5 super fun ways to celebrate Galentine’s day

ONE 

As Leslie did in the Galentine’s day episode of Parks & Rec, host a breakfast and make some waffles!! Decorate the table with some love! Red, white and pink flowers in the Center of the table and pour some pink champagne. 

TWO 

Have a fun gift exchange. Instead of everyone buying a gift for each guest have everyone purchase just one gift and bring it wrapped. Pick a few fun ‘valentines’ day words. Every time someone uses a word the gifts are exchanged to the person on the right or left or two over to the right…etc. The more uniquely the gifts are wrapped the better.  A couple of years ago…pre-CoVid I did a super fun gift exchange at Christmas that you could easily do for a Galentine’s celebration. Check it out HERE

THREE

Have a mani/ pedi party. Go to the dollar store and purchase some plastic basins that can be used to soak your tender tootsies. Have some great smelling bubbles to add to the water. Serve some bubbly while soaking in bubbles.  Have lots of pink and red polish on hand and paint each other’s nails.

FOUR

Loveuary!! If you know what this means you are definitely a Hallmark Movie fan. Are y’all watching Hallmark’s Loveuary? I have been obsessed with these silly movies with all their ‘cute meets’ and feel-good happy endings.  I binge-watch on Saturdays and am literally watching The Veil as I write this blog. I have even convinced Stevie boy to watch a couple with me….let’s just keep that between us!  Make your Galentine’s Day a Hallmark day or watch a favourite love story. Serve chocolates and wine. Decorate in ways that complement the movie. I did this a few years ago. We watched Sleepless in Seattle. You can see my fun decor theme HERE

FIVE 

Go for a walk, a hike or snowshoeing if you are north! Pack some nibblies and find a great spot to stop for a bite to eat and of course, you’ll want to pack a traveller…Pop the cork and celebrate how great it is being with your favourite pals.

Of course we all have some long distance BFF’s. If that’s the case you can always celebrate your friendship on a FaceTime call or by sending them a cute care package with their favourite chocolate, red hot nail polish and a magazine.  Anything that lets them know how special they are. A few years ago while visiting a friend in Palm Springs I had these gorgeous gift boxes delivered to the house from a ‘secret admirer’. It was fun listening to the ladies trying to figure out who sent them! Lol

Whatever you do to celebrate your special friends this Galentine’s Day have fun with it. Make it special and don’t forget to say this magic words ‘I love you’ – ‘You are special’ Where would we ever be without each other. You are ALL definitely so special to me!

FEBRUARY’S  SPOTLIGHT ON STRONG WOMEN.

SUSAN DAVIS – INVENTOR – Article written by Jessica Young for Canadian Encyclpedia.

Early Life and Education

Susan Olivia Davis was born to Miles Franklin Davis and Charlotte Warren in Devils Lake, North Dakota. She spent her childhood on White Earth Reservation in Minnesota.

Olivia was a talented pianist and went on to study music at Brandon College in Manitoba. While in Manitoba, she met Delbert Poole and the two were married in 1909. They had seven children together, first moving to Ontario before settling in Vancouver in 1942.

Invention of the Jolly Jumper

On White Earth Reservation, Olivia Poole saw mothers using cradle boards as baby carriers. Cradleboards allowed mothers and caregivers greater freedom to work or perform their daily routine while their baby was safely secured on the board. Some mothers suspended cradleboards from a sturdy tree branch or structure to act as a hammock or swing, providing the baby with amusement. Poole witnessed mothers pulling on the ropes or leather straps suspending the cradleboard to bounce the baby up and down. This allowed mothers to work uninterrupted while the babies entertained themselves with the bouncing motion.

Mary Butler with her infant Lyda in a traditional cradle, probably on Makah Indian Reservation – 1900.

In 1910, after Poole had her first baby, she remembered how mothers on White Earth Reservation used this cradleboard technique to calm their babies. By this time, she was living in Ontario and did not have a cradleboard of her own. Instead, she fashioned one with items from around her house. She sewed a cloth diaper into a harness and created a brace with an axe handle. This device was different than a cradleboard, as the baby’s legs dangled freely and there was no rectangular board attached. Eventually, she added a spring and rubber connection so that the baby could bounce on its own. Her swing was low enough for the baby’s toes to reach the ground, allowing the baby to exercise its leg muscles.

Poole called her invention the “Jolly Jumper” and she used it for all seven of her children. When her children were grown, she continued to make improvements to the baby jumper design for her grandchildren. Given its success within the family, Poole’s family convinced her to market her invention. By the early 1950s, Poole’s Jolly Jumper went into mass production for retail. Her eldest son, Joseph, helped her file and apply for a patent in 1957 where her invention is called the “Baby Supporter and Exerciser.” Together, they created Poole Manufacturing Co. Ltd. which was based in British Columbia. The Poole family sold the business in the 1960s but today the Jolly Jumper brand is owned by a company based in Mississauga, Ontario.

A young Olivia Poole and baby. This image is also found in a book by Frieda Wishinsky and Elizabeth MacLeod, How to Become an Accidental Genius (2019). (Courtesy Julie Shepherd)

Death and Legacy

Olivia Poole died from pneumonia complications on 10 October 1975 in Ganges British Columbia. She was one of the first Indigenous women in Canada to patent an invention and her story has been featured in two children’s books: How to Become an Accidental Genius(2019) by Frieda Wishinsky and Elizabeth MacLeod and Canadian Women Now and Then: More than 100 Stories of Fearless Trailblazers (2020) by Elizabeth MacLeod.