What to get the hostess with the mostest + A giveaway

My mom is a social butterfly who loves to entertain, whether that’s having a handful of friends over to play Bridge or the entire cast and crew of the latest play she’s stage-managed or produced. There’s always cheese and olives in the fridge and crackers in the cupboard for impromptu guests and extra pillows and blankets if you want to crash on the pull-out couch. (It’ll break your back, but you’re welcome to it.) I stayed with her this weekend when I was in Toronto for a conference and wanted to give her a little something to thank her for having me. What do you give the hostess with the mostest? I knew just the thing! Maybe it’ll be just your thing too.

Five things

We had our big Thanksgiving dinner last night so we’ve been pretty low-key today. The menfolk have been watching Bob Vila’s Home Again on the Interwebs (can you believe it’s 25 years old?), the kiddos playing with Lego, and me baking all the things. How was your day?

1. #TBT to October 2012 and a visit to the Valleyview Little Animal Farm for a birthday party.
2. Thanksgiving dessert, and my first time making pumpkin pie. Do you have a favourite pumpkin pie recipe to share?
3. What we want to do after all that pie.
4. A carrot bouquet at the farmer’s market.
5. Coming up in the next couple of weeks here on try small things: reviews of Butter Celebrates! A Year of Sweet Recipes to Share with Family and Friends and Lovable Livable Home; warming up for winter with minted, reviews of two new Canadian subscription boxes, and the latest innovation from Lampe Berger.

Have a great week, everybody! Talk to you again soon.

Five things + A giveaway!

School’s out and summer’s officially here! What’s in store for the weekend, everybody? My kiddos are away visiting family for a couple of days so I’m catching up on some reading, doing a lot of cleaning (it’s really the only time I feel like I can make some headway) and going out to dinner tonight with girlfriends from the neighbourhood. Here’s a look at some of the goings-on in the past week or two.

Five things

Do you have a Summer bucket list? I’ve never made one myself, but I do have few things that I’d like to do. Like take the kids to a water park. Pick strawberries and make jam. Do a road trip to Target (the nearest one is two hours away) and Hello Yellow in Almonte (a 45-minute drive). And read Sophie Kinsella’s new book. (And about a dozen others!) Here’s a few things I’ve been up lately.

1. Bananas, cherries and a splash of milk whizzed together in the food processor made the most delicious (and nutritious!) popicles the other day. Me and the kids could live on frozen treats, so you’ll be seeing a lot more of my concoctions this summer.

2. I’m partnering with minted to build a gallery wall and last week my prints arrived. Oh I can’t wait to show you the big reveal when it all comes together! (And there might be a little sumthin’ in it for you too!)

3. All these carnations, just $6 in Loblaws’ discounted flower section! I call them poor man’s peonies.

4. Have you done any planting this year? Yesterday we put together a wee herb garden with all of the usual suspects (chives, basil, thyme, etc.).

5. June is going to be a busy month here on the blog, what with the gallery wall reveal, more book reviews, a look at my trip to a super fun craft show, another giveaway from Lampe Berger and more! I hope you’ll follow along. I’m so glad you’re reading.

Have a great week everybody!

Five things

1. A brief moment of joy shooting a pasta dish this week from Curtis Stone’s Good Food, Good Life. (Look for a review on the blog later this week.) Sometimes the kids love helping me with pictures, other times they give me all kinds of grief. You know, as kids do.

2. First trip to the new Whole Foods the other day and what did I buy? Doughnuts. (I know. So healthy.) But not just any doughnuts — locally sourced ones from Ottawa’s own SuzyQ Doughnuts, a wee gem of a bakery in Hintonburg. Which one would you like? There’s dirty chocolate, raspberry cassis, cookies and cream and cinnamon toast crunch. (Yum!)

3. Or maybe you fancy a cocktail instead? Aldo served up all kinds of pretty treats and eats last night to launch their Spring collection at the Rideau Centre store. (More on that this week too.)

4. This week Lampe Berger invited me to be a brand ambassador and of course I said yes (woot!) so over the next year I’ll be introducing you to some of their latest products and offering you the chance to win some of your own (woot woot!). Thank you to all of you who entered my first Lampe Berger giveaway and congratulations to the winner, Rebby!

5. Speaking of giveaways, have you entered to win $100 in Urban Barn gift cards? The contest ends March 20. My friend Jessica is also running a huge giveaway with Yak Communications for $200 and $100 Mastercard gift cards and $50 in Yak credit (check it out!); Sarah has a $90 Gay Lea prize pack up for grabs; and Christine has a $100 Tim Hortons gift card that just might have your name on it!

Have a great week everybody, and thanks a million for reading.