Beef With Barbie

 I am in complete shock, and honestly... a little bit of a panic about what type of society we are breeding!  On October 21st my sister is expecting a baby boy and I will be going to Toronto to help take care of her and the family, and to occupy her two year old daughter, Nalini.  

I thought it would be nice to get Nalini something small so that she doesn't feel like it's all about baby, and try to offset any jealousy that may arise from the birth of her baby brother.  Always being a doll lover myself as a child, I thought Barbie was a good way to go.  So off I went to Walmart so excited to buy my niece her first Barbie.  I was so excited about all the possibility.  After all, it's 2010... Barbie can be anything she wants to be...  Until I saw shelf after shelf of "Barbie Bride", and "Barbie Mommy" and "Barbie Tea Party".  (I'm not gonna lie, I did stop for a minute at the Barbie Tea Party set...)  But then I went to ask a store clerk for a "professional" barbie...  And I just about lost my mind when she looked confused and then took me over to "Dog Walker Barbie".  The kicker is the dogs weren't even on a leash, they were in her purse!!  ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME???  Where is Doctor Barbie??  Or Lawyer Barbie??  Or Business Tycoon Barbie with the pin-stripe suit and matching briefcase??  

In a slightly calm, but definitely bothered tone I asked the clerk if they had a Doctor Barbie, and she said she did... And took me over to this atrocious thing pictured below, the only difference was that the set also comes with matching pink heels...

  

Now I've never given birth but I'm just gonna guess that if the first time I am handed my child it's by some chick wearing jeans, a pink jacket, and pink heels I'm really gonna have to question the credibility of this doctor.  What is wrong with our society??  And why does "Doctor Barbie" have to be holding babies??  There are other types of doctors!!  A simple stethoscope and medical bag would have been fine I think.   

Don't get me wrong... when I was a little girl, I LOVED everything pink, I loved fairies and princesses, I had all the Barbie Dream Houses and multiple versions of Ken.  They had about 100 weddings in my childhood room, and I don't know how many tea parties.  I fantasized about my wedding day, and couldn't wait for the day that I would be a mommy.  I honestly think there is nothing wrong with that.  But thank god I also had parents who told me I could do all that and be all those things while also having a brain and a mind of my own and get satisfaction from making something of myself also.  

It just really panics me and makes me wonder what types of girls we are raising??  Maybe I'm worrying for nothing.  After all, almost all of my Barbies had pink tu-tu's and matching pink heels, and I was still aware that I could do anything but I have to say I am still disappointed about where we are as a society.  

Who knows, maybe the little girls of today are smarter than we realize and don't need the "professional" dolls to teach them they can do it all....  Hopefully.  

Fall Favorites & Monster Pants

So after a year of Jon asking me to make him monster pants I am finally doing it!!  If you don't know what I'm talking about see here.  These pics are of the pair I made last year.  The original is infant sized for a 6 - 8 month old and Jon just loved them when I finished them and really wanted a pair for himself.  I thought he was crazy but after a year of still asking for them I suppose he does really want them!  I've saved the first pair for when our little one eventually comes along, and I do have to admit that I love the idea of Jon and our little one having matching pants.  Cute!  Hehe...  That and the fact that now that the weather is cooling off a bit and I can totally feel fall coming I'm dying to get back in to my knitting but don't really have a project in mind.  I'll post pics as the new pair comes along.  For now, I'm just trying to decide if he'll be too warm if I do the pants in a bamboo/wool blend.  I love that type of yarn, but it is rather warm and Jon likes to be on the cool side.  I'm thinking 100% cotton might be a better choice...  I'll keep you updated on how things go with this project!  I think I'll be needing bigger circular needles...  Hehe...

The Cotton Anniversary

I have to start off again apologizing for my slight absense... My computer has really had a case of the sickies recently and spent another two weeks at FutureShop.  Hopefully we're all resolved now though...  :)

So a few weekends ago Jon and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary, which is apparently "The Cotton Anniversary".  Luckily, we did not exchange any cotton.  Hehe...  Instead we headed up to Cape Breton for the weekend, and two nights of camping!  It was so much fun!!  I have to say we've been really lucky with how much camping we've gotten in this summer.

We started out towards Glace Bay, N.S. for the Cole Miner's Museum and were lead down into the caves by an ex cole miner who told us some stories of what it was like growing up in Canada during those times, and then growing up to follow a long family tradition of cole mining.  It was very inspiring.  After the 6 hour drive up there, and spending about two hours at the Cole Miner's we were very anxious to get to our Campsite and relax!

After a nice swim in the pool, two bbq steaks and some relaxin by the fire we rested and hit the road again the next morning!  We went on to the Cabot Trail which I completely fell in love with.  I have no idea how I've been living in Nova Scotia for 9 years now and have never been to that end of the province!!  The scenery was unreal, the pictures really do not do it justice at all!!

The second night we camped just at the end of the Cabot Trail in the Highlands National Park.  The second night wasn't as relaxing as we were exhausted and it was seriously freezing!!  We then headed back home and stopped at the Glenora Distillery for a tour of the only single malt scotch distillery in canada.  And at the "Red Shoe Pub" which is run by the Rankin Sisters.  All in all, a wonderful anniversary trip.  The more I see of this province, the more I fall in love with it.  Funny thing, I feel the same way about my husband.

PolaDroid

One of my new favorite blogs, Hey Lady Grey recently blogged about this very cool program called PolaDroid.  It's a desk polaroid camera for your computer.  I LOVE everything picture related from scrapbooking, to albums, picture collages... you name it.  I'm probably the last person on the planet still printing out my digital pics, and keeping photo albums, but I love it.  There's just so much more emotion, and something so much more meaningful about a picture in your hand than one on a computer screen.

That being said, I do love technology from time to time when it's cool like this!  The camera even takes time to develop and makes the cool old school sounds when it spits out your polaroid, and they come out looking a little aged.  It just throws the pics on to your desktop and then goes away when you close PolaDroid but if you hit "print screen" on your key board you can arrange them and make .jpeg files for you to keep, or print or do whatever with.  I thought it was cute... Enjoy!