My Blog Hates Me

Have you ever found yourself in the position of having to re-acquaint yourself with a friend you haven't seen in ages because time just slipped by? You promised yourself one day to call them up and resume communication, but easier said than done, because the longer you waited to call, the harder it got to make that call and vice versa. (You see were this is going?)

That's the relationship I've had with my blog recently. (Sorry, hope there are no hard feelings blog). After a long hiatus, I've made friendly with my blog again, I gave it a makeover and have started to bestow upon it the attention it deserves.

Along the way I enlisted the help of a fantastic site, The Mom Entrepreneur Group. They have numerous forums from increasing awareness for your business or driving more traffic to your site. So this was definately my first resource in getting my blog jump-started. I added the necessary RSS feed button and other social media icons to allow my readers to better follow Lipstick & Lullabies. I also registered with FeedBurner. This is The tool that'll help manage your blog and provide custom RSS feeds as well.

I wanted to keep my blog organized and easy to read. What with all the different visuals and icons in a blog, it can quickly end up looking like an explosion was set off. Simply put, if it appears chaotic, your reader will get distracted.

My on-line searching brought me to a brilliant post by Closet Cooking on how to streamline the above (most importantly, organizing those social media icons to sit all pretty in one horizontal line at the top right hand side of my blog). Go and visit Kevin's site to get the most precise instructions on how to do this. That and my other links should get you and your blog on the right track

I'm now happy to say, my blog and I are friends again.....

I Was....(Am) a Charlie's Angel Wanna-Be

Okay, I'm going to date myself here....
When I was younger I loved watching the TV show Charlie's Angels.
I was in awe of their feathered tresses, their glamour and their ability to fight crime while still keeping it cool. My pre-pubescent dream in life, was to be just like them.

Sub-consciously, I must have kept the positive experiences of watching Charlie's Angels, somewhere in my memory bank, because when I was invited to go to a shooting range not so long ago, I jumped at the opportunity. I could finally relive my dream!

When my girlfriends and I got to the indoor range, my idea of the 'Angel' glamour was met with a more 'true to life' approach.
Ughhh, my golden tresses were not flowing like Farah's! Instead they were assaulted to 'hat head' when put under the required ball cap. My long and dangly earrings were all covered up with disproportionate and unsightly looking ear protectors and finally my 'look-at-me-I'm-so-cool-sunglasses' were replaced by geeky-looking eye guards!
The plan got all screwed up! All this hideousness I had to wear, just to protect me from hot flying gun casings and the noise of the firing gun - really?!

With all that said, it was actually pretty interesting - dare I say it, fun?
Within an hour we got to try out a variety of different guns such as 38 special, 9mm glock, 12 gage shotgun and many more I can't remember the names of.

Although, I have no real desire to do anymore shooting, I'm glad I tried it.

10 Ways to do March Break in Toronto on the Cheap

That time of year is fast approaching. A full 14 hour day with the kids, no school, no preschool. What's a city mom to do?
Now is the perfect time to discover your city! You and your child can do March break in Toronto the cheap & cheerful way, have vast amounts of fun and learn something new about your city.

This is my go to list:

1. Go Ice Skating at a variety of different ice rinks throughout the city. Our favourite for beginners and kids is the rink at Evergreen Brickworks. We also love snacking on the sweet potato fries and marshmallows they have roasting for a small fee.


2. Introduce your child to the world of art by checking out the permanent collection at the AGO - Art Gallery of Ontario. Free Admission on Wednesdays 6pm - 8:30pm

3. Marvel at the exhibits at the ROM - Royal Ontario Museum. Your kids will Love the Dinosaur Exhibit! There is free general admission on Wednesdays 3:30pm - 5:30pm.


4. Find a hill and go toboganning! Great spots include Sherwood Park (Mt. Pleasant North of Eglinton), Trinity Bellwoods Park (Queen St. W.) Withrow Park (Carlaw south of Danforth Ave.), Christie Pits (Bloor & Christie).


5. Defrost yourself and visit Allan Gardens. A conservatory open year round displaying orchids, and other beautiful tropical plants. There are 6 different greenhouses to stroll through. (South of Carlton St. West of Sherbourne St.)



6. Visit Cabbagetown's Riverdale Farm, and meet the residents here including, horses, chickens, goats, etc.(East off Parliament St., one block north of Carlton St.)

7. Visit the High Park Zoo - it's free and you're surrounded by beauty right. You'll see interesting animals such as peacocks, llamas, Barbarry sheep. etc.

8. Take in all the sights and smells by visiting St. Lawrence Market
Grab a peameal bacon sandwich or head downstairs and devour the famous Veal on a Bun sammies.

9. Stroll through Kensington Market grab a coffee for yourself at one of the many organic free-trade stalls and treat your kids to a warm, fried Churros

10. Playground Paradise: Let your kids use up their energy at this city run indoor playground. $2 will get you all the sliding, climbing, scampering they can handle at this 2 level jungle gym. (150 Grenoble Dr. at Don Mills Rd.)

Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt

We had fun with mini Munchie on Valentines Day with a more interesting way to get the goods!
Instead of just the usual unwrapping of his Valentine's treat, we decided to do a little bit of a scavenger hunt for him.
Try this next time with your kids. Even if they can't yet read, pictures or photographs do just as well!
They will be so excited after the build up to find their 'special treat'.

Top 10 Things To Do in the Tampa Bay Area with Kids

We recently went down to Florida to visit with the Grandparents, also known as Baba and Grumps....with respect to these given names, I don't ask, I just go along with it.

While any visit to Florida is fun and easy with kids when the weather is good, (with a beach to play at, sandcastles to make, pools to swim in), it can be a bit more challenging to entertain your kids if the weather doesn't make nice.

This was the case on our most recent trip.
Our week long stay was in the Tampa Bay/Clearwater Beach area. Being a bit further north of Ft. Myers and the rest of South West Florida, it is common to have cold rainy spells during this time of year.
On days where the temperatures barely reached mid 60's, we needed to figure out a non-beach game plan. This is what we came up with to keep Mini Munchie happy.

Top 10 Things To Do in the Tampa Bay Area:

10. Visit Great Explorations - a children's museum that enables your child to learn through interactive displays.

9. Go and see Winter the dolphin, at the Clearwater Aquarium. This baby dolphin was left so badly injured, that she lost her tail after getting caught in a tangle of buoy lines in 2005. She has since learned to adapt and swim without it. She is a hero in Clearwater.

8. Take in the smells and sights of fresh local fruits, veggies and baked goodies at the St. Petersburg Farmer's Market.

7. Drive 20 minutes north to Dinosaur World. Walk amongst 150 life size dinosaurs or dig for fossils.

6. Head down to Pier 60 in Clearwater, to take part in the nightly celebration of the magnificent sunset. There are many performers and activities for the kids.

5. Feed the giraffes at the Lowry Park Zoo.

4. Swim with the Manatees in Crystal River. These gentle and affectionate sea cows will nuzzle up to your ankles and allow you to pet them.

3. Kids can 'climb aboard' and experience the thrill of riding on miniature train replicas of the Largo Central Railroad. Taking them over 1 mile of track running through Largo Central Park.

2. Go fishing off the St. Petersburg Pier, and bring home dinner fresh from the ocean.

1. Come face to face with manta rays, sharks and a variety of tropical fish at the Florida Aquarium.

Wow! What a Great Week

Ever heard of the expression, when it rains it pours?
This certainly holds true for my clothing line, Binksy & Bobo.

Some weeks there are just a few droplets of activity and other times a flash flood!
This has been the case this week, (maybe not flash floods but certainly a great a big downpour). Very exciting!

My week started off with an email from a friend who had just received the latest SavvyMom.ca newsletter. She made my day, by telling me my Reversible Hoodie Sets were featured.
Um, awesome! - I just love getting good news like that.

Later on in the week I was given the opportunity to send something baby related for a celebrity gift basket for Kevin Costner's 7th baby girl (yes you read that correctly), 7th.
I sent along a cute little Reversible Tie Dress in this colour combination.

I'm sure little Avery Grace will get a lot of wear out of it. How could she not? It's reversible, so if there is a spill down one side, inside out it goes and Avery has another cute & clean little outfit to wear.

I'll keep you posted with feedback on the dress. Hopefully, the next time I'm waiting in line at checkout, I'll see Avery across the cover of People Magazine wearing her Binksy & Bobo dress and looking very pretty!

Lesson Learned: Never leave home baked goodies to cool on counter

I love to bake. I've developed quite a sweet tooth over the last little while - and I'm far from menopausal, so what gives??
So to satisfy the urge I decided to make a modified chocolate Turtle.

I'm into salty-sweet combinations, so I crunched up smoked almonds and put them into mini muffin tins as the base. I then made a chewey caramel out of boiled sugar and water and topped it off with melted chocolate.

After setting them on a wire rack on the counter to cool, it started to get way too quiet in my house. When you have a toddler and and you can hear a pin drop - you know they are up to no good.

Wouldn't you know it, mini Munchie had somehow managed to find the Chocolate Turtles on the counter (even though I thought I had pushed them far back out of his reach).
Well wasn't he the happy-messy one. Now, not only do I have to hide any freshly baked items from my husband, but now my son too.

The solution? I suppose I have to do all my baking at 3am when both my guys are asleep or think of a hiding place where my baked goodies can cool and won't succumb to the tempations of certain family members. If you have any good ideas for hiding places, please drop me a line.