My Toddler the Comedian

It's no secret that kids, particularly toddlers, say some of the funniest things; and my three year old is no exception. I actually have a note book titled "My Quotable Kid" where I have been recording some of his funniest moments and I thought it would be a good idea to share a few.
Please see back, relax and prepare to laugh at loud. Enjoy!
1. August 2012 - 2 years old
Eric: Bottle of water? Daddy: How about milk? Eric: How about no.
2. September 2012 - 2 years old
Eric likes cucumber so much that when I was checking out at the grocery store, he actually broke a cucumber in half and started eating it! As we were walking to the car, my sister asked if he was hungry and he replied, "I'm starving Auntie!".
3. December 2012 - 2.5 years old
As we were driving home from daycare;
Mommy: Eric, look at all of those Christmas lights. Eric: Wow, holy crap! Mommy & Daddy (while trying not to laugh hysterically): Eric, please don't say those words. Eric: Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, holy crap. Daddy (while we're still trying not to laugh hysterically): Eric, please say it's pretty instead. Eric: Holy crap, it's pretty.
4. February 2013 - 2.5 years old
After putting Eric's cars into a bin;
Eric: Lisa don't put my cars into a bin. Mommy: Eric my name is mommy, call me mommy. Eric: Daddy calls you Lisa. Mommy: Yes, because Lisa is my name but you call me mommy.
5. June 2013 - Almost 3 years old
After giving Eric a new teddy bear I asked him what his name was and he said, "I don't know, I don't see a name tag".
There you have it folks, a true comedian.

Meal Planning & To-Do List Printables

As I mentioned before, I'm trying to get more organized in 2014. One way of that is creating a meal plan and to-do list. The meal plan seems to be working (kind of) well so far. It's a new process for our family so it's taking some time getting used to having an actual meal plan. This is especially true when we really don't feel like having what we planned to have! I should also point out, that we don't really make anything ahead of time, unless I'm making my freezer meals. So it will take some time to make it work 100%.


Our to-do list is going good though. We are typically using it for chores only. This is very helpful for my husband to see visually what should (and needs) to be done on any given day. It helps keep him on track and has allowed us to share the chores more equally between us.
I thought it would be a good idea to post them for you to use. I hope they work for you just as they are for us. I will likely add more printables as I put more systems in place so be sure to follow and check back often :)  

 

It's Friday!

Another week has gone by, which means we're one step closer to Spring right? Don't I wish! It has been so cold this Winter I honestly don't think I can take much more. It is -19^oC right now (almost -30^oC with the wind chill). Brrr.
Anyway, I'll stop ranting. Let's get to my top five for the week.
{ONE} My sister Shannon and I went on an overnight trip to Niagara Falls this past weekend. It was so much fun! We went to the Aveda Spa for some rest and relaxation and then once we checked into our hotel we went for dinner at the Keg, hit the casino and of course, went to the obligatory visit to the Hershey Factory store. At the spa we each had a massage, facial and a pedicure. It was absolutely fabulous. Why I have never had a facial before is behind me - it was incredible. If you haven't gotten one before, I highly recommend! Here are a couple of pictures from our trip.

This is us (sans make-up), after our facial and getting a pedicure.

 

Photo-op at the Hershey Store.

{TWO} I had another meeting with the lovely Mary from WeddingGirl, as well as a handful of other inspired ladies. We had the opportunity to learn more about WGx and what the future might hold for us. I am excited to take the next step and meet one-on-one with Mary to really get a sense of how I can fit in within the realm of WeddingGirl. I am so excited.

{THREE} I was able to spend Thursday at the Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA) Conference. I got to meet some new people, learn and listen to HR though leaders on some trends within the field of HR. It was a great day all-in-all.

{FOUR} This week I spent some time scoping out different venues from my work's 2014 Holiday Party. Planning early is key, my friends. I just love this part of my job.

{FIVE} My friends and I had our monthly 'Fooding Hamilton' event. It's a group we put together where each month we go and try a new, local restaurant. No chain restaurants allowed, only local. This week we went to the Purple Pear. It is a hidden gem in my opinion. Location isn't great and the outside was very deceiving, but it was a pretty elegant place with amazing food. If you're ever in the Hamilton, ON area I would recommend this one.

I hope you had a great week too! Enjoy your weekend!

Linking up with Lauren and Carolina Charm.

High Five for Friday

It has been a couple of weeks since I've done a Friday Five, so I am very happy to be linking up with Lauren and Carolina Charm today! 

This has been quite a week for me. It started off with something pretty exciting, but then my husband and I were sick for part of the week (not fun). I'm hoping to be back to normal by tomorrow so my sister and I can go on our weekend excursion to the Falls! But without further adieu, let's get started.

{ONE} I mentioned earlier this week that I had the opportunity to meet Mary, the woman behind WeddingGirl.ca. You can read about my night here. She is having a follow-up event next week and I am hoping to join her to learn about this exciting opportunity. Here's what was on the other side of the cupcake tag:

{TWO} We took Eric bowling for the first time this past weekend! It was super fun family time and he LOVED it!

{THREE} The same day we took Eric bowling, I went out on a movie date with my friend Melissa. It had actually been a long time since we hung out together and it was a lot of fun. We went to Second Cup for a drink, bought our tickets to the late show (because the first one was sold out), and then we went for dinner. There was a lot of girl talk, kid talk, and fun. I'm hoping we can do it again soon. Oh, and the movie was good - I really recommend it!

Photo from Google Images.

{FOUR} My brother Michael and I just booked an overnight Haunted Hamilton Bus Tour on March 1 to Rolling Hills Asylum! We'll have a chance to tour the 117 year-old building and to perform our own investigations throughout the night of our trip. Further details can be found here. We are both beyond excited and scared at the same time! I'm really looking forward to it though and I will definitely be bringing my camera! Here is what the asylum looks like.

Photo from Google Images.

{FIVE} As I mentioned yesterday, my blog was being redesigned and now it's live! I am SO exited, can't you tell? I hope you like it!

Hope your week has been great - enjoy your weekend!

Change is Coming

Change is good right? Well, almost always I'd say.

That's why I just wanted to quickly let you know that Everyday, with Lisa will be changing in look and feel very soon! I am super excited to have the amazing Jana Tolman redesign my blog, and it looks super cute and awesome. I cannot wait for you all to see it! It should be installed very soon.

The reason I've chosen to update it is because I want my blog to really reflect who I am and the Blogger templates just aren't cuttin' it anymore. I'm also hoping to really grow my followers this year and this is just one of the things I am hoping to help with that.

So please stick around and enjoy your stay! I hope you like the change just as much as I do.

- Lisa

A Little Tête-à-Tête

Last night I had the pleasure of meeting Mary, the girl behind weddinggirl.ca. As I've mentioned on my blog before I am an aspiring wedding and event planner (my dream job), so I just had to jump at the chance to meet her and attend an event she put on called WeddingGirl Multiplied (WGx). You can read all about it on her website.

She welcomed everyone at the elegant Faculty Club with open arms (literally hugging everyone she met), while offering champaign and h'orderves. It was such an awesome atmosphere to walk into.

After I had the chance to meet most people in attendance (there was about 30 of us), things got started and Mary opened up about her journey as a wedding planner; where she started, little tidbits about things that happened along the way, and of course where she is today. I've never had the chance to meet a wedding planner before so it was very encouraging to hear her story first-hand. The challenges of sometimes not being able to please a bride no matter what you do, to the endless possibilities of travel was both scary and exciting to hear about at the same time!

After telling us about her journey the floor was open for Q&A, and what great questions we all had. From how to start a business to having a business plan to working with vendors. We simply gained some powerful insight and it was amazing.

Mary is looking to grow her business, which is there the 'Multiplied' comes from. She has her sights set on travel and taking over the world. While I still need to learn more about where this can lead, I hope I can be a big part of it. There is nothing better than the chance to have a mentor that is kind, generous and truly genuine, and I can't wait to start my journey.

And if I could end with a simple, yet very truthful saying that was attached to the delicious cupcake we got to take home, it would be this:

Cheers to taking over the world.

- Lisa

Inspire Me 2014: The side of me nobody knows

It's that time again, time to link up with Showered With Design and Happiness is a Mood Not a Destination, for their Inspire Me Blog Challenge! 

Today's prompt is: The side of me nobody knows.
This question can be a loaded one depending on how you spin it, but I am definitely going to gear it towards the blogosphere, and since there isn't much about me on this blog yet this is a perfect way to start! So let's get to it!

1. I am hearing impaired and wear a hearing aid in each ear. 
   
   I was born with poor hearing and it has gotten progressively worse over time. I got my first hearing aid in grade 9 and my second in December 2012. I've had multiple ear surgeries to reconstruct my ear but they have all been unsuccessful. If I don't have them in, I barely hear anything at all.
   
2. By day, I am an HR Specialist in Training & Development.
   
   However, I am also an aspiring Wedding and Event Planner (my dream job!). I am currently taking the Wedding & Event Planning course through the New York Institute of Art and Design.
   
3. I am an introvert (mostly, lol).
   
   I am often shy and awkward when meeting new people and I am terrible at small talk. I plan to work on these two things in 2014.
   
4. I absolutely love country music.
   
   Dallas Smith, Luke Bryan, and Taylor Swift are some of my faves. Though, I like to throw in Lorde, Ed Sheeren and several other pop artists into the mix.
   
5. Family is the most important thing to me.
   
   Need I say more for this one?

I hope you enjoyed these little tidbits into my life. I would love to learn more about you, so please join in on the challenge or comment below.

Happy Friday!

Leftover Turkey Soup

This winter has been the first 'real' winter we've had in several years. We've been spoiled with higher than normal temps in the past so I think Mother Nature came back with a vengeance! We have more snow this year than I can ever remember. Lucky for us though, it has led me to try my hand at making homemade soups, which I have been doing a lot of lately. I'm a true believer that one of the best things about the cold weather is having a nice hot bowl of something (chili, soup, etc.). Don't you agree?

So, since we hosted Christmas dinner this year I had a boat load of turkey left and decided to come up with my own leftover turkey soup recipe. I'm happy to say that it turned out delicious so I thought I'd share.

Prep time: 20 mins I Cook Time: 1.5 hours I Servings: 10 - 12 

2          tbsp. of butter
1          onion, diced
1          cup of chopped carrots
1          cup of chopped celery
1          tsp. of garlic powder
2          cans (398 mL) of diced tomatoes
2          cartons (900 mL) of chicken broth
4          tbsp. of dried parsley
2          tsp. of salt
4 – 5   cups of chopped leftover turkey
1          cup of elbow macaroni

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic powder; saute for a few minutes.

2. Add diced tomatoes, chicken broth, parsley, salt, and turkey to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer for approximately 1 hour until vegetables are barely tender.

3. Add the elbow macaroni and simmer for 30 minutes more. Serve or freeze for later consumption.

This soup pairs nicely with warm bread and butter. Enjoy!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm combining this post with the Inspire Me Blog Challenge 2014 hosted by Showered With Design and Happiness is a Mood Not a Destination. Today's prompt is: When is your birthday?

My birthday is July 1st. I celebrate my birthday with Canada, and as a proud Canadian, I think that is really awesome. Not to mention that it's also a long weekend :)

Organizing Under Your Kitchen Sink

It's the beginning of the New Year and it's the season for resolutions. I don't typically say I'll do this or that this year, but one of my major goals for 2014 is to organize my house from top to bottom. I started on this journey in 2013 and have had some good successes with it, and it looks like I am starting 2014 off on the right foot.

This past weekend I spent some time organizing under my kitchen sink. There is really no way to make the space under the kitchen sink look pretty, but you can get it organized. 

All I needed for this project was the same bins I used to organize under my bathroom sink (click here to read that post), shelf liner, and my trusty label maker. I went back to the dollar store for the bins so this costs me less than $10 to do!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

It's so easy now that I don't have any boxes or bags to go through to get to a garbage bag or to find a sponge. Now that everything has it's place, even my toddler can help put things away where they belong or find things easily enough when he helps us tidy up.

It's still not that pretty, but the shelf liner really added a nice touch, along with the pop of yellow. However, if you have a way for me to hide the pipes, please share! 

If you need help organizing or have a space you need help with, please comment below as I'd love to help find a solution and post it on my blog.

Happy organizing!

Five for Friday

Time for the top five of the week. It's actually been pretty quiet around here so this week I decided it was all about the little things.

1. The holiday's have caught up with Eric this week. With all the hustle and bustle Christmas had to offer, Eric has been one tired boy (not to mention he's fighting a minor cold). The other day he fell asleep on me; so after a while when I tried to put him upstairs, it was a no-go on his part, so I put him back on the couch and this happened.

Is that cure or what?!

2. Eric shaving. Yes folks, my three year old likes to shave! We put a little kid shaving kit in his stocking, complete with shaving cream and a fake plastic razor. He literally wants to shave everyday.

3. I've been off work the past week and a half and have been finally able to get caught up on some freezer meals. I've made spaghetti sauce, chili, and minestrone soup this week.

4. My sister has asked me to make party decorations for my nephew's fourth birthday in April, so I've been busy designing and putting together Dinosaur Train themed cupcake toppers, water bottle labels, food tents, and a birthday banner. Here's a sneak peek at his birthday banner.

5. We celebrated New Year's with our friends and family. You can read about our festivities here.

How has your week been?

Linking up with Lauren and Carolina Charm today!

Ringing in the New Year!

Today I decided to take the 2014 Inspire Me Blog Challenge hosted by (Showered With Design) and (Happiness Blog). Each day I will try to post their suggested topics in an effort to provide my readers with more content and so they can get to know me a bit more.

Today's prompt is: What did you do for New Years?

We actually kept it pretty simple for New Year's. We had about 10 friends over for food, poker and movies. I made some chili and we had everyone bring a snack; there was absolutely no shortage of food. The guys then played poker and the remaining three ladies watched Pitch Perfect (which is one of my favourite movies). Seriously, if you haven't seen it yet I would highly recommend it.

The one thing we all did though was watch the ball drop in New York City during the live broadcast. Everyone then gave kisses and hugs before going back to playing poker or watching the movie. However, I did attempt to get a 'selfie' of my husband and I right after midnight and as you may have seen in my 2013 recap post, we were hilariously photobombed by our friend Chris.

On New Year's day, our family went over to my parents house for some Chinese Food. My sister and her family were there, as well as my grandparents. We had a really nice time and the kids had a great time playing with each other. There is really nothing like ringing in the New Year with your friends and family.

How did you celebrate?

December Ipsy Glam Bag

December's Glam Bag came a couple of weeks ago and this was a pretty good bag! Firstly, it came in a cute little black make-up bag, which will be perfect for light travel trips.

I will be trying the Julie nail colour on the weekend when I have a chance to give myself a manicure. The colour looks amazing.

I also can't wait to try out the pop eye shadow trio. It will a allow me to create a nice smoky eye for my next night out.

The blender brush by Mirabella is also great. It's a blender brush that actually works pretty well.

I haven't tried The One Stick by be a bombshell yet. It's an all-in-one multiple stick with a smooth texture that you can apply to eyelids, cheeks or lips. I'll likely need to use a brush to put it in my eyelids, but I'm actually not a fan of cream eye shadow so I'll probably only use it on my lip and cheek. It's a nice tint of pink called so it will probably look good on my cheeks.

The bag also came with a CoverGirl lip crayon. I'm not a fan of lip crayons so I likely wont even try it. Other than this product, I am super excited about the other ones!

If you want to know more about ipsy, click here.

2013 Year in Review and Looking Ahead

With the new year comes new beginnings, and it's often a time of reflection. 2013 started a bit rough for me and my family with the passing of my Nana. She died in February 2013 from Lymphoma Cancer and it was devastating to the entire family. She was a wonderful woman and her and I were very close. My sister and I would visit her often and bring her meals because she didn't have the energy to cook on her own. We would have tea, cookies and just chat about anything and everything. She would often refer to us as the 'Golden Girls'. It's an inside joke between the three of us that I will cherish and remember forever. I am very for fortunate that I was able to say goodbye to her when it was her time though. I thanked her for everything she has ever done for me and told her how much I loved her and how much she meant to me. Not many people have that chance and I am so grateful that I did. 

I really miss you Nana, everyday and always. I love you so much.

My Nana and I on my wedding day in August 2009.

2013 had very good moments though. My nephew Riley was born in June. He is such a little cutie. He's my sister's second boy; her oldest son Logan is the same age as Eric. Riley is starting to sit up on his own now and has the cutest laugh. He really melts my heart.

Riley, born June 8th, 2013

2013 also brought on a stronger relationship for my husband Doug and I. We are working on our relationship constantly because there have been some trying times in the past (as with most relationships), but things are getting better and going really well.

Aside from that, we spent a lot of time with our family and friends which is always a goal for us.

As I look into what 2014 with bring, I see a lot of growth, opportunity and good times. I hope to finish my wedding and event planning course and hopefully start on that path soon. Event Planning is my dream job and I am working hard to make it happen.

A few other highlights include:

• My sister Shannon and I have booked a night away in Niagara Falls this month, complete with a spa treatment. It has been a while since we did an overnight trip together so I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be posting about this one.
• My good friends are getting married in February, in which I am the Best Man. I'm super excited about this one!
• I turn 30 this year. I am hoping to have a big celebration or go on vacation. However, this will be bitter sweet for me because I'll no longer be in my twenties. This kind of makes me sad! 
• My husband booked us a weekend away in beautiful Niagara-on-the-Lake for the Spring. This was a pretty awesome Christmas present.
• Last but not least - Doug and I will be celebrating our 5th Wedding Anniversary in August! No plans yet but I'm sure I'll blog about it!

There is just so much to look forward to and I'm so thankful we have the opportunity to do all of these wonderful things!

Having said that, I want to wish you and your family a very Happy New Year. May 2014 bring new blessings and wishes come true. I look forward to your visits on my blog!

And with that, I leave you with the first official 'Photobomb Selfie' of 2014 (taken just after midnight), courtesy of my friend Chris!

Doug and I, with Chris!

Happy New Year!