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But Ever Since the Day That You Appeared, I’m Telling You You’ve Made the Difference Now Love Is So Clear…..

Ok, really… I SWEAR I do not know where Brooklyn is starting to get some of her wardrobe ideas from.

This morning she really thought that putting a towel on her head was going to make her a Jedi! She still hasn’t mastered her Yoda voice impression yet, but she’s getting close!

THIS is the reason why my kids will be SO AWESOME when they grow up.

And then she goes from her Jedi towel head straight to a tutu and completely CUTE!! Amazing Toddler!!

As for the other one, she’s getting bigger by the day! Her neck muscles are getting a work out, and she can lift her head and move her whole body! She’s only days away from being able to turn herself around!

But then she loses all her energy and goes right back to sleep!

In case you were wondering, this is what 100 lumpia for $25 looks like!! GET IN MY BELLY!!

And it was extra-special-awesome today because we were having PANCIT for lunch and dinner!! GET IN MY BELLY!

Song of the Day: Can’t Stop – After 7

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The Nets Could Go 0 for 82 and I Look At You Like This Sh*t’s Gravy, Ball So Hard This Sh*t’s Weird, We Ain’t Even S’posed to Be Here…..

It occurred to me that my life is pretty awesome right now. The stars are in alignment, the future looks bright, and so far 2012 is off to a bang of a start.

Then again, when you see someone with purple rolled down Uggs, it’s pretty hard to compare lives to lives.

Off to New York City! Our first trip of the New Year out of many many more! I really hate getting into NY through New Jersey, but when the company’s paying for it, I”m not going to argue really.

I was THIS CLOSE to having a daughter named Madison. Oh well. I guess I’ll just have to try again….

Beyond the usual meetings and spying on other retailers and such, I did get a chance to visit my current Favorite Store in the Entire World, Uniqlo! They’re always doing it incredible these days! 
Another splurge I took this trip was a big fat red Prime Rib steak. I have been trying to cut down on food that isn’t so good for me, but come on! Look at this slab of meat! I felt like John Candy in The Great Outdoors!! 
It was a bit rainy, and the top of the Empire State building was covered in fog and low hanging clouds. It’s still pretty incredible that it’s such a landmark and symbol for me though. I do remember on my first ever trip here with my pops and brother, my brother actually touching the side of the building and getting the shivers because he thought he was so cool to have touched the Empire State Building!

Cheers to the good times, frequent travel, and being great at what you do to enable you the more spoils of life.

Song of the Day: N**gas In Paris – Jay-Z & Kanye West

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Show Me How, Decide What You Want From Me, Tell Me, Maybe I Could Be There For You…..

I’ve been asked on more than one occasion about the “Song of the Day”. Where it comes from, why it’s there, and how do I know of so much music?
From a young young age, the earliest I can remember, on weekends we would listen to Abba while doing our weekly chores. I would be vacuuming and … wait a sec, I don’t recall what my older brother did. That bastard.
Well, anyways, with my dad being in radio and such, we had 8 tracks of Kenny Rogers, The Carpenters, and The Beatles around. I do remember as far back as my parents having a reel-to-reel, but I can’t recall what music was on there. I only remember seeing it spin around and around, and when the tape got to the end, the loose end would slap the machine over and over and over again.
Almost every major memorable moment in my life could be tied back to my ghetto blaster, Casey Kasem, my own pops on the radio, and Video Hits with Samantha Taylor.
Then there was that time when Jane from highschool would always borrow my Soul II Soul single cassette for “Back to Life” and give it back after three days, then ask to borrow it again, and over and over again. I was so dumb back then, it NEVER clue’d in for me that she had a crush on me. Cot Dammit.
Fast forward to my store manager days and we would sub out the audio on the video we were given to loop around and play our own home made mixes and mixtapes.
A big influence on my music was my older bro. He introduced me to Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, the Housemartins, and the Barenaked Ladies (before crack).
My very first concert was Bryan Adams, his return to Vancouver tour in 1992 from a World Tour that he was on. As soon as he played the chords from Summer of 69, the roof blew off the Coluseum.
Then there was the time when I went to San Fran with my pops, and dropped in to a Sunrise Records the day that Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz CD came out. I picked it up and brought it back to my school and EVERYONE wanted a copy of it.
Music was always with me and definitely changed my life, my filters on life, and helped to define moments in my life. Pretty much every day I have some sort of song in my head. It might not be the “Song of the Day” you see here, but there is some lyric or something that gets me through my day. I have been thinking of putting together a cool project, and then the idea spawned to a music service for people. More on that to come, but once I get my head wrapped around the resources and players involved, you will know!!

Song of the Day: Back To Life – Soul II Soul

Sears Canada cuts 400 employees, many in the Toronto, in the second downsizing in months

Sears Canada Inc. slashed another 400 jobs this week after cutting 70 before Christmas, more signs of the retailer’s troubles as its new boss races to revamp its operations and foreign retailers rush to set up shop in this country.
The moves at the Toronto-based department-store retailer come amid heightened uncertainty at its parent, U.S.-based Sears Holdings Corp., which struggled through a weak holiday period and announced plans to close up to 120 U.S. stores to shave costs.
In Canada, Sears is ripe for a takeover by a U.S. department-store merchant, industry watchers said. Nordstrom Inc., in particular, is searching for space here and would find Sears’ flagship stores in Toronto and Vancouver a good fit, they said.
“There might be companies that might be interested in Sears, or part of the organization,” said retail advisor Wendy Evans at Evans & Co. Consultants. “With that amount of real estate, it’s a noose around [Sears’] neck to some extent.”
Sears has been dragged down by mounting competition from more agile specialist rivals and discount giants, including the Canadian division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer. By next year, Target Corp., the second-ranked U.S. discounter, will start to open outlets in Canada.
But, while Sears struggles to bolster its performance, its real estate remains valuable with low rents, giving landlords the incentive to try to find a stronger retailer, such as Nordstrom, to pick up some of the space now occupied by Sears.
“The developers would love to get their hands back on some of the [Sears’] real estate and make more money on it,” Ms. Evans said. Sears spokesman Vincent Power said he wasn’t aware of any talks with Nordstrom and, in any case, couldn’t comment on such matters.
Amid the changes in the retail landscape, Sears’ new chief executive officer, Calvin McDonald, has acknowledged its problems, and launched a recovery plan. It entails refocusing on the retailer’s core appliances and mattresses departments as well as on apparel and all things tied to children’s goods, while remodelling four of the 122 department stores.
Still, the retailer is racing against time amid weak consumer spending and, in the holiday period, heavy discounting that pinched many merchants’ profit margins, analysts said. Overall national holiday sales rose about 2 per cent in 2011, according to Ernst & Young. That was below last year’s gain of between 3 and 4 per cent in 2010.
“Calvin has done quite a good job on core stores,” Ms. Evans said. “But they’ve got a long way to go.”
Mr. Power said the latest staff cuts, in “non-core” store positions and head office, are part of Sears’ wider transformation initiatives and aren’t tied to Sears plans in the U.S. to shut stores after its same-store sales at outlets open a year or more dropped 5.2 per cent in the fourth quarter. No store closings are planned in Canada, he said.

120125

Accept Me For What I Am, Accept Me For the Things That I Do…..

It dawned on me as I was doing laundry over the weekend, that although we were lucky to have another girl, and she would be getting mostly (ok, 95% of) Brooklyn’s hand-me-downs, there would also be double the amount of laundry to do. This is not good.
Also not good is considering that I do most of the weekend cleaning chores already, I am already looking at options of enlisting some help.
Now Baby Amerie doesn’t really actually go through that many clothes right now, but she soon will. She still goes through way more diapers than clothes, so that’s ok. It’s way easier to throw out a diaper genie bag than it is to do another load of laundry.
But added to the vacuuming, dusting, trash, recycling, and I just want to sit on the couch and do nothing type of weekend days, more laundry is not really high on my priority list. My how things change.
Trust me, it’s not the lazy-factor in play here, it’s the “I just want to rest, recharge, and let my brain turn to mush” in order to preserve my sanity and possibly my blood pressure for the future years.
I’m sure I’ll find a way to work things out (I always do, don’t I?). With or without a Consuela to come help me, I will find a way.

Song of the Day: Don’t Make Me Over – Sybil

Hudson’s Bay Company Acquires Lord & Taylor

–Announces new structure and leadership–

NEW YORK, Jan. 23, 2012 /CNW/ – Hudson’s Bay Company, the Canadian retail conglomerate, completed its acquisition of its affiliate, Lord & Taylor Holdings, LLC, the U.S. department store company.

Following this announcement, Hudson’s Bay Company will operate the two leading retail banners in North America, The Bay and Lord & Taylor. Prior to the transaction, Hudson’s Bay Company and Lord & Taylor were side-by-side affiliate entities.

Richard Baker will remain Governor and CEO of the newly restructured company, with Donald Watros continuing as Chief Operating Officer. Bonnie Brooks, currently President & CEO of The Bay, will become President of the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Richard Baker said, “We are fortunate to have both Don Watros and Bonnie Brooks round out the leadership team of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Don’s operational and financial expertise has been instrumental in contributing to both The Bay and Lord & Taylor’s year-over-year profitability despite the poor economic environment around the globe.

“Bonnie’s extraordinary leadership at The Bay and previous global retailing expertise from Lane Crawford are a natural fit to lead this new integrated organization as we move to our next phase of growth and evolution. The turnaround and speed of growth at The Bay under Bonnie’s leadership is unprecedented in modern times,” he added. Lord & Taylor and The Bay will maintain their distinct identities and nameplates while leveraging the merchandising strengths of the organizations to improve and accelerate their continued growth.

Baker also noted, “We look forward to an even stronger 2012 with this new leadership structure in place and the strength of two dynamic teams coming together and leading the HBC into the future.”

Brendan Hoffman President and CEO of Lord &Taylor will be leaving the company to pursue another opportunity.

Baker said, “I want to thank Brendan for his contribution to the success of Lord &Taylor over the past three years and wish him well on his new challenge.”

As part of the transaction, Hudson’s Bay invested $427 million in Lord & Taylor, which used the proceeds entirely to reduce corporate debt.

120124

Cuz When I Think of You, Nothing Else Seems to Matter, When I Think of You, All I Think About Is Our Love…..

So we are catching a few instances of Brooklyn’s jealousy over Baby Amerie. Sure, she showers the baby with kisses and such, but there is definitely the element of “what about me?” in some of her latest actions.
Brooklyn is definitely not shy about using “NO” as a response to requests.
She’s also definitely conscious that she’s pushing her borders and boundaries. Like when you tell her she’s only allowed one last video to watch on the ipad before bedtime, and she’s got her finger over another video, ready to push the play button… she’s too smart for her own good!
The other behavior we’re seeing is her use of “MINE”. She’ll even go to toys that she hasn’t touched for years and say “MINE”. Even if Leonidas comes near anything of hers, she’ll say “NO Leo! That’s MINE!”
Now, I know part of this is her Terrible Twos, but there are other parts that are just plain defensive mechanisms for older sister to protect her turf!
All relax though, we are doing our best to nip them in the bud. Brooklyn does get quality playing time, puzzle time, reading time, and even ipad time, all with an adult so that she’s not just off by herself, sitting in a corner.
One of the other things we’ve tried to involve Brooklyn with is taking care of Amerie, helping to change her, helping to bathe her, and even helping to burp her!
Someone told me to get some gifts for Brooklyn so she wouldn’t feel left out when the Baby is showered with gifts and new stuff. Another trick up my sleeve was to get a bunch of DVDs and Dora Books, wrap them up, and every time Brooklyn does something good, give her a gift and say that it was from Baby Amerie. That Amerie picked it out for Brooklyn. It’s yet to be seen if that actually works because it’s so early, but it seems to have an effect of lessening the jealousy.
It’s definitely helped in terms of not having the potty training go backwards, or having a complete trainwreck in the mornings, but daycare has also helped Brooklyn deal with that as well.
Oh the many adventures we’re going to have with these two girls!
Stay Tuned!

Song of the Day: When I Think of You – Janet Jackson

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For You I’d Give a Lifetime of Stability, Anything You Want of Me, Nothing Is Impossible…..

Amerie: Bravery and Power; work ruler.
Hilda: Battle, war, warrior.

Yikes. I think I’m in for really big trouble in about 5 years.

Song of the Day: For You – Kenny Lattimore

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