Jill Amery, Author at Urban Mommies

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Jill Amery

Jill Amery is a mom of 2 small boys and the Publisher of UrbanMommies, a stylish digital lifestyle magazine filled with fitness, style, health, recipes and savvy mom advice to help you through pregnancy, birth, and raising your kids.

Finding Zen on Texada Island

Canada, ROAM By Jill Amery July 6, 2017 No Comments

My son and I had the chance to explore Texada Island – a Sunshine Coast, British Columbia Gulf Island and I was struck with a grounding and calm sensation that is rare for me to feel so strongly. Perhaps it was the iron ore or gold reserves hidden deep in the ground, but it was clear that this island was a magical place that produced intense vibration. Along the way, we also had fabulous food, saw aboriginal arrowheads on display at Shelter Point, and witnessed the largest douglas fir we’d ever seen (wait for it – HOLY!). You can read about our full adventure on ZenSeekers here >>

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Baby Gear for Breastfeeding Success (With Giveaway)

baby, Contests, FAM By Jill Amery July 1, 2017 76 Comments

Remember the joy of shopping for a newborn? What if you were a newcomer to Canada and were having a fourth baby and got to choose anything for the little one? We were blessed to be able to work with Best Buy Canada and a gracious young family to gift them some baby essentials of their choice. Readers know that I have a huge love of the Filipino community (as well as the Philippines!) and it was amazing to be able to interview Ronna about her growing family and her priorities this time around.

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The Etiquette of Online Invitations

LIVE, nourish By Jill Amery June 29, 2017 No Comments

Though I adore an old-fashioned letterpress invitation sent through the mail, with busy lives and hundreds of birthday and holiday parties, online invites have become the trend. I was gifted a signed first edition of Emily Post’s Everyday Etiquette from my Great Aunt, yet there is no chapter on the etiquette of online invitations! One of the great benefits, besides being thrifty, is that digital invites are great for the environment and are becoming more and more accepted. But what are some of the do’s and don’ts?

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An Equinox Adventure

auto, GEAR By Jill Amery June 27, 2017 No Comments

Despite loving formal silverware and gourmet foods, people who know me wouldn’t usually use ‘stuffy’ in my bio. Hailing from Nova Scotia, it was actually my grandfather’s Navy background that instilled the British formality, and being a year-long exchange student in Germany that sparked the passion for travel. My business and life are more about making luxury more accessible rather than being highbrow. So when I interview Steve Carlisle about the new 2018 Chevrolet Equinox and he talks about the democratization of the technology in the vehicle – my ears perk up.

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Being Mindful of Nature

LIVE, nourish By Jill Amery June 23, 2017 No Comments

Nature-deficit disorder, as coined by American author Richard Louv, should be adopted as a scientific term. Research shows spending time outside delivers mental and physical health benefits, makes people feel more relaxed, less stressed, more invigorated and gives them a break from the pressures in their daily lives. Despite 55% of Canadians believing that nature relaxes them, a full 56% of Canadians feel they don’t get enough outdoor time. Ugh. Sure, we can blame technology, full calendars, or gross weather. But in the end, I would go even further. I believe that we not only have a tendency to place a higher value on structured activities as opposed to free play. But I also think that we avoid the unknown. A minute-by-minute schedule is comforting, somehow, and once it’s all done, we feel accomplished and successful. Going off to search for a four leaf clover that may never materialize is comparatively frightening. Without teaching or kids to venture into the unknown, however – without the safety net of the construct of a video game or piano lesson – we are failing them. Ourselves too.

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A Father’s Day Gift That’s Out of this World

Uncategorized By Jill Amery June 16, 2017 No Comments

Of all the Father’s Day gifts in this world this year we chose one that’s quite possibly out of this world. When I give a gift to my husband for being a father I really want it to be something that he can not only enjoy but I also used to expand his prowess and abilities as a dad and form a deeper connection with our children. The Celestron Astro Master 130 EQ telescope is as much a scientific instrument as it is a piece of art in a living room I had no idea that exquisite gifts like this were available at Best Buy. They have a ton of other amazing Father’s Day ideas too.

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Dry During the Day but Wet at Night

grow, LIVE By Jill Amery June 13, 2017 No Comments

The term ‘bedwetter’ is so awful. You just can’t possibly get a positive vibe as the recipient of this label. Some words come with so much baggage, and this particular one should be stricken from the dictionary. We’ll get Merriam-Webster right on that. In truth, nighttime wetting is a completely separate issue from potty training. While a parent can train their child out of diapers, nighttime wetting is something that can’t be trained and must be outgrown. It’s an inevitable and common part of growing up and we want all parents to feel at ease during this phase in their child’s life.

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My Canadian Identity – Strong and Free

EAT, family meals By Jill Amery June 5, 2017 No Comments

As a little girl growing up in East Coast Halifax, I used to glorify the United States. Why couldn’t Canada have outlet malls and Dr. Pepper? It never seemed fair, and Americans openly expressed the notion that we lived in igloos. Many didn’t realize that we shared the longest unprotected border in the world. I couldn’t find many Canadians who ‘made it’ on Broadway or in Hollywood. Was there a future for the little girl who wanted to be a musical theatre actor more than anything? I was as embarrassed as I was insecure.

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Pascale Hutton: Cherishing the Environment

EAVESDROP, Overheard By Jill Amery June 5, 2017 1 Comment

Born in Creston, BC, Pascale Hutton studied fine arts at the University of Alberta. A mother of two young boys, Hutton has a huge amount of passion for nature, and constantly models a love of nature for her two boys, ages 6 and 2. On today’s Facebook Live, I talked about the interview and how I plan to do small things to help the environment with my kids in order to get rid of the helpless feeling I have since the USA pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord. It seems that Pascale and I are on the same page!

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When Your Vehicle Deepens Your Family Bonds

auto, GEAR By Jill Amery June 1, 2017 No Comments

If a car could tell a story about real life for a family it would be the Honda Odyssey. Like the story of the day your baby came home from the hospital and you were so nervous you shook. And the time you accidentally drove through a red light and managed to avoid the accident that almost killed everybody in the car. That family road trip to the coast where your daughter confessed that she had fallen in love. And the morning you drove your child and her jittery friends to their graduation ceremony.

Since the vehicle is so versatile and timeless, it becomes the one constant that follows and facilitates all of those real family moments. This minivan could tell 1 million stories, because a family is going to want to keep it for a very long time.

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