I spent the first half of January trying to detox from all the Christmas goodies.  As I mentioned before I was sent some matcha tea to try and review at the end of the month.  Well, here I am!  Make sure you check out the TeaPigs website for a ton of information on matcha tea and the many other teas that they sell.  The staff there were super friendly and would likely answer any questions you have about the different products.

Many of you know by now if you have been reading this blog for a while that I do try to live a fairly healthy lifestyle.  I slip up every now and then like any other normal person but I do try to fit balance in to my everyday life.  Over the holidays I had a few too many indulgences that left me feeling a bit bloated and sluggish.  I am (or was?) a coffee drinker and some days drinking 3-4 cups a day (big cups!).  While drinking the matcha tea I cut down to 2 cups per day, plus a matcha shot.  Now, at the end of Jan I have been able to cut down to 1 cup of coffee per day.  I don’t think I’d give up coffee completely but I have felt better with drinking less of it.

At the beginning of the detox I started by replacing my afternoon (4pm) coffee with a matcha tea/shot/smoothie.  This was working really well, and then eventually I started bringing the matcha to work with me and replacing my 12:30pm coffee with a matcha shot.  You only need one tea a day to get the benefits from it and I have to say I did notice some positives happening..

• For one, I did have energy. I credit matcha for getting me through some tough afternoons at work, when I didn’t have a cup of coffee.
• Less mood swings.  Yup, I get irritable when I drink too much coffee. Replacing it with matcha – my mood felt more balanced if you will.
• Less bloat.  My mummy tummy was bloated after the holidays.  A couple of weeks later this had disappeared.
• Brighter skin.  I don’t know if this is because of the matcha, or less coffee drinking, or more sleep but could definitely be everything combined.
• Matcha claims to help in weight loss but to be honest I didn’t notice this.  However, the bloating was gone so I did feel or appear slimmer in my tummy area. (fyi I didn’t start the matcha challenge for weight loss anyways so this wasn’t a major concern).

Overall I really enjoyed the challenge and I would continue drinking matcha tea!  I prefer to drink it as a “shot,” which basically just meant that I mixed it really well with some juice and drank it back.  I did have it as a traditional tea wit hot water once in a while but didn’t like it as much.  I also had it as a latte where I warmed some hazelnut or vanilla rice milk and added it to the tea.  This was delicious!!

The matcha challenge wasn’t to see if I could cut down on coffee but I definitely think it helped start me off.  I love coffee but drinking too much really does not do me any good.

Have you ever tried matcha tea?

If any of you are interested in purchasing matcha tea, I have a 20% off code for you.

MATCHABLOG12 – offer ends Feb 12th!

*note: TeaPigs did send me the matcha tea for a review, but all opinions are my own.

Matcha tea is said to be the superhero amongst teas.  One serving is equivalent to 15 cups of regular green tea (that’s 137 times the antioxidants of regular green tea!).  I love drinking green tea so when I heard that fine fact it caught my interest immediately.  I was contacted by the lovely staff at TeaPigs last month to see if I would be interested in taking the matcha challenge in January. 

Here is what their website says about matcha tea.  It’s worth a read!

All I have to do for this challenge is have a serving of matcha every day. That’s 1/4 of a teaspoon.

Let me tell you.  This tea is no joke!

There are different ways of drinking matcha and so far during this challenge I’ve drank it as a shot (just mixed with some fruit juice), I’ve made a matcha latte, and I’ve had it just in boiling water as you would any other tea.  It has quite a strong taste, and I’ve enjoyed it all three ways so far, but I’d say I prefer the shot first, the latte second, and the good ol’ fashioned way third.  I’m 6 days in!

What do I have to do?  Basically just see how I feel!  How are my energy levels? Do I get the “boost” it promises? Am I noticing any other benefits, like feeling slimmer or differences in my hair, skin and nails? So far – I have noticed the boost in energy, and 5 out of 6 days I’ve cut my coffee consumption from three cups to two. Still hoping to bring that down to one.

If any of you are interested in purchasing matcha tea, I have a 20% off code for you.

MATCHABLOG12 – offer ends Feb 12th!

Like I said, this tea is no joke!

So far I’m really enjoying it and I’m thinking about ordering some more!

I’ll report back once the challenge is over to let you know how the rest of it went.

In the meantime, follow other bloggers, tea drinkers and I who are doing the challenge on twitter!  #teapigsmatchachallenge

Steve and I stayed in on New Year’s Eve after a fun day of shopping and taking Sophie to a local play center which she absolutely loved.

I love letting her explore on her own and interact with the other children.  It gives her some independence.  But that’s not to say we didn’t have fun either hehe.

So yes, Steve and I spent New Year’s Eve hanging out with take out, a movie (Hangover 2 – hilarious!) and some wine.  It was the perfect end to the year.  I’m actually surprised I made it to midnight.  Ok, I didn’t.. but I did wake up just before Big Ben hit 12 and the fireworks went off.  The display looked amazing in London, right where the London Eye is.  Maybe we’ll get to go someday!

Yesterday I took our Christmas tree down and tried to put things in order a bit.  It’s still a work in progress (Sophie was spoiled this year as usual), but we’re getting there. I have a lot more decorations this year that need to go into storage.  Somehow we collected a lot more!

I started the year off right with a three mile run yesterday.  I ran my last mile in 8:48! Seriously. I sprinted to the finish. This is exactly why I love my garmin, it challenges me to push myself!

One of my goals this year (I have many) is to keep up with exercise like I have been.  It helps me to feel my best and I love the time to myself.  I want to focus more on yoga too and other forms of cardio like spin. 

This morning the weather was gorgeous so we took advantage of it and took Sophie to the park around the corner from where we live to feed the ducks!

I love doing things like this together, and it cost us a measly 65p (for the loaf of bread).  Sometimes it’s the little things like this that leave lasting memories.  These are the things I want do this year.  We don’t always need extravagant ways of entertaining our kids (or ourselves for that matter!).

See that smile?

Hope you’ve been enjoying the start to your new year!!

What are your goals this year?

January – 6 months old

February

March

April

May

June – Sophie turns 1!

July

August

September

  October

November

December- 18 months old

I hope 2012 brings you and your loved ones good health, joy and many great memories!

Happy New Year!

(blurry but cute nonetheless)

Sophie sat so nicely on the bean bag chair listening to Santa and “talking” to him with her constant chatter.  I was surprised she didn’t play strange whatsoever.

She walked away from that visit with a new puzzle that she has nearly figured out already!

Earlier this week for the third and final time we took her again (to a different Santa location) and this time I wanted a picture with her on Santa’s knee.  It was all going swimmingly. 

She seemed to really love the elf display.

And then as soon as we got in there she walked up to him, with a smile on her face.  I tried to put her on his knee but she wasn’t going to go anywhere near him after that.  She got upset, wiggled off and wanted nothing to do with it.  The super friendly lady elf said well, looks like this is going to be a family photo!

And then this was born.

I have to say, I’m pretty happy with it! 

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

The website is extremely user friendly.  It even let’s you view a sample of what your canvas could look like in your home.  The photo is printed on really good quality canvas and the picture I chose came out really clear.

This was the original photo:

Steve, Sophie and I taken in October in St. James Park in London.

I decided to go with a black and white print because that is the theme of our living room.

Here it is up on the wall.

The canvas that I ordered is 30in x 20in, so it’s quite a large canvas (although almost looks a bit small in the photo).

The website gives you a choice of having your photo stop at the edge of the canvas or wrap around.  I definitely think for this particular photo, the wrap around is better.

From the time I ordered the canvas to when it was delivered was only about 3-4 days.  They have extremely quick service and I was really impressed on how well the canvas was packaged to prevent damages.  The staff are also really helpful and answered any questions I had through email.  I think it’s really hard sometimes to know what a canvas print will turn out like because you really want it to make a statement.  Some can look cheap, but that is not the case with this one at all.

The only thing I would do differently is take better care in thinking about how much the actual picture would wrap around.  In the original photo you can see part of the tree on the left hand side of the picture.  We lost it slightly when the photo was wrapped around the edge of the canvas.  Just a learning curve for next time!

Overall I’m really happy with the outcome and would order more in the future from Canvas Dezign!

UPDATE!!

For any one wanting to get a massive 20% discount, use the code “FYQUAPBSTB” at checkout.

This code is only available to the Canvas Dezign site.

*please note, while Canvas Dezign did send me the canvas as a product to review – all opinions are my own.

Recently we went to a new city in England that we had not visited yet, called Bath.  My sister, her baby Grayson and my brother were visiting for two weeks and Bath was a place I thought would be nice to see.  I had heard a lot of good things about it and it did not disappoint.  Parking was terrible, I’ll admit- and cramming two babies and four adults plus luggage into the vehicle was not an easy feat, but overall we finished the weekend saying that was so much fun.

We found an empty street, with only a bicycle in the center of it.  Who wouldn’t take that opportunity to dance and jump around like no one is watching.

The city center area was busy.  As most are in popular cities in England, or any country for that matter.  However, you don’t know busy until you visit London on a weekend, or jump on the tube at rush hour – but that’s for another post.  Bath was pretty.  It was a city with character.  Old architecture filled the streets, untouched, traditional England.

Standing in front of Bath Abbey with my brother.

Saying that the kids were good is probably the understatement of the century.  They were really good.  They just went with the flow, with barely a peep.  They slept, they ate, they helped us explore.  Sophie especially impressed us, being the type who likes to run and see things for herself.  She knew that there was a time and place for doing such things.

Checking out The Roman Baths.  They gave us carriers for the kids because it was not a stroller friendly place.  Luckily both Grayson and Sophie loved them!

When I first jumped on the travelling wagon way back in January 2005, I was single and doing my thing in teachers college.  Now, married with a 16 month old and still loving to see different places, I know it’s still possible.  Different, but possible.  You just make it work.

Our next stop was Stonehenge, which was about an hour drive from our hotel.  I’m pretty excited to say I’ve been there, being such a historic place and all. It was definitely a learning experience –not that I’m a major history buff, but one I’m glad I had!

Do you remember when I said above that Sophie knew there was a time to run and a time to sit still?  Stonehenge was one of those times where little girl wanted to run.  Each time I said stand still for Mommy when I was trying to take her picture, she ran faster.

We went at the perfect time.  We took pictures when the sun was at it’s brightest and then after spending some time there it was starting to set, giving us a chance to take some print worthy pictures.

We had such a great time at Stonehenge.  I actually never knew how interested I would be but as soon as we were there and listening to one of the guides give us a 100 years or so of information I was hooked.

Bath and Stonehenge were definitely great places to see and I am so happy that we went!  I love travelling to different places when family (or friends) come to visit!  It gives Steve and I a chance to see new things too!

My 16 month old is growing up far too quick.  I am loving every new thing I see her do.  Tonight we had fireworks for the first time in our backyard. Seeing her little face light up, it was like I was enjoying them for the first time in my life too.  Crazy how your kids can do that for you, don’t you think?  She didn’t get scared or anything.  Though, we did make sure to get the quiet kind, without the loud bang – thank you very much.

Some favourite pictures from the last month:

Not posed whatsoever.

No mommy, I’m not interested in posing in front of Stonehenge.

Yes I did get some of the food in my mouth!

See you later this week!!

The dishes are done, my child is in bed and it’s 8:57pm and I’m about to start my work.  I have 29 math activities to mark for tomorrow that the children did last week. oops.  Tonight we went car shopping, grocery shopping and out for dinner with my mother and father in law.  Last night (or should I say this morning) Sophie woke up at 3am and snuggled into bed with us, where she turned north, south, east and west.  Kicking, laying on her tummy and then her back.  Stealing my pillow and then playing with my hair.  She couldn’t decide what was better: going back to sleep or keeping us all awake while everyone else in the world slept.

Kelle Hampton wrote a good post on Fitting it All In.  Check it out here.  I love it.  It describes things so perfectly, as her posts usually do.  I especially love this bit:

My fitting it all in works a bit like the Kentucky Derby. It’s a constant race of horses that pull forward and fall behind. They all have their turn eventually of running free and confidently from the front lines, but the poor derby announcer’s frantic commentary is always changing:

“And Family Dinners is in the lead but here comes Sir Craft a Lot from behind with Jog in the Morning gaining quickly. Date Night’s coming in at fourth with Alone Time only five lengths behind. But wait! Family Dinners is falling in the far turn while Playing with her Kids takes the lead and here comes Writing at Night moving fast into third while Read for Pleasure comes down the center of the track!” And I would spare you the heart palpitations and tell you the outcome, but the race never ends. And that’s what makes it work. I never have to feel guilty for the poor horse that didn’t get his rose wreath because every horse has a chance to feel the hooves-slamming glory of First Place—even if it’s just for a little while.

It made me giggle because boy is it the truth.

I’ll be honest, I have laundry upstairs that needs washing and then drying and then ironing.  There are carpets to be vacuumed, dust on bookshelves and toys on the floor.  We are not perfect, we just try to prioritize what needs to be done and what things can wait.  Spending time together takes the lead most of the times, but we all know that we need alone time, time to clean, time to organize – which I still haven’t mastered yet in my 29 years.  There are pictures that need printing, and meals that need planning.  I guess if we all were able to get everything done there wouldn’t be to-do lists and the rush you feel when you tick or cross one, two, three things off the list.

When things get overwhelming I try to stop, think, breathe and then make a coffee.  Then get started.

It’s 9:27pm. I really didn’t have time to blog tonight, clearly, but I’m just trying to fit it all in.

Now I need to go mark those papers.

We can still pretend like we’re on holidays sometimes though right?

It was so nice seeing Sophie interact with her new surroundings.  After an 8 hr flight over to Canada she was a little bit unsure of the new world we were in and was basically attached to my hip for the first week.  I felt really bad that she cried when I left her with my sister when I went to take a shower and she didn’t run with open arms to my parents but eventually once she settled in she was lovin’ everything like a kid with an ice cream cone.  Quite literally.

We celebrated birthdays and played at waterparks with new friends.  I hung out with my nephews and got in as many cuddles as I could.

Cue baby fever now. doh.

The way that Sophie reacted to my sisters cat pretty much confirmed that we might need to get one someday.  That cat took her abuse like a champ though.  Tail pulling, face smacking, high squealing kind of abuse.  But don’t worry, we tried to teach her to be gentle and he wasn’t hurt in the slightest.

Has anyone ever gone through that post vacation slump.  The kind where you are wishing you can turn back time about 8 weeks when you were anticipating the upcoming holidays.  The kind that you realize more and each day that you’re back to reality and the show must go on.

I miss these faces.

Liam is such a good big brother and Grayson is pretty much the best baby ever.  I remember when I first saw them all at the airport and Liam runs up to me and says Hi Auntie Leah!  This is my new brother Grayson, you can hug him!

So stinkin’ cute.

And then my sister started crying because she hadn’t seen Sophie in like a gazillion months.

Way to kill the mood sista.

A lot more posts will follow this one as I return to blogging after a summer of fun.  It’s like my mom said: “your blog is like a series that ended for the summer and I have been waiting for the season premiere.”  haha!  Hopefully I can keep up with the once a week posts, if not more!

How were your summer holidays?

Did you eat a lot of ice cream?  I hope so!