too. His imagination is blossoming.

I came across this idea on Pinterest, loved it & decided to recreate it with a few changes. I also saw this idea & wanted to give it a go – I ended up just writing on canvas with puffy paint & really liked how it looked.

 

 

 

I have another idea for displaying paper artwork that is non-standard size that I plan to put in place this weekend. I’ll post pictures when it’s up & ready to go.


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Summer Uniform

So I really haven’t posted many outfit pics this summer. I’ve pretty much worn shorts & a t-shirt most days. It is what it is. I just don’t have a lot of inspiration when it’s very warm. Maybe that will change, maybe it won’t. I don’t want to abandon my love of fashion just because it’s warm, but comfort takes precidence most of the time.

This is my favourite outfit of the summer – these shorts & this shirt. I wear them a lot!

 

 

 

Shirt: Walmart
Shorts: Torrid
Headband, earrings: ?
Shoes: Sbicca


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Pattern Recognition

It’s Everybody, Everywear time again. This month’s theme is Pattern Mixing. I love the idea of pattern mixing, but I don’t do it much. I tend to think that I don’t have many patterns to mix, but I have more than I thought.

I’ve been watching Mad Men lately since it’s streaming on Netflix. While I baffle at our culture in those days, I adore the fashion & design. I feel like I’m channeling a bit of that era with my pattern mixing outfit.

Top: Ross
Skirt: Ross
Shoes: Vintage/Thrifted
Necklace: Vintage – gift from my sister

You can check out all the EBEWers here:
Everybody, Everywear | Pattern Mixing


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Couch to 5K – Week 9

Week 9! I have completed the Couch to 5K Program! What?! On my 3rd try I made it through.

It was actually a very challenging week. Physically it was hard work. The first run was ok, but the second run felt like I never got that second wind that I love so much. Incidentally, I was thinking that I got the second wind around halfway, in fact, I usually get it about three-fourths of the way through the run.

Between my second & third run, I finally walked my route with my family & we used the GPS to map it out. Have to say, it was so discouraging. I knew I wasn’t running fast & despite the name of the program, I knew it was unlikely that I was actually running 5 kilometers, but I was really hoping for at least 4 kilometers. Turns out that I have been running 3.26 kilometers. That means I’m not running very fast at all. This really knocked me for a loop. I was super discouraged.

So, on to the final run of the program. I had a feeling it would be a bit tough, just because I was discouraged about it. I was not wrong. It was absolutely the hardest run I have done on the program – physically & mentally. I willed myself to stay at a slow & steady pace, but still it was so difficult physically. I have never wanted to stop & walk so much.

Turns out my subconscious was working against me & I had increased my pace – enough so that when I reached 3.26 kilometers, I still had 40 seconds to go. No wonder it was a struggle! It wasn’t a huge increase & it was painful, but it’s something.

So now I’ve done it. I did more than I thought possible & yet, I’m still a bit disappointed. The question is, will I continue to run or do I move on to something else? I’m not yet running like I do in my dreams – it’s pretty much a challenge from the moment I start to when I finish.

I think I know what I’m going to do, but I need to think about it some more before I commit.

If you want to find out about my Couch to 5K journey, from Week 1 to Week 8, you can read about it here:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8


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More Thankful Than Ever

So I didn’t buy anything from May 3rd – August 3rd that wasn’t a household necessity or something for my son’s birthday party. It was both tougher than I thought it would be & easier!

I have often used shopping as therapy, as a drug. I’m a penny-pinching addict, but an addict nonetheless. So I thought I would take a three-month break from buying. I quickly learned that I didn’t really need more stuff. I also started making lists. I love lists. I have an entire notebook of very organised lists. I started to make lists of things that I really want to add to my life – not everything on the list is “needful”, but they are things that I believe will add value to my life. I love the quote by William Morris, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” It’s how I want to approach purchases from now on.  Of course, that means that there are things in my house that I need to continue to weed out. It’s all a process.

It’s been a rough week, stressful & I could definitely do with some therapy! I needed to get a couple of things at the store. So I went to Target, list in hand. So strange to wander the aisles without my spending embargo in place. I looked at the clearance racks, saw some stuff that I liked  & that, at one point, would have tossed in the cart. It just didn’t hold much of a thrill for me though. So I consulted my list & bought what I needed & left the store. No buyer’s remorse, no nagging bad feelings. It was good.

I’m not saying that I’m not still susceptible to the draw of retail therapy, and I think that I will routinely do spending fastings – it’s good for me. I feel lighter & freer. I have so much to be thankful for & I will not take the blessings in my life for granted.

You can check out my other reports from Month 1 & Month 2.