5 on Friday

Happy Friday!!!

I decided to post in bullet point/list form today with a few favourites for Friday. We are taking the girls camping for the first time this weekend tomorrow night - and SO excited! We're going with some friends to a very kid-friendly campground, so I think it will be fun. I haven't slept in a tent myself since before they were born, so I'm looking forward to it! Reading Lisa's post earlier this week helped me realize that I'm going to have to be a bit more relaxed when camping than I usually am - but I'm hoping the wine and the outdoors help with that! haha.

I'm also planning to spend some time tonight and tomorrow cleaning up around the house (fun, right?) after a VERY busy past few weeks!!

1) My 5 favourite books so far this year:

Beartown by Frederick Backman

A Man Called Ove by Frederick Backman (this was an amazing audiobook)

This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel

Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (I still feel like crying every time I think of this book)

Glass Houses by Louise Penny (released at the end of August, absloutely one of the best in the series and #13)

I have a post coming next week with a few analytic details about my reading life so far in 2017 - I decided to do up the stats for the first 6 months and then look at the latter 6 months of 2017 in September. That being said, I highly recommend any of the books listed above. They all blew me away.

2) 5 things I've eaten lately and loved:

• Broccoli stem salad: a delicious way to eat the neglected part of the broccoli
• Inside-out egg rolls
• Homemade greek yogurt (post also coming next week) with strawberries, hemp hearts, and walnuts <-- I've had this for breakfast every day this week
• Zoodles with pasta sauce, chicken, parmesan, and mozzarella cheese
• Bacon-wrapped eggs: We love these for breakfast but I cook them a bit longer because I don't like my eggs runny (I also add a bit of grated parmesan on top) GREAT to make ahead of time.

3) 5 posts of interest around the web:

• 10 useful HTML symbols for your blog
• Strength exercises to do at your desk
• This Youtube channel reads children's books aloud
• Favourite children's books (I can't get enough of these lists and the comments are amazing too)
• I wish I'd know about this way to carry a bucket car seat 3 years ago (Lucy weighed 9lbs14oz at birth, you guys)

4) 5 funny things:

• The Oxford comma's dating profile
• A site for Dad jokes (Brian is already on this)
• Funny video.

5) 5 books I plan to finish this month:

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore (currently reading)

North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell (Erin's challenge - audiobook)

The Sisters Chase  by Sarah Healy

What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum (I loved Tell Me Three Things so I am hoping this one is just as good)

The Good Widow by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!! Linking up with Christina and Amanda today. 

5 on Fabulous Friday

Hi everyone!!

I haven't really had the energy or spare time to post on the blog much this week, even though I have a LOT of posts half-written or planned out. I had an incredibly busy last week at work, and then busy times with Molly, a crazy snowstorm on Wednesday (Brian and I both worked from home WITH Molly - busy day), and a lot of sleepless nights due to the baby belly!!  Anyway...today is my last day at work (phew) and after today, I am really going to start pushing for natural labour induction!! (i.e. lots of walking, some spicy food ;), squats/bouncing on the exercise ball, and stair walking!). I'd like to go into labour on my own and have the baby around 40 weeks rather than go too long overdue (says EVERY very pregnant woman EVER). :)

Our current chalkboard message at home :)

I also just wanted to say that I really appreciate everyone's kind thoughts and messages lately as I near the end of this pregnancy - I love the support of the blogworld and I can't wait to share our news with everyone soon! :)

Here are my 5 on this lovely Friday:

ONE

Last poorly edited elevator selfie ever - 39 weeks and new haircut!

TWO

My boss brought us all back these little decorations from Africa this week, which I showed to Molly and she decided it was a hat. She cracks me up.

THREE

I discovered The Piano Guys on Youtube this week and love their videos! I love cello & piano, but the videos too are just really epic - a grand piano on top of a mountain type thing!! Pretty entertaining if you're into stuff like that :) Here's one example:



FOUR

Brian and I used to watch Jeopardy almost every night when Molly was a baby or even before that. I loved it but we obviously got out of the habit once we got a bit busier tending to a 2 year old. We started watching it again semi-regularly and now I find it a nice way to hang out - so I'm thinking I need this Jeopardy app for my phone. I *love* trivia :) We also have Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune for the Wii, which we used to play all the time.

FIVE

This pin made me laugh this week :)

(Via)

Have a great weekend, blog world!! :) Here's what I'm listening to this Friday!!



Linking up here and here today.

Random 5 on Friday

ONE.

My baby girl is doing much better today after a bit of a rough week. Sick toddlers are NO fun, let me tell you. The only good thing is that I get a few more cuddles ;) I was also very grateful that I have *one* sick kid, and not two, yet.

TWO.

VERONICA MARS movie tonight!! I can't wait! I really thought more people knew about this show and were excited for the movie, but it turns out that it is a bit of an anomaly. Haha. I don't care...I am super excited! Team Logan! This also counts as one of my last "girl's nights out"s until after the baby comes - which will be great! I'm going with a good friend and her sister and we're doing supper first! The only tiny downside is that I won't get to see Molly until tomorrow since she'll be asleep when I get home...but I'm sure Daddy can handle supper and bedtime on his own ;).

(Via)

THREE.

Three fun links to check out if you're browsing around this week:

16 Things you need to do to live life without regrets (relates a bit to my Wednesday post)

Disney Princesses on Tinder (Tinder isn't really a big thing around here, that I know of, but this still made me LOL)

26 Ingenious Ideas for your Home - love some of these - especially the hanging plants because we have a LOT of plants!!

FOUR.

Yesterday, since Brian was home with sick Molly, he made supper (yum)! I stopped by the grocery store before coming home from work and picked up a little bag of Mini Eggs as a treat for him since he had a long day (lol)...he finished them all in less than 5 minutes after Molly went to bed. We also finished House of Cards and reviewed our taxes and found out we are getting WAY more back than we originally thought - bonus!!!

FIVE.

Molly says "I love you too" now when we say "love you!" to her. She has said this in the past when coached to do so (haha), but when she says it back without prompting, it totally warms my heart (and simultaneously makes me want to cry - again, with the hormones! haha). I love the age that she is at now...she has also started asking me why the baby isn't coming yet, and when it is coming. I can't wait to watch her as a big sister. :)

(Via)

In honour of it being Veronica Mars day, my song today to link up with Whitney is from the "Epic Love" scene in Season 2 (seen below). I'll be talking about the movie a bit on Monday, and also sharing all of my favourite Irish music in honour of St. Patrick's Day (since I can't celebrate it with a green beer this year!).



Linking up here and here today.
Happy weekend, friends :)

5 on Friday: See My City Link-up

Good morning, and happy Friday!! This week was a chilly one in Halifax, but might warm up a bit on the weekend. We're only 2 weeks away from Spring, but it sure doesn't feel like that here!!!

I saw a link up hosted by Jess this week to share 5 things about your city, so I decided to post about Halifax today for 5 on Friday!! For those who don't know, Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada, has a population of ~380,000 people and is located on Canada's east coast. It is the largest city in the Maritime provinces of Canada, and the provincial capital of Nova Scotia.

I didn't grow up in Halifax, but Brian did, and he has lived here most of his life. We visited Halifax countless times as children, however, because my mom is from Nova Scotia. I went to University about 2 hours away in a very small university town, and then I moved to Halifax in 2007 to do my Master's at a university here. Considering that Nova Scotia only has about a million people total, the province also has 10 major universities/colleges that attract students from all over the world and other parts of Canada.

1) The Harbour and the water everywhere

Halifax has a huge natural harbour that conducts a lot of shipping and trade. In the summer/fall there are many cruise ships that visit daily. There are two large bridges that connect Halifax to Dartmouth (they used to be separate cities but are all the same municipality now).

View of Halifax from Dartmouth

A cruise ship arriving in the Harbour

Sunset over the MacDonald bridge

Fireworks off the MacDonald Bridge (source)

The Harbour is also home to this awesome guy:

Theodore Tugboat at Christmas time!!

Halifax also has many beaches nearby and many natural lakes for swimming in the summer or skating in the winter. Here's the view off our back deck (this morning), where you can see a popular beach, Rainbow Haven.

2) The live music scene

A classic Halifax song:


Many of the bars and pubs downtown have live music every day, or at least a few days a week. There are also Highland Games held in the summer and a Royal Canadian Military Tattoo with countless pipe bands in July. The live music scene also usually involves some delicious adult beverages, and there are many festivals and outdoor events with beer gardens in the summer.

My favourite Irish pub downtown (source)

(Source)

A friend's pipe band at the Halifax Highland games a few years ago

3) Citadel Hill

Citadel Hill is a National Historic site with employees/re-enactors in period-appropriate costumes. They do demonstrations and have educational activities. It is a great place to visit to learn more about Halifax in the 1700s-1800s. Here's the view from Citadel Hill:

And the aerial view:

(Source)

4) Delicious seafood

There are many places to get fresh fish and seafood in Halifax, from lobster fishermen to food trucks to fancy restaurants. I always highly recommend trying seafood chowder (not the same as clam chowder) from a restaurant downtown...it is SO delicious :) Molly also loves looking at the lobsters in the grocery store here...I think that she thinks they are pets ;)

A popular place to buy lobster (Source)

5) Fantastic Parks

There are many parks to enjoy in the city and on the outskirts. Point Pleasant Park is right on the water, and I used to spend time there almost every day when I lived downtown. They have a large trail system so it's great for kids and for runners. Here are some views from Point Pleasant Park:

Heather Road!!!

There is also a great little park downtown that is only open Spring-Fall with beautiful flower arrangements (think of a very miniature Central Park!!!) It's called Public Gardens and it is a relaxing place to spend an afternoon.

(Source)

Halifax is a great place to raise kids and a fun place to grow up (according to my family and my husband) ;) We love it here and probably won't be leaving too soon!!!

What do you love about your city?! 

Linking up here, here and here today.

Have a great weekend, everyone! Don't forget to turn your clocks ahead on Saturday night/Sunday morning!!

Five on Friday #TeamTeddy...Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Friday, and Happy Valentine's Day! AKA my half-birthday!! I actually did celebrate it once with friends in University...but I think we all know how much "celebrating" happens in university anyway ;)

For 5 on Friday today, the hostesses (Darci, April, Christina and Natasha) are raising awareness about a little guy named Teddy, who suffers from Menkes Syndrome. You can read more about his story HERE. They are asking that 5 on Friday participants put up a picture with a #TeamTeddy sign as the first in their post.

---ONE---

#TeamTeddy photo (mostly just editing) with Baby Molly circa Mother's Day 2012.

---TWO---

A Canadian blog friend of mine, Melissa (who blogs at Dreams and Colour), looooooooves David Myles who is an East Coast musician. When I saw that you could send Valentine's including one of his songs from his website, I knew I had to send her one. Today is her birthday today too, so perfect timing! Send your own Valentine (with mp3 download) here!!

---THREE---

We don't really do much for Valentine's Day besides usually exchange cards and have a nicer-than-usual dinner or something, so that's our main plan for this evening! I'm making fettucine alfredo with shrimp, caesar salad, garlic bread and chocolate eclairs (not homemade) for dessert. Then I think we are going to watch About Time after the little munchkin goes to bed. Speaking of which, isn't her Valentine's shirt adorable?!?! (It was a Christmas gift, not actually purchased for Valentine's Day, but does suit the occasion!!!)

This picture isn't from today because someone was crying while I tried to take a picture this morning

We are also going on a double date tomorrow night with some friends of ours who have kids...and all the kids are going to sleepovers at their grandparents' houses...so I'd say that's one way to "celebrate" Valentine's Day!! :)

Here's the card I made for Brian this year, which I think is HILARIOUS:

(It says "I don't just like you, I love you...LOL)

My boss (who is awesome) also brought in heart-shaped cookies for us today:

---FOUR---

I am loving the Olympics (obviously) and the fact that hockey has started!! It's been difficult to keep up with the Olympics at work, so I've just been checking Twitter whenever I get a chance. One of my favourite pictures from the week (via John Lehmann) is of Canadian Dara Howell, who TOTALLY rocked her slopestyle run and easily won gold. It was amazing to watch (even though I didn't catch it live) and if I were her, I'd frame this picture at home!

(Via)

I am also loving this Buzzfeed list about Canada winning at the Olympics. :)

---FIVE---

I saw this quote on SparkPeople this week and it's a good one to remember moving forward. :)

I'm also sharing our wedding song for #BackThatAzzUp Friday with Whitney today!!

Happy weekend!! Hope everyone has a good one! And for those of you lucky Canadians (and all Americans) with a holiday on Monday...enjoy it! We get one in Nova Scotia starting in 2015...which does me NO good this weekend, haha ;)

Friday's 5!

Linking up as always today! Thanks for the link-up Darci, April, Christina and Natasha!

{ONE}

Molly has a bunch of stuffed animals that sleep with her (she really only requires about 3 when we are not home though). We've started calling them her "posse" and now she calls them her posse too. It's pretty funny and really cute. Her favourite this week is a Cabbage Patch kid that she thinks is Oona from the Bubble Guppies (her favourite show).

Here's Molly doing some cooking in her kitchen for her "Oona":

and here's the real Oona:

(Via)

{TWO}

I have been CRAVING breakfast food this week. Yum. I had a bowl of cereal in the middle of the day yesterday and then we had homemade breakfast sandwiches for supper last night. Yum yum yum. Fruit is my best friend these days too and I've had a fruit smoothie every day for at least a week.

Brian was confused about having a breakfast sandwich for supper with a side salad...haha I just said "don't ask!"

 {THREE}

My pregnancy hormones are a bit through the roof this week, and I chalk it up to being sick one day and being generally overtired. I sent this amusing article to my husband to make him feel less alone in the battle of being married to a pregnant woman ;).

{FOUR}

We're catching up on How I Met Your Mother Season 9 this week. I'm still not sold on it being all on the same day/weekend, but I want to know what happens with the mother so I'll stick with it!!!

{FIVE}

This post really made me think about what matters in a marriage. I can't imagine her not being annoyed with a room that hasn't been painted in months because I would lose my mind. It also made me want a self massaging chair!!!

Also linking up with Whitney to start the weekend off with a fun acoustic version of one of my favourite tunes!!




Happy weekend, everyone!! We are having one of my cousins and her husband and baby tonight for supper (possible new recipe to share if it turns out well!), then having another play date tomorrow afternoon. I also have some nesting and home organizing to do :)

5 on the 4th Friday of the month :)

It's time for everyone's favourite link-up...including me!! Check out all the other 5 on Friday posts over at Darci, April, Christina or Natasha's blogs today.

This was a bit of a long week, and kind of strange too because I worked from home on Wednesday  due to SEVERE snow in the city and got a bit confused with which day it is (yesterday felt like Monday). So the fact that today is actually Friday when it feels like Tuesday is pretty great!!

{ONE}

We have an amazing store close by called Gateway Meat Market. It (obviously) sells a lot of meat at EXTREMELY good prices and locally grown, but they also have a fair amount of produce and other goodies. You can’t get everything you need there, but you can get a lot of fresh food way cheaper than Sobeys or Superstore! Their prices are unbeatable and they do “flash sales” in which something is extremely cheap for a day or two until they run out of supply. I almost always take advantage of the sales to stock up on some veggies, and this week, the sale was BANANAS 17cents/lb…which, as you know, is amazing. Bananas here are usually 79-89 cents/lb. I bought a bunch and I’m going to wait for them to ripen and then peel and freeze them for smoothies (amazing way to use up bananas!)

Here’s the 24 bananas I got yesterday for $1.50 (major WIN! – PS: My husband rolls his eyes every time I come home with items like this, haha – he loves sales but thinks this is too many bananas ;))

{TWO}

I get to see my sweet sister tonight as she is in Halifax for residency interviews. Molly loooooves her auntie so much and we have been lucky to see her a few times lately (we usually only see her 1-2 times a year since she lives in Ontario). The next time I see her after tonight, we will have a new baby and she will be a doctor!! Hard to believe!!

{THREE}

As I’ve mentioned before, I am keeping a 5-year journal similar to this one on Amazon but following prompts from this site and writing it myself. Today’s prompt is “What are you looking for from life?”, which is a bit of a loaded question (haha), but it has really gotten me thinking about where I’m headed in the future career-wise (that’s a whole other post) and what things are important to me. I think reflecting on questions like this every once in awhile a good way to keep on track goal-wise is and a good way to remind myself that “the world is my oyster”. J So far, I love the simplicity of the journal prompts – only a sentence or two each day but it will be great to look back on!

(Via)

{FOUR}

I’m starting to get really excited for the Olympics! I can’t wait to see, in particular, how the men’s hockey team does (I am a huge Sidney Crosby fan but I think all of the players were good choices!) and I also love the figure skating/ice dance component. It'll be hard to watch it all because of the time difference, but hopefully we can catch a lot of the highlights and some events live on TV. Brian and I met right after the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, so when we were first talking, we were both really into the Olympics as a current event/ice-breaking topic...so I told him I'm so happy we've made it to the next Olympics! Here's to many more! ;)

{FIVE} 

I love U2 and we had the opportunity to see them live a few years ago in Moncton when I was super-pregnant with Molly (her first concert and it was a good one!!). They are releasing a new song for download during the Superbowl next weekend, but I can't stop listening to this other new one from the Mandela movie soundtrack. So let's #backthatazzup this Friday with the queen of yoga pants :)

 


Happy Friday, everyone!!!