Snow Job

Despite what you might think, Montréal is not a winter wonderland every single day from Halloween to Easter. No sir, we get long drought periods where we don't even notice the snow crust coating anymore. Sidewalks get slushy and the streets are muddy. It ain't pretty.

But then we'll get another round of snow and winter gets fun again. We had one of those this morning so we took advantage of the fresh stuff to make a snowman! Finally.


In our oh-so-urban back alley. Tons of snow, no cars. Perfect.

Learning the fine art of bonhomme de neige sculpture.


My Mom gave us this snowman kit at Christmas. Comes with all you see here except the snow and arms. Totally adorable.


Considering a new career in snow person design.



Work is heating up for me these days as we creep ever closer to our first shoot day in April. If you follow me on Twitter/Facebook you already heard all about my brush with celebrity last week via Nia Vardalos of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame. It was nice to have some actual contact and know that she at least read the script before turning it down! I bought the DVD of her movie I Hate Valentine's Day but since I'm a vengeful crankpot, I TOOK IT BACK today. For a full refund. Sorry Nia. But you would have been perfect in that role! (*sob*)

Moving on: we have been GLUED to the TV watching the Olympics all week. I'm so proud of my hometown for being such a great host city! Am hoping that the zipline will still be up over Robson Square next time we're out.

I think about blogging often but alas, falling asleep while watching ice dancing is clearly higher on my priority list at the moment. (On a related note, ice DANCING? What's the POINT if there's no jumps?)

Also it's pre-Oscar season and I traditionally aim to see at least at the films in the Best Picture category. Thank you so much Academy for opening it up to 10 nominees now instead of just 5! I still have to see Blind Side, Precious and A Serious Man. I also really want to see Crazy Heart but only if I have some leftover time (ha ha).

That's us for now! Birthday party for our pal Luanna (I can't believe she's 4) tomorrow. The theme: Princess. I have seen our future. And it's pink.

We Heart La Fête des neiges

Hello hello hello! Sorry for being away for so long. No good reason, just some good old fashioned winter laziness. For all you West Coast readers, winter is that time of year when SNOW falls and it gets colder than zero degrees celcius. That happens to most of us outside the lower mainland. If you happen to live in Montréal, winter means lots o' snow and wind, occasional ice rain and perpetual slush. Plus we've been having a bit of a cold snap over the last few weeks (minus twenties-ish) which mainly encourages me to a) overeat and b) fall asleep in front of the TV. Heck, I'm snacking as I type this and the only reason I'm not snoring is sheer determination. And some guilt.

ANYWAY, we shook off the winter sluggies and did an OUTDOOR ACTIVITY yesterday. Wahoo! We took Liliane to the annual Fête des neiges festival/carnival/reason to drink hot chocolate. Had a great, great time. Super easy to get there by metro, not crazy cold, got to see Dora and Diego and WE WORE THE CHILD OUT. This, my friends, is a Herculean task and La Fête des neiges was up to the challenge.

Example of crappy photo karma #1.



I know this is a really cute photo op, but I JUST DON'T WANT TO.


The show started right after we got there (luckily) so that was pretty exciting. Liliane kept exclaiming Dora! Dora! Dora! while all of the other kids just kind of STARED at us.


I'm not even kidding. Dead silence except for my kid.


A five minute routine on how Dora and Diego should be wearing winter clothes. DUH.




Once that was over, we checked out these snowmen. They are made of fibreglass and all come apart so you can build your own! I was trying to get crankypants to, you know, crack a smile or something by putting the carrot nose in the arm hole and the arms in the nose hole.

Didn't work.

Went for a spin around the baby racetrack.

Or baby Sunday Driver route. Whatever.



Yay! We had fun torturing our kid by playing outside in the snow!


I actually think she was just a little chilly because she totally perked up on the way back. Then she had a three hour nap so it was ALL GOOD.

Lots of other photos to post but look at the time! I have so much more eating to do before going to bed. Ha ha. Just kidding. No, really. I would KILL for a cupcake. Or at least seriously flick someone's nose. OK, end rambling. Back soon.