Pink Panda Says…

How about you?

Since the start of the Winter Games on Friday night, we have been glued to our television. From speed skating, moguls and hockey — we are watching everything.

I have to say I usually am not into anything else except for figure skating but this year I am watching every sport. Pink Panda seems to like it too and keeps yelling “SLIDE! SLIDE!” when she sees the skiers.

Anyone else watching the Olympics?

And for those who watched the opening ceremonies, what did you think? I thought the best part of the night was when KD Lang sang. Just amazing!

A few months ago I posted about my daughter’s favourite doll – Bear Bear. In an attempt to find a replacement for Bear Bear while he/she’s in the washing machine, her uncle and one of my dear friends gave her two similar looking dolls over the holidays.

Now Bear Bear doesn’t get washed often, because my little girl refuses to let him/her out of her sight. The bear sits on the bathroom counter while she takes a bath, the bear has a seat at the dinner table and when we go out to restaurants and the bear also likes to do puzzles with her (she holds the doll’s hand along with the puzzle piece).

Bear Bear is very gray. And he/she is supposed to be a polar bear! Have you ever seen a gray one? No, most likely not but this of course does not matter to our daughter.

The two bears she got over the holidays are both polar bears. Both with shiny clean white fur. The one from her uncle is a Gund. The fur isn’t the same as the original and when she saw it she said “No! No Bear Bear!” and threw it on the floor. The 2nd one she received is a larger version of Bear Bear. Except this big one has a winter hat and scarf.

Our daughter seemed a bit confused when she saw this bigger one because it has the same type of  fur, the same stitched on nose and mouth. The only difference is the winter attire and the fact that the big one isn’t a hand puppet like the original.

She has nicknamed both of these bears. The Gund is called “Der”. Not sure why and no clue what that means. The winter ready bear is called “Bear”. So maybe she does know that they are similar hence the shortening of the original Bear Bear name.

Unfortunately Bear Bear still remains her favourite, Der sits on the floor or on a chair neglected, and Bear sometimes gets a hug from my daughter but is never invited to eat or do a puzzle.

Some great attempts to find a replacement bear doll! Unfortunately there is only room in Pink Panda’s heart for one bear. And he/she is gray, smelly and very well loved. I guess my husband and I just have to accept that.

One day I’ll post a photo of the 3 bears side by side – if she’ll let me line them up together — not sure if Bear Bear is allowed to be friends with Der.

Hope y’all are having a good week.

Remember to enter to win 1 of 3 $75 gift certificates we’re giving away here.

We have chosen winner for the monthly giveaway (December 2009) — just waiting on the interview answers.

There is going to be another giveaway in February — similar to Yummy Mummy Club — so stay tuned! Should be up on February 1st!

It has been 2 years since I last took a yoga class. Yup, 2 years. I started hot yoga (yoga in a 40C room for 1 hour) a few weeks before I got pregnant. As soon as I saw the + sign on the pregnancy test, I had to stop. Obviously being in temperatures like that (especially when you are Canadian and not used to anything above 25C … HAHA) isn’t good for a soon to be mom or her baby.

But now, I AM BACK!! Back with a vengence.

By lululemon athletica

Ok I lied.

I actually couldn’t hold many of the poses for more than 10 seconds. I’m an expert at the breathing though. Inhale, exhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaallle. 2 years away from any exercise routine isn’t good but I’m determined to get back into shape this year.

I hope to make it through a 60 minute class without losing balance or giving up and sitting on my mat for half of it by this June. I think 6 months is a good timeframe to work with — I’m going to go at least once a week.

So what about you? “Experts” say 97% of all New Year’s resolutions are broken in the first week of January. Seeing as this week is almost up, I think I’ve done pretty good. Although I did have french fries before going to class so the healthy eating bit isn’t going to well. I would like to say they were sweet potato fries (so it’s healthier) but no, it was the regular potato kind. Ah, 1 out of 2 resolutions isn’t bad

Oooo…. and if you’ve never tried yoga before I’d highly recommend it. It’s very relaxing. But maybe not at 40C (104F) if you’re trying yoga out for the first time.

Yay! We are starting off the new year with something fun for everyone.

We are giving away 3 $75 gift certificates over where I used to work! Click the photo below to enter!

Win 1 of 3 $75 Gift Certificates

Last year I was quite busy and was working several web consulting gigs while building this little store.  One of my projects that I took on was a job over at YummyMummyClub.ca . If you grew up in the 80s like I did you might recognize the face behind Yummy Mummy — Erica Ehm. She was the first female VJ on Much Music.

I met Erica for the first time in early 2009 and was hired a few days after she interviewed me. Let it be known, when I met her in person I was a little star struck. I mean, here is a woman whom I admired and aspired to be (she probably met NKOTB several times and maybe even Tiffany and Boyz II Men — no making fun of my musical preferences please!) sitting across from me at a local coffee shop talking to me like a friend would.

I had no clue what she was saying to me (I was more than a little tongue tied) and was thinking “OH MY! What do I say to Erica Ehm? I hope I don’t look like a fool drinking this cup of coffe in front of her”. And then I think I spilled my coffee all over my jacket — the details of our first meeting escape me now — I’ve tried to erase it from my memory! HAHA

Anyhow, things got a bit too busy here so I had to end my job over there in September. It was one of the saddest days of my life — to leave a job and friends I loved.

Even though it has been 4 months since my last day over there, I still miss them but know that the decision to leave and focus on this store was the right one. I got to meet all of you and am doing something I truly love (besides web work).

Ok enough about my previous job. Here’s the link for the contest in case you missed it:

Win 1 of 3 $75 gift certificates at YummyMummyClub.ca

Good luck! Contest ends Feb 13, 2010

Woohoo! We made it to 2010 — a little bit heavier than 2009 (we’ve been stuffing our faces with yummy food for the past 2 weeks) and are excited to begin some winter activities — it’s flurrying a bit over here today.

We found some time to upload some new bundles and fabrics over the holidays and are back to our regular shipping schedule

Now we’re making a few resolutions (mainly has to do with exercise and eating healthier — same as every year) and trying to stick to them. I am going to take up yoga again — looking forward to it actually and hope to keep it up at least 2 times a month. Yes, 2 times is nothing but it’s a step in the right direction for someone who hasn’t really exercised in over a year.

How were your holidays?

We’re still here and will be shipping orders once a week for the remaining weeks of 2009 (Wed Dec 23 and Wed Dec 30)!

We hope your holiday planning is going smoothly and you’re all having fun making memories with your loved ones. We will be taking some time to relax these next 2 weeks and to celebrate Pink Panda’s 2nd winter (it’s the first time she has gone out to play in the snow — last year she was a bit too young to know what was going on).

2009 has definitely been a memorable year.  As it comes to a close, we want to thank all of you for being a part of our lives. From all the emails, fun comments you leave us at checkout, the posts on our Facebook page, the pictures in our Sew Modern flickr group, the shout outs on Twitter and the comments in these blog posts – we have loved getting to know you and look forward to more of this next year.

Thank you for being our cheerleaders and letting us know what you want to see in store. Y’all are the awesomest pawesomest — yes we know that’s not a real word (or phrase). Many of you came over from our store in early 2008 (before we were operating as Pink Panda Fabrics)  — our logo at that time was not so nice (ok, it was just plain ugly) – we’re so grateful you stuck with us! 

By urbanmkr

Over the past 2 years I (Cheryl) had the pleasure of getting to know some of you via email (thank you to my internet  friends — some of which are mamas like me!), reading your blogs and meeting some of you at local shows. The friendships that have developed is more than I could have ever asked for when I first started on this journey back in 2008.

We are truly blessed and grateful for all the support we have received from all over the world — Canada, US, Germany, France, United Kingdom and Australia! The internet is truly a powerful tool to bringing us together and we are so happy to have met all of you because of the www!

Just to let you know, I will be brushing up on my French next year (I only took it up until Grade 11 but Pink Panda is learning it at school now and I want to practice with her) so hopefully I can write a phrases “en français” and those that know the language can help me out — I am a bit rusty! :)

We are looking forward to 2010 and hope you will join us for the adventure. We have lots of stuff in store – new fabric lines, new team members, fun contests and more blog posts about every day life (TV, cooking, crafting, and yoga!).

Happy Holidays. Blessings to you all and your loved ones!

XOXO
Cheryl & The Pink Panda Team

Oh dear! The holiday season has slowed down my blogging but I did get around to doing an interview with Zoe (owner of Serendipity Mama) who won  our monthly $20 gift certificate giveaway for November!

Here’s a bit more about Zoe:

1. What do you like/love about living in ON?

I have lived all over Ontario, right up to James Bay and I love the diversity of the people, the geography and the feel of each town and region. 

2. Who’s your favourite fabric designer (don’t feel pressured to name one in store!)

That is a hard question,  I like a little of this and a little of thatfrom so many designers.  But if I had to choose, perhaps I would say Heather Ross.  I just love mermaids (my new logo features a babywearing mermaid!) and the giant octopi fabric is beautifully saturated with colour!
 
3. Do you have a secret stash of fabrics that no one else but you knows about? If so, what are you planning to do with it?

I’m afraid my stash is no longer secret, it is oozing out of all my cupboards! I have all kinds of plans, lots of new slings coming for 2010, but also some new clothes for my kids and if that goes well, maybe some fun skirts and tops for the store.

Congrats again, Zoe!

See you all next year (crazy — 2010 is just around the corner!) when we announce December’s winner! Happy sewing!

I love this time of year. December is definitely a busy month! From family photos, decorating the house and cookie baking… I love every minute of it!

I love this time of year so much that when mid November hits, my car radio is tuned into those 24/7 Christmas songs stations. For a good month and a half I am listening to Mariah Carey’s All I want for Christmas is You, Coldplay’s Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, 98 Degree’s This Gift (I auditioned to be in the music video many years ago and never got chosen! And all they were looking for were extras — not like a main character) and Josh Groban’s Believe. No one can accuse me of lacking holiday spirit! HA HA HA. The music drives my husband nuts but maybe it’s my singing too (as I’m not a great singer — very monotone)

Now that I’m a mom I want to start some holiday traditions — create some special memories for my daughter. We do the standard annual family photo, new PJs for everyone to wear on Christmas Day and we MUST take a photo in front of the tree before the gift opening festivities begin and the trip to the local mall to pose with Santa (haven’t gone yet this year).

Christmas Calendar by Lola's Girls

This year I thought it would be good to buy ornaments for our tree. 2 of them – one that our daughter picks out, one that either my husband or I pick. We got them on the weekend and we ended up with Dora the Explorer and Cartman from South Park (I of course did not choose this one! Next year I am in charge of the 2 ornament purchases!)

I was reading some of my favourite blogs and came across this from my friend Jozen — 25 days of Christmas Advent Calendar.

We think we were seperated at birth — a yoga-loving , sushi adoring,  Team Edward, Melrose Place watching (I’m trying to convince her Glee is better) and lover of anything pink Canadian gal. Only difference is that whatever she does in British Columbia, I do in Ontario (and I have one daughter). LOL!

Anyhow, I am so in love with her countdown to Christmas idea that I can’t wait until next year to do this! I kinda want to make the envelopes now and just save them for December 2010.

What are your holiday traditions? I’d love to read how you’re planning to celebrate this year and make it memorable for your family. I’m always up for starting new traditions with my family (but probably should mention that if they involve holiday music my husband may not be too into it )