Pages

Thursday 28 March 2013

Birthday Cake

Son #1's birthday is coming up and I really wanted to make him a birthday cake from scratch. A few weeks ago, we received a flyer from the Save-On-Foods grocery chain and as soon as he saw the Angry Birds cake, he kept saying that he wanted it. I considered making it myself: bake the cake, frost and then make some Angry Birds characters either by making cake balls or rice krispy treat balls covered with fondant. Might I add that the flyer also had a 10% off coupon for the cake? 10% = $3 off for this cake. Big money. I kept debating whether or not I should buy or make and even considered buying some plastic Angry Birds toys to put on the cake so that I wouldn't have to go through the hassle of making the cake/rice krispy balls.

Well, now it's Thursday and Son's birthday is on Saturday plus we're hosting Easter Brunch with the in-laws at our house on Sunday, Brother and Sister-in-law are coming in town, and Easter presentation at church on Friday (and Sunday but probably won't go to that one even though Husband is performing in both). Too much going on so off to Save-On-Foods I went to order the cake. The one by our house didn't have the Angry Birds one so while I was there, I picked up some mini marshmallows and a giant box of Rice Krispies, determined to make those Angry Birds balls and his cake last minute. When I got home, I decided to call the Save-On-Foods that is by my friend's house since I have to go there before Son's birthday for a baby shower. Success! I placed my order for the Angry Birds cake and will pick it up after the baby shower.

But now I feel guilty because I'm not baking his cake. AND I'm not even making any of the food. We're ordering pizza and I'm going to pick up a vegetable tray from Costco since they make it so well and I'm not sure how much time I'm going to have between the baby shower and the birthday to do it myself. This is all very odd for me since I almost always make all of the food myself. I'm one of those people who feel embarrassed to use boxed cake mix even though I do once in a while (lemon poppyseed bundt cake anyone? I just can't get it to taste the same when making from scratch). We're only inviting four of Son's friends and I'm pretty sure that they won't care either way. It's actually two of his friends but of course their siblings are coming since their parents' are close friends of Husband's and mine as well. We weren't even going to have a birthday party for him since he's only turning three but thought it might be fun to get together. Then I wanted to invite more of his friends but then it would have been hard to keep it small without hurting feelings.

So what is the point of this post? I don't know. Maybe I just felt like doing an online confessional since my overachieving self is feeling a tiny bit guilty.

I guess the plus side of ordering a cake is that I probably won't eat as much compared to if I had made it myself. I have this weird thing where I keep eating things that I bake, especially if I'm not satisfied with it, in case it might taste different or something each time I eat it. Oh wait, I'm planning to bake this cake for Sister-in-law's birthday on Monday but making the chocolate cake from scratch, of course ;)

At least the treat baskets I put together are pretty awesome!

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Fashionable Mom Shoes


While I'm on maternity leave, I use some of my "downtime" when the boys are sleeping to either take a nap, do some cleaning, or... do online shopping. It's become a bad habit and I've been better lately but I see all of these cute things or awesome deals and in that moment, I just feel like I have to buy it!

So I saw these shoes on one of the blogs I frequent, Ain't No Mom Jeans, and was persuaded to buy them - really, the website personally told me to buy them. Am I glad I did! Right out of the box, these were one of the most comfortable heeled shoes that I've ever worn. I'm thinking about buying another pair but might hold off in case they go on sale since it looks like some of them already have.

I was actually thinking about buying those trendy wedge sneakers or a pair of ballet flats but these shoes are way more practical for me since I can wear them at work and play. The little bit of height is nice, too, without being too tall like most of the cheaper wedge sneakers that I liked (I wasn't willing to pay more than $40 on a pair of those trendy things). Plus the fact that I'm avoiding skinny pants until this postpartum #2 weight comes off is another point for these shoes since they can be paired with a greater variety of pants and skirts.

Anyway, although this sounds like a sponsored post, it isn't but I thought that I would share my experience with these comfortable mom shoes that are still fashionable and great for work!

Oh, and argh because I didn't buy it at the ridiculous price that they are now. I can console myself with the fact that they didn't have the perfect size for me (size 7.5 wide - yes, wide ugly feet) but I probably would have went for the size 8s. Maybe it wouldn't have fit as well? Yes, that's right. The 2.5 times sale price that I paid is still worth it.

Tuesday 26 March 2013

CASB and being a mom

It just occurred to me that I should write about my experiences going through CASB (CA School of Business) while being a mom since my blog title is "Accounting Mommy" and all.

After graduating from university, I articled with a small local accounting firm. Since I was getting married the year after, I decided to delay my registration into Module 1 of CASB until after the wedding. There was a rumor that a guy had to write a module exam on the day of his wedding since he wasn't able to defer it - true or not, I wasn't going to go through that stress so CASB was delayed. Two years after our wedding, I became pregnant with my first! The first thing that my mom said to me when we shared the news with my parents was "what about your accounting course??" before she said congratulations :P Before I found out I was pregnant, my grandmother - whom I was very close to - passed away. I think this was around Mod 3. A few months after when I was starting Mod 4, my mother-in-law also passed away (I was about 2 months pregnant by then). Son #1 came 6 weeks early at the end of March - bad timing for everyone working at my office because of tax season but maybe good timing for me?? hee hee. Mod 5 was completed that fall, which included a trip to the Dominican Republic for my brother's wedding, and then the following year Mod 6 and then the UFE was written and passed! Oh and throw in moving into a new house during UFE Summer for fun because I'm crazy like that and enjoy stress. And then Son #2 joined us about a year after writing the UFE - AFTER I made sure that I passed.

So for anyone wondering if it is possible to get married and have a family while doing CASB, the answer is yes! But I have to say that I had a lot of support from my parents who helped to look after Son #1 and of course from Husband. There was also a lot of mental support from my family, friends, and coworkers who helped me to decide to finish and then write the UFE. There were so many times that I just wanted to stop pursuing the designation but luckily I had a lot of people encouraging me! It definitely wasn't easy and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I even told my newlywed coworker to put off having kids until after she passes the UFE haha. But with a lot of support and LOTS of prayer - I seriously asked everyone that I could to pray for me whenever I had to write an exam and truly believe that is a big part of why I passed - I did it. So don't be discouraged! Life happens but that doesn't mean you have to stop achieving things for yourself. I mean, my family is my biggest achievement, but you know what I'm getting at, right?

Anyway, Son #2 is crying and it's getting late so no time to edit my rambles above but I hope I encouraged at least one person out there!!

Hello!

Hello and thank you for visiting my blog! I always thought about starting a blog but didn't know what my focus would be. I couldn't even think of a name for my blog so came up with the rather unimaginative "Accounting Mommy" because that's what I am: I'm a Chartered Accountant and mother of two boys. I love cooking and baking so I'm sure that there will be posts on that, looking for good deals, diet/fitness, being a working mom (currently on maternity leave), and maybe some inspirational tidbits that I might come across. I hope to figure this thing out soon!