urbanmoms.ca Book Club

The Body Shop Rant

I first fell in love with the Strawberry Oil at the Body Shop.  I used to wear it as perfume and I even ran into a boyfriend from university last fall that said that whenever he smells Strawberry he still thinks of me.

One very hot summer day I decided it was too sweet and I went back and added a shot of vanilla.  That proved to be the magic concoction for summer with a little tribute to White Musk every now and then for winter.

Then they discontinued Strawberry and I was at a loss. I am very brand loyal and not too adventurous, when I like something, I stick to it, which is why after 25 years of every skin professional sighing and exclaiming "oh Mon Dieu" I still wash my face with Noxzema.  But this is about the Body Shop.

I next fell in love with the little aromatherapy bath balls. Those of you of a certain age will remember them. Sandalwood, Bergamot, Lemon, Strawberry, Vanilla...some for relaxing, some for refreshing, you could buy a pre-packaged sleeve or mix and match. I loved those babies...and then...they were discontinued.

So I moved on to Grapefruit Body Wash and the Strawberry Scrub.  At tleast when they discontued one, they brought in another.  But then those got discontinued and I gave up...for a very long time.  I had been drawn in and dumped too many times to readily forgive.

And then, I walked by one day and I saw the Grapefruit Body Wash, back in the window, beckoning me back.  And just as was the case for most of my dating life, I let what I knew to be bad news lure me back with promises of a quick fix.

Just as I was starting to think all this crazy discontinuing, inventing of new and (to my palate) yucky fake fragrances - no offence to anyone who actually likes Satsuma - and re-introducing of tried and true friends as if they had never existed was just evidence of a company in flux, they began to move the stores.  My local Body Shop, beside Roots, across from Sporting Life on Yonge Street disappeared. Then the one in Yorkville - gone. Next Yorkdale, boarded up , moved somewhere else in the mall, but I have never been able to figure out Yorkdale. And even in the Royal Bank Tower, Mr. Husbands BS of choice for birthday and Christmas.

Now I was battling fickle merchandise and morphing store locations. I decided it was time to officially retire once and for all and they brought back the Strawberry Body Scrub. A personal fave and I couldn't say no...I am soooo weak.

But this week, the final nail has come down and I am officially retiring my BS card, I actually don't ahve one but I would retire it if I did.

My sweet Cupcake (pseudonym for 17 year old Step-daughter - who just got into QUEEN'S by the way!!!!) bought me a lovely home diffuser for Christmas with cranberry oil. I'm not such a cranberry fan but I did like the idea of the diffuser and we set it right up at the ski chalet we rented and enjoyed the scent of cranberry as it over-powered the moldy old cottage aroma that came with the place.

It lasted 3 months, or one ski season and I went to buy more oil. I know I should have known better, but this sucker punch I was not expecting.  The BS does not sell refills for their diffusers. They don't carry them. They have not been discontinued or sold out, they sold and marketed a product for which they never had a refill.

I cannot get up from this one. I have a lovely Christmas gift from a very thoughtful girl that I cannot even refill and use again. It's one thing to keep changing scents and products, but to not even carry the refill of your own initial product just does me in.  I am officially giving up on the Body Shop after the couple of hundreds of times that it has given up on me. I have tried and tried, but they have lost me as a customer. Of course, next week they may re-introduce the bath balls and I will have to reconsider. But at the moment I have thrown down the guanlet, I quit BS.

PS - I'm not advocating that any of you quit, this is just my decision for me.

PPS - I do hope I have a friend or two who will buy some Hemp handcream and smuggle it to me the next time they are in one of the stores.

Are Vacations Worth it?

Ever wonder 24 hours after you've gotten home if you were even away? 

I most especially marvel at this post-holiday letdown in September.  In our family, the kids are not the only ones who get the summer off. As a teacher it is a full-on holiday for me too.  I love that there are two months off, I am never itching to get back to school, although occasionally I wish the kids were going back before me. And I tend to get the most out of summer. I relax, swim, run, play, go for romantic boat rides with Mr. Husband...

So there really is no reason why by the second day of school, Ok, maybe the third, that I feel like I have not even been off for a week.  I'm sure the physical affects of the stress that ravages my body and mind are alleviated by my two month holiday, but the exhaustion, frustration of getting everything done and low patience threshold with others is back and booming within the first week of school.

The same is true for any holiday I take.  Last weekend included.

48 hours I was lounging by the pool in 80 degree weather at this most decadent and delicious hotel in Las Vegas, having the most relaxing holiday I've had in 7 or 8 years.

A 12hour flight of poor service and bad connections, SNOW, a crazy back-to-school day, a very bad Leaf game, no internet service, a missed urbanmoms post, preparation for the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test and an impending belated Easter celebration later and I can barely remember that I was relaxed, once upon a time, for a few lovely, lovely days.

My apologies to all of you that my post fell victim to my holiday shenanigans. I did have great intentions of catching up last night, not knowing that our very fickle internet was also on vacation.

The stress-free portion of the programme may be over, but I do have to highly, highly recommend Wynn for a mommy and daddy retreat when you are prepared to sign for everything without looking at the price and just assume that you will pay for it for the next few years.  Either that, or hit it big at the slots.

Alas, lady luck, although not cruel to the Brooks, was rather cold and paid us little attention. I do have bragging rights of making it through 86 players in a Texas hold'em tournament at Caesar's Palace, to number 11, but the money didn't start paying until 9th. At least I beat Mr. Husband who got knocked out at 85 when his aces were cracked by trip  5's.

We took a little advice from Elton John who rocked my world at the Colisseum and refused to let the sun go down on us...which may contribute to my exhaustion this week.

And we had the most decadent dinner, the chef's menu at Alex, the signature restaurant at Wynn, which included caviar, lobster, scallops and seared foie gras.

The party may be over, there is an unpacked suitcase in every room of my house...some still left over from March Break and the unloading of the ski chalet, I have at least 12 loads of laundry, garbage that has missed last Thursday's pick up and some awfully green and smelly foods in the fridge, but I had 4 quality days with my husband and all the frazzle dazzle that has come before and after is more than worth it. For a few hours it was just us and I will cling to this through all the personal missteps, house re-organizing calamities and back to work fiascos that follow that rare opportunity.   

Back to School???

For most of the province, March Break comes to a thudding end tonight. Moms are busy humming and singing to themselves with the thought of the structure and activity that will roll back into the lives of their children tomorrow morning.

For those of us who work at, or have children who attend the "pay more go less" independent and private schools, there is another week of fun and frivolity, or exasperation and impatience to be had.

Last week did not start well for me. Sirtalksalot behaved in a way in which only a twelve year old who feels that he has been mistreated can when he discovered that we would be leaving the city early on the Friday in order to get to ski country before the BIG STORM hit.  Mr. Husband not only had to work all week, he also had a hearing on the weekend, so I was not looking forward to a full week with cranky pre-teen, croupy little Gaffer and impending head cold.

Fortunately, things are rarely as bad as they seem and the week turned around.

The Gaffer graduated to CHAMPLAIN, "Mama's Hill" with her brother.

The weather was a bit chilly for March Break, but the skiing and the snow were fantastic!

Mama had some medicinal wine and table dancing at a therapeutic adults only dinner at TED'S RANGE ROAD DINER in Meaford. (traveled there and back by school bus, no concerns about drinking and driving!)

We enjoyed a gourmet outdoor lunch that we won with a bunch of other families in the Georgian Peaks' Live Auction - thank you Jean!

And we had a few decadent trips to the Intrawest Village at Blue Mountain.

Sirtalksalot was tons of fun to be with and we had not a single fight!!! Could be a lifetime record!! And the Gaffer, well...aside from the fact that she did not sleep through the night once, she was a great little Snow Bear.

March Break '08, although off to a shaky start, was an unqualified success.

And now Mama gets her reward...a trip for Mama and Daddy to Sin City, Vegas Baby! Yeah!!!

I'm not sure how well I will be able to observe Good Friday and Easter Sunday when I'm hanging at the Wynn and toe-tapping to Elton John, but I'll say lots of prayers before I go and hope that both God and the Easter Bunny can forgive me this once.  Mama not only needs a new pair of shoes, she needs some hot sun and a long, uninterrupted sleep.

March Break Update

It took me an hour to figure out how to use the wireless network at the ski lodge so unfortunately I now have to go and pick up the Gaffer from her lesson.  I'll have to load pictures later but wanted to put in a quick note of thanks for all the sympathy for my wicked, wicked, wicked cold.  It is still hanging in but I have managed more than a few moments of fun and sunshine. 

I hope you are all having a great week.

More soon!!

This is How My March Break is Starting...

...how's yours?

Maybe We Ain't That Young Anymore...

....Show a little faith, there's magic in the night
     You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright
     Oh and that's alright with me

Recognize these lyrics???

maybe a little later in the song?

Heaven's waiting on down the tracks
Oh oh come take my hand
Riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road
oh Thunder Road

Yessssssssss!!!! Baby!!!!! They come from Thunder Road, penned and sung by the man so rightly nicknamed the Boss, Bruce Springsteen!

Mr. Husband has an awful lot of quirks and idiosyncracies that can make life a bit challenging, but his most makes them passion for live music almost makes them all seem insignificant.  Because he is very generous with his concert addiction, and for Christmas, gave me tickets to see Bruce...last night...at Copps Colisuem in Hamilton. Here is is with Little Stevie (I can never erase the Soprano memories when I see him.) BTW - These photos are from http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery/5399853/bruce_springsteen_photos/photo/62/large/brucespringsteen

I have seen my friend Bruce several times, but never all night from behind (we had rear stage tickets and I got to stare at his oooohhhh sooooo gorgeous ass all  night) and this was easily the best show ever.

Here is a You Tube link to the very old Dancing in the Dark video in case you have never had the opportunity to witness such beauty. He may be twenty years older, but his butt looks better than ever and he played this same song with more energy and intensity than even Courtney Cox in a white t-shirt could muster.

Bruce tends to stay pretty true to the album he is promoting when he is on tour, but last night we got, The Rising, Thunder Road, Born ro Run, The River, Dancing in the Dark and Darkness on the Edge of Town, ...you can see the set list for yourselves.

There was also a nice shout out by Bruce to Ontario girls when he dedicated Girls in Their Summer Clothes to all of us.

I may be 42 and a mother of a pre-schooler and a step-mother of three teens and a high school English teacher and a Catholic church goer who gave up chocolate for lent, but when Bruce looks me in the eye and says

Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run

I'm screaming 'tramps like us' at the top of my lungs and beaming with the knowledge that for a few brief seconds, the Boss and I are one.

Baby Worm Cake

Many thanks to Julie at Organization 101 (see this month's Closet Basics) for this inspired suggestion for a baby worm cake. Sherman was ecstatic and I am thrilled to be able to post something about baking that I am not embarrassed for Beck to see.

PS - Those are dancing dinosaur candles picked out by the baby worm for the baby worm cake.