Friday, March 30, 2007

Open for Business

Well, it's finally complete and online now! After much work the Mommystime Boutique is officially open for business. I am still waiting for the arrival of some new merchandise which I will post soon. This has been an incredible journey. I am learning so much and for the first time in my life I think I have found my niche - as far as "work" goes. All of my "spare" time has been spent lately on this project. I even find myself working on my laptop in the evenings while my husband gets his nightly does of gory crime television. I am excited to see what will come out of this new avenue.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Dry Skin Products

I am a marketer's dream. I love to try all kinds of new products that come onto the market. Since I suffer with dry skin (especially my feet) I have to tell you about something that has made my feet smooth and soft again. Lamasilk Cream Exfoliant (for the shower) and Lamasilk Foot Cream are excellent products and actually do what they claim - smooth and soften dry feet. Finally, I can have nice looking tootsies just in time for spring!

Working Hard

I have been working diligently on my new boutique for www.mommystime.com and it is taking a long time to bring all the elements together. It's a really exciting process for me to come up with the ideas, research them and put them into action. I look forward to the grand "launching" this week. I hope that other women will enjoy the products as much as I do. After the long winter we've had, these items make for a nice spring pick-me-up.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Spring Has Sprung!

I am so happy that the official start of spring is here. It has been a very long, hard winter here in Toronto and frankly, I'm extremely happy to see the snow gone and the temperatures rising. Now, maybe sun will shine one of these days. But this is southern Ontario and the weather changes by the hour.

I have been feverishly working this week to put together my newest project - the Mommystime Boutique. It is quite a job getting all the prelimiary work done and then applied. I think it's actually more time consuming that I had anticipated. I think I've got a good start on the catalog part but still need some more supplies before I can get too excited about launching it.

For many months now I decided to create my own work at home job and let me tell you - it's more than full time work. I could literally spend the whole day on the computer and still not have it all done. I guess that's why these things are considered a work in progress! I can't wait to show off the finished product.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Dogs and Cats

I read a great quote about dogs and cats today. I can't remember the exact wording but the analogy went something like this: if you could telephone a dog to come over and visit your house, he would say, "sure, I'll be over in a minute." On the other hand, if you asked a cat to come over for a visit, he would say, "I'll have to think about it and get back to you." Having had both dogs and cats I have to say this attitude is so true regarding their general personalities.

Friday, March 16, 2007

March Break

Well, it's been a busy past week. School is out around here - better known as March break. We took a road trip down to Chattanooga, TN and had a great time. Along the way we stopped in Lexington, KY. It's been a week full of eating all the wrong foods. But how can I resist when everywhere around were delicious, fat-filled yummy treats? I have to admit I did not stick to my diet - but a week won't undo all the good I've been working on. The BBQ was delicious. Georgia pulled pork sandwiches are the best! Not to mention Sonic shakes...we'd never tried those but now I know why the ads look so appealing. The banana cream pie shake really is as good as it sounds. It was really fun to sit in the car and order from the window and have a young girl bring our order out to the car. I haven't experienced that since the 70's A&W drive-in restaurants. Some things are just better in the south!

We got back earlier today. I don't know how I manage to sleep so much during the car ride and still have the ability to sleep more at my usual bedtime. A very odd phenomenon. But since nobody speaks to me, I might as well sleep and catch up on much needed rest. It was so nice and warm done there and coming back to below freezing with strong winds really was depressing. At least most of the snow has now melted. I can't wait for spring to arrive.

Sunday, March 11, 2007



Making true maple syrup is sensitive business. At the sugar bush near our home, you can see the syrup being made the way it was hundreds of years ago as well as the way it is made today. At the old fashioned sugar shack, there are 3 large cast-iron cauldrons. After the sap is harvested, it is boiled by fire in the first cauldron for 8 hours. It is then manually transferred into the second cauldron where it boils down for another 8 hours. Finally it gets spooned into the 3rd cauldron where it finishes off boiling for the final 8 hours. By that point, the sap has now boiled into thick auburn syrup. Making syrup the old way took a lot of time and patience.

The modern way is certainly easier...sap is collected via plastic tubing which is strategically strung amongst the maple trees. The tubing runs down into a large collection vat inside the wooden shack where it then slowly transfers into an evaporator. Logs lite the fire that heats the evaporator. The sap takes about 5 hours to boil down into syrup and once it reaches 104F, it is ready to pour through the filter cloth into collection bottles.

The color of the syrup also changes as the season progresses. At the beginning of March when the sap starts to run, the sugar content is about 4%. So once it boils down it is a light beautiful amber color. As the season progresses toward the end in mid April, the sugar content of the sap decreases to about 1%. It takes longer to boil down. The caramelization is stronger in the syrup and thus the color can be a very rich, dark brown. The taste is richer and heavier because of this. The lighter syrup has less of the smoky caramelization. Regardless of the colors, fresh maple syrup is absolutely delicious and a favorite treat of ours every early spring. And after a nice long walk through the hills of the maple sugar forest, we sampled this golden delicacy along with a tasty stack of buttery pancakes.

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Maple Syrup


Today I took my son to visit the sugar bush...and for those of you who may be unfamiliar with it, it is a forested area in which sap is harvested and cooked into maple syrup. It is a family ritual in our house at this time of year. The syrup season runs from early March until mid April. The weather has to be optimal - cold nights (around -5C) and warm days (2-3C). Unfortunately for us it was -10C today and sunny...the sap was not running from the sugar maples into all of the metal buckets attached to the trees. My son would lift the lids of the buckets only to find frozen sap. He usually enjoys filling a little cup underneath the spigot and drinking whatever watery liquid he can get!


Friday, March 2, 2007

Lipsticks

A very close friend of mine has created her own cosmetics company that I think is fabulous! I always like to try new and creative products. I think I must be a marketer's dream - especially if the packaging is cute. Many years ago, while the two of us shared some of the same classes in design school, we got to know each other and it was then that she revealed to me her secret dream to make cosmetics. I have always been interested in makeup and skin care, so I was fascinated with her vision. Seven years later, she now owns her own company and is marketing her products all over the world. And her packaging is so darn cute! I am so impressed. It is amazing to watch her dream become a reality.