Tunes for Tuesday : Your.garden

Your.garden from Camille Marotte on Vimeo.

Heads up! For your Tuesday visual and audio pleasure: a beautiful music video with killer sounds and cinematography. The video was created by Camille Marotte and the song's by Matthieu "Uddahava" Ouaki.

Enjoy!

Currently : On Polka Dot Soup

It's summer time - the ice cream stands are opening up!

Loving : My new summer job at a local deli/eatery. Fresh, healthy menu, lots of happy customers, and great co-workers. Can't beat it!

Making : A to-do list of fun activities for the summer months. This summer I'm excited to hike, spend time collecting beach glass, travel a bit, and read lots of books.

Reading : The last book, book seven, in a series: The Tomorrow Series by John Marsden. It's an awesome youth fiction that I highly recommend!   

Learning : how to run with Couch 2 5K. My muscles and joints have never seen so much action. I'll leave it like that :)

Drinking : Water and orange juice like they're going out of style. This warmer weather really makes you thirsty!

Listening : Lots of fun playlists on Songza. It's one of my favourite apps (free, too!), and you can also listen on their website. Score!

Eating : Salads and soups are always on rotation in my books. I made a sweet potato and red lentil soup with a curry coconut milk broth last week that still has my taste buds tingling.

Dreaming : Of a new bicycle! We went and checked out a few bikes at a local bike shop last month, but I'm tempted to take a can of seafoam green spray paint to Dan's old bike and tune it up for a cheap, quick fix.

Watching : Our latest favourite shows are Bones, Freaks and Geeks, Masterchef, Sherlock, and Fringe. Haven't had much time to watch "our shows" lately with our hectic schedules. I'm calling a cozy afternoon in soon. 

Enjoying : Being finished school for the year! Woohoo! 

What's new with you? Do share!

Multitude Monday

Have you heard of Multitude Monday? On Mondays, I like to share ten things that I'm thankful for. It's a great way to start the week off on the right foot, whether by recording your list in a journal, on a blog, or simply in your head. I haven't taken the time to create a list since April, and it feels strange. Here's an attempt to get back on track, and it's a long list!

Daffodils in mason jars, vintage scales and cannisters - can a kitchen get any more cheerful?

Today, here are ten things that I'm currently thankful for:

671 - I spent the day Saturday at a cousin's lovely wedding. So excited for the two of them to start their journey together, and they planned a beautifully executed day. My brother's girlfriend is a make-up/aesthetician chicky and she made me glamorous for the day - a good smokey cat eye. Sad to say I didn't get any close-up photos. Trust me, it was cool ;)

672 - Dan and I took the day on Sunday as "us" time. We drove to a wildlife park and had the time of our lives. Seriously, we were both in our element. I took out the big old DSLR and my zoom lens and had a blast snapping shots of many an unsuspecting animal.

673 - We also took a trip out to our favourite little place, Great Village. It really is a great village, I'd live there on a dime. I snagged an adorable blue creamer with a bright yellow interior at one of my favourite antique shops. Who knows what I'll actually use the creamer to hold. Between not being a coffee drinker and being semi-lactose intolerant, chances are I won't fill it up with cream.

674 - Dan and I got to watch the newest Star Trek movie in 3-D in theatres last night. It was exciting! Dan's been slowly taking me over to the geek side, and I'm not complaining. Geeks are highly underrated. Forget blondes, geeks are the ones that have the most fun :)

675 - My littlest nephew turns two this week. He lives on the other side of the country so we'll have to send him our well wishes virtually, but I love that cheerful little boy to bits. I'm going to try and find a toddler-approved toy for him tomorrow to drop in the mail for him.

676 - I found summer employment! I'll be working at one of my favourite little lunch spots, a cafe/deli that serves delicious soups, salads and sandwiches. I start training on Wednesday and I hope to be there until school starts up again in September.

677 - Bit by bit, I'm checking things off my to-do list. Knowing something is hanging over your head, waiting to be finished is worse than actually doing the work. By this time next week, I'll have a relatively cleared to-do list and I can get on to the fun tasks!

678 - Making summer plans is one of my favourite ways to spend an evening. I can't wait to come up with a list of things to do this summer, from having bonfires to hiking each of the trails around the Cabot Trail. That's one of my goals: to hike each trail. There's a large range of difficulty levels, and there are lots of trails that I've never taken before. Should be an adventure for sure!

679 - I started a Couch 2 5K program this week. After walking regularly for the past two weeks, I felt ready to begin the process. I've never been a runner. Like, never. Even in junior high school, I avoided running like the plague. My favourite gym teachers were the ones that didn't force us to participate, haha. I've got a long road ahead of me but I'm excited about the journey to a healthier me! I'd love your support along the way. 

680 - Before choosing an outfit to wear to the wedding this past weekend, I pulled out my summer clothes and found lots of little gems that I had forgotten about. Isn't that the best feeling? I also purchased a Jessica Simpson tribal print maxi dress at Value Village for $7! Score! Now all I need is warm weather.

What are you thankful for today? Share a little tidbit of your life with me.

Happy Monday!

Etsy Treasury : Paris in Spring

Inspired by Heidi's search for a traveller's look for her new home, I created an Etsy treasury based around Paris home decor. I chose mostly cheery, colourful art and several black and white pieces to neutralize it. The item that caught my eye first, and inspired me to create a treasury was the Ooh La La pillow in grey and gold by Katie Scarlett and Co. The gold and script lettering are so classy! 

Etsy is a wonderful place to find original hand-made art to bring life to your home. Click on the image above to take a look at the treasury for links to each item. Sure, it's easier to buy all of your home decor in big box stores, but a lovely blend of handmade, vintage, thrifted, and original with only a few big box pieces is the key to making your house a home. 

Happy Wednesday!

Summer Love : Documenting the Sunny Days of 2013

This is it. This is the year! Summer after summer, I fail to document all of those special little moments that make life so memorable. Not this year, my friend. From May 1st until August 31st, I'll be snapping photos using my phone and my Nikon in an attempt to document the summer of 2013.

I purchased an adorable turquoise and kraft album from Michael's Snap brand that mimics the style of Project Life with a little dose of Smash books. It's a small binder that can be filled with plastic inserts. The inserts have a variety of pocket styles, and the binder itself came with an assortment of styles. I also purchased refills that have lots of small pockets.

I'll be printing my photos off and using scrapbooking products to create a cheery little coffee table book that documents our summer. I chose to use turquoise, yellow, white and pink as my main colours, but anything beautiful goes. I hope to include ticket stubs, menus, napkins and labels of fun times as well. I'll be creating a spread a week and sharing them here on Polka Dot Soup.

Thanks to leftover birthday gift cards, I was able to rummage through Homesense's assortment of scrapbooking products to find items that suit the style of the summer book. Lots of Amy Tangerine products like dimensional and fabric stickers, as well as a pad of summery papers in turquoise and orange. Perfect! Leftovers from my own crafty stash will round out the items that I use in my summer book. Here's a look at some of the crafty goodness I'll be using:

Fun, right? I hope that this little peek inspires you to do the same, or a similar project. No more leaving photos on the camera, phone or computer. It's time to develop them and share their beauty with others! I can't wait to get my first batch of photos developed and create my first spread in my summer book.

Happy Tuesday!

Spring is for Gardening : Polka Dot Soup

I am not sure if it's the inner-hippie in me or my years working at a garden centre, but every year, as the sun begins to warm the soil and little green bits of goodness pop up in nooks and crannies, I get the urge to get plantin'. 

I've shared my gardening adventures on Polka Dot Soup before: a vegetable garden two years ago, and a herb container garden and floral planters and window boxes last year. I created an Etsy treasury of garden goodness last spring. This year, Dan and I are undecided about what sort of garden adventure we should take. I love the idea of a full-fledged vegetable garden, digging on my hands and knees in the soil and watching my hard work bring fruit. I'm a bit of a romantic when it comes to gardening though, letting weeds grow between the rows until the plot looks like a tangled mess. Dan likes to keep things tidy: vegetables in the rows and all properly weeded and watered, all business. You can see his hesitation: I'm sure he has a bit of fear that he will be the one doing the hard work, with me coming up with the grand plans. I think I can convince him - reminding him of rows of crunchy green beans sounds like just the incentive that he needs.

We had a beautiful, sunshine-filled day yesterday and I took a stroll around our yard, getting ideas for outdoor projects to tackle over the next few weeks. I think getting a garden plot ready is one of those tasks. :)

Curious about herbs? I wrote a blog post on the topic called Herbs 101 last year. Lots of photos and information on growing and using herbs to get you informed. Let me know if you have any garden plans this spring!

Happy Monday!

Polka Dot Soup : On Breathing

As you may have noticed, over the past several months I've greatly reduced the amount of blog posts here on Polka Dot Soup. I'm not entirely sure where the lack of posts stems from, it's more from a combination of things. Partly due to the fact that I've been spending most of my weekdays glued to a computer screen, and realizing that something had to give in order to stay healthy. That something was this blog. Feeling tugged in numerous directions, and trying to decide which direction this little blog was going to take was overwhelming. Learning about marketing and how to improve website SEOs in class was intimidating : how was I supposed to take my blog down the right path if I'm not sure what path I even want to take it down? I needed to take a step back and just breathe.

What I've come to discover over the past few months, more than ever, is that it's the little things. It's all in the little things. Those choice little moments of joy when you place fresh flowers in a jar, receive a text from a far-away friend, smell the fresh scones that a loved one takes to your door, the deep breath of fresh air as you narrowly escape world's largest puddle, read a chapter of God's word that sticks to your bones, giggles over a silly sitcom, or finally tackling that huge canvas that has been taunting you for ages. It's those things that are noteworthy, share-worthy, blog-worthy. So be prepared friends, for more snapshots into my daily life. It's those little daily triumphs and struggles that connect us.

The bookmark shown above is one that I created for a class assignment. Creating that little bookmark brought me joy. Sitting curled up on the couch, music playing with only me and my sketchbook, I sat in the lamplight of our living room and brought Psalm 119:105 to life: 

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

After I digitized it, coloured it, and printed it off, I was required to stage it. Instead of going with my original plan of sticking the bookmark in a open book and calling it a day, I decided to go the extra mile. Setting the bookmark in a tattered antique novel, propping a pair of reading glasses on the book, and placing each item on top of a large piece of scrapbook paper took no more than a couple of minutes out of my day but made the world of difference. A little extra care can bring something, or someone, to life. 

I'm off to enjoy a bowl full of vegetable soup with my husband. We've got big plans of crashing in the living room for the evening with Netflix and tea. It's those little bits of fresh air that make each day so exhilarating. Enjoy your day!