a peek inside the fishbowl

This giveaway is brought to you by longtime Fishbowl patron Alison Fowler.

I’m so excited about this giveaway. Alison has been working hard to create amazing gifts of art in time for Valentine’s Day. One wall of her studio is currently covered in mini heart canvases, all for sale. Each one is unique and special in its own way.

You can win ONE of Alison’s original 4″x4″ heart paintings. Winner’s choice! (There will be between 150-175 to choose from. Don’t expect it to be easy!)

Here’s a sneak peek:

Ack! Isn’t that sweet? Is there anything more thoughtful? My own heart is bursting.

Sooo, would you like to win one? :)

All you need to do is leave a comment below. Tell me, who would you give it to if you won?

Some details:

• This giveaway is open to anyone residing in the Ottawa area but is void in Quebec. (Sorry guys, here’s why.)
• The draw will be at noon on the 13th. The winner will have to pick up their prize at Alison’s studio at 1395-B Wellington Street West, just one block east of Island Park Drive. If you want to make it for Valentine’s Day you’ll need to pick it up on the afternoon of the 13th or sometime on the 14th. If the winner can’t make it at that time s/he runs the risk of Alison running out of paintings (and the prize is therefore void), so I kindly suggest that earlier is better.
• If you can’t post your comment because you’re behind a firewall at work (or whatever), you can email it to me for posting at andrea at quietfish dot com (Please note, I cannot be responsible if your entry is misdirected or gets stuck in my Spam folder!)
• This is not a requirement of entry, but you might be interested to know that Alison is on Facebook and Twitter too. Follow her there for inside scoop and other fun stuff.
• One entry per person please! We want lots of people to have the opportunity to win.
• Good karma goes to those who tweet or post about this on your blog or Facebook. Seriously.

I will do a random draw using Random.org at noon EST on Monday February 13, 2012.

That’s it! Thank you Alison for this awesome giveaway!

Over to you Fishies.. good luck!

Do you remember this video?

I was watching it again today and was reminded of how important this kind of contact is, how crucial it is to our happiness as the social creatures we are.

Think about it. When babies are developing in the womb they’re in a pretty snug and comfortable place, and every part of their body surrounded by a piece of their mother. Our skin, which is in fact a giant sensory organ, is extremely sensitive to touch… and as infants we develop our sense of touch very quickly. Don’t infants recognize their mothers by touch too?

Which brings me to my question. Are you a hugger? I’m a hugger. I love to hug my kids. But this morning, as I walked into a warm farewell-see-you-after-school hug I wondered:

• who will be the first person to pull away from this hug?
• how long will the hug last if I’m not the person who pulls away?

And so I hugged. And hugged. And enjoyed the moment for the lovely thing it was. I didn’t count how long the hug lasted, but I tell ya, it was a LO-O-O-NG hug. And so nice to have it last longer than a few heartbeats. So nice I didn’t pull away and interrupt it with something like: “and don’t forget to return your library book.”

The moment was just about the hug.

We are always so rushed in the mornings. How can we pack off kids to school all day and not send them away with a long warm hug that will last them the whole day?

How about you try it out with the people you love this week too? Try hugging your spouse or your kids a little longer and see what happens. I dare you. :)

Yesterday was the first time in over a week that our youngest has looked and felt healthy. So she celebrated by doing something a little more active than lying on the couch… like going for a skate after the dishes have been cleared and the sun has gone down:

She had a bad flu that had her totally immobilized and incapacitated with fever. Poor thing. It just breaks my heart when the kids are sick.

This week I have a million and one things I need to catch up on. Consider this a public apology for all those overdue emails and phone calls. Wish me luck.