Are you looking for a fun evening of shopping, spa treatments, cool tunes, fashion and more? Drop by the Crave Holiday Shopping Party on Wednesday, November 23 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Roundhouse.

Along with over 40 vendors, our friends at Milk Factory will be selling their fabulous family survival gear at the event...fashionable and functional! And they've asked my business to do a crosspromotion! So if you want a sneak peak into what Glo and I have been working on, drop by the Milk Factory booth.

If you purchase your tickets online, be sure to mention Milk Factory as a referral source.

S loves to be in the kitchen. When he's not rummaging through the cupboards or cooking up a storm with his basket of utensils, he wants to be up where the action is. He loves measuring, counting, pouring, stirring. He's still too unstable to be standing on a stool or a chair and he's too confined in his highchair. I don't mind carrying him with one arm and stirring with the other but sometimes I need both hands.

So I've dug out S's sling. We used it a lot when he was an infant but we haven't used it at all since he's been toddling. At first he fidgeted while getting into the sling but once he saw that he was front and centre while I made cookie dough and he got to be part of the action, he was content. And all the while I was able to focus on cooking without having to worry about S running around the house and getting into trouble.

As Roland mentioned a while back, I've been practising yoga for around 10 years now. Long before Madonna made it hip and long before the recent yoga craze.

I decided to explore yoga because I needed to find a way to decompress from working in a stressful job in the Downtown Eastside. I thought it was a good way to relax, help me sleep better and increase my flexibility. Little did I know of the other benefits or the long journey that I was going to embark on.

So I started going to a hatha yoga class at a community centre and it was pretty basic...learning how to breathe, basic stretches and exercises that would lead to poses or asanas. After every class I felt great--more limber, relaxed and funny enough, more energized.

I then came upon Iyengar yoga...not by choice but because the class I was taking had a new instructor and she was certified in the Iyengar tradition. Luckily it suited my needs and my body. In a nutshell, Iyengar focuses on body mechanics and working to one's own place by using props as aids. The philosophy is about achieving meditation through working on poses and breath.

Some folks joke about it as yoga for Type A personalities. I love it because I feel safe...no pushing myself too far and using props to help work deeper towards achieving the full pose. And when I practise, I do reach a level of meditation while I'm busy focusing on what this arm, that leg, my neck, etc. are supposed to be doing while I'm also focusing on breathing. I tend to let everything else go.

The most profound benefit of yoga that I've experienced was going through labour. Over the years I've been able to build a strong mind-body connection. So when those contractions hit, I was able to focus on using my breath and voice to get through them. And practising yoga during my pregnancy was a wonderful way to strengthen my body for the endurance test.

It took me a while to get back into yoga after S was born. Home practise has never been my strength and it was hard to get away when I was nursing a lot. When I returned to classes I felt like I always do when I return to something I haven't done for a while...I realized how much I missed it. So I'm back into weekly classes and I'm working on building my strength again and psyching myself into doing inversions once more.

Even after practising for so long, I constantly have revelations. A couple of weeks ago my instructor mentioned a way of doing one of the poses that I've never quite felt completely comfortable doing. I don't know if I missed classes where she's mentioned it or she hasn't mentioned it before or if I just didn't hear it. I finally get it! I love those moments! The yoga journey continues....

This weekend is the 9th annual Eastside Culture Crawl, one of my favourite art/culture events of the year. It's fun to wander around different galleries and meet and chat with the artists. I'm always amazed to know that there are so many artists tucked into this little corner of Vancouver.

Some of my favourite local artists? Arnt Arntzen, Richard Tetrault, Straight Line Designs, Gailan Ngan. Hopefully we'll get a chance to do the Crawl and discover some new favourites.

Yesterday was a momentus day! Roland, a self-proclaimed fix-it phobic guy, installed a bathroom faucet. In fact, he installed TWO bathroom faucets! Two different styles to boot!

With gentle guidance from our friend Steve, Roland was able to take out the old faucets and install the new ones. Little did Roland or I know that when Steve offered to help us change our faucets, he meant that Roland would actually be doing the work and he'd be the coach.

So far the faucets are working. The hot is hot. The cold is cold. No drips. No leaks.

Who would've thought that Roland could be so handy? I'm sure that he surprised himself. It pays to step out of one's comfort zone. We all need friends that give us that extra little push and who are there to cheer us along.

S had his first haircut yesterday at the age of 19 months, 15 days. Good bye curly locks. Hello big boy coif.

S sat in the special zebra chair, a converted bike seat on a merry-go-round zebra and he watched a video. He was fine for the first part of the cut...he reached back to touch his hair and find out what was going on. "Phew," I thought. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad.

Then the hairstylist started to cut around his ears. The struggle was on. Tears, wiggles, standing up, shaking his head, pushing away the stylist. She managed to finish the cut while I held S on my lap. Considering the circumstances, she did a fine job. S did as well as we could expect.

S looks like an entirely different child...I can't take my eyes off him. I miss his crazy big hair but I love the new look. He looks so much older and he looks much more like Roland. It's funny how S's head shape is the same as Roland's was at the same age.

S is also getting used to the new 'do. He's been staring at himself in the mirror and when he's tired, he pulls on his hair but there's not much to pull on. He'll get used to it. I'll get used to it.

We have booked S for an appointment for his first haircut. I'm not looking forward to it. Not only do I anticipate that he will struggle but we'll be losing the innocence of the androgeny of toddlerhood/babyhood.

S is a pretty androgenous kid. He's usually dressed in unisex colours. He's often mistaken for a girl...long curly hair, long lashes and rosebud lips. But even when he's dressed in blue and clothes that scream 'boy', people still think he's a girl. And that's fine...he's just a baby.

Babyhood/toddlerhood is a time of growing, exploring, playing. When a child is digging in the sand, hugging a bear or bouncing to a tune, does it really matter if a child is a girl or a boy? Children are all too soon labelled by their gender and they are treated differently and expected to act differently. As open minded we can be and aware about it, it's a societal/cultural phenomenon that is difficult to overcome.

I don't often refer to S as our son--I refer to him as our child. I don't know why. It's more a reflex but maybe it's a subconscious acknowledgement to the androgeny of young childhood. When he was born, our midwives handed him to us without saying, "It's a boy!" They wanted to give us the opportunity to enjoy our baby in the only moment in his/her life where he/she would not be gender labelled.

So good bye curly locks, good bye androgeny.

Muji is one of my favourite places to shop in London. Their stuff ain't cheap; but it's stylish, functional and lasts forever! I have a Muji zip top and a big bowl (suitable for Ramen and stuff like that takes up alot of space). Highly recommended!

From The Observer | Magazine | Design special: Fiona Rattray reports from Tokyo.:

QUOTE

Think of Muji and you think of nice stationery and opaque storage. But as Fiona Rattray reports from Tokyo, behind the no-frills concept is a company with designs on your future - from baby clothes to dream homes

UNQUOTE

We're participating in a progressive dinner with some of our townhouse neighbours. I've always wanted to do one and what a perfect situation...we're just moving yards away for each course and no need to drive! So we were brainstorming about different themes and we thought about some cultural themes and Diwali came up.

Diwali is celebrated by many people of South Asian decent. It's a celebration of light and of family. So I decided to make a few Indian appetizers for our portion of the dinner.

As I was rolling samosas last night, I was thinking of my late dear friend and colleague, Jatinder. She died of colon and liver cancer in January 2004 at the age of 37. She left behind an 8 year old and a 15 month old.

Jatinder was a vibrant, smart, funny, perceptive, witty, wise woman. We shared many conversations about life, politics, family, culture, food and travel. When we met for monthly case reviews, we'd end up spending more time yacking about stuff than we did about clients. And we'd always be laughing.

And now that I have a child, I can only imagine the angst and the pain she went through when she knew that she would die and have to leave her children.

Diwali reminds me of Jatinder. She had a sparky, bright energy about her that embodied the joy and hope of Diwali. Tonight my thoughts will be filled with her as we celebrate and feast. Wherever she is, I hope she knows I'm thinking of her.