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Metro MamaMetro MamaDowntown Toronto mama babbles about motherhood, books, and various nonsense. 
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Adios Amigos!
2009-01-22 01:45:00 McHotty and I have had enough Canadian winter. Winter can just fuck off now, please. The next best thing: we’re fucking off for a week in Acapulco. Yes, by ourselves (don’t hate me). Cakes is happily ensconced at her Grandparents, and we’re packing our bags: swimsuits, a dozen books, good to go. Hasta luego! More About: Amigos
The Hills Are Alive
2009-01-18 20:37:00 I’ve had the best intentions of blogging this week, but this is the first time I’ve been out of bed in 48 hours for longer than enough time to make a cup of tea. Despite having got the damn flu shot, I’ve managed to get the flu for the second year in a row. I came home from work at noon Friday, and have been stuck in bed cursing the gods since. But enough of that (I hate whining about being sick More About: The Hills , Hills , Alive
An Ongoing Offering
2009-01-09 17:06:00 This month marks the last of Mad and Jen’s wonderful Just Posts. Last week they asked us to talk about our philosophy towards charitable donations, and urged us to join them in becoming an ongoing supporter of a cause we believe in. Until recently, I’ve been a very sporadic donator, and I jumped around a lot. When someone I know is fundraising I’m usually quick to shell out a few bucks, but I’
So Long, 2008!
2008-12-31 15:12:00 It’s my birthday today, and thankfully I’m not depressed about it like last year. I seem to have trouble with the mid-decades. 25 was awful, and 35 somewhat devastating, but 36 is a breeze. It should be a good day. We’re still in K-town, and I’m sleeping in every day. McHotty is taking me for birthday lunch, while Cakes and her Grandmother do some “important jobs” (which I think involves a More About: Long , 2008
Happy Holidays!
2008-12-25 17:36:00 Hope you're all warm and happy and having a lovely holiday season. We'll be in the land of dial-up for a week, so we're going to take some time offline. See you in the New Year! xo Metro, McHotty, and Cakes More About: Holidays , Happy Holidays , Happy
And I've Survived Another Crawl
2008-12-22 16:07:00 The 3rd annual neighbourhood Christmas Crawl was a smashing success. As always, the food and drink was to die for, and the company was even better. Every year the party gets a few households bigger, and even better. I was too busy stuffing my face to get many good pics, but here's a few of my highlights (especially the decadent dessert table at the end).
Bring It On!
2008-12-19 16:37:00 Everyone on Twitter is going on about “snowmageddon”, but I say bring it on! Cakes is excited to get out on the sled. I just received a lovely, lovely email announcing the office is closing a noon. The timing couldn’t be better as tonight is the third annual raucous neighbourhood christmas crawl. (See coverage of the inaugural crawl here). We’re kicking things off at our place, then all 30 of More About: Bring It On
The Refresh
2008-12-15 21:54:00 I’ve gone to my share of rock concerts back in the day. Remember the hot tickets that if you wanted to snag you had to log on to ticketmaster at 12:00 sharp, and frantically hit your refresh button, and you were fucked if you were on dial-up? Well, registering Cakes for swimming with Toronto Parks and Recreation is exactly like that, only without the reward of getting stoned and drunk and More About: Refresh
Sunday Morning
2008-12-14 20:26:00 If you get a chance, you really should take the kids to see the windows at The Bay. My pics don't even begin to do them justice. What are your city holiday traditions? More About: Sunday , Morning , Sunday morning
Some Johnny Cash to Enjoy on a Friday
2008-12-12 15:47:00 Metro Dad posted this last year. It makes me happy, so I want to share it again. Hope everyone is getting into the holiday spirit! More About: Enjoy , Johnny Cash , Friday , Cash , Johnny
Fancy Pants
2008-12-10 19:02:00 McHotty and I are living with a three-foot diva. Despite the fact that I wear a dress about 3 times a month, Cakes has developed a strong preference for feminine clothing. She is refusing to wear the cool black jerseys I find at H&M in favour of frilly pink frocks. Last week a package arrived from her grandmother, who had a recently returned from a trip to Boston with outlet mall stops on the More About: Pants , Fancy
Holiday Preparations
2008-12-09 00:33:00 3 can be tough--but it's also pretty damn fun. More About: Holiday
More Best Books of 2008
2008-12-05 17:11:00 Wow, I really am delinquent in my book reviews. Here are four more of my faves for 2008 . Happy reading! Broken by Daniel Clay This book is a riveting tragicomedy, narrated by Skunk, an eleven-year-old girl in a coma. As Skunk lies still in the centre, the lives of those surrounding her explode: the five menacing Oswald girls and their brute of a father; poor Rick “Broken” Buckley humiliated More About: Books
Books for Him
2008-11-27 16:33:00 I’ve called this list “books for him” for the sake of symmetry, but these are my personal favourites, so obviously they’re a great choice for the ladies too. The Road by Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy is my favourite male author, and this is one of his most accessible books. In spare, vivid prose he paints a bleak picture of the human condition, yet affirms the tenacity of love between More About: Books
Metro's Holiday Gift Guide
2008-11-21 21:14:00 Dear lord, another week has gone by without blogging. I just can’t seem to be a good blogger these days. I am ashamed and embarrassed about not writing a book review in so long. To be honest, it’s not just that I’m busy, but I feel much more self-conscious about writing book reviews these days. I know there is a much greater chance the author, or a colleague will read and think my words are More About: Holiday , Gift , Guide
A CanLit Live Blog!
2008-11-10 14:22:00 Updated with pic of Nino Ricci live blogging at the office. If you missed it today, you can catch a transcript here. Well it was a fun, productive weekend, but the recap will have to wait until tomorrow. In a few hours I’ll be helping Nino Ricci get signed up to live blog during the inaugural CanLit Roundtable at the National Post’s new online Books section! It’s a great time to talk books--the More About: Blog , Live
In Which I Start Blogging Again
2008-11-05 19:09:00 I do believe I’ve survived the busiest time of the year at work. We have many, many books that went on sale at the end of October (to capitalize on the holiday shopping, of course). It's the festival season, and the award season. I have a big spreadsheet with titles and dates and I felt like throwing up every time I looked at October. But now it’s November, and life is good again. I am working More About: Blogging , Start
Something Sweet
2008-10-22 14:45:00 My friend Nadine's sweet company is hosting a charity event this Saturday to raise money for Sick Kids. I've already bought my ticket to the Mother's Day Spa-A-Thon, and I have two more for you (thanks Nadine!). Here's the event deets: Raising money for a good cause is important, but who needs to run 10k, spin for 2 hours, or walk for 24 hours, when you could just spend the day at the spa? More About: Sweet
A Conversation, A Rant, and a Holiday Greeting
2008-10-10 19:46:00 Overheard in Cakes’ room the other day: McHotty: Goodnight sweetie! Can I have a kiss and a hug? Cakes: See the sign over there? (gestures to art easel) McHotty: Yes…(puzzled) Cakes: The sign says, “no hugs and no kisses!” *** I am continuing to be driven slowly mad by stupid shit around my house. We just finally got some money back from our insurance claim after much boring paperwork More About: Holiday , Rant , Conversation , Greeting
Things I've Been Doing Instead of Blogging
2008-09-30 02:01:00 I am a really lousy blogger these days, aren’t I! I mean, there’s never been much substance around here, but lately there ain’t much of anything. So what have I been doing instead of blogging? · Work is really, really busy. I spent last week talking about the books for Summer ’09, but I’m just making a dent into the Fall ’08 books. We have a fuck of a lot of books in the fall. My head sure has More About: Blogging , Things
Good Friday
2008-09-19 21:37:00 I’m having a great day. Last night I had the pleasure of catching a classic, Alien, on the big screen with Crazymumma , Denguy, and one of Den’s pals. Today I walked to work with perfect crisp fall weather, and loud GnR on my iPod. I’m finally through my inbox (though a bunch of things are still lurking in black hole I call the “follow up” folder). On my lunch hour, I found a great new dress More About: Friday , Good
Toronto Bloggers Sure Do Love Redneck Mommy!
2008-02-25 01:35:00 You’d think when fifteen bloggers get together for cocktails, the conversations would be just as penetrating, thoughtful, and articulate as our online discussions. In reality, there is a whole lotta boob-grabbing, smooching, and fondling Redneck Mommy . Girl, just you wait ‘til we get our hands on the real thing! But seriously, I do hazily recall a lot of interesting conversation. And I had a More About: Love , Toronto , Bloggers
Interrupting the Whine Fest
2008-02-20 03:39:00 I’ve been a little stressed lately, and I’ve been taking it out in the tone of my blog--I’m usually not one to bitch and moan so much. So, here’s a little sweet to counteract the sour. I’m a little late, but I have a cute Valentine’s day pic to share. McHotty did well for his girls—he made us a chocolate brownie cake, which made both of us very, very happy. He made someone even happier with her More About: Fest , Whine
Fracking Family Day
2008-02-17 21:17:00 For those of you outside of the province, tomorrow marks the first Family Day in Ontario, a new holiday declared by our benevolent Premier, Dalton McGuinty. Is Family Day a huge pain in the ass for anyone else? I may appreciate it more next year, when it is indeed an additional holiday, but this year it is just messing me up. My new job starts officially on Thursday, so I don’t get the paid
Your Tax Dollars at Work
2008-02-09 03:41:00 Update below! For those of you who don’t live around here, we received more than 30 cm of snow this week. It always amazes me how poorly we cope with snow in the city. Today I needed to take Cakes a couple of blocks to Queen Street, to our music in motion class. I had to take the stroller because I had a few errands to do after class. Thirty-six hours after the snowfall, almost half of the More About: Work , Dollars
Renewing My Vows
2008-02-08 01:24:00 I’ve blogged a lot about my commitment to bringing up baby in the city. We’ve had a couple of nasty incidents in my ‘hood lately, so I needed a reminder why I love Toronto. Luckily, I have an out of town guest this week who always gets me out doing things, instead of hibernating with a book all the time. Her first day in town, we caught the closing night of the Soulpepper production of Salt More About: Vows
The Opposite of Dooced!
2008-02-03 22:17:00 Remember how I resolved to goof off on facebook less? Well, a couple of weeks ago, I was doing just that when I noticed a friend had joined a group for young people in the publishing business. Follower that I am, I joined the group, where I spotted a posting for an entry-level job in online marketing for a big publishing house. How freakishly perfect is that! Of course, I immediately got to work More About: Opposite
Metro Reco: House of Leaves
2008-01-29 20:18:00 It makes me happy when my course reading overlaps with the 1001 Books List as Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves does. If you’re looking for something different to read, this is for you. The narrative is framed: one thread is that of troubled tattoo parlour employee Johnny Truant, who becomes obsessed with a manuscript found in the apartment of deceased scholar Zampano. When he died, Zampano More About: Metro
Resolution (for real this time)
2008-01-24 16:18:00 McHotty and I were both home all day yesterday. I was on the computer all day, and he was a busy bee. He went to the gym. He cleaned the toilets and bathtubs. He cooked up a double batch of butter chicken. I commented on all of his activity, and he explained he was making good on his new years’ resolutions: to be consistent at the gym, help with the housework more (!), and leave me with leftovers More About: Time , Real , Resolution
Turn Down the Volume
More articles from this author:2008-01-21 01:09:00 Remember all my anxiety about Cakes not talking? I didn’t know a good thing when I had it. The gal is making up for lost time, and she has only one volume setting—excruciatingly loud. My day starts with a sound more irritating than the loudest alarm, and even though we don’t even sleep on the same floor, she might as well be in the same room. “Mommy! Mom-MY! MOMMY! GET UP!” My plaintive More About: Turn , Volume 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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