Woman in Real Life

I was a lucky girl in February. Not only did I receive a lovely box of accessories from Wantable, I also received a Wantable intimates box. In case you haven't heard of it yet, Wantable is a fun, stylish subscription service that provides accessories, intimates and cosmetic boxes tailored to your personal desires.

My February intimates box was very exciting - the contents were equal parts fun and useful. Based on the personal preferences that I had noted on Wantable's website, the expert curators sent me a black lace panty from Q-T intimates, a lightweight, silky half slip from Cass Luxury Shapewear and Muk Luks Mary Jane style Aloe Socks, which are treated with aloe vera to moisturize and promote healthy skin. The half slip can also be worn as a strapless bustier top or a slimming skirt. I don't think I'm brave enough for either of those options though.

As I write, there's a blizzard storming outside. Literally a blizzard. Happy March Break, right? At least we have been eating well. We've been on the road visiting family. Sunday night we arrived at my parents' house and Mom had her yummy vegetarian chili waiting. We also made some pull-apart buns and baked up some gluten-free Sweets from the Earth chocolate chip cookies for dessert. I was so hungry I forgot to take pictures.

On Monday, we headed into the nearby town of Dunnville. I was super excited because the town now boasts a vegetarian/vegan café, called The Minga. It's a small town so it's unusual to find a vegan option at a restaurant, never mind a whole vegetarian café! My mom got the salad above. It was a mix of kale, avocado, strawberries, raspberries, dried cranberries and sunflower seeds, with a dressing. We got one for my daughter too, but I ended up eating most of it. It was healthy, tasty and satisfying.

When a family is stuck inside as we have been for the past couple of (freezing!) months, it becomes a parent's duty to brainstorm activities for the kids. Although some kids might be just as happy left to play video games for hours on end (and I have one of those kids), DK Canada has a better suggestion.

Happy Insta-Friday! I know, I know, it's Sunday! But it's also March Break and I had a house full of kids on Friday. We went tobogganing and then I just generally followed them around cleaning up after them.

Those of you who call it "Spring Break" probably don't live around here. A, it's not spring. And B, it doesn't look anything like spring. We are still facing mounds of snow all around. I wish I could report that we're heading off to sunny Florida or Cuba or something wonderful like that. But we will be catching up with family this week. Not that that's a bad thing. I would just rather catch up with them in Cuba.

Okay, enough bitching. I'm not even going to mention that it's snowing...again. And freezing. But let's not talk about it. Spring is on the way!

And it's What I Ate Wednesday, so that's always fun. We have had some tasty meals this week, like the spaghetti and tofu balls that my husband made. Those tofu balls are incredibly delicious. The secret is a little bit of peanut butter mixed in. And I always persuade my husband to make the homemade sauce by telling him that his sauce is better than mine. "You're Italian," I say. "I can't compete with that."

I'm not an avid reader of non-fiction by any means (unless you count cookbooks!), but I like to pick up an informative book occasionally, most often about healthy eating or animal welfare. (With the odd celebrity biography thrown in.) My most recent non-fiction read is T. Colin Campbell's fascinating book Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition.

Dr. Campbell, who you may remember from the documentary Forks Over Knives, is the coauthor of the international bestseller The China Study. Backed by the most extensive study of nutrition ever conducted and bolstered by many additional studies and cases, The China Study concludes that eating a diet of whole, plant-based foods can dramatically reduce our risk of many diseases, including heart disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer.