My Urban Suburban

At long last! It’s here! We have waited and waited as if for the birth of a child…ok, that’s probably a bit dramatic, but whatever. You know what I mean. It’s finally opening! Marshalls at Highstreet in Abbotsford will celebrate it’s Grande Opening tomorrow at 9am and the first 300 customers through the doors will receieve a $10 gift certificate! I’d say that’s a good reason to be late for work, no?

Happy Shopping!!

My crazy Nut turned three last week (OMG!) and this year I decided to go all out with a birthday theme, planning an awesome Splatter Paint party at 4 Cats Art Studio! So cool. Have you heard of them? They have five locations in the FV and many others throughout the Lower Mainland!

My daughter is a bubbly, goofy, free-spirited child who loves colours and art, so this party was perfect for her…and a ton of fun for me to pull together.

I was determined to make a colourful cake, which ended up being a little more work than I anticipated, but totally worth it. After alot of Pinterest research, I decided on a rainbow layer cake with white frosting and “splatter paint” to finish it off. I followed this recipe (yes, my cakes are from a box) and used a mixture of regular food colouring with gel food colouring to achieve the bright colours. I used Buttercream icing from Scoop-N-Save in Langley between layers and around the outside. I don’t make icing…I don’t have time…and frankly the Buttercream from Scoop-and-Save rocks! Why mess with a good thing?

I was at a loss for how to do the splatter, so chatted with the ladies at Scoop-N-Save  and we agreed that using chocolate melts would be the easiest (and tastiest) way to accomplish the look. I added some food-grade cocoa butter to the melted chocolates to help thin it and smooth the texture. Then, when they were all melted, I just splattered them on! Messy! But fun. Just like a splatter painting party.

Goody bags were another area where I wanted to incorporate the theme. I bought plain white bags from Michaels, then used Miss A’s Crayola paints (thinned out with a bit of water) to splatter them. I literally just covered my dining table with a garbage bag, then dipped a fork in the paint and dripped it on the bags; then stood the bags up so the colour would run down. Do one colour at a time to layer it. I filled each bag with paints, a canvas, bubbles, stickers and some candy.

I really should have stopped there, but I was having too much fun, so I decided to also make Miss A a splatter shirt to wear! Super easy. I bought the cheapest fabric paint I could find at Michaels, a cheap white t-shirt (Walmart, $4) and just held it up on a hanger and squirted paint all over it! Follow the directions on the paint for drying and setting the colour.

I’m thrilled with the way this party turned out. The theme came together seamlessly, it really wasn’t a lot of work for me, and the kids all had a blast…which is the most important part. And look at the gorgeous splatter canvas we ended up with? We opted to get this stretched into three smaller canvases, which we will put up in Miss A’s bedroom so she can always remember her fabulous party and the fun she had!

Are you on Instagram? I (finally) set up an account for My Urban Suburban and would love to connect with you there! @myurbansuburban

Here’s a little snapshot of my week:

1) Very happy with the results of my 8-week trial of Strivectin-SD. Have you entered to win your own bottle? Get your name in soon!

2) Started my annual Wild Rose cleanse. Feeling amazing on day 8 and re-committed to eating clean and getting healthy.

3) Mother’s Day breakfast in bed. Cleanse-approved frittata, made by my amazing hubby and little lady, flowers and cuddles. Doesn’t get better than that!

4) New summer shoes for my babe! Love her little feet.

5) Drooling over all the summer clothes and colours at Bench in Willowbrook Mall.

Happy Long Weekend everyone

This contest is now closed. Congratulations to Lynn from Langley who has won a bottle of  StriVectin-SD Concentrate! Thanks to everyone who entered, there were alot of you!! 

Cheers,

Erin

x0x

If you’ve been following along, I recently tested out a new skin cream and have fallen in love with it. Eight weeks after starting StriVectin-SD, my skin is brighter, smoother and healthier looking than it has been in years.

I’ve mentioned before that as a young girl, I struggled with Cystic Acne, and while it didn’t cause major scarring, it did leave me with a few blemishes  and a massive self-esteem issue about my skin.

#selfie #iphoto #makeupfree

Since I was 18 years old, I have not left the house without makeup on my skin. Whether I had pimples or not, I could not look in the mirror without seeing blemishes. So it’s amazing to me – and incredibly liberating – that I have not work concealer or foundation for the last 3 weeks! This may seem terriby silly or trivial to some…but to me, it’s a big deal.
Like Huge.

So now it’s your chance to WIN your own bottle of Strivectin-SD!

How to Enter:
Email me at theurbansuburban@gmail.com with Skincare in the subject line.

Names will be entered into a random draw. I will contact the winner for address information.

I love eyeshadow. I can spend an embarrassing amount of time playing with colours, applying different techniques to achieve various ‘looks’, and I’ve collected a rather massive number of colours and shades. But here’s my problem…I have creasy eyelids and no matter what I do, my eyeshadow inevitably ends up creased and oily looking. Gross, right? And annoying.

But things have changed. I’ve discovered the greatest eyeshadow base and I had to share: NYX High-Definition Eye Shadow Base. My friend, Nafisa, who understands my eyelid challenges bought this for me. Isn’t she sweet?

…This reminds me I owe her a Starbucks.

Anyway, here’s what I love about it:

• It’s $10.
• It’s light (not opaque and heavy like some can be).
• It’s practically invisible under the eyeshadow, which means less blending.
• It’s called a base but works like a primer (a base helps shadows look more vibrant, but don’t promise to increase the wear time of your shadows; a primer makes shadows longer-lasting and most will enhance their color.) Hence, this one being called a base, but working like a primer.
• I’ve discovered that using a base really enhances the colour of your eyeshadow, which means you use less.

And perhaps most importantly….

• I can put it on in the morning at 6am with my eyeshadow, go to work, come home, play with Miss A, go to spin class and sweat my @$! off, come home, eat dinner, watch TV and when I go to wash my face at 11pm, my eyeshadow is still intact and not creasy!!! Ah. Mazing.

Available at London Drugs

Enjoy!

xox

Lovely!! H&M has announced it will open its doors in the new Hightstreet shopping centre, currently under construction at Mt. Lehman Rd and Hwy 1.

Our “City in the Country” is getting a little more urban!

No news yet on specific opening date, but tenants are quickly moving in to the 60,000 sq foot development. Walmart Super Centre is already open, Marshalls is set to open May 23, to be followed by London Drugs, Old Navy…and the other 90+ shops and restaurants that are slated for opening.

Find out more here.

I love bean salad. Like, the kind you get in a can, or the one all our grandma’s probably made. But it can get a little boring. So, here’s my updated version of bean salad…fresh, summery, and delicious! Adapted from this recipe from the amazing Giada De Laurentiis.

What you’ll need:

• 3-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried rosemary (or fresh if you have it)
• 2 cups fresh green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces 
• 2 cups shelled edamame beans (buy the pre-shelled frozen ones)
• 1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 container Romano cheese petals (you can also just buy a block and shave or cut into small pieces)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

• Wash beans and cut off ends; chop into bite size pieces.
• In a shallow pan, boil enough water to cover the beans.
• Cook beans until bright green, about 3 minutes. Drain and pour into dish of ice water. Chill for about 1 minute, then drain and let sit.
• Put shelled edamame in a dish, cover with water, and cook in microwave for approx 3 mins (depends on your microwave)
• Once cooked, remove the edamame from microwave, drain and let cool (I throw mine in the fridge.)
• In a frying pan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant, but not brown. About 30 seconds.
• Remove oil and garlic from stove, pour into cup or saucer and mix in rosemary. Set aside to cool.
• Add green beans, white kidney beans, edamame, romano cheese, salt and pepper to mixing bowl.
• Pour garlic & rosemary oil overtop and toss until fully coated

Enjoy!

xox

Alright loves, warm up your credit card because the 64th Annual Army & Navy Shoe Sale is two sleeps away!

Sale begins at 8am this Wednesday the 24th at all Army & Navy locations across Canada, including some in our very own backyards of Langley, Vancouver and New Westminster. 

Sale runs until Sunday, May 5 with new stock arriving daily.

Take a look at some sneak peeks of this year’s highlights, which will include over 100,000 pairs of premium designer labels like BCBG, Steve Madden, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Eli Tahari, Franco Sarto, Pour La Victorie, Bandolino, Marc Fisher and Kelsi Dagger.

These beauties are on my list this year: 

I’m late in getting this post up…little things like a full-time job, a three year old, moving houses, a husband who put his back out (again) and life in general just keep getting in the way. You know those times when you want to check yourself into a luxury hotel (ALONE) with a bubble bath overlooking the beach and copious amounts of wine??? That’s me right now.

But I digress.

Amidst the chaos there is something great going on with me, and it’s my skin (clearly it doesn’t take much to make me happy these days.) But truly, at the risk of this post sounding like a lame infommercial, I really am loving my StriVectin!

The first 2-3 weeks the change was really obvious; the last 2 weeks has been less obvious, but I can still feel it. Does that make sense? It’s like losing weight…in the beginning, you see fast changes. Then it drops off a bit and the change isn’t so apparent, but you know it’s still happening. That’s how I feel about my skin. In the last couple weeks, the change has been more subtle, but I can still tell it’s happening. And that’s saying alot because I’ve been feeling stressed with everything going on, which is generally when my skin starts to look pale and sullen.

According to the box, at the 4 week mark, users should be seeing:

• Natural cell turnover intensifying; visibly fading discolorations.

If you don’t know exactly what that means (like me) the best way to describe what I’m seeing is that that my skin actually looks nice without makeup on it! Thats huge for me. Huge. I still wear my base and powder, especially to work, but on weekends and evenings I find myself going without it more often than I ever have before. And I’m not a miserable cow about it! I don’t look in the mirror and immediately see all my blemishes; In fact, I actually caught myself admiring my skin the other day. Admiring it!! I’m 34 years old and don’t think I’ve ever done that before. Like ever.

Needless to say, this skeptical gal is actually quite impressed with this new product. Next update at 8 weeks…but stay tuned next week for a giveaway contest to win your own bottle of StriVectin! I know you’ll be as impressed as I’be been.

This isn’t something I would normally post on my blog, but the story of Rehtaeh Parsons has made my heart hurt in a way I can’t describe. Because I don’t know what else I can do, I’ve decided to share my thoughts here; to honour the life of a young girl I never knew, but who I know was good, and who I know was loved.

What solidified my decision to write this was reading Rehtaeh’s father’s reflection about her death. If you haven’t already, please take the time to read it. Don’t gloss over it like you might with other news stories. Digest it. Feel it. It is a beautiful, honest and brutally painful acknowledgement of a father’s love for his daughter, the value of her life and the gift that she was to the world. You don’t have to be a parent for his words to have meaning. You don’t have to be a parent to understand his sadness, or to empathize with the anger, the rage, the frustration – the complete disbelief – that comes with watching someone you love suffer so deeply, and slip away from this world so tragically.  As people – as human beings – those are feelings we can all understand.

I am not going to go down the path of trying to understand why things like this happen; or try to wrap my head around how people can be so incredibly vicious. Frankly, no ”explanation” will do. This should never have happened. Full stop. A young girl like Rehtaeh should have been safe in her community, in her school…in our world. The system should have protected her; it should have punished those whose senseless act of inhumanity caused her to feel such anguish. But instead, it failed her so greatly – so efficiently and effectively - that she took her own life. How can anyone justify this? How can any of us look in the mirror and feel good about the world we live in when, in fact, we are failing so momentously at simply keeping people safe? Personally, in light of Rehtaeh’s, story, I’m struggling with this.

Her dad says: “You have the opportunity here to do something good…” His statement is directed at the Justice Minister of Nova Scotia, but in some ways, I feel like he is talking to each one of us. Because we all have the opportunity to do something good, every single day. No matter how big, or how small. I know it’s lofty and it’s a total cliche, but the truth is that we can all leave this world a better place than when we arrived. It is our responsibility – our duty in life – to take care of each other.

Stories like Rehtaeh’s can feel overwhelming. We read them, we ‘like’ their Facebook memorial pages, we chat about them over a glass of wine or lunch at work, and then we move on; not because we don’t care, but because we don’t know what we can do. And what can we do? Can we change the outcome of this story or any other one like it? No. As much as we would like to, we cannot.

But we can choose to honour the lives of those like Rehtaeh, whose pain was too great to overcome. We can do more than ‘Like’ a page on Facebook. We can choose to live consciously, with our eyes and hearts open; with clear values and morals and standards of conduct. We can be kind and just. We can teach our kids to know – very clearly – the difference between right and wrong; we can teach them to speak up and stand firm against the hate and ugliness in our world. We can hold our governments and leaders accountable for their decisions and their actions (or lack thereof). We can actively participate in the pursuit of goodness, rather than passively watching as hateful and vile things take place in our world.

We all have a choice and we all have a voice.

This is what I have taken from Rehtaeh’s story. I hope in some very small way, that my public commitment to trying to be better, kinder and more solidly grounded in my values, will make a difference in this world and help to honour the lives of people like Rehtaeh who deserved more – deserved better – from life.

May you rest in peace Rehtaeh. Your story will live in my heart.