December 2010
32 posts
Snippets of... Christmas Day
Christmas Day was, in fact, a snail’s paced day. Unlike the infectious enthusiasm her older cousins possessed the night before — like lovable barracudas they be, of course, if barracudas ate wrapping paper! — Isla is at that age where she’s happy to open things but just as happy to savour each and every thing. And then not mind going for a nap or sit and cuddle while the day unfolds...
Snippets of... Christmas Eve
This is Isla wrapped in my Christmas pinny from younger years. Now *vintage* - gasp!
Before the madness.
Silly teeth…
*melt*
She walked around all day saying ‘ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho’… She knew what was up. Either that, or she has a really poor opinion of her mother…
Her tights were white and her dress was winter white. Why. Is. This. Still. Irking....
Somehow... Our busiest week?!
I don’t know how, but this week — our vacation week, the week that was supposed to be spent socializing, slumbering and sipping cocoa — has turned into the busiest gosh-almighty week I’ve encountered since winter reared her cool breath.
Isla may be flouncing around in a tutu but her parents are up to their neck in paperwork, year-end errands, last minute freelance contracts and...
Awkward Family Christmas Photo | Homegrown Edition...
Two years ago today... Christmas Eve 2008
That was us, getting ready to depart Tokyo after a whirlwind, completely unplanned visit to Japan, blissfully unaware how we were about to be Campbell, Party of Three. We left our hotel at 10:30 am local time and were at my brother-in-law’s for Christmas Eve dinner by 4:30pm the same day. :)
Hamish just walked by and noted how, despite the lack of sleep we faced thanks to the...
A year ago today... Christmas Eve 2009
Campbell Christmas Dinner Spectacular | The Menu?...
A quick informal poll amongst our soon-to-be Christmas dinner guests revealed that they both a) don’t “care either way” what we eat and b) but would really like “_____” with the filled-in blank being either ham, turkey or a roast.
Actually, that’s not true. When I asked my niece and nephew what they wanted, they were more interested in the dessert options....
A year ago today... Christmas *Eve* Eve
They aren’t very Christmas-y but it’s what I found when I searched for the date. It’s kind of funny she couldn’t even sit up on her own by a long stretch. Granted, she *was* only two and a half months old… It goes to show that while this feels like “yesterday” in my lil’ heart, it feels like a million years ago in my head due to the insanely...
Campbell Christmas Dinner Spectacular | Christmas...
My main accomplishment of 2009: a homemade triple layer Red Velvet Cheesecake complete with White Chocolate Icing. Other than bringing Isla into this world, that is.
Christmas Eve will be spent at my SIL’s house and will feature far too many kids and adults to count. I’m excited :) I love that Isla’s at the age to join in the fun and her Auntie S and Uncle G’s house is...
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Campbell Christmas Dinner Spectacular | 2010
This is Hamish and Isla looking up recipes with Kraft Canada so we can decide what to make for our holiday spectacular. This is also me carefully cropping the iPhone camera to not show the gong show of mess to Hamish’s left and the presents needing wrapped to Isla’s right :)
Christmas Dinner. Ahem… Campbell Christmas Dinner Spectacular. It’s Saturday night. Our house....
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Isla *did* do some holiday shopping with...
It was easy to pick out one of Isla’s favourite things this year to give as presents for her little friends around town: Name Your Tune 2!
If Isla sees a CD player, she instantly signs for “more.” I keep Name Your Tune 2 in her room to groove to when we’re home and the original Name Your Tune in the car. For kids, it’s a CD filled with classic kid songs...
A tale of opening/closing doors + how it *rocks*
Isla is obsessed with opening and closing doors around here. The only thing coming a close second is the fun she has when putting things into any sort of container.
So, really… Think of this less like “chores before her time” and more like “the most fun playing” she had that hour. :)
Isla just crawled out of her cupboard*, went to my purse, pulled out my wallet and took it back into her cupboard.
She’s doing some holiday shopping, maybe? Has she got the laptop in there? The logic of her lil’ mind doing something like that just blows me away.
I can’t believe such a sentence exists in my day, let alone sounds perfectly reasonable…
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Can't. Stop. Giggling. | Snowsuit Sobbing
The roads were messy enough yesterday for me to swear off driving while we ran our afternoon errands. I decided, since the Bugaboo can reverse directions making the big wheels a powerhouse opponent for snow drifts, we’d walk to the post office, vitamin store and library.
I made me some hot chocolate in a traveling mug. I made Isla some warm milk with some chamomile to calm her winter...
Something about the plumber's sink + me not...
I’m pretty diligent about taking photos of Isla on the daily but processing all of them the way I like and actually doing something with them (ie. cards, prints, albums) is not often accomplished.
It’s especially bittersweet since I’ve just spent the past three weeks readying holiday cards and albums for many of my clients and, had I just spent an extra 20 minutes making...
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My New York | Well, pieces of it this time, at...
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Isla's New York | Date Night
Friday night, Auntie C and Uncle P stayed in with Isla while Hamish and I ducked out for a little date.
I shouldn’t say little. It was our first one since Isla was born…
We were going to try any number of rooftop bars and swank spots we had heard or read about lately but, at the last minute, opted for crepes at an old favourite in the East Village, the Crooked Tree.
We ordered...
NY from One Tourist to Another
happinessiseva asked:
Hi Tamara! I just found out that Johnny is going to NYC for a business trip in January. I have always wanted to go so Eva and I are tagging along. I’m super excited, but I little nervous about traveling with a baby. Since you have just come back from NYC, I thought you would be the best person to ask for advice. 1. What are your top tips for traveling with a...
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Isla's New York | Friends of FAO
Well, not really. See that face above? That one right there? That’s Isla’s ‘muppet face’ and is her father’s favourite. He also happens to be a huge Muppet fan himself.
When he heard you could make your own Muppet at the Whatnot Workshop inside FAO Schwartz, it was an experience he was determined to complete as a Christmas present for her. Unfortunately,...
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Isla's New York | Moxie says 'Oooof'
Poor Moxie. Destined to be Isla’s bessie mate, yet not an equal in the relationship when it came to the snack table.
Moxie had it baaaad for these crackers. And Isla didn’t even have the ones with the delicious prosecco jelly on them from Eataly. They *both* missed out on those… Nom!
Don’t worry. I didn’t let the taunting and torture run longer than these...
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I haz the forlorns...
In just over 60 days our family of three was supposed to be heading south to an absolutely gorgeous resort along with an amazing group of friends to celebrate the wedding of our besties, Isla’s Uncle P and Auntie A.
But we’ve been strongly advised not to take Isla on the grounds that she should take malaria meds (which are brutal for adults, let alone kidlets) and she’s too...
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Isla's New York | Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Part of the point of visiting was to celebrate American Thanksgiving with our besties in an attempt at a new annual tradition. This also meant I could take Isla to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
I’m not really a parade girl, but I think I’m now officially a parade mama. Seeing it through her eyes was fantastic. The kid didn’t even smile, *that’s* how much...
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Isla's New York | Brooklyn Baby
While every day was a treat, one of my favourites was Wednesday in Brooklyn. Everything about it was a blast.
The weather was beautifully sunny which I mistakenly took to be warm and sunny. What can I say?! My C to F math has never been a strong suit. My boots kept me warm but a quick stop to pick up a layering tee, massive scarf, and some mitts and hats for us both was necessary if we wanted...
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Isla's New York | Big Park for a Little Girl
Isla was obsessed with these giant bubbles.
Watching intently.
Hooray bubbles!
Here’s where I prayed to the Heaven’s above there were no unsavory street life objects poking out from under the leaves and quickly went over to redirect her energy.
We ended up not going too far in. If you follow along on Twitter, you would have seen that between her long nap, a detour to the...
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Isla's New York | Open Waters Ahead
Once Isla woke up from her marathon nap, she found herself at the water’s edge in Central Park. I told her this is where Uncle P had proposed to Auntie A but she seemed more interested in the ducks. Some flower girl, huh?!
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Isla's New York | Nom Island
Isla chillin’ at Shake Shack
It’s a bit of a fustercluck how I gravitated towards ended up at Shake Shack and bumped into a mutual friend turned Interweb buddy who I finally got to meet in real life, Robyn’s Morgue / Robynette’s Diner and co. Let’s just say I was supposed to be there, but didn’t know it, but ended up there anyway. Perfect example of why I...
