Shauna Niequist : Cold Tangerines

After sharing my Multitude Mondays this week, I was struck by how often I'm inspired by quotes from my favourite authors. Shauna Niequist, the author of Cold Tangerines which I spoke of on Monday, has so many gems in each of her pieces. I want to soak up every word that she writes, and yet sometimes, I can only take it in small doses, like really good quality chocolate. She's one of my favourite Christian authors that truly writes from the heart.

Many of my favourite lines and pieces of Niequist's work can't be taken out of context without reading the whole paragraph or story, but the quote above is one of my favourite stand-alone pieces. The quote is from the book that I own, Cold Tangerines. I created a little print of it using a photo from one of my summer adventures. Feel free to save it as an image for your desktop - simply open the image in a new tab to get the photo at the full size before saving to your desktop or background. It's a freebie from me to you!

I've had the rest of Shauna's books in my Amazon wish list forever. This is one of the first years that I've been trying to be more careful with my online spending, and my wish list is suffering a bit. With the baby on the way, I've been less self indulgent. Dan and I are both big readers: we used to place an Amazon book order at least once a month, sometimes every payday. I miss those days, but it simply means that when I do receive a new book in the mail, it's even more special. I think it may be time to place an order soon!

I hope that you're having a lovely weekend, spending time with your loved ones and avoiding stress as much as possible. I know that my to-do list seems to grow larger by the day, but I'm trying to stay focused on enjoying the little things, and Niequist's quote is a great reminder. We have friends coming over for lunch that we haven't gotten to see in almost a month, so I'm going to take the time to light some candles this evening, do a little tidying, and get as much food prep done as I can so we can get our meal on the table after church tomorrow with as little strain as possible. School and work can wait: I want to enjoy these moments, as they are what I'll remember a year from now, not assignment #4365.

Happy weekend!

Weekend Re-cap. Two Weekends Later.

Look at us! I fooled you (and the unsuspecting girl in the background) into thinking that I have a cool phone with an even cooler photo app. Nope, that's not it! (Still rocking our six year old flip phone, whaddup!) I used my as-of-ten-minutes-ago Picnik (RIP!) replacement, BeFunky. It will be your new favourite, too. You're welcome.

I had a grrrreat weekend with Kelsie and Adam an couple of weekends ago. Not going to lie, I unpacked last night. Yup, things have been that busy. I'll share a few shots that I took on the trip, though - freshly edited with my new best-website.

The new alternate title for the post:

How Many Different Photo Edits Can Be Squeezed Into One Post.

We checked out the Halifax Crafters show. Beautiful, as per uge* (aka usual), but I left relatively empty handed. I grabbed a couple of postcards and a cardamom chocolate. Speaking of chocolate...

I introduced Kels and Adam to Sweet Hereafter... where I treated myself to a slice of chocolate peanut butter cheesecake. Paired with an iced green tea, oooh, spot on.

We had other adventures involving arcade winnings, trophies, jukeboxes, and sidewalk conquering, but I'll share those with you another time. For now, I'll leave you with this:

I'm BACK!

Happy Monday!

Over the Weekend

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to go to an awesomely intimate concert with my friend Rachel. We saw Jenn Grant perform at our local civic centre, and I'm so glad that we went! Her dreamy voice is quite similar to Jill Barber, if you're a fan. There were about thirty people there, which was a new experience for me. Loved it! (And for $20, how could I pass up the opportunity for a fun Saturday night?!)

Jenn was accompanied by her husband, Daniel Ledwell, and the two of them sound so lovely together. He was mostly on the piano and a couple of other instruments, but sang backup for a few songs. She snuck a few new songs into the playlist from her upcoming album, and I think that they may be my favourite yet. I can't wait to pick up a copy when the album, The Beautiful Wild, is released. Here's a link to one of her older songs, Everybody Loves You, so you can get a feel as to what she sounds like. 

(As a side note: I'm totally envious of anyone that can pull off a maxi dress. If you can rock 'em, rock 'em!)

Hear any great music lately? Do share!

Happy Tuesday!

Girls' Weekend

On Saturday and Sunday, I had a much-needed girls' weekend away. Not that I'm currently swamped with work or anything, but I am feeling a little overwhelmed with life. Those two days away were just what the doctor ordered. Seriously, when I woke up on Monday after arriving home on Sunday night, I felt completely rejuvenated. Yay!

I got to see my darling friend, Heidi, at the best cheesecakery ever! The Sweet Hereafter is the place to go for a delicious dessert. The atmosphere is the only thing that can rival their amazing cheesecake. Here's a peek at my slice, a piece of chocolate peanut-buttery goodness:

Part of the reason that my friends and I went up was to attend a baby shower for a brand-new little papoose. (Remember the one I made the button art for?) We got to meet sweet little Lara for the first time!

Look at how proud her two aunties are:

There's something extra special about a shower that's held after the baby is over. You can oh and ahh over  all of the teensy outfits and actually imagine them on the baby. So cute.

On Sunday, we went to church there and then had a super fantastic lunch at The Wooden Monkey. If you are in Halifax and haven't been there yet, it's a must-go-to. I have yet to be disappointed with their meals and service. Top-notch.

Pretty ladies! My road trip buddies, Thianna + Rachel.

I had the pulled pork with apple salad and roasties. So amazing...

We shopped 'til we dropped over the weekend. I found a cute new top at H&M and some soap at Bath and Body Works. I also got a new facial moisturizer from Lush since I'm just about out. Dan lucked out: there was a great sale on dress shirts at Banana Republic that I took advantage of. He'll be one stylin' dude!

Did you have any fun over the weekend? Do share!

+ + +

Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

I Thessalonians 5:24

❤

Hockey Night in Cape Breton

What an action-packed weekend I had! Seriously, it's feast or famine. Sometimes we can go weeks with just doing the same old routine, but this weekend really switched things up! On Friday, Dan and I took a little trip to get our car's oil changed - we walked around town while we were waiting and went for an ice cream treat at Coldstone Creamery. I had "Founder's Favourite" which was vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce, hot fudge, pecans and brownie chunks, and Dan had a cookies 'n' cream milkshake. For supper, we met up with friends at a yummy new Italian restaurant. It was fun to get to hang out with them - we haven't had the chance since we moved over a year ago. 

After that, we found out that there was a hockey game going on, so we bought tickets and watched our first hockey game together for this year.

What a close game! With only four minutes left, the game was tied. Our team managed to win in an overtime shoot-out. Yay! (And by our team... I mean the more local out of the two. "Our" team is actually not very good this year. Ha ha ha)

I was sneaking little shots of Dan. It's the only way I can get a cute picture of him. 

What is it with guys wanting to make crazy faces every. single. time?

The blimp was so adorable! The other side was a Wendy's frosty. 

I'd love to be the guy that drives it... what a fun job.

Our team has the white jerseys on - lots of shaggy long hockey hair on the ice that night!

That wraps up the first part of my weekend. I'll be back with Saturday and Sunday's details.

Happy Tuesday!

Snow Day

Not sure if you know this or not, but we got dumped on this weekend. With snow, that is. It was the most snow in the shortest amount of time that I can remember - seriously. Our entire island was rocked by the snow monster. Dan was on call for work all weekend (he takes a cellphone home and the emergency department calls him if someone needs an x-ray).

When he got called in to work on Saturday, look what he had to dig out:

Our poor little car - all buried by snow! Crazy, right? Actually, Dan went out earlier in the afternoon to dig our car out and plow our driveway. He didn't want to have to go to work and be greeted by a snow disaster. Still, though, isn't that nuts?!

Yep, I took the photo of the tree through the screen. I wasn't going outside!

In total, I think we got about 30 cm in 12 hours. Record-breaking! (In my books, at least!) It took about two days for everything to get back to normal around our neighbourhood. Not going to lie - I didn't leave the house on Saturday or Sunday. Yep. Chilled all. weekend. long.

My sister-in-law and her kiddos are here for the day. It's my niece's 5th birthday, so we're going to have a par-tay! Not really... but I do think that we'll be going sledding. And building snowmen. And... anything else that involves snow!

What are you up to today?

Happy Tuesday!

Back on track.

Wow! The past week here on Polka Dot Soup has really slipped through the cracks! Oopsies!

I've been up to my eyeballs in basketball this past week - my brother was in a three day tournament and I managed to get to all of their games. Saturday was an all-day event, but Dan and I managed to sneak a little date in. One of our favourite little cafes, The Dancing Goat, was 15 minutes away from the school where the tournament was held, so we went there for lunch. 

Check out our yummy desserts:

David's team made it to the boy's championship game! They ended up losing by nine points, so the team was pretty disappointed. David got a MVP medal for the championship game, which was really cool. Gotta love that the rest of my siblings are athletic. Jealous!

We have friends down for the next four days, so I'm off to spend some time with them. I also am hosting an accessories swap tomorrow night, so I'm prepping some yummy snacks. I'll be back with more details!

Happy Monday!

Shootin' some b-ball

Anyone else in love with Groupon? We bought tickets for 4 for a Rainmen game last week. Luckily, while we were in Halifax on the weekend, there was a game so we didn't have to make another trip this winter. Tickets for four for $25! Can't beat that. Groupon's the best.

Heidi and Kenny went with us to the game. I've been watching my brothers' school basketball games for the past year, so it's kind of fun to watch a more experienced team in person. The Rainmen were playing Oshawa Power, a team from Ontario. They're part of the NBL, which is kind of a step up from university basketball.

We thought that we had the best seats in the house, but little did we know but the entire row behind us was a birthday party. A 8/9 year old birthday party. Nothing wrong with a group of little boys having fun, but this bunch? They were out. of. control. The parents were sitting in the row behind them and did nothing. The kids were screaming, dancing, and just generally being rude. I've never had a little kid's pelvis thrust into the back of my head so many times. Gross. 

Well, our team won 133 - 99. They broke a new record for highest points, which was pretty cool since we got to witness it. Nothing like starting the new year off with a bang! Halifax Rainmen got to break a record, and I got to see a cool basketball game. Win - win.

Watch anything cool lately? Do share!

Happy Wednesday!


* This is my 500th published post! Cool, eh?! *

Out and Around

Daniel and I have been spending the past week helping my inlaws with prepping our yard and garden for the warmer weather. (We live in the "granny suite" that's attached to the end of their house, in case you aren't familiar with our current living situation.) Daniel raked a big ol' chunk of the yard on Saturday, and Sage and I went bottle collecting in the woods. Sage was so cute, traipsing along behind me, hopping over little bushes and shrubs, happy as a clam to be spending time outdoors. There used to be a family dump in the woods years ago, and there are the prettiest bottles buried. I want to use them in a cool way... I'm still brainstorming.

My mother-in-law got her decorative flag out and hung up, along with a new welcome sign. She's been doing some planning - we picked out a new colour for the exterior doors. It's a beautiful olive green, which will be beautiful with the white trim and brown wood shingles. She got super pretty solar lights for Mother's Day, and those are all along the back of the house, along with some new white stone. It looks so cheery!

Our place is really coming along... I can't wait to move on to our other outdoor tasks!I want to build a "window box" style container out of worn-looking wood to hang from our step. I'd like to fill it with some really vibrant, eye-catching, low maintenance flowers. We have big plans for our vegetable garden - I'm excited to share our progress with you as time goes on. We're getting the ground tilled this week, so after that, we're clear sailing...

Here's a few photos from Saturday -

Have you been spending any time outdoors lately? Do share!

Happy Tuesday!

Mama and Papa

It's been birthday party central around here!

Mom had a birthday yesterday, and today is Dad's birthday. We threw Dad a surprise party on Saturday, since he turned the big 5-0. We got him so good! Him and I took a little trip, and by the time we got back, everyone had arrived. They all hid their cars next door, so he didn't suspect a thing. It's pretty hard to pull the wool over Dad's eyes, but I'm so glad that we surprised him... it was a lot of fun.

We had a birthday dessert celebration for Mom yesterday with just us - Mom, Dad, David, Shamus, Dan, and I... and my aunt showed up to celebrate with us, too. I made a cheesecake concoction that you must try! I made this filling on this base - delish if you're a chocolate fan... and if you aren't a chocolate fan, you aren't my friend :) Seriously though, it will be a hit in your household!

We're headed to Mom and Dad's after supper tonight to celebrate Dad's b-day with our family. We gave our gifts over the weekend, so tonight will just be hang-out-time. I'm so glad that we live close and can celebrate all of these important occasions!

These photos are my most recent ones of Mom and Dad on that I have on our computer. We took silly photos last fall at my cousin's wedding in front of a big ol' brick building - it's fun to share giggles and be our silly selves!

I'm so thankful for having Mom and Dad in my life... I just wish I got the chance to show it more often. Part of growing up, I guess.

Happy birthday!

Catch Up..

I'm back!

I don't know if you could tell or not, but I was away since Thursday. We got in last night around 1 AM, and boy, am I glad to be home. I spent the day playing catch up around our place: did a million loads of laundry, changed the sheets, washed all the bedding (quilt and all!), cleaned the bathroom, emptied the fridge, all of that fun stuff. It feels so nice to sit and relax now before I head to bed.

As much as I love being away, there is seriously no place like home. This was the third weekend out of four that I spent away from Daniel, after not being apart for more than a year... well, with me being the traveler. It felt so strange! I'm so happy that neither of us has to travel for work, I think that I would lose my mind. I get too lonely by myself... no matter who I'm surrounded by. I miss Sage, too :) He's such a good pup.

My friend/sister-in-law-ish Marla has been recuperating from a serious operation, and my mother-in-law was staying with them to help out with their little girl. I went up for the weekend to give her some relief. It's so strange getting used to other family's routines and schedules - I'm so used to doing my own thing. I had a good weekend, though, and Marla's on the mend.

I met Daniel on Sunday, and we spent the night at Heidi's. Daniel had an appointment yesterday, so we decided to make a little trip out of it. I got to hit up Lush (I'll share some product reviews this week!) and I also bought a new pair of jeans. A hole wore through on my favourite pair over the weekend, so it was time to cave and buy a new pair. Shopping for jeans is the equivalent of bathing suit shopping: it stinks. After trying on eight pairs, I finally settled on a pair, so I was happy.

I hope to be back with more exciting posts this week... I'm sorry that I don't even have a picture for you. Oh, well. I'll make up for it with a bunch of fun posts. See you soon!

Happy Tuesday!

Weekend - Yee haw!

image via weheartit

 

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty pumped that it's the weekend! 

Daniel is off of work, and I decided to make a list of fun, 

inexpensive things to do over the next two days. 

These activities would be fun to do together or on our own. 

I thought that I'd share them with you, maybe one will jump out at you!

• Go for a walk in the woods
• Make a list of to-dos for this summer
• Make a mini book of a recent trip
• Take a plate of goodies to a friend
• Pack up all of the winter coats and accessories
• Brainstorm a spring and summer want/need clothing list
• Plan a tea party... or hold one!
• Watch old sitcoms like I Love Lucy and Green Acres
• Clean the car, inside and out
• Paint your toenails a bright spring colour

Let me know if any of these options work for you this weekend...

Happy Friday!

blahg.

I had a busy weekend... that carried over until Monday. I have a love/hate thing with busy weekends. I like doing stuff, but I hate the housework that I have to get caught up on once there's a normal routine again. Anyone else feel my pain?

I made a little rule for myself - no internet on Saturday and Sunday. I really felt like I had more fun this weekend without being glued to a computer. It's nice to be able to spend "real-time" with people.

Friday evening we drove for a little while, went out for supper with a friend, then we hung out with Dan's mom, sister and kiddos for the evening. Man, those kids are adorable! I love when we get to spend time with them - they crack me up.

We spent Saturday morning with our niece, as her little birthday treat for turning four. We went to the photo booth, she got to pick out a new outfit, signed some books out at the library, and went to lunch at the restaurant of her choice - McDonalds :) We bee-lined back home so I could get to the ladies' Bible study and potluck. It was the last one for the study we were doing, so we got to tell our Secret Sisters who we were. It was a lot of fun. Daniel had hockey with the boys on Saturday night, and I went to the annual St. Patrick's Day auction with Mom at our local fire hall. I bought something for the first time in four years! I'll share it with you later in the week... it's super pretty :)

Sunday morning, we went to church - luckily, we didn't sleep in with the time change! We came home, I had a nap, and Daniel went to my little cousin's hockey game. When he got home, my darling surprised me with a little date at home night. He came home with a bag of treats and a movie, it was a lovely surprise!

Monday morning, I took Mom to a doctor's appointment, and we went to a few stores there, too. We got home in the late afternoon, and then once Dan got home from work, we went to our friend's place for supper, games, and chill time watching the Food Network :) Whew! I'm glad to have a little down time to get caught up on everything... 

There. I shared. Sometimes it's tough sharing real life stuff on here - I'd rather not get too personal. I just felt like typing this morning, I guess. I hope your weekend was fun, too!

... and just because I can't make a post without a photo, here's a little road trip love :)

(heh heh - it was totally not from this weekend - check out the green grass!)

Wedding Bells

Hey you! Happy Friday! I'm finally getting around to posting some wedding photos from the weekend. I wasn't sure how many to post, so here's a little taste of what we took.

Colin and Therese incorporated various Celtic elements into their wedding. It was a beautiful day... an outdoor wedding with a delicious supper in a big lodge-type building. Here are their programs:


The two of us got all shined up. Daniel was in the wedding party, so he was snazzy in his pinstriped tux. I wanted to match the wedding colours, but not be wearing purple, if you know what I mean. Match, not try to be a bridesmaid. I found my never-been-worn Calvin Klein dress at Value Village - how sweet was that?! My hair comb was from Whichgoose on Etsy. Now that the wedding's over, I can't wait to wear it all the time!

There was rain off and on all day - the chairs were actually set up in the tent right beside the outdoor location, and moved back out just before the ceremony. It rained on our wedding day, too - but an overcast sky makes the best pictures. The location was gorgeous - right on the Bras D'or Lakes. The program boys were just chilling before everyone arrived:


My official date for the wedding was Daniel's step-mom. Daniel's dad married them, so her and I were both flying solo and decided to hang out. But... this little cutie in the MacLennan tartan bow tie was my partner in crime for most of the day. This kid kills me. I actually whispered into his baby brother's ear, "Just so you know, R's my favourite, but when you get bigger, you might be equal." He's 5 months, I don't think I offended him :)


The most face-on shot of the bride and groom that I got all day. Hopefully we can have some copies of their professional pics when they get them back. Speaking of professional, go check out their photographer - he's awesome! I saw some sneak peeks from the day - amazing - but they won't get their photos for another 8 - 10 weeks.


We of course had to take some classic self-portraits. What would the day be without the arm reach? Cute...


... and mafia...


The tables at the reception were beautiful, my photos don't do them justice. They used hydrangeas, one of my absolute favourites. Lots of candles, too... love 'em.


The wedding cake was amazing! They asked Daniel's mom to make a rustic looking cake, and Therese's mom arranged the flowers. Colin made the cake stand from a couple of tree trunk... Therese had seen a similar one in a magazine, and he's crafty like that... what a keepsake!


The flower girl was as cute as a button. I'm a little biased, she is my niece, after all. She was my table buddy at the reception - cutie. She was totally unperturbed by me asking to see her shoes...

... and that's it for share-ables! I hope you liked the glimpse into their special day. It was a great experience, and I'm glad I got to be a part of it.

I hope you have a fantastic weekend - a long one at that - and be careful with Hurricane Earl around!

Sushi Love

Doesn't this make you hungry?


My latest fave at the Saturday farmer's market: Oka Maki Sushi. This booth is run by the sweetest lady and her husband. They're brave - offering their adventurous wares in our not-so-adventurous town. But, surprise: it's a huge hit!

I'm not very bold yet, but my favourite is the California roll. It's a delicious combination of crab, avocado, and cucumber. Mmm, mmm. Every Saturday that we're both off, we head to the market for a package or two of this delicious stuff, made right on site.

Here's the kicker: Oka Maki has a new restaurant location that's opening tomorrow! We'll be swamped all day, but we have plans to head there Wednesday to celebrate our anniversary. I can't wait to share some shots of their new location!

Do you like sushi? If so, what kind?

Happy Monday!

Love It.

There was a great fireworks show Sunday night! We took a drive out to see them, and lo and behold, a random Snoop Dogg concert was going on across the harbour. So... fireworks accentuated by random beats and "Snoop-doggy-doggs" :)

I'd love to have a tripod and be able to take sweet shots of fireworks. Since I don't, I tried to take some unfocused shots so they're prettier that little flecks of fireworks. Here are my two favourite photos:



... and it's us! I hate to brag, but my darling has the dreamiest eyes. Just sayin'.


P.S. I've been working on my freckles, since I don't tan. Ever. This is the most I've ever had! Go Team Freckle!

Happy Tuesday!