My Weekend with Rimowa Salsa Air Luggage

Rimowa luggage review sparkleshinylove

 

 

Tragically, this year my suitcase finally kicked the bucket. It lasted 9 torturous years with me trying to shove as many shoes as possible into it until it was bursting at the seams.

I’m actually surprised it lasted this long considering all of the times different airlines said it was waaaay overweight, the way it got knocked around by baggage handlers, and the fact it travelled to 16 countries.

I spent the weekend in Niagara-on-the-Lake for a wine tour with friends, and I was lucky enough to try out a new piece of luggage – the Rimowa Salsa Air.

 

 

Rimowa luggage review sparkleshinylove

 

 

I’d say this luggage was a big step up from the flowery (but greatly loved) canvas suitcase I previously owned.

 

 

Rimowa luggage review sparkleshinylove

 

 

Girls never travel light, so the fact that this suitcase seemed almost weightless was helpful since I was ready to test it’s limits.

The wheels maneuvered in all directions so it was easy to pull behind me. Once I packed it full of the necessities, it still maneuvered just as easily and the weight had no bearing on the wheels. The Salsa Air line is the lightest of the Rimowa luggage family.

 

 

Rimowa Salsa Air Navy
 

 

The suicase also had a TSA lock integrated into the design so it could be opened without being damaged during security checks.

This suitcase is made of polycarbonate, which is practically indestructible! This is important – have you seen how your luggage gets handled at the airport? It’s not pretty. Hence why my favourite luggage had to be put down – it actually came back to me with a corner missing. You could almost see what was inside! Anyway, not only is this Rimowa suitcase durable, but it’s also very flexible. This means it will yield to pressure, but will pop back into its original form once the pressure is gone. Fancy stuff!

There is a 5-year guarantee on Rimowa’s travel and business luggage as well for any material or manufacturing fault.

There are some pretty fun luggage colours in the Salsa Air line as well! Black luggage is like a black dress – it looks good and often blends in, but if you really want to stand out then color is the way to go! I always choose color, and I think my favourite of the Salsa Air line is purple.

 

 

Rimowa Salsa Air Purple

 

 

Overall I loved this luggage! There was a netting inside the suitcase that kept everything in it’s place, and it kept things very organized. The suitcase was lightweight, easy to manuver, and seemed to be indestructible.

 

 

Rimowa Salsa Air Interior

 

 

It definitely helped that it was a sleek suitcase that looked great too.

To learn more about the Rimowa Salsa Air, click here.

To learn more about everything that Rimowa has to offer, click here.

Oh, and by the way our wine tour weekend was a blast! The photos in this post with me in them are from Vineland Estates Winery, which I highly recommend.

 

 

Valentine’s Day Gift Guide for Her

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When I say I’ve complied a gift guide for “her”, I secretly mean a gift guide for moi!

I think most girls would like some of these fun items on this list, and I am one of those girls.

Some people really dislike Valentine’s Day since it’s a little commercial, but I will take any holiday where I get presents! Pair that with hearts, the color pink, and half price chocolate the day after Valentine’s Day, and it’s easy to see why this holiday is one of my favourites.

I don’t think it’s a bad idea at all to fill your significant other’s head with gift idea’s that you would love. It’s a great way to avoid disappointment, and take some stress away from the gift buyer.

Here are a few of my favourite Valentine’s Day gift ideas for this year.

 

 

Kate-spade-Love-birds-heart-tote

This Kate Spade Love Birds Heart Tote is complexly ridiculous, and I love it. Who wouldn’t want a heart-shaped tote bag? It’s perfect for a Valentine’s Day date as well!

 

 

Tuck-shop-trading-co-

This Tuck Shop Trading Co hat looks like it would be cute in even the warmer months! There are dozens of hats for areas of Toronto from Yorkville to Scarbrough, but I like the Beverly Hills hat the most (hint hint Valentine!).
 

 

Tory-burch-heart-zipped-key-fob

Tory Burch has a cute heart-shaped key fob in celebration of Valentine’s Day, amount other heart-themed gifts on their website.

 

 

Nadege-MATTHEW DEL DEGAN BOX 16 ASSORTED macarons

16 macarons come in this special Toronto-themed box by artist Matthew Del Degan. Macaron’s from Nadege are some if the best Toronto has to offer, plus they ship online to make it easy for your Valentine!

 

 

Chapters-love-is-all-you-need-tote

This Love is all you need tote tote from from Chapters would be easy to wear all year long.

 

 

Original Adjustable Gloss Wellington Boots

These Original Adjustable Gloss Wellington Boots by Hunter would look cute for Valentine’s Day, and every other rainy day of the year. Sometimes I wear my Hunter Boots on sunny days just because they are so comfortable.

 

 
Red-heart-fingerless-grey-gloves

These cute fingerless gloves from Etsy shop KernalCrafts are adorable! I love the one-of-a-kind gifts you can find on Etsy.

 

 

Tiffany-i-love-you-ring

This Tiffany Notes “I Love You” Ring is so pretty, and it would be an excellent reminder that someone is thinking of you.

 

 

Parenting with a Bruised Ego and Hurt Feelings

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I’m always proud of being one of my sons favourite people. When he’s happy, hurt, sad, or scared I’m usually requested immediately. I have to admit, it feels really good!

What I didn’t expect were the moments when my presence wouldn’t be requested, or sometimes actually banished all together.

I tend to be the disciplinarian between my husband and I, which also means he may see me as the bad guy. My husband disciplines our son as well, but somehow it ends up falling mostly on my shoulders. I think my son is starting to see this, and he’s learning that his Dad is more fun than I am.

It makes me a bit sad that he is running to his Dad whenever I discipline him. His Dad is doing a great job of following up with everything I am teaching our son, but still it’s a little more lonely than I thought it would be being the bad guy.

Now that our son is talking more, he is expressing himself and how he feels, and sometimes that is hard to take as well! I know he is still trying to form his words so things can easily be misinterpreted, but sometimes he is clear as clear can be with how he feels.

Every day I ask him if he misses me after being at school. Nine times out of ten he says “Yes Mommy I missed you!”, but last week he said “No Mommy, I didn’t miss you”. It shouldn’t be a big deal, but it kind of hurt my feelings! To be fair I set myself up for that one by asking, and even though it was harmless it hurt a little.

My son has also be very clingy with my husband lately which has been a strange scenario since he usually clings to me a bit. I have been feeling really left out! When we get home he will run to his Dad and say “Daddy let’s cuddle!”, and he drags him to the couch. I ask if I can join them and my son will say “No Mommy, just London and Daddy”. It’s not a big deal really, but it hurts my feelings a bit.

It’s been the same situation with grandparents and friends – my son seems more excited to see everyone else but me. It makes me appreciate it so much more when he does want all of my attention. I’m ready to drop everything and and do whatever he wants!

I’m really trying not to take things so personally, but it’s hard. I try to take the emotional hit, and just move on with life. I’m sure it’s all just another phase (how many phases do we need to go through before he turns 18?), and as long as he’s happy that’s all that matters. BUT if this lasts too long, I may have to resort to sabotage and bribery to gain my rightful place back as his favourite person!

All joking aside, I don’t actually know what the right thing to do is in this situation. The one thing I do know is that I need to be sure I’m not making concessions so my son favours me more, and I need to stay strong with the rules and lessons we want to teach him.

 

 

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Via

DIY Kids Valentine’s Day Treat Bags

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At my son’s school the parents are on point. Every holiday includes some sort of personalized gift for each child in the class. Even when it’s their child’s birthday, the parents give toys or gift bags to all of the other children in the class. With Valentine’s Day coming I thought I would get ahead of the game and figure out what I would be giving 20 children who have creative parents.

I decided to make my own treat bags for Valentine’s Day which my son could give to his friends, and possibly make him proud of his creative Mom at the same time! Ok he’s probably not going to notice my effort, but I’ll be sure to bring it up when he’s older to guilt-trip him when he’s behaving badly.

The universal toddler snack seems to be Goldfish, so I used them a couple ways in packaging a cute treat.

I started out with a roll of red ribbon, a stack of foam Valentine’s Day hearts from Dollarama, and a set of cellophane bags from Michaels. The materials for this one (since I had a Michaels coupon) so far were $8.00.

 

 

DIY-Kids-valentines-day-treats

 

 

Next up I cut smaller hearts and wrote messages to go into the treat bags. For the bags with just Goldfish I wrote “I’m glad you’re in my school”. Get it? School of fish? It’s cheesy, but it makes me laugh.

 

 

DIY-Kids-valentines-day-treats

 

 

On the other ones I wrote “I dig you” and added a shovel to the gift bag. I found toy shovels at Dollarama as well to keep this project at a low budget.

 

 

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That’s it! A super easy project, and I get points for creativity. The hardest part will be explaining to my son that he needs to actually give away these treats!