Little Things Lately

I always find it challenging to start blogging again after a hiatus. I'm never sure if I should start with an update or skip through all that and start current. I did manage to keep up with What's Up Wednesday and What's New With You so there hasn't been total radio silence around these parts but it still feels like there's a gap to be filled. And the best way to fill a gap is will a list!

{one}

This was my view most nights last weekend. It my turn to be 'on call' with the emergency phone so I wasn't straying too far from home. Instead I watched a few episodes from the new season of Mind of a Chef on Netflix, indulged in pop and made simple but delicious pitas. 

{two}

For February & March my schedule has been filling in at one of the houses on Sundays & Mondays, working in the office on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday and then my weekend being on Friday & Saturday. It's been rather exhausting trying to balance everything all at once but it looks like starting in April I will start a regular Monday-Friday full time in the office schedule and I am really looking forward to that happening. 

{three}

I loved Full House, Mary-Kate & Ashley were everything I aspired to be as an elementary schooler and I adored the fact D.J. & I shared the same first name. When Fuller House premiered I didn't watch because I didn't want to ruin the magic and I was pretty skeptical of the whole thing. Last Thursday I was searching for something to watch that was light hearted and I could leave on as background noise and ended up playing the first episode of the series. I found myself texting a friend about how terrible & cheesy it was but I kept watching....all week long. And last night I reached the end and realized I had become re-attached to D.J. and the Tanner/Fuller/Gibbler Family. Now I need a season three and another show I can actually use as background noise and won't find myself sitting on the couch passionately texting R. all the reasons D.J. and Steve need to be together. Suggestions?

{four}

I've spent my entire life working/living at camp in the summer which means my summer wardrobe consists entirely of neon Nike running shorts, tie-dye t-shirts and a handful of sundresses, jean shorts and tank tops I wore on my days off. My new job is pretty casual...but it's not that casual. So I've been busy doing inventory and figuring out what I need to add to my closet before the warm weather arrives. The exciting part about that is camp has a very strict closed toe shoe policy, flip flops & sandals were for days off only. It has been years since I got to wear sandals all summer and I am so excited to buy some new summer shoes! 

{five}

The past six weeks have been hard in all the ways I thought they would be and challenging in a bunch of ways I wasn't expecting. I am finally starting to see glimmers of light at the end of the tunnel. There are still days when I feel like I was handed the keys to a sinking ship but if the last five years of camp taught me anything it's that sinking ships can be repaired and restored. 

Linking up here. 

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Eight Favourite Characters

Today I'm linking up with Tuesday Topics to share my eight favourite characters from books/movies. Before I unveil my choices it's important to remember that I'm a quirky person and my menagerie of favourite characters completely reflect that trait.

1. Ted Mosby I relate to Ted and his plight to find true love so much it hurts. I love that he is an eternal optimist and never loses hope. I also love that he has quirky interests and his friends sort of think he's a ridiculous person, but also love him because he's a ridiculous person. I relate to his extreme nostalgia and sometimes getting carried away with the idea of how life is supposed to look at any given time.

2. Stargirl I read this book for the first time in elementary school and it was a little over my head. By the time I read it in junior high I got it but didn't love it. When I re-read it in high school I fell head over heels for Stargirl. I mentioned before that I ended up using a Stargirl quote for my senior quote because not only is the character great but the writing is beautiful.

3. Charlie Brown I love that Charlie Brown can't catch a break, I get it. Again with the eternal optimism though, even if he winds up throwing chocolates into the river it didn't stop him from buying them in the first place. 

4. Meredith Grey Meredith knows how to put on her big girl undies and get things done. Bad things happen to her frequently and on an alarming scale but she deals with it and moves on. Not always in the best ways but she does what she needs to do even if she's not confident it's what she wants to do. 

5. Meeko I love Pocahontas, but the real star of the show for me is Meeko.

6. Phoebe Buffay She knows who she is and doesn't let a darn thing stand in her way of doing what she thinks is right. She puts everything she has into everything she does (cups & ice anyone?) and even though things can get a little weird she goes with the flow. 

7. Princess Mia I feel like I grew up with Mia, we're close to the same age and as each new book was being released it felt like she was growing up with me. The first movie is great (we'll pretend the second one doesn't exist) but I love the Mia from the books. 

8. Amelia Bedelia These were my favourite books to read when I was first learning how to read. I loved reading about Amelia's misadventures and I still love reading these books to the littles in my life.

Doesn't that sound like the guest list to the best dinner party ever? Bonus fun fact, Amelia is my absolute favourite name for a girl and if I ever have a daughter I want her name to be Amelia. I attribute this love in large part to the two Amelia's above, which I happen to think are excellent namesakes.

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Friday Favourites: Bandwagon Edition

Today's edition of Friday Favourites isn't anything groundbreaking but it is five things that have been my favourites this week. 

{one}

This Is Us I know I'm not the only one who has declared this the best TV show to premier in a really long time. And to be honest I'm not even sure what it is that makes it so great, I tuned into the first episode because teen movies of the early 2000s left be with a deep love of Mandy Moore and I just like to see what she's up to now. I'm genuinely interested to see where things are going with this show. Beth is my favourite character so far but I also curious to see where they are going with Kate's storyline.  

{two}

Me And My Big Ideas

The Happy Planner. Last year I jumped on the Project Life train and never looked back. At the same time I was busy admiring all of the planner gear and convincing myself that I could only start one new project at a time. Now that 2017 in upon us and I've found my groove with Project Life I let myself go ahead and buy a Happy Planner when they were on sale at Michael's a couple of weeks ago. So now I've been researching all the ways people organize their lives using those handy dandy little books and trying to figure out what method is going to work for me. 

{three}

Blogging. After being totally disheartened by all the sponsored posts and 'Pinnable' content in blogland I took a long break from the blog scene. It was a happy coincidence that it also happened to be around camp time when blogging tends to go on the back burner anyway. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to come back to the blog but over the past week and a half I've cleaned up my Bloglovin' feed, found some bloggers who were still blogging about daily life without telling anyone else how to live theirs and am feeling a little more passionate about being part of the blogworld again. 

{four}

Netflix. I go through seasons with Netflix and by that I mean from April-September when camp is in full swing I don't really have time to watch Netflix and I certainly don't have the internet connection required to use Netflix. So I cancel my subscription. Last year I was working so much in the winter that I didn't bother to re-subscribe but it's currently October and I have nothing but time on my hands so I signed myself back up and have been happily re-watching The Office, being pleasantly surprised by how many more Disney movies have been added and exploring all of the weird and wonderful documentaries available. This excitement will probably wear off in about 6-8 weeks once I've re-watched and watched all the things I'm interested in watching. For now though it's a favourite thing. 

{five}

Thanksgiving. It's a Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada! And while I don't have much enthusiasm for turkey dinner (we have turkey dinner every week at camp on the last night of the session) I do love mashed potatoes & gravy and stuffing and of course my grandmother's pie (definitely not a part of the camp menu). I'm looking forward to the general chaos of a big family meal, getting my camera out and taking some photos and enjoying the general fall festivities.

I'm linking up here, here and here. 

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November Currently

Reading... Not a darn thing...I really need to do something about that, it's been a weird month. 

Playing... J. and I have been playing Trivial Pursuit Steal. I've kind of been itching to re-kindle my love of playing The Sims, but I haven't actually played. 

Watching... On TV it's Leave it to Bryan, Hockey Wives and The Curse of Oak Island. On YouTube I'm all about the "Project Life Process Videos".

Trying... To get all of my Christmas shopping done before the stores get busy. 

Cooking... A lot of chicken! In the form of chicken parm, tacos, chicken and rice and standard roasted chicken breast. 

Eating... Nothing really sticks out this month (other than all the chicken). I have been making more of an effort to eat breakfast which usually consists of an english muffin with sausage and cheddar cheese. 

Drinking...  Coffee, water, pop, chocolate milk, chai and peppermint tea. Apparently I've been drinking a lot of different beverages this month! 

Calling... Nobody! Which is great, I hate calling people. 

Texting... My phone is nearing the end of it's life so I haven't been using it as much lately. When I do it's to communicate with the usual suspects - H. & R., J. and N. 

Pinning... Inspiration for Project Life and ideas for Sparks. 

Tweeting... I'm going to get better at this, perhaps in 2016 because I don't see it happening in the next few weeks. 

Going... Florida in January! Tickets are officially booked. 

Loving... Exchanging e-mails with Alex, her & I have been paired together for the Blogging Elite Christmas swap! 

Hating... The weather. The leaves are all off the trees and the pretty part of fall has come to an end. Now it's just grey, cold, damp and dreary outside. And also I didn't read any books this month. 

Discovering... Everyone and their grandmother has an opinion about Disney World!

Thinking... I am pretty excited that the only thing on my to do list today is catching up on TV shows!

Feeling... Things are starting to level out but I still need to get better at balancing things. 

Hoping (for)... Success. And that Anna Duggar recovers from the whole mess and goes on to lead a happy life with all the freedom she's entitled to as a human being. 

Listening (to)... Vinyl Cafe Podcasts. Someday I will see Stuart MacLean live and it will be fantastic. 

Celebrating... J.'s birthday was earlier this month 

Smelling... Bath & Body Works 'flannel' candle. 

Ordering... Nothing, because shipping to Canada is ridiculous. In the past few weeks I've tried to order $4 planner stickers only to discover shipping to Canada was going to cost me $12. And I found the cutest Christmas ornament for J. that was on clearance for $10 but shipping was $25. 

Thankful for... I have some awesome little Sparks and those Sparks are being raised by some awesome parents. I am so thankful that (so far) I've been dealing with awesome parents who are really appreciative and genuinely nice people. 

Considering... My options. Evaluating the big picture and figuring out how I can do the things I want to do and live where I want to live. 

Starting... Planning for a Spark/Brownie camp in the new year and to think about what my game plan is going to be in terms of camp life. 

Finishing... I'm almost done my list of 52 things I want to do in 2016. I still need about ten more things but I'm hoping to be finished by the end of this month. 

Linking up with Stuff & Things.

It's All Food & Games

Friday I headed to our community market (think farmer's market, but much smaller) and luckily the samosa people were there so I got to have a delicious supper. I live in a really small town so our market only happens once a month and the vendors aren't always the same. Much to my happiness the people with the samoas were there on Friday and it kind of made my weekend. I also bought some soft pretzels that escaped being photographed because I was too busy eating them. 

I spent the rest of Friday night watching Friends and reading up on Florida. Our November road trip didn't work out but we have plane tickets all booked to go in January. We haven't made any firm plans yet but I spent about an hour reading about Disney World before I felt completely overwhelmed and needed to step far away from Pinterest and helpful bloggers with a million different tips & tricks. If you have any input on the whole Disney thing that doesn't start with "plan your trip five years in advance" I would love to hear it. It's by no means a mandatory part of our trip and realistically we would only want to spend one day (maybe two days) there. There's also the fact that neither J. or I like rides so I'm a little unconvinced that we need to spend that kind of money to walk around a park all day. 

Saturday morning I had an appointment at the bank to finally switch names around on the Sparks account. I will be sooo happy to hand all the financial stuff over the the other leader tonight trying to do that and plan meetings was way too much. I love Guiding, but it can not be my full time job.

Saturday evening J. and I made chicken parmesan for supper and got sucked into a marathon of The Curse of Oak Island on History Channel. We tore ourselves away long enough to make a trip to the mall so I could use another Bath & Body Works coupon and a 50% off coupon I had for Michael's. I'm happy to report my candle stash is full and I have all the necessary pieces to document life using Project Life next year!

We got home and watched more Oak Island because it's just so darn cool. I'm fascinated by the whole thing and can't wait to watch the new season. It premiered last night but I wasn't staying up until 11 o'clock to watch it so it's on my list for this afternoon. Since we had seen most of the episodes before we played Trivial Pursuit Steal while we watched with proved to teach us that neither of us know anything about Broadway plays. 

Sunday I spent far too long trying to choose twelve photos to make a calendar for my grandparent's Christmas present. I thought I had plenty but really I didn't take a whole lot of photos last year and even though I had a lot there wasn't a lot of variety, almost all of them were taken on the same three days so they all kind of looked the same once I put them side by side. At one point my mother, brother and I were crowded around my laptop arguing over which photos to use and which to omit. After two hours of the same debate I saved it as was and walked away. I'll take another look this evening with fresh eyes and I'm positive I can have it finished, ordered and crossed off my to do list by tomorrow. 

For the first time since September a full list of things to blog about this week! I also have two nights of the week committed to Guiding and what feels like an exorbitant amount of things on my to do list. 

Linking up here. 

Basic Friday Faves

{one}

Flannel Candle, first of all it's fun to say, I'm confident it's not supposed to rhyme but it does whenever I think about it or say it out loud. I almost didn't buy this one because I don't like the colour blue and everything else in my room is shades of grey, pink, green and orange. After spending far too long perusing Bath & Bodyworks I decided that the smell outweighed the colour. I only buy B&W when I have a really good coupon this week candles were on sale 2 for $26 and I had a coupon for a free $15 gift so when all was said and done I got three candles for $30. I kept the Flannel for me and the other two will be Christmas gifts.

{two}

Last winter I discovered Chicago Mix popcorn and fell in love. Then Target closed and it was impossible to find around here. This week I was picking up a few groceries and noticed a store brand bag of Chicago Mix! I'll be honest it's not as good as the stuff from Target but it made for a super satisfying snack.

{three}

I watched a lot of Friends over the summer with N. and occasionally H. & R. so I took a break for a few months. Then this week I was working on some things and needed some background noise. After spending wasting fifteen minutes searching for something to watch I decided it was time to return to Friends so I started at the beginning and it's just the best. 

{four}

Starbucks is coming back to my little corner of the world!! We had one inside Target and then when Target closed Starbucks went away too. They announced this morning that they're opening a stand alone store this spring and I am so excited! I wouldn't consider myself a frequent Starbucks customer, because I'm cheap   I am good at budgeting my money and thing it's ridiculous to pay that much money for something I can make for five cents at home. I do enjoy the occasional treat though and knowing that this time next year I'll be able to get my hands on a salted caramel mocha fills me with joy! 

{five}

This is a not-so favourite thing but I think my beloved iPhone 4S was forced into retirement yesterday. It was all very flukey and I'm still not sure how it happened but it landed in the cat's water dish. It was in there for less than 10 seconds and was working...but is also sizzling. It's hanging out in some rice right now so we'll see what happens. It's not the end of the world because I'm due for an upgrade anyway, I was just putting it off because I don't need a new phone...at least I didn't. On the bright side rumour has it there's a squirrel emoji in the newest version of iOS. 

It has come to my attention that all of my favourite things make me sound extraordinarily stereotypical and I promise it was not on purpose. It is rather hilarious though. I have a low key weekend planned and am hoping to get more Christmas shopping done. I also have a super exciting date night involving homemade chicken parm and boardgames. 

Linking up with these lovely ladies here and here. 

What's Up Wednesday : October Edition

October has been a blur of to do lists and e-mails and feeling sort of overwhelmed with a multitude of things. I spent the first part of October recovering from Blogtember so I didn't blog all that often, but I managed to keep on top of things! And hopefully anything I missed will be filed in by the monthly What's Up Wednesday questions! 

What I'm Eating...

I've already blogged about my fried chicken meal from this weekend and mentioned my love of homemade pizza. I also made spaghetti and meatballs, a "cookie sheet meal" consisting of chicken burger & waffle fries and breakfast for supper. And of course lots of stir fry and salad. 

What I'm Reminiscing About...

Our official anniversary isn't until the beginning of December, but J. & I went on our first date last November. I know that before the month is over I'll be reminiscing about hot summer days and pretty summer sunsets that happen at 9:00 p.m. instead of 4:30 p.m.

What I'm Loving...
Sending and receiving snail mail! It is seriously the only perk of having friends all over the country! I managed to get Halloween notes and

What I've Been Up To...
Guiding is dominating my life right now. Now that the second leader's paperwork has gone through I'm hoping it will get a little easier and be smooth sailing until we break for Christmas. I'm in the process of planning our five meetings in November and mentally preparing to navigate the mountains of paperwork required for a few outings. 

What I'm Dreading...

Winter. I know it's just around the corner and that makes me sad. 

What I'm Working On...

Still working on organizing Sparks stuff...I've never been a Spark leader before so I'm pretty much starting from scratch when it comes to program work and figuring out which challenges and crests are doable. 

What I'm Excited About...

A friend of mine has moved home from out west! We haven't lived in the same city in over five years but now we do and I am so excited! She arrived back in town this past weekend and we've both been busy but this month we'll get to catch up. 

What I'm Watching/Reading...

Hockey Wives season 2 premiers tonight! I have never watched an episode of Real Housewives or the Kardashians and generally despise any sort of over the top "reality" television show. Except that last spring I got hooked on hockey wives (pun not intended...although I realize many of you probably didn't pick up on it in the first place). I'm also excited about a new season of Market Place starting this week.  I've also been catching up with Criminal Minds and The Middle. And watching a ridiculous amount of Project Life Process videos on YouTube. 

You'll have to check back tomorrow to find out what I finished reading this month. Next month I'm buckling down and reading my shelves! 

What I'm Wearing...

Leggings and baseball tees have been my go to lately. It's getting colder out so by next month I will be breaking out the boots and scarves. 

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month...
Feeling more organized! Getting started on a few new projects and maybe re-thinking my five year plan. 

What Else Is New...
I can't think of anything else to add! 

Favourite Thanksgiving Recipe...
Thanksgiving has come and gone here in Canada but I'm a big fan of mashed potatoes and gravy. And my grandmother's pies, which you can read about back here.

Corn Maze, Chicken & Cleaning

I spent Friday evening snacking on pretzels and watching Chopped. I have zero regrets about that decision.

Saturday I woke up at my usual time but lingered in bed while I read for awhile. I feel like I've been reading the same book (Americanah) for decades now but I'm trying to finish it before I post about the books I've read this month. I'm over halfway through but it's really dragging. There are chapters that are really interesting but they always seemed to be followed by chapters that are decisively not interesting. More on that later in the week (hopefully). What I really did on Saturday was shiver my way through a corn maze, pick out mini pumpkins for my Sparks to decorate tonight, admire some fish and eat fried chicken. Also, zero regrets about my Saturday.

J. and I went to a corn maze/family farm about an hour away. My main motivation was to get little pumpkins for Sparks. The weather was so weird. You can see from the photo below that the sky was full of grey clouds but the sky behind it was clear blue it almost felt like rain but it was also very cold, we didn't waste any time in the corn maze (except of course pausing for the obligatory corn maze selfie). 

The farm has a bunch of playscapes for little kids and we planned our visit during lunch time assuming we'd beat the crowds. It worked out perfectly, we got the pumpkins and did the corn maze before it got busy. And we got a chance to check out the fish without feeling bad/awkward for being the only adults who weren't accompanied by toddlers. I've always had a thing for goldfish and when I think about my dream home/yard it always involves a little koi/goldfish pond in the backyard. With lilypads and frogs. Because if you're going to dream big you may as well go all out. 

The real highlight of the day was our stop for fried chicken. It just so happens that in order to get to the farm we had to drive by my favourite (and the best) fried chicken place in all the land. We got chicken to go and I should probably be sad that my car now smells like chicken, but I'm really not. Some day I'm going to go on a ridiculous road trip in the southern U.S. that is planned around eating fried chicken. #goals

Post chicken we caught up with Jon Oliver's Last Week Tonight. J. really only watches sports on T.V. and I stick to cooking shows and the occasional reality show depending on the season. Last Week Tonight is the one show we watch together on a regular basis. I left around supper time and headed to the mall in hopes of finding a birthday present for J.. His birthday isn't until the first week in November but he's hard to shop for, luckily I found a couple of things that I'm pretty confident he'll love. I'd like to find one more thing but if not Christmas is just around the corner!

Sunday I dedicated my day to cleaning up my scrapbooking area. I'm 99% finished my camp scrapbooking so it was time to regain some order with my supplies. My newest scrapbook love is stamps, but I refuse to spend $20 on a single stamp so my collection is pretty small and mostly made up of alphabet sets. Peyton was of course eager to assist  get her paws on various ribbons and papers and not nearly as helpful as she would like you to believe. 

This week I have my usual Sparks meeting, a weekday lunch date with J. and an old friend has moved back to town so hopefully we'll be able to coordinate our schedules to catch up. I've also got a full list of blog posts planned with Shay's What's Up Wednesday, The Blogging Elite's monthly link up, an update about about what I read this month and another round of monthly goals! 

linking up here & here. 

Blogtember 2015: Guilty Pleasures

My guilty pleasures can be separated into two categories: Food and TLC.

Fried Chicken//Nacho Cheese Doritos//Dark Pop//Chips & Dip.

I have a deep love for Fried Chicken. And none of that chain restaurant stuff. There's a local-ish place here that makes the absolute best fried chicken, it's 45 minutes away and there's always a wait but it's worth every second. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Obviously not a guilty pleasure I indulge in frequently but a couple times a year we make the pilgrimage for fried chicken and all is right in the world. I'd love to go on an epic southern road trip and try all the fried chicken...this road trip couldn't end at the beach because I'd weigh two tonnes by the end of it, but the process would be delicious. 

Nacho Cheese Doritos are the tastiest of Doritos, this are a more common guilty pleasure along side the dark pop guilty pleasure, which is probably way too common of an indulgence. The last one in the food category is plain, rippled chips paired with onion dip. Chips & Dip is a special snack I save for when I really need a treat but it really is the most delicious. 

And what better to pair junk food with than junk TV!? I know full well that TLC is full of ridiculous, but man...I love me some TLC. And to their credit, typically shows start off strong. The first season (or at least the first few episodes) are fascinating, just people living their lives and doing their thing. Inviting the world to see that differences are good. Things go down hill when in some way or another the people stop being sensible human beings. Which is upsetting because then they're just reaffirming stereotypes instead of helping to break them down, which 9 times out of 10 is the main reason they cite for filming a show in the first place. It's a vicious cycle. And one that I guiltily support by getting sucked in to various marathons and occasionally Googling the latest gossip related to the shows.

Now that I've confessed my guilty pleasure you should all head over to Blogtember and share yours as well. 

Friday Celebrations

I'm going to pass on the Blogtember prompt for today because I'm not a vlogger and I have no interest in becoming a vlogger. #keepingitreal

It's been a weirdly depressing week around these parts, not necessarily in my personal life, but every evening when I turned on the news I was met with stories of a missing toddler, missing woman and a handful of heart wrenching court cases. And that was just the local news. It puts things into perspective though and serves as a gentle reminder to take time to enjoy the present, be thankful for the now and celebrate the ordinary. Plus, although I'm excited about my participation in Blogtember it is more tiring than I thought it would be to follow the prompts each day. I have discovered some fantastic new blogs to follow so that's a welcome bonus!

I ended up having a unexpectedly busy week. Monday I had a few errands to run and then Tuesday I had a quick breakfast date with J. before he left (he'll be away until the first of October). Wednesday I spent the day catching up with e-mails and blogging and Thursday I had an info night for Girl Guides. In between all that I've been making carving out the fringe hours and getting some post-camp scrapbooking done. Scrapbooking the photos and mementos from the summer is incredibly therapeutic. It helps me to reflect and grown and really put an end to the summer. Tonight I'm headed to a family birthday party but right now I am sipping my coffee, eating a chocolate chip muffin and blogging while I listen to Canada AM.

I've been having a really difficult time uploading photos to my blog lately and it's driving me crazy!!!

Moving on to happier things, which is supposedly the whole point of this post...

After a tortuously long winter it seems like Mother Nature is trying to make up for things by making sure summer doesn't leave us too soon. We've had a couple fall-ish days but for the most part the temperature has remained in the mid-twenties, the sun is shining and I'm still spending time near the water and on the beach.

It's almost the season for new shows! I've fallen behind in a lot of the shows I used to watch but I'm planning to watch the new seasons of Survivor and Amazing Race that start this week. The Middle also starts up again this week. I'm not as obsessed with Grey's Anatomy as I used to be but I probably will watch the premier just to see how Meredith is doing.

I've been reading! So far this month I've finished two books and I'm half way through my third. My goal was to read four, which I think is attainable. Right now I'm reading Rescuing Julia Twice. It has some pretty negative reviews on Goodreads, and I don't foresee it becoming my favourite book, but it is interesting. And having time to read is always worth celebrating!

I'm forbidding myself to buy anymore scrapbooking supplies until Christmas when I can invest in a Project Life album, inserts and maybe a core kit. I'm using all of my currently existing supplies for my camp album and it's actually been fun to challenging my creativity by eliminating the option to run off to Michael's and buy perfect matching paper and stickers.

If you haven't seen this commercial yet (and it's possible it's only being aired in Canada) you need to watch. Every time it airs I stop what I'm doing and my heart melts just a little bit.

On that note of adorable-ness I'm off to get my bathing suit on and head to the river for the afternoon!

Linking up with Karli and Andrea.

Weekly Friday Favourites

{one}

I started watching Call the Midwife this week and I'm in love. It's been so very long since I stared watching a new show that I loved because I genuinely adored the characters and was interested in the subject. I heard about Call the Midwife a while back but since I've never been able to get into Downton Abbey I didn't think I'd be able to get into Call the Midwife. I was totally wrong and now I have a new show and it makes me so happy. I'm hoping to get my hands on the books as well at some point in the upcoming months. 

{two}

These Paper Mate Felt Tip Pens. These are my favourite pins for journalling because they come in the standard black & blue colours but they're also in some other fun colours for those days when I want to doodle or add some spunk. I've rekindled my love affair with these pens this week since I've treated myself to a new notebook and am going to become much more intentional about journaling. 

(I assure you Paper Mate does not care what I think about their pens, I bought them myself without influence. And I'm definitely not getting a cut of Amazon's profit.)

{three}

Pinterest

I came across this quote during the week and I think it's a wise and valuable piece of wisdom.

{four}

This sneak peak at the 'Welcome to Camp' cups I'm making for the counsellors are one of my favourite things. I put J. to work and got him to help me fill the plastic cups with a couple camp essentials and a few goods. This afternoon I need to assemble the tags I cut using my Cricut and attach them. 

{five}

Via

I need to devote an entire post to this book. I had high expectations because I've seen so many bloggers rave about it but I was still a little worried I would be disappointed. Obviously I wasn't. I don't think I've ever read a book before this and immediately started putting what I read into practice. Not only is the book my favourite but the Fringe Hours that I am slowly discovering are equally my favourite!

What's Up Wednesday {2)

What I loved about the past week// I'll be honest, last week was rough. Seriously, I was not a happy camper or a pleasant person to be around. What I loved most about the past week is that I survived. 

What I'm looking forward to// Time off! First on a legitimate vacation and then a staycation of sorts after I get home and before camp starts. 

What my latest obsession is// Not wearing winter boots!! I am filled with joy that I get to put other shoes in the rotation once again. I love my Uggs, but I'm ready for them to sit in the closet until next December. (Or October...but let's not dwell on that right now...SUNSHINE!)

What I've been daydreaming about// Having lots of quality time with J.! Ever since we started dating our work schedules have been crazy and we never really get to spend more than a day together in person. We text and talk and see each other almost every day but it's always in little pieces of time and more often than not there's a purpose. It will be nice to hang out without time limits! 

What I'm watching// The Mind of A Chef on Netflix. There's only two seasons and I'm about a quarter of a way through the second season. The show is the perfect combination of cooking show, history show and biography! I hadn't heard of the show before but when I Googled it I learned that it's won a James Beard Award for Best TV Program on Location and a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Culinary Program so I guess I'm not alone in thinking it's a great show!

What I'm listening to// I need to get on the ball and make some summer time playlists. I haven't really been listening to anything lately other than the occasional 8tracks playlist. 

What I'm craving// I go back and forth between a Frozen Hot Chocolate from Second Cup and a Caramel, Mocha or Coffee Frappuccino from Starbucks. 

It's a short & sweet post today. I've got some errands to run this afternoon before work. And I am very excited to run errands in the sunshine! We're finally getting some spring like weather around these parts and I'm eager to soak up as much vitamin D as possible. And some iced coffee because 'tis the season! 

Happy Wednesday!

Five Friday Favourites

{one}

I've never watched a single second of any show that beings with the words "Real Housewives". And I've also never watched more than 5 minutes of any given Bachelor/Bachelorette season. I love reality TV but that particular brand of reality TV just doesn't interest me.

Except that I started watching Hockey Wives and those ladies are a combination of hot messes, entitled brats and really down to earth moms who are trying their best to raise their kids admit a lot of job uncertainty and constant moving. It's got me hooked and I'm not saying is high quality educational TV, but I think it's worth a watch. 

{two}
Tuesday I was a mess. I was not having a good day and was feeling totally overwhelmed. The city decided somewhat last minute that they were closing the streets for parking so they could do snow clearing, which meant that in the middle of work I had to scramble to find a parking spot, which makes me feel ridiculous anxious and stressed. The last thing I needed that day was to get my car towed. In the end J. saved the day and moved my car to a safe location. He also earned some major boyfriend points when I went out to my car after work I discovered he left a slice of pizza on the seat of my car. I'm not promoting eating ones feelings, but sometimes a girl just needs a slice of pizza after a long day. Definitely a favourite moment of the week.

{three}
Yesterday, it rained. I'm talking full on water droplets falling from the sky making puddles rain. This made me happy for two reasons the most obvious just being that I love rainy days. The second is that rain means the temperature was above 0 for the first time in months. It was warm enough for water to fall from the sky without freezing! Rumour has it we might see +5 degrees this weekend! Which at this point is tropical. Spring might actually be on it's way!

{four}

Watermelon Lemonade candles from Bath & Body works make me feel like summer is a little closer. Around here we don't have much of a spring, odds are good there will still be snow on the ground in May. It's way too early to open all the windows and enjoy a spring breeze so I'm settling for lighting this candle and imaging summer. 

{five}

Writing. One of my March Goals was to write more often, flexing my creative muscle if you will. I've discovered it's about finding opportunities to be creative. Doodling and embellishing my to do lists, or when I'm on the phone. I've also had the chance to really sit down and write and I'm still not exactly where I want to be but it's a goal I'm going to continue working on because writing is my favourite!

                             

                                  

Low Key Weekending

This weekend seemed to revolve around eating and sleeping. Which I really have no complaints about.

Saturday I worked over time from 8:00-4:00. I was exhausted and a little annoyed that because another co-worker changed their plans at the last minute I didn't get to do the work I had planned to finish. I did treat myself to coffee and a salted caramel donut though so all was not lost. Plus, J. brought me a coffee earlier in the day and I finally won on my roll up the rim! I don't buy coffee every day. It's more of a once a week treat, so I don't feel as entitled to win as the folks who buy multiple coffees a day. It's still nice to win a bonus coffee though. 

(Please excuse the wacky photo edit in the corner. I realized there were files peeking out of a shelf and I'd rather publish a strange looking photo than risk any sort of break in client confidentiality.)

After work I headed to J.'s parents for supper. We had BBQ steak, baked potato, mushrooms and corn and it was delicious. I visited for about an hour after supper and then went home where I promptly showered and got ready for bed. I ended up watching the first three episodes of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

I LOVE Tina Fey. The verdict is still out on how I feel about this show though. I'm trying not to compare it to 30 Rock, but it's hard. The show is sort of growing on me and I'll definitely finish the first season. I'm not sure that I'll ever love it as much as 30 Rock though, mainly because I don't find Kimmy easy to relate to whereas Liz Lemon was/is my spirit animal. Has anyone else watched the show? I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Sunday I turned down overtime because I definitely needed a day off. I let myself sleep in a little got up and did some light spring cleaning and then, because I could, I crawled back into my bed and took a Sunday afternoon nap. J. & I had dinner with my parents Sunday night he visited for a bit and went home earlier than usual because I had a long over due Skype date with H. & R.. Our schedules have all been crazy lately and three different time zones makes the crazy schedules even crazier so it's been almost a month since the three of us were able to designate the same free evening for Skype. We talk everyday via group message but there's just somethings that need to be discussed aloud. 

I'm in the earliest time zone so by the time we were done Skype it was past my bedtime. I definitely didn't do anything super exciting or unique this weekend but the focus was definitely on family & friends which are always important.

Linking up with B Loved Boston to share my weekend!

March Currently

Making: Lots of lists! 

Cooking: Work is still interfering with a lot of cooking time, but I did get to make some mac & cheese and I did some experimenting with chicken alfredo pizza. 

Eating: I've been eating a lot of pasta lately. It's been so cold out that a belly full of hot pasta is exactly what I want. 

Drinking:  Still doing good getting my daily water in take. I've also been drinking a lot of chai tea, my daily cup of coffee and the occasional pop. 

Reading: Just blogs. I am looking for some recommendations though! I'm going to have lots of time to read while on vacation this month so I'm definitely packing some books. So far The Fringe Hours is my #1 reading priority but I'd love to hear your suggestions!

Wishing: The snow would hurry up and melt! It's been -25 here all week and I'm ready for sunshine & warmth!

Appreciating: Having a steady, well paying job. 

Waiting: To start packing for my trip!  

Enjoying: Sunday nights with J. watching Friends. Is there any better way to relax after working 7 days straight and preparing to work another 6 in a row?

Wondering: When I'm going to find time to get a hair cut and go to the mall to pick up a few things. 

Loving: Anything that involves the words "sea salt & caramel".

Hoping: The next 6 weeks will go by quickly!

Needing: I need to get a hair cut, buy a new pair of TOMS, clean my room, do laundry...I need to tackle some things on my to do list.

Smelling: Coffee. 

Wearing: Leggings, sweaters and Uggs. I can't wait to wear shoes that aren't my Uggs. The weather lately is making that totally impossible though. 

Following: Up with things! Checking in with someone once is good, checking in again is better. 

Noticing: The days are getting a little longer and the sky is a little less grey and a little more blue!

Knowing: Winter will end. (Just not soon enough.)

Thinking: The above balance is going to be hard to reach. 

Feeling Anxious About: I'm nervous about my trip. It's the biggest one I've ever gone on and although I'm really excited, there are also a lot of aspects that I find myself worrying about. 

Watching: I've been watching Full House on Netflix. I plan to watch the new season of Survivor and catch up with The Middle & Criminal Minds at some point this month. 

Listening to: Right the very second 'Oprah: Where Are They Now" but in general I've been listening to the radio a lot. 

Obsessing: My love for sea salt & carmel grows by the day. 

Celebrating: March is my grandfather's birthday! 

Shopping for: TOMS, flip flops, maybe another bathing suit.  

Learning: A lot about myself and the things I need!

Talking About: Still a lot of camp related stuff. Plus vacation plans. 

Praying: Balance. I just ordered The Fringe Hours and can't wait for it to get here. Before camp happens I need to get better at balancing me time and social time and work time.

Working on: Being more aware, choosing my words wisely, crossing things off to do lists...

Looking forward to: My trip!