Downloading Mom for Easter

     We celebrate six things every year at our house - Spring, Summer, Fall, Halloween, Winter and birthdays. Those are the things that are important to me.


Me and Heather
Celebrating St. Patrick's Day
...just for work

     Not a big fan of New Year's. If I need an excuse to drink an entire bottle of champagne and kiss somebody at midnight, it will be because it is Tuesday and someone gave me a bottle of champagne. Valentine's Day? Please. Every day is Valentine's Day when you're married to your true love. Of course, it helps if he likes to eat at the Y. ;) I'm not Irish. St. Patrick drove the "snakes" out of Ireland. That's not a nice thing to do to snakes. Canada Day means fireworks and barbecues. Yet another tradition we have stolen from our neighbours to the south and tried to pass off as our own. Just like Thanksgiving.
     Yeah, I'm a party pooper. When the kids were younger, I used to celebrate everything. I would research all the world's holidays - Chinese New Year, Chanukah, Ramadan - just to have an excuse to do something special. But, now that my kids are grown, I don't feel so much like celebrating. I just miss them.
     To celebrate spring this year, I decided on two things. First, I was going to use silk to dye my Easter eggs. I think I saw this crafty idea on Pinterest or somewhere. I bought about 8 silk ties at the local second-hand store MONTHS ago and was (surprisingly) able to find them tucked away in a box in the garage this morning.


Silk Dyed Easter Eggs

1. Cut squares of silk big enough to completely cover your eggs from ties, shorts, scarves.
2. Cut bigger squares from white linen (old pillow cases or sheets) so that you can wrap the individual eggs and tie them with a twist tie.
3. Wrap each raw egg with a silk square and then cover with a linen square and secure tightly with a twist tie.
4. Bowl enough water to cover the eggs in an oven safe glass or enamel pot. Add at least 3 Tbsp. of vinegar.
5. Pour the boiled water over the wrapped eggs in the glass/enamel pot. Put in the oven at 350 C for 20 minutes.
6. Let cool for 10 minutes and unwrap.

     I found my eggs were not as bright as I would have liked, but the designs were cool. My daughter suggested I needed more vinegar in the water.

     Speaking of my daughter, she lives four hours away! So, the second thing I decided to do to celebrate spring was a trans-provincial Treasure Hunt. I can't be there in person to hide some eggs, but I can get a little help from some people at The Covent Garden Market in London.
     I was originally inspired for this idea on an episode of Dragon's Den that featured a delightful chocolatier from the London area. Chocolate is not like pizza. You cannot call and have it delivered. The next natural step (in my mind) was to send the recipient on a quest. In this case, I could give Alexis directions via text to have her pick up her treasures.
     This re-creates the fun I used to have with the kids when they were young. I gave them little slips of paper with clues to take them to the next clue, and the next, until they found their stash of Easter chocolate. They never much cared about the chocolate. It was always about the hunt.
     Therefore, a one-stop treasure hunt for some truffles would not be enough. I decided to include some tea, from the Tea Haus, and a bouquet of flowers from Esther's Flowers and Gifts.
     All of the Tea Haus' loose leaf teas can be found on their website www.theteahaus.com. I chose a small bag of Gyokuru and a small bag of Star of China - both very cool teas that I can't wait to try. One call and $17 later by credit card and I had one treasure.


Easter Bouquet
From Esther's Flowers

     I presume I talked to Esther from Esther's Flowers next.You can find many of her arrangements online at www.evonasflowers.com. I didn't think she really understood what the hell I was doing. I'm sure the cut flower industry deals with mostly anniversaries, birthdays and funerals requiring deliveries. Not treasure hunts in which the recipient will come in with a secret password in order to receive their flowers.
     Finally, the piece de resistance - THE CHOCOLATE. I'm a little early for the traditional Easter celebrations, so the chocolatier and I decided on a sampler box of truffles with a rabbit-shaped lolly. I told him I wanted my daughter to say, "My name is Alex. Are you the Easter Bunny?" when she arrived for her treasure. But, I assumed she would be too embarrassed to say this. He took that info and ran with it. Seemed very eager to play along with my ruse and I love him for it :) Check out www.forratschocolates.ca
     She called me in the afternoon, ready for an adventure. But, not expecting to have to leave the house. "How the hell am I going to do a treasure hunt in your house from here?" I asked. When we hung up, my son-in-law would randomly giggle to himself and say things like, "Maybe she got you a puppy and it's sitting in a parking lot frozen to death because you were supposed to do this yesterday." Or, "Maybe your mom came to visit, and she's been sitting in a parking lot somewhere, freezing to death..." etc. Such a morbid little bastard. He's so cute.

    

 The Following took place via text:

 

 

On Google maps, find the

street with the EXPENSIVE

WORLD name. Turn south.

Then turn right on

street that should have

NEW in front of it.

Then turn right on the

street describing a LOFTY

ASS

Turn right again on RUE ROI

 

Okay, I get King Street (rue roi),

Talbot (lofty ass...tall butt),

and (new)York... But, what's

expensive world?

Rich Monde

Argh! Duh

So in the market! I'll

text you when I'm there

Make sure you park in

 the underground. It will

save you money.

Lol. Yes mom otherwise the

directions are false. What's

next?

Go up the King Street

stairs to the second floor.

Once you're on the second

floor, you will see the Tea

House door.

Haus? Lol

Haus, yes.

Fucking Swype

Go in and say, "My name

is Alex. Are you the

Easter bunny?"

 

To who?

The lay behind the counter

I guess

LADY! not LAY!

LMAO! hahaha

THANK YOU! WHAT'S NEXT?

Down stairs. You will

see a flower shop with

a girl's name. She

didn't really understand

 what I was doing. So

just tell her your name

is Alex.

This flower woman loves you!

I'm glad. I was worried she

thought I was fucked

How is the tea?

I had a Tim Horton's coffee,

which she was offended by,

so she gave me a free tea

coupon for later

Ugh. Oh well. I should have

 told you

Now find the collars made

FOR NASTY VERMIN near

market lane

Not collars. CHOCOLATES.

Fucking Swype

And tell them who I am?

Ask if he's the Easter

Bunny

He really played along :p

Oh Em Gee!!

That's it. I'll call you when

you get home

 

 

     When I called, she sounded just like the excited little girl I remember and it made my day. Unfortunately, the report on the Tea Haus was negative. When she asked if they had something for her, they initially said no. Eventually, another server realized who she was and said, "I do." Then, with disdain, "I guess your cup of tea will go really well with your Tim Horton's."

Star of China tea

 

     The flowers from Esther's were absolutely gorgeous. I was expecting some tulips and gerberas for $40. But, there were yellow and red roses, lilies, gerberas and carnations. Alex was very happy.

     Of course, just as I thought, Alex tried to get away with  saying, "Hi. Do you have anything for Alex?" from Forrats. She laughed at my description. FOR NASTY VERMIN.... aka FOR RATS. ("I knew right away what you meant. lol.")

     The chocolatier replied, "I miiiight have something for you, but WHOOOO are you looking for?"

My daugher and her boyfriend

     And, that is how I got my 20 year old daughter to ask a complete stranger if he was the Easter Bunny and laugh about it.