Christmas Traditions With Charis And Zoe, My Adopted Family

On Saturday afternoon I mentioned that I was on my way to my “Charis & Zoe” Christmas. It was so much fun!

After my mom passed away, my family never made a huge deal out of Christmas. My dad would give my brother and I our gifts on Christmas morning, but we didn’t have any other family over and the celebration was usually fairly low key. I’ve always really enjoyed Christmas, so I usually latched on to the Christmas traditions of friends or boyfriends. It was when I was in musical theatre school that Charis and Zoe invited me to spend Christmas at their house.

I had known them for a couple of years at that point and had started to become fairly close with both of them. I had a wonderful time that year. Being in school, I didn’t have a ton of money to spend so I got them a bunch of little things like socks and chocolates. The following year was kind of funny, thanks to an extra-large gift.

I had just started spending time with a boy a few weeks before the holidays. I was talking with Charis on the phone one day and she asked me what I was getting him. I said that I was thinking about baking him some cookies or something because it wasn’t very serious and I just wanted to get him something small. She called me back later that day to say that I needed to get him something more, because cookies were just not going to cut it. She couldn’t tell me why, but said that I would feel bad if I just went with the cookies. Recognizing that she obviously had insider information, I complied and ended up getting the boy some tickets for a play that was coming up.

I arrived at Charis and Zoe’s house on Christmas morning and noticed that Charis was acting sort of strange and that she wouldn’t let me into the living room to drop off their presents. After a few awkward moments, she finally relented and I saw the cause for her behaviour: a gigantic present sitting in front of the Christmas tree.

Oh dear.

Turns out the boy that I had been spending some time with had gotten in touch with Charis and asked if it would be okay if he dropped off my present at her house so that I could open it on Christmas morning. I had given him his gift the week prior but had not received anything in return and the appearance of the huge box explained why. After fearfully avoiding the present for nearly half an hour, I decided to open it. Inside was a stereo. Yes, a stereo.

Me and the gift giver had been talking for a few weeks and he gave me a stereo. I realized it was because I had mentioned that mine was broken and that I had been using a discman to listen to music. It was incredibly thoughtful, but a little too much, too soon. Charis, Zoe and I coined the term “going stereo” for when someone tries to make a relationship get serious too quickly. Unfortunately for the stereo-riffic boy, I realized that I wasn’t as interested in him as he was in me and I broke things off with him on New Year’s Eve. We’ve had a Christmas gathering every year since then, and I think the stereo is mentioned at least once each year.

Despite there being no stereos at this year’s Christmas celebration, but we did have a wonderful time together!

Charis and I consulted on the menu this week to determine what she and Zoe could make that was “Ashley-friendly”. We’ve always had something non-traditional and this year we ended up with Gado Gado from the Moosewood Cookbook (a favourite of Charis’)

It was so yummy!! It was rice with a mix of steamed and raw veggies, tofu, sprouts and a delightful peanut sauce. I savoured every bite and even went back for seconds! Zoe and I were sceptical about the raw veggies mixed with the steamed ones, but it was actually great because it provided us with a variety of textures within the layers. I made a cranberry-apple crumble for dessert Served warm from the oven with a scoop of vanilla rice-based ice cream, it was absolutely delicious! The cranberries were sweet and tart and paired wonderfully with the apples. Such a comforting dessert, perfect for opening presents! (Zoe scoping out the gift situation)

Prior to our celebration, we send around lists so that the elves know what to buy! We also know one another pretty well by now, so we’re able to choose gifts that are fitting without relying on the lists as well.

I didn’t take pictures of all their gifts, but they included some body care, candles, notebooks and essentials oils for both of them, some pretty eye shadows and a super cool pepper grinder for Charis and some Foxy earrings and Dark Chocolate Dreams for Zoe. I received some amazing presents including:beautiful earrings
incense from Santa (how does he know where to find me?)
a great snack carrying container from Fit & Fresh pretty pens and post-it notes
over the knee stripey socks
and an amazing scarf. They know me so well!

It was such a fun night and I really feel in the Christmas spirit! I am so lucky to have such fantastic friends in Charis and Zoe. It is such a wonderful tradition and look forward to it continuing in the years to come.
Do you have any funny stories about overwhelming Christmas gifts or other mishaps? What are your holiday traditions?

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas…

I’m nearly on holidays and I’m so excited!! Had a really nice day today, which shall continue with my Charis & Zoe Christmas tonight!

Last night as I prepped for my meeting I made my first juice: Beet-apple-pear-ginger (it matches my hair apparently) which was absolutely delicious!! I found my new Breville very easy to use and clean, especially since it comes with it’s own little scrubby brush. Prepare yourself for many juicy photos on the bloggy.

Led three awesome meeting this morning. We were talking about perseverance and persistence, even through the challenging times. I shared this poem with my members:

When things go wrong as they sometimes will;
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but do not quit.
Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.
-- Author Unknown

I encourage you to think back to a time in the past when you were demonstrated perseverance. What did you do? What motivated you? How did it feel? Remember that feeling and hold it close this week if you’re facing challenges at Christmas and New Year’s events. You have the strength and determination within yourself to make great choices and keep going in your journey.

This morning was made extra special by some visiting bloggers… (Andrea, Kerry, Kate, Allie & Kat)

because Kate got to Lifetime today!! Such wonderful icing on the cake. Thank you to all of my members for their hard work and dedication this year. Each and every one of you is doing so well and I look forward to helping more of you get to Lifetime this year. Last year I had 23, let’s shoot for the stars for 2010!!!

Some of my members brought me gifts and cards which was super sweet I felt so spoiled!! One of my members even made me latkes made with quinoa flour and homemade apple sauce after I had mentioned last week that I had been craving them – how adorable is that?? I was so surprised and was incredibly touched by their kindness. It was so great to see everyone and hug and head into this busy festive week on such a positive note.

After the meeting I had lunch with Lindsay at Mocha Mocha. It was so lovely to catch up! I had my usual warm brown rice salad and it did not disappoint. We had a wonderful long chat about life and work and Weight Watchers and other goodness that we had been missing out on for a few weeks. We also exchanged Christmas gifts which was fun!!

I received a beautiful set of bamboo utensils and a book of juice recipes (which was a bonus after Lindsay had seen the post about my Breville) So thoughtful and lovely – I can’t wait to use both!! I’ve promised Lindsay that I will have her over for juice very soon.

I love the holiday season, because it means that I get to spend quality time with all my favourite people!! I feel so blessed and couldn’t ask for anything more!! I hope you’re all having a good weekend and I will be back on Monday with details of the rest of the weekend’s festivities including our gluten free vegan Christmas meal from tonight!!

Best Friends, Food and Super Duper Surprises

Melly came over for dinner last night to celebrate Christmas! She has been so busy with school and is heading home to Winnipeg for Christmas so it was fantastic to chat and giggle with her. We’ve been friends since musical theatre school and she has been an amazing source of support for me through everything in the last few years. Love that girl!!

While I don’t believe in seeking comfort from food when it’s other emotions causing the stress, there is something wonderful about preparing a delicious meal and sharing it with people you love.

For dinner I served the broccoli-teriyaki stir fry (from Eat Drink &Be Vegan) over sweet-potato buckwheat soba noodles. Everyone enjoyed the meal and Joey went back for seconds to finish it off. We all enjoyed the soba noodles but agreed that they didn’t remind us of sweet potato at all!!

Dessert was unbelievable

Raw chocolate cream cake (courtesy of the beautiful Lori & Michelle) with a scoop of vanilla non-dairy ice cream. It was really easy to make and absolutely delicious. Mel and I were commenting and mmm-ing after every bite as to how creamy and chocolately and wonderful it was!! It’s quite rich, so a small piece goes a long way. So happy that I made this (so was Melly) and can’t wait to try more of the twins’ recipes!!

I gave Melly a copy of Make it Fast, Cook it Slow for her birthday/ Christmas because she got a slow cooker awhile back and was looking for delicious, easy recipes for it. She loved it and I can’t wait to hear her thoughts about Stephanie’s awesome recipes.

  Joey & I always exchange early since we’re up in Kirkland Lake on Christmas Day and we’re impatient we’re lazy it’s become a tradition for us to exchange gifts before he goes up. I got him a few smaller things including a wallet from Herbivore, some chocolate and a Beatles mug as well as having his amp fixed for him (so he can play more music!) What did he get me?A beautiful new water bottle  (perfect for school!)and in the big box? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee A Breville Juice Fountain Compact!! I’ve been saying for awhile that I want to get a juicer and Joey made my juicy dreams come true by getting me this little guy. Even Melly exclaimed “That’s amazing!” when she came in the door. I’m so excited to try it! Get ready for lots of juice pictures coming your way!

Any favourite juice combos or tips I should know about? I get carrot-beet-pear-ginger from the Big Carrot and it’s delightful! So lucky to have such a cool fiancé who will buy me appliances for Christmas especially since he does the dishes – I promise I will help keep it clean!

Are you as ready for a holiday as I am?
Have you given or received any gifts that
you’re ultra excited about?

Goodbye Stress, Pass the Sparklers

I had a nice weekend of festive-related events:

• Received a big shipment from Amazon, rounding out my Christmas shopping
• Ushered for (and watched) the musical version of It’s a Wonderful Life
• Baked cupcakes and decorated them with 25 kids at our office’s kids holiday party

Even with all of this is done now, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed rather than excited for Christmas. The next few weeks are going to be incredibly busy for me and I need to find some ways to deal with my stress.

“But Ashley, didn’t you just quit your job so you would be doing what you loved and leave this stress behind?” Ultimately yes, but there are a number of things along the way before I get to calmer waters.

They have yet to hire a replacement at my office, which means I haven’t been able to start training someone. As a result, the beginning of January is going to be a ridiculously busy time for me. In that first week I will be starting rehearsals for my new show, starting school, leading 6 Weight Watchers meetings of my own and filling in at another PLUS training the new person. I thrive on being busy, but at the moment I feel like I’ve bitten off a little more than I can chew.

Let’s add to that my upcoming trip to Kirkland Lake to visit Joey’s family and friends smack dab in the middle of my transition. I have not been stressed about going up there for past holidays and visits, but this will be my first time up there since going gluten free and vegan. The last time I was up there was last Christmas and while I had made some changes in my diet, I made all the big changes a few months later. Kirkland Lake is a small mining town of 8,000 people. Considering that there’s only a handful of restaurants in town, I doubt I’m going to have a ton of choices when I go out, which means that I’m going to need to eat a lot of things at home. Joey’s mom is a wonderful cook, but very old school in her methods – lots of dairy, meat, and other things I don’t eat.

I see myself eating a lot of salad.

I plan to bring some things with me (cereal, almond milk, snacks, steamer basket etc.) and take a trip to the grocery store to stock up on fruits and veggies,  but it’s just not going to be the same as being at home and it feels a little daunting right now.

I also think that I’m just ready for my new life to start. When I first gave my notice at work, I felt a huge sense of relief. Waiting 2 months to go to school seemed much more feasible than waiting an entire year (until September 2010) The problem is that I feel like I’ve already checked out. My patience is wearing thin and it’s showing. I thought the the stress of my role would go away when I delegated some of my duties, but it’s still fairly high pressure and some of the people around me haven’t been on their best behaviour. Being in an open concept office makes this challenging and there have been a few days where I’ve just felt like walking out and/or crying.

So how am I coping?

I’m doing my best to take it day by day and stay positive. Negativity has gotten me nowhere in life and I truly believe in the power of positive thinking and words. January is still 3 weeks away, and projecting how stressed I’m going to be is not going to make anything better. I’ve got a lot of things to enjoy over the next few weeks including a vacation, time with friends and family and learning my part in my upcoming show.

I have to say that as a result of writing this blog post I feel a bit better and less anxious than I felt earlier. I’m also getting back into journaling. I’m reading Julia Cameron’s Artists Way 10th Anniversary Editionand am working up to writing my morning pages. Journaling is a wonderful way to release your emotions and thoughts in a constructive way. I’m also journaling something else: my food intake. I’m working on filling up my tracker each and every day because it’s really easy to make crummy food choices when I’m stressed out. Last but not least, I’ve been doing lots of activity and filling up my December Activity chart. Not only does activity make me feel great, but it also helps me to take my mind off things!

Heather sent me a great “message from the universe” last week,

Life isn't supposed to be all 'cakewalk' and no 'baking'.  Especially not for those who like to experiment, take risks, and be surprised.
Please pass the sparklers,
The Universe

So very, very true.

How are you coping with the stress of this season? What do you do to manage your stress? Any tips for me as I wait for my new beginnings?

Christmas Shopping? Oh Yeah! Gift Ideas to Make Your Life Easier

Do you like my attempt at making my desk at work more festive?

I felt like I was really ahead of the game when I started my Christmas shopping way back in August when Joey and I were in Niagara Falls. After that I forgot that Christmas was coming. It didn’t dawn on me again until I was in a card shop 2 weeks ago, buying a birthday card and heard “O Holy Night” playing in the background.

Oh crap.

Since then I’ve gotten caught up and am happy to report that I’m nearly 95% complete. Hooray! I know that for some of you reading this post might be your “O Holy Night” playing in the background, so I thought I would pass along some gift ideas for the loved ones in your life.

Every year I have a mini-Christmas with my friends Charis and Zoe. Our tradition started 4 or 5 years ago when I was back in musical theatre school. I didn’t have a ton of money so I bought them a whole bunch of little things like festive socks and candles. Since then our tradition has continued and each year I am always on the look out for really cool ideas that might not be on our elf lists.

Last year I found some incredibly unique items on Etsy that were absolutely perfect. The first were these great book stamps from Terbearco. Both of the gals are big readers and I thought personalized stamps to make their libraries complete would be lovely! I also got them each a fun coloured ink pad to use with the stamps. One of my other favourite finds for the girls last year were these coffee corsets from Jenn Gee. I even bought one for myself and still use it (although I couldn’t seem to find a picture of it!) It’s a great gift for those that you know drink coffee or tea on a regular basis and it’s nice because she has all different styles. Mine is leopard print with a pink ribbon, Zoe’s was beautiful blues & greens and Charis’s had a gardening theme.

There are thousands of amazing vendors on Etsy, each with tonnes of  great gift ideas. Some of my other favourite shops include Seagoddess Jewellery for beautiful handcrafted bellybutton rings, Heather’s super fun tote bags, and beautiful jewellery and fascinators (like the one I won back in the spring) from Ten Things.

Books are always one of my favourite things to give and I’m a big fan of Amazon’s Super Saver Shipping option! I would highly recommend any of the cookbooks I’ve reviewed on the blog this year for the gluten free folk or vegans in your life. Some of my other picks for the people in your life would be Make it Fast Cook, it Slow (amazing slow cooker recipes from Stephanie O’Dea), Gluten Free Girl (Shauna’s wonderful memoir) or Julie & Julia (for a good giggle).

I recently discovered Herbivore Clothing after winning this super cute wallet during Lazy Smurf’s awesome Vegan MoFo giveaway. They’ve got tonnes of great t-shirts, books and accessories for the plant eaters in your life and their shipping is very inexpensive (even to Canada!), which is always a plus when you’re ordering online. A wallet very similar to mine is currently in transit for a special guy I know (because he can’t stop raving about how awesome and small mine is! Shhhhhh don’t tell!! )

As much as online shopping is convenient, I love shopping in my neighbourhood and supporting the local businesses. Some of my favourite shops include El Pipil at 267 Danforth (wonderful housewares, accessories and clothing), iQ Living (amazing kitchen and house stuff), The Big Carrot (natural food and bodycare), Grassroots (green products)and Red Tent Sisters (women-friendly workshops, books and sexy products)

I’m always a big fan of homemade gifts and every year I always do some baking for my friends. Cookies, squares or truffles make lovely gifts especially when wrapped pretty boxes with a heartfelt card. Hannah over at Bittersweet has some awesome ideas for sweet treats to give. I will definitely be making some gluten free vegan treats this year for friends and co-workers as I’m doing my very best to save as much money as possible for school (which starts in 26 days! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee) I will show you what I come up with in the coming weeks.

How is your Christmas shopping coming along? Are you always ahead of the game or are you a last-minute Lola?