When my kids were young, I would wake them up by cheerfully yelling out, “Rise and shine. Shine and rise!” Wake up. Say hi to the world. Be your best self.
Welcome to our world! We are Cris and Maria, sisters who work and play, live and love, laugh and dream in the greater Toronto area. We come from a big Italo-Canadian family and have five adult children between us.
Our goal is to entertain and inform you, make you smile.
One of us – Cris – loves Gilmore Girls, doesn’t get coffee, and creates unique, practical yet whimsical, creations with her sewing machine and needle. And always has (too) many projects on the go at once. Cris was a Centennial baby; she was born amid the anticipation, excitement and hope surrounding Canada’s 100th birthday on a gorgeous late spring day. I remember! She was also a wonderful surprise after four brothers in a row.
One of us – Maria – loves Sinatra, has trouble avoiding digressions and rambling sentences, and has hopefully weaned herself off of potato chips. She has played the role of the teacher her whole life. I remember Italian lessons with her and the first chapter of Tom Sawyer read over and over to me and my siblings. Although we eventually all became voracious readers, we were not very attentive.
We want to say “hi” to everyone and bring you ourselves: the good, the bad and the ugly, and of course, Frank Sinatra!
Follow along. We want to talk about motherhood and caregiving, what we’re reading, making, growing, wearing and thinking about. We would like to share the places we’ve been to and dream about the many more places we’d like to experience.
We journey in our unique ways, yet being comforted by our common joys and struggles, knowing we are not alone.
