I got to see my best friend Grace in a play. And last night I went to my friend Jenn Grant’s concert.

He said

This week was purely focused on the arts and it was perfect! And it worked out even more perfectly when it turned out that it was also Emelia’s March Break at school. Despite the last ditch efforts by winter to run us through the ringer (hopefully) one last time early in the week, the only regret we had on the week was that David, Linda and the cousins were trapped down in Welland by the snow, unable to get the visit this way that they had planned. Their area was worst hit by the blast of snow and we got away relatively unscathed with a dusting and some bitter cold air.

A million months ago when Wilco announced a couple of shows at historic Massey Hall in Toronto, knowing that it would sell out, I bought tickets as soon as I could. They’re a band that we’ve seen many times and I would never skip the opportunity to see when the calendar, wallet and geography allow. The first time I saw Wilco, ten years ago, Emelia was just a hope in Danielle’s belly and we were nervous and gun-shy after a couple of painful miscarriages. At that show, with Danielle home sleeping with first trimester exhaustion, I threw caution into the wind and bought a Wilco onesie with the belief that alone would be enough to will a baby into our lives. Some months later, that shirt became Emelia’s and the rest is history we’ve pieced together, here. Suffice it to say, Wilco will always have lineage in our lives with Emelia.

Those tickets I bought months ago, became an event this week. Wednesday afternoon, I took Emelia over to Poppa & Grandma’s for a sleepover, and as soon as the last daycare kid was gone, Danielle and I were on the road for Toronto by 4pm. Aside from a couple slow spots of traffic, the trip down was easy and before we knew it we met up with our good friend Dawn – also a Wilco fan – who was going to the show. In fact the first time I met Dawn, a fellow CBC Radio 3 fan, was at a Wilco show in London. The show was probably one of the best ones I have seen as they had a much smaller more intimate stage setup that included this really cool, three dimensional forest backdrop. But more importantly their set list was an amazing collection all through their canon. We had three hours of amazing music and got home – albeit a lot past our bedtime – filled with a great night of music and friendship.

Thursday this week, Grace, one of Emelia’s best friends, was in a play at The Palace Theatre and we had tickets to go see her.  This is second year that Grace has been in London Youth Theatre and this year’s production was a comedy about the Addams Family. When I picked up from Mom & Dad’s on Thursday and reminded her what we were doing that night, she was beaming with excitement. I took her out in the afternoon while running errands so she could buy flowers to give to Grace after the show. The show was quite funny and everyone in it was really good—you could see the payoff of the effort they put into getting ready. And Emelia loved seeing her friend up on the stage.

Saturday this week was our next foray out to support the arts when our friend Jenn Grant came to play a sold out show at The Aeolian Hall. She’s gone from a few years back playing our dining room in a house show for our friends to filling The Aeolian Hall with people and her beautiful songs. We’ve become friends with Jenn and her husband Daniel through our musical circles intersecting and in fact Jenn graciously offered her opinion of me in the application video I made when applying to work for Apple. Five years later at Apple, I still think of her when I reflect the amazing change working at Apple has brought our life.

Jenn is touring to support the release of her new album Paradise, which I had the opportunity to hear ahead of its release. And as much as Danielle and I immediately fell in love with her new songs, it wasn’t until we saw her play them live that were gobsmacked by just how good the songs are—especially live! When the album was released it was the third highest selling and streamed album in Canada, so it seems a lot of people feel the same. At any rate, knowing that it was still March Break and that Emelia really loves Jenn (and Jenn feels likewise) we opted to bring her to the show even though it would put her out well past bedtime. We knew this is one of those memories that would stick with her for long time, and music and the friends who make it is important to us, so we want to embed that in her too. For the second night this week we got home later than bedtime – this time with Emelia – but fell asleep after a great night of music.

This week is back to school for Emelia and then after a couple of last gymnastics practices, on Thursday night we’re headed down to Vaughan for the night because Friday morning bright and early is Emelia’s first ever gymnastics competition. We’re all a little excited about it – even maybe a little nervous. But the best news is that once that is done Friday and with the rest of the weekend off, we’re gonna carry on done to Bracebridge and visit Charlier, Todd and Marshall. So we’re going from one fantastic week, right into another!

She said

This week was busy to say the least. The daycare was lighter in numbers with a few little ones out with their families over March Break but with Emelia home and full evenings it was a very week. As John has posted it was a very busy week with some incredible entertainment. Wilco was absolutely amazing, Jenn was stunning and incredible and the play that Grace was in was absolutely adorable and we just loved seeing her perform!

What added to a very busy week was a shift I started in my own life. I have been passionate about natural living for a long time seeing the amazing changes that have happened in our own lives and my health since making these changes. Some have been subtle some have been drastic. Just over 5 years ago I was in terrible health, in my later 30s and my blood pressure was out of control, I was horribly out of shape, overweight, always tired, stressed to the nines. One fateful evening while John and I were driving down to Toronto for a concert I said that was enough I was making big changes. And I did, and happily haven’t looked back. Changes in our diet changed our lives, I finally was getting healthier. Next step was moving through our home and making big changes – removing chemicals from our home for the health sake of ourselves and the daycare kids. You know what – we stopped getting sick so often!

Move forward to the last few months, I have been researching more natural approaches to our health. This brought in the radar essential oils, I tried a few companies and then came across doTerra, the purest most natural source I could find. And that was it, we were set! We started by trying lavender diffused in Emelia’s room – her sleep improved almost overnight – she stopped having multiple wake ups and sleeping much more rested. This moved me to more research (yes can you tell I have a research background) and this brought us to where we are today. Moving towards sharing my own experience with natural living and health. This has been a long time passion and finally I took the leap of faith and this gave birth to Nature Loving Mum. I am super excited about this next challenge and all that is ahead. This also means that I am in weeks of intensive training so I can incorporate more essential oil benefits in my wellness goals. More fun to come and more projects to perfect!

So in short order that was my week. So please forgive my excitement! My inner hippy is breaking loose!