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…and what does it mean?  Today is “Learn what your Name Means” Day…and ‘Sandy’ means helper of mankind.  Huh…rather fitting I think…lol.  What does your name mean?  Tell me…

This year’s dresses at the Oscar’s took my breath away.  Kate Winslet being my absolute fav…the simplicity and elegance she portrayed was remarkable.  And she was so poetic when she spoke during her pre-Oscar talk with E Canada.  Kate, with my other favourite dresses….

 I don’t need an Oscar…I would be happy just to wear one of these dresses…for an hour…lol.

I CAN’T wait for spring, and it’s not just the sunshine and warm temps that get me excited….it’s the shoes!!!  You with me girls?  Pull off those socks and treat yourself to a pedi (in something pink, perhaps!) and give your toes the glam treatment!  Love these….and hey…those are my gladiators in the bottom left!!  (was a little Aldo treat late last summer)…can’t wait to wear them again.  Oh, and flipflops too!  What’s your favourite?

If you’re planning a wedding, the Welcome Wagon Bridal Showcase is the place to be!  Held at Kitchener City Hall on Sunday March 14th, this event is free and sure to please with exciting door prizes, displays and even gift bags for every bride-to-be!!!  I’ll be there emcee’ing the event from 1-4pm, so come on out and enjoy the day!  Some amazing new wedding dress trends this spring….love the racerback!!!

Can you remember what life was like pre Olympics?  What ever did we do?  Well, let’s hold onto the next two days tightly….more metals to come!  Closing ceremonies this weekend as the 2010 Winter Olympics come to an official close held at the BC place in Vancouver, of course.  It’s seats 55,000…wish I could be there.

Kudo’s to the photographers who captured our Olympians in all of their glory.  I just love these…

Hosting an Olympic party?  Here are some ideas for the kids…or the kid in you…lol  

INVITATIONS

• Invite the kids to your Olympic Games Party by awarding them their first gold medal! Cut out cardboard circles and cover them with gold foil or spray-paint them with gold paint. Attach a colorful ribbon so the kids can wear their medals around their necks. Write the party details in permanent felt-tip pen on one side of the medal. Write “Winner” on the other side. Mail to the athletes.

COSTUMES

• Have the kids dress in sweats, athletic outfits, or their favorite sports attire.
• Dress the party helpers as referees, in black-and-white-striped T-shirts and matching shorts.

DECORATIONS

• If you have any Olympic memorabilia, display it in the party room to set the mood.
• Hang up posters from around the world to give the party room an international atmosphere.
• Hang up posters of sporting events or favorite sports figures.
• Place sporting equipment on the party table as a centerpiece. Have fun by decorating the centerpiece with Ace-Bandages, Ben-Gay ointment, crutches, and so on.
• Fill the ceiling with helium balloons.
• Hang flags from other countries or states on the walls.
• Play Olympic music in the background to greet the guests.

GAMES

• Create a series of challenging games for the competing athletes, using the Olympic Games as a model. Include a relay race, a high jump, a weight-lifting contest, and a discus throw.
• Organize a decathlon. Have the kids perform ten different sports during the party-such as running, jumping, dancing, skating, swimming, hiking, bowling, Ping-Pong playing, Frisbee throwing, and miniature golfing.
• Get some thick mats and have the kids do gymnastic stunts, following the lead of a gymnastic teacher.
• Have Silly Olympics, with such silly stunts as pie eating, wheelbarrow racing, clothes changing, feather-in-a-spoon carrying, Frisbee throwing, Hula-Hoop passing, or balloon popping.
• Divide the kids into two or three teams, and let them design the challenges for one another!

An exquisite performance brought the house down and Canada up!!!  And I missed it.  I tried so hard to stay awake, but I just couldn’t do it.

Locals Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir had never been coy about their Olympic aspirations – anything less than gold would have been a wrenching disappointment for them, but they did not fail…they were amazing and they nailed it!!!

And hockey on the tube tonight!!!  Go Canada !!!!

Beat the February blahs with your own winter games!

Snowball relay - Equipment: Snow

Make a snowball. It should be solidly packed and sturdy.  Set up a course around the backyard or park, with designated spots to pass the snowball from one runner to the next. If the snow is deep and trudgy, all the better. To keep it interesting, make sure that each team has at least a wee kid, a medium-sized kid and one completely hapless adult runner.  Runners race along the designated course, passing the snowball to the next runner at the passing spots. The snowball must remain at least partially intact at the end of the race.

Snow castle insanity - Equipment: plenty of snow, buckets, cups, shovels, plastic critters, dinosaurs, toy people, sticks, army guys, cars (you get the idea)

This event can be competitive or not — your choice. If competitive, you’ll need a separate area for each team to build its snow castle. Otherwise, it can just be one giant free-for-all that can be judged or not. Either way, it’s fun.  Provide kids with a snowy area, tools and accessories to build their castles. A bit of supervision may be needed to make sure there’s no bickering but, otherwise, adult presence is usually pretty superfluous.  Castles can be judged on beauty, creativity, ridiculousness or all of the above.

Snow targetry - Equipment: homemade target, snowballs galore

Using chalk on a wall or garage door, or paint on a large sheet of paper, make a target. It should be really big because some of us are not so good at this kind of thing.  Make a lot of snowballs. You’ll need three snowballs per participant.  Athletes stand at a designated spot and fire three snowballs at the target — the best shot is the one that counts. Make sure you mark each person’s best snowball hit. At the end, the closest to the centre of the target wins.

Big-air snow jumping - Equipment: big pile of snow or something else to jump from

Athletes jump off a mound of snow, a picnic table or a bench — not too high — into the softest, deepest snow available.  Participants may be judged on the expressiveness of the jump and precision of the landing. If they decide to use music or other creative embellishments (streamers, balloons, singing a song while they jump), even better.  You may want to designate someone to shovel fresh snow onto the landing zone to make sure there’s enough soft stuff so no one gets hurt.

Crazy mixed-up dogsled race - Equipment: long rope to pull toboggan, one toboggan per team

Each team should have up to two “mushers,” who sit on the toboggan, and up to four “dogs,” who pull it. Mushers must stay on board the sled, and dogs must remain hitched for the duration of the race. If anyone comes loose or falls off, the sled stops until everyone’s back in place.

Get your games on!  You can create medals out of cardboard or maybe even find something at the dollar store.  Fuel the olympians with hot chocolate and sandwiches and close the ceremony with cheering and high fives!

Have you invested in any Olympic gear?  I’ve got my mittens and I wear them proud!  My co-host, Linda Martelli is on the hunt for a white full-zip hoodie that seems to be sold out everywhere she goes!  So if you see one, pass that on to me and I will let her know!!!  (Size M;)) 

Back to the mittens…Net proceeds from every pair sold go toward supporting Canadian athletes in gaining access to top equipment and training.  You can get them at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Store, The Bay, Zellers and Home Outfitters.

Montreal marvel Nikki Yanofsky, just 15 years old, blew me away with her rendition of ’O Canada’ at the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  Now apparently there is some controversy…some even saying that our national anthem was a complete disaster.  ’O Canada’ was sung as more of a ballad, and was depicted as ’musically inept’.   Personally I thought it was beautiful.  I always appreciate a little variation on something traditional.  Nikki also preformed ‘I Believe’…landing the No.1 spot on the iTunes Canada playlist.  Just wish I could find a photo of that hot little red number that she preformed in…lol.

GO CANADA!!!