It's New Year's Eve Eve, meaning my least favourite day of the year is looming, tomorrow. I've never been a fan of New Year's Eve. There were, like, two years I was into it and they were both around the dawn of the new millennium (excuse me, Willennium) and every year before and since New Year's Eve has made me melancholy, sad that another year is gone, conscious of the fact that I'm another calendar year closer to death, worried that I frittered away the previous year, wondering what people who are cooler than me are doing, feeling hateful that I care in the first place.

It's also time to set some goals for the new year.

Have a clean house. Over the Christmas season and as we've been renovating our master bathroom it has been made more apparent to me that I hate having a messy house. This year I want to invest more time and money into having a clean house. I just bought a new Dyson vacuum and also gathered up a bag of things to donate today, and these two things make me feel like I'm on the right track. This year I'll be doing a lot of decluttering and purging, mostly of my stuff but also Eli's plethora of toys, books and old baby items. I also plan to splurge on a professional housecleaning a few times. It feels like a luxury but it's really money well spent, in my opinion.

Floss every day. I realize this is second nature for some people but historically I tend to be really good about flossing for, like, a month, and then it falls by the wayside. As an all-or-nothing person, I need to just make it a daily thing in order to make sure it gets done.

Eat one veggie-based meal every day. I've already figured out I feel my best when I eat a mostly veggie diet. My body lets me know when it wants red meat but for the most part I'm fine eating vegetarian with the occasional eggs thrown in. In 2016 I'll be eating one veggie-based meal every day: a salad, a soup, stir fry, veggie chilli, or a buddha bowl heavy on the veg. I recently picked up the Oh She Glows cookbook and got Thug Kitchen Party Grub for Christmas so I'm sure these will help me out with tasty, veggie-heavy ideas.

Drink one more glass of water every day. I already drink lots of water, especially when I'm at work, but it never hurts to have a little extra. My goal here is just to drink one more glass of water each day, in particular on the weekends when I don't have my big water bottle in front of me and am less likely to get my three litres.

Invest in good skincare. This year I started using Ole Henriksen Truth Serum and while I balked at the price in the beginning, it's made a difference in the way my skin looks and feels. This year I want to get into a good skincare routine - exfoliating on Tuesdays and Thursdays and doing a masque on Sundays. Another habit I'd like to be more diligent about is wearing sunscreen every day. It's in my BB cream but during sunny weather, especially, wearing a separate sunscreen isn't a bad idea.

Commit to regular yoga. Yoga tends to be an afterthought for me. Around 8:30pm I'll be laying on the couch and think, "I should really do my yoga app" and guess what doesn't end up happening. I go weeks in between yoga practices and then when I do it, I feel better and vow to do it more often. I think yoga needs to happen earlier in the day or I need to actually go to a class to hold myself accountable.

Spend (and save) more mindfully. I'm usually pretty good about not overspending but December has been verrrrrry spendy around here, and I only put money in my savings account and RRSPs sporadically. I'm setting up monthly calendar reminders to contribute to my savings and will also be keeping a closer eye on where my money is going. In 2015, my favourite memories were mostly from travel, vacations, and experiences: our family vacation at the beach, a Valentine's Day getaway to Montreal and seeing Taylor Swift in Toronto with some girlfriends, for example, as well as beach days, races, dinners with friends and outings with the boys. I don't really have any memories associated with things I've spent money on, which is something to keep in mind for 2016.

Delete Facebook. I hate Facebook and I barely post anything personal on that site. I don't spend much time there, so it's not like it's eating up my day or anything, but I feel like it adds nothing of value to my life and is just another way for people to keep tabs on me that I'd rather not have to deal with. I've been keeping Facebook because I'm scared of missing out on event invites. This year I want to bite the bullet and get rid of Facebook, even just for a few months to see how it goes.

Are you making any New Year's resolutions? 

When Eli got old enough to repeat everything we said, we stopped swearing within earshot (for the most part). There was a little road-rage incident when Peter was driving and Eli ended up chirping "Fuck!" through the Starbucks drive-thru, but he seemed to forget about that particular word pretty quickly. Fairly recently, I hissed "Jesus Christ!" under my breath (or so I thought) and Eli immediately piped up, "Why did you just say Jesus Christ?" So, needless to say we're pretty careful.

In addition to the obvious F-bombs and similar curse words, there are a few other things we try to avoid saying at home.

Stupid: There's a line in The Lorax that goes, "You poor stupid guy" and when I'm reading it to Eli I always change "stupid" to "silly". The word stupid just seems really harsh and hurtful. Calling someone stupid is mean. Even if they are stupid.

Shut up: Again, this one's just rude. Especially coming from little kids, you know? I'm guilty of telling the dog to shut up when he's barking like a moron at nothing at all, but we never tell one another to shut up. How do you feel when someone tells you to shut up? What a hideous phrase.

Fat: Partly because, sometimes, Eli makes out-loud observations about people's appearances. It's only happened a handful of times. Once we were shopping and we saw a lady with very bold, bright magenta-coloured hair, and Eli said, pretty loudly, "She has really red hair!" Nothing negative, just an observation. Another time we had a waiter with a sleeve tattoo and Eli TOUCHED IT (cringe) but he was just more curious than anything, and the guy didn't seem bothered. Long story long - I wouldn't want Eli to announce that someone, anyone, regardless of size, is "fat", especially within earshot. That's part of it. I also don't really want him to be hung up on peoples' sizes or appearances - fat, skinny, short, tall - it's not super important. And I know first hand that kids can be pretty cruel and brutally honest with their observations. So, we just try to keep it positive and not make a big deal about anyone's appearance, but "fat" is definitely a word we avoid.

Hate: There are so many other ways to express when you don't like something. "I don't like that." "That's not my favourite." "I'd rather have ___." "That makes me angry/sad/scared." Hate is a pretty powerful - and negative - word and one we try not to use around Eli.

Fart: Mostly because I want to avoid the embarrassment of "I farted!" in public. We'll say toot instead of fart. I know. It means the same thing. Everyone knows that toots are farts. But farts just sounds a hell of a lot grosser.

What do you guys think? Are there words you avoid using around your kids, or were certain words of phrases taboo when you were growing up?

To help myself stay on track over the next several weeks, it felt like an appropriate time to reflect on the things that make me feel good. Hopefully this will kick-start some good habits and keep me from gorging on raw cookie dough and hot chocolate as I lay around watching a Home Alone double feature (this is still going to happen at least once this month, who are we kidding).

Make one meal each day plant-based. I'm not a vegetarian but I do feel better when I eat a mostly veggie diet. When I need to eat a steak or a piece of chicken, my body does a good job of letting me know, but I can easily eat meat-free most days of the week. One thing I've noticed makes me feel more energetic and healthier is to make one of my meals (usually lunch) plant-based, like choosing salad or soup rather than pasta, sandwiches or something meaty.

Have protein at breakfast. I like to eat eggs, Greek yogurt, or oatmeal with peanut butter in the morning to help me stay full longer. A bowl of cereal keeps me satisfied for, like, one hour.

Drink a ton of water. I have a one-litre water bottle at my desk and I try to drink three a day. I also drink a glass of water first thing in the morning and with dinner. On days when I don't get as much water to drink (typically weekends, when I'm not sitting at my desk with a huge bottle of H2O staring me in the face) I feel a difference.

Take vitamins. Lately I have been taking a multivitamin and omega-3 fish oil with vitamin D added, which is extra important during the winter.

Do something active every day. My go-to activities are running, strength training, and yoga and I try to fit in at least three runs, two strength sessions and one yoga workout each week. I also like to do one cross-training activity (usually spinning) weekly, usually at the expense of yoga! If it's a rest day I still try to get moving - for example, I'll take the dog for a walk so I'm not a complete slouch all day long.

Stand up. I have a standing desk at work and while I've been really bad about using it lately I like standing for a couple hours each day. I need to get back into the habit of doing this regularly! That's my goal for this week.

Get lots of sleep. I have finally accepted that I am an early bird and embrace my lame 10pm bedtime, and during the winter I find it especially hard to stay up late since it gets dark so early. I wake up early (our alarm is set for 6 but I often wake up earlier - around 5 - even on weekends, which makes me sad). I wish I could sleep in but even if I went to bed at 2am I'd be up at the crack of dawn, so now I just try to roll with it and tuck in early. This can be especially hard during the season of holiday parties, so I've perfected my ghosting move.

Choose drinks or dessert, not both. You're not going to abstain from all treats over the holidays, so there's no point in trying. My rule is that if I'm having a drink, I'm not having dessert or sweet stuff. One treat is fine but you don't need all the treats, all the time. When it's time to have a cookie or an hors d'oeuvre or whatever, I only pick my favourites, and stuff that's typically not available at other times of the year. I can eat cupcakes all year long, but shortbreads or gingerbreads are a Christmas thing, so I'll have something seasonal to make it feel more special. Anything involving puff pastry, Brie, and cranberries is fair game. I can make a meal out of those things.

We're officially into deep fall, y'all. We had a delicious Thanksgiving, I've been cowering under the blanket pretending to watch some scary movies, we went apple picking and visited a pumpkin patch and navigated a corn maze, so we're checking off all the fall essentials. It's also getting really dark and really cold. Staying up past 9pm is a struggle, getting out of bed in the dark is a struggle...bears have the right idea with the whole hibernation thing.



In honour of what is undoubtedly the best season of the year, I decided to round up some of my recent favourite things and share them with you.

making// THIS SOUP! I've made it twice in two weeks. The first time I used carrots, the second time it was made with butternut squash. The next round will feature sweet potato. It's easy to throw together, even on a weeknight, which is saying something, because usually when I arrive home after work I just want to take my pants off and pass out under the nearest blanket. 

eating// soup. Girl Guide cookies. Greek yogurt with granola. Just crushed some veggie pad thai for lunch. 

drinking// water, coffee, and tea - I've started drinking a cup of tea after I get to work rather than going to Starbucks. My favourites of late are Tazo green ginger and Davids Tea Pumpkin Maté. 

reading// Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

listening to// Vance Joy, Lana Del Rey, and 90s hiphop, as per usual

loving// fall weather! Being able to fall asleep without A/C is the best. 

hating// Feeling like time is going too fast. Eli turns four next month and starts school next September. NOT READY. 

watching// Fear the Walking Dead, Mindy Project

wearing// I got these black booties recently and have been really liking them paired with skinny pants. They are very versatile, comfy and cheap! Also, these New Balance on the weekends. 

planning// Bathroom renos! Plus an apple picking extravaganza. 

anticipating// Thanksgiving weekend - my favourite holiday of the year. 

dreading// making a dentist appointment. It's with a new dentist, too, so who knows what kind of oral disasters they'll find? 

working on// all kinds of work projects. It's been a busy few weeks, plus I'm into 2016 planning mode for some clients, which is fun but also challenging. Who can predict the future and know what kinds of effort will have the biggest payoff? Not this kid! 

feeling// busy, happy

wanting// a day off. No obligations. No plans. 

needing// to go to the post office - the stupidest errand which I've been putting off for weeks! 

Hot coffee & baked goods - just two of the good parts of fall.

Everybody loves to blog about fall fashion at this time of year when the seasons start to change, and while I'm certainly no exception, there's plenty of other "fall stuff" that's getting me pumped for my favourite season.

Fall isn't just time to pull out the boots and scarves - as the weather gets crisper and the sun sets a little earlier, I find myself listening to different music, watching different movies, eating different things and just generally shifting gears.

Here are a few of the things I'm jazzed about this fall.

[things to listen to]
In summer, I like to listen to a lot of summer jams - boppy, sunshiney music - and a lot of rap (this summer I listened to Compton nonstop). In the fall I slow it down a bit and listen to artists like Lana Del Rey, Banks and Adele and of course, Taylor Swift. I think it's because she's released her last three albums in October that I associate T. Swift with fall. I'm going to see her in Toronto October 3 (!!!!!!) so 1989 will be on repeat for the next few weeks.

[things to watch]
Pete and I love watching scary, gory things all throughout October, culminating in a scary movie marathon on Halloween night. The Walking Dead also starts back up in the fall, so we always DVR it on Sunday night and watch it on Monday. I'm so out of the loop when it comes to new fall TV - is there anything I should be watching? Fall is also a great time to snuggle up and watch romantic comedies.

[things to eat & drink]
Arguably the best part of fall. It's around this time that I start pulling out the slow cooker to make soup and chili, and Sunday dinners transition from barbecues on the deck to cozy comfort food (this week, we made baked mac 'n' cheese). I also love a freshly baked apple pie in the fall with apples we've picked ourselves. Last year I discovered this pumpkin chili with beef and black beans and it became a favourite, and I'm looking forward to making these honey cinnamon cornbread muffins on the side. We also became pretty big fans of this Thai coconut soup with chicken and rice last winter - it's delicious, satisfying, and easy to whip up on a weeknight.

Of course, fall beverages are also worth getting excited about. I like white wine but I LOVE red wine and as the weather gets cooler there's nothing better than a big fishbowl of red wine to relax on a Friday night after a particularly gruesome week. I'm also a fan of pumpkin ale and, being a basic bitch, the pumpkin spice latte. I pinned this DIY pumpkin spice coffee syrup recipe last year and will definitely be trying it soon!

[things to wear]
Fall clothing is the best. Getting dressed for work in the summer is a struggle. You have to look semi-professional and be able to function in both 100% humidity, Swamp Thing bus climates and sub-zero aggressive air conditioning situations - it's goddamn near impossible.

Fall is so much easier. A pair of skinny pants topped with a blazer or a button-down and you're golden. And the booties. The booties! I could wear a chambray shirt, black skinny jeans, and brown ankle booties every single day and not get tired of it.

This year I'm also looking forward to the return of the sweater dress. Cozy sweater and tights, boots, good to go. It doesn't get any easier. I got a blanket scarf on the weekend, so I guess you could say I'm ready for fall.

Last night, the boys surprised me with dinner at one of our favourite Italian restaurants. It was Eli's first time there, and we've been spending a lot of time pushing the notion that when we go to a "fancy restaurant" he has to behave himself - i.e. no roaming around, use your quiet voice, stay in your seat, eat your food. (To clarify, "fancy" = any establishment that doesn't provide cardboard antlers or chicken fingers on the menu and where cloth napkins are used.) Our prep work was successful and we enjoyed a delicious, calm, incident-free meal, the perfect midweek treat.

I am a big believer in bringing babies and kids along to do "adult" things and go to "adult" places - some locales notwithstanding, obvi; I wouldn't take Eli to the Dome or plop him on the treadmill next to me at the gym. But nice restaurants, art galleries, dinner parties, travelling - YES. One of my pet peeves is parents bemoaning their lack of a social life because of their decision to have children. "We can't take any more trips since we had kids!" "We only eat at McDonald's these days because that's the only thing Logan likes." "I don't have time to go to the gym anymore because I'm so busy with the kids."

I'm firmly in the camp that when you have children, they can - and will - adapt to your lifestyle, for better or worse. You don't need to give up the things you love when you have a baby. Instead, it's an opportunity to introduce your new little person to your favourite things, experiences, places, foods. In our case, we've tried to include Eli whenever it's appropriate, and for the most part, it's worked out well. We traveled to Jamaica and Boston as a family of three, and recently we've started talking about taking him to Europe. We take him to "grown up" get-togethers, he comes with us to coffee shops and pubs and he's cheered me on during every race I've run since he was born.

I feel like when you give up the things you love "for the kids", it actually benefits no one (unless, of course, you're giving up your pack-a-day habit or your crack addiction or whatevs). You stop working out to spend more time with your children, but as a result you become unhealthier and more stressed because you no longer have that outlet. You quit going to book club and suddenly you realize you've only talked to your spouse and your children during the past several weeks. You don't do date night anymore because getting a sitter is such a hassle and the next thing you know, you're pooping with the bathroom door open because who even cares anymore. It pains and irritates me to no end when I see parents just completely letting everything go "because of the kids". You are still you.

Running through the sprinkler is an everyday occurrence these days.

making// I baked my favourite cookies last weekend, and made Thug Kitchen burritos for lunches this week, but other than that, I haven't been in a very "make-y" mood lately. We're building a little stone wall around a flower bed, does that count? (We = Peter). I want to make mussels soon since we had a disastrous restaurant experience with them lately.
eating// corn on the cob, fresh raspberries and zucchini noodles! Not together. Oh, and too much ice cream.
drinking// just lots of water and coffee. Yesterday I had a London Fog which was nice for a change and got me through the afternoon.
reading// Adult Onset by Ann Marie Macdonald
listening to// COMPTON! So great - if you like hiphop go download it immediately. My favourite tracks are Genocide and Satisfiction.
loving// sunshine, running, Old Navy running shorts (I pretty much change immediately into these as soon as I get home from work every day, because I am glamorous round the clock), beach days
hating// 100% humidity - we had a couple days of it earlier this week and it makes it pretty much impossible to sleep, work, etc.
watching// Wet Hot American Summer, Mindy Project, Big Brother
wearing// knee-length dresses or skinny pants with short-sleeved tops for work. Shorts, tanks, and a Red Sox cap on weekends. Flats, every day. Aviators, every day. I have been keeping it super simple this summer and I love it.
planning// a rainy weekend perfect for getting stuff done. Last weekend was beautiful and hot, but it meant we spent all our time at the beach and outside, not the most productive. We have to run some errands and want to start planning our bathroom reno.
anticipating// getting a good night's sleep tonight after a pizza and wine feast.
dreading// going to Sephora this weekend. I need to pick up a couple things, but I hate that store.
working on// work projects plus my side hustle - a monthly column in the Chronicle Herald's Family Matters publication!
feeling// happy, sleepy
wanting// a spa day, a new car, a dalmatian-print blouse (why is this so elusive?)
needing// a massage

I've finally figured out a skin care routine I'm pretty happy with, so I thought I'd share it in case there are any readers who are straddling a fine line (get it?) between breakouts and wrinkles. When it comes to priorities, my big three are sun protection, smoothing wrinkles and lines, and staying moisturized and dewy but not greasy, which is no easy feat given my combination skin. It's been a challenge figuring out what products work best for me, what to use together, what to avoid altogether, and what kind of routine I can commit to. I am no skin care expert. I just read a lot of magazines.

Here's my daily skin care regimen, as well as a couple extra products I use from time to time.

I've had a little unexpected, unplanned blog break, and I've enjoyed it. Whenever something starts to feel more like a chore than fun, I've finally learned to take a step back and leave it alone for a while, rather than forcing myself to make an effort, whether it's running or writing or crafting. After all, we *have* to do enough unpleasant stuff in the run of the day, why fill our free time with something we aren't enjoying at the moment?

Lately, blogging and, to some extent, the internet in general has mostly been irritating me. I struggle with how much to share and how much to hold back, how genuine to be versus how censored in case a family member or frenemy or client stumbles upon this space. I find myself editing and deleting and posting so many drafts that never see the light of day that it feels like a big waste of time.

And honestly? I'm also having trouble with a lot of the type of content I'm seeing in my blog feed. I know it's not the case but it feels like everyone is either pregnant or training for a figure competition. Every post feels like a fetus growth update or progress pics of someone's insane abs in a bikini. Meanwhile I'm over here freaking out about putting on a bathing suit for a family vacation and, more importantly, struggling - a LOT - over whether or not we're going to have another kid. I'm really agonizing over it and for other families it feels like it's just such an easy decision, of course we'll have another! So every single pregnancy update I see every damn day - while I KNOW it's great news, and I'm 100% happy for these people - feels like another little dig, a reminder that I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. It's hard. It's a hard debate, there's a lot to think about, there's no right answer, and seeing other ladies with growing bellies makes me sad and mad and defensive and frustrated. I won't get into all our pros and cons here, but let's just say I'm trying to focus on being happy and content with the family I do have, with less emphasis on feeling jealous or anxious or judgemental or whatever else I'm feeling as I run through my blog feed.

ANYWAY. Now that I've got that off my chest and am feeling much better, I hope to start posting somewhat regularly again. Stay tuned for summer bucket lists, Pinterest fails, and running training plans gone awry.

I moved to Halifax eight years ago, ending an abusive relationship and starting over in a new province, with a new job. Years of being unhappy had taken their toll and I wasn't healthy. I was drinking - a LOT - eating really poorly and not exercising and as a result I was carrying almost 40 pounds more than I am today on my frame. After a debaucherous first year in Halifax, I decided it was time to get my act together and start getting healthier. I wasn't making a ton of money at the time, so I didn't have a gym membership, but I had an ipod, some sneakers, and access to a free gym at work. I started going for long walks after work, then started adding in intervals of jogging. Before long I could jog a few kilometres at a time. I felt bad that I was putting in all this effort with exercising and still eating and drinking horribly, so I essentially stopped drinking save for the occasional glass of wine and started making meals myself - meals that consisted of something other than Triscuits with melted cheese. In less than a year I'd lost more than 40 pounds. I really feel like if I hadn't started running, I'd never have been prompted to make those other changes, and I would probably be pretty unhealthy today.

***

Three and a half years ago, I became a mom. I ran throughout my pregnancy until I was seven months along and started up again when Eli was six weeks old. As anyone with a newborn can attest, moments to yourself are few and far between. Running was my 'me' time. I decided to sign up for a 10K in May to help me lose my baby weight. A few weeks into my training, I completed the 10K distance and wanted to challenge myself even more, so I switched to a half-marathon training plan instead. In May 2012, I ran my first half marathon and Pete and Eli, just six months old, were there cheering me on. Running as a new mom helped me stay balanced, happy, and healthy for our growing family.

***

Tomorrow I'm running that half marathon again. I no longer have a baby at home but running remains 'my' time. I love that I can sneak out at lunchtime during a busy workday and go for a run around the Halifax waterfront, or that I can spend a couple hours on a Sunday morning plodding along listening to podcasts and incredibly offensive rap. If I weren't spending that time running, I'm not sure what I'd be doing. It's so corny sounding but running has really changed my life, and tomorrow when I'm dreading the start gun or bitching about the porta-potty lineups or worrying that my time is slower than I'd hoped, I want to remember how grateful I am to be able to run and how lucky to have this sport.

HEY GUYS! It's been a minute, so as I shovel my homemade poor man's burrito bowl lunch into my mouth and spill rice alllllll up in my keyboard, allow me to update you on all the happenings around here as of late.

Mother's Day: I woke up on Mother's Day not feeling very well, which was sad because it's among my top three favourite days of the year. However, the boys planned a great day and I managed to have fun despite feeling like a bag of assholes. I enjoyed breakfast in bed, followed by some solo time to read in bed with coffee - what's better than that? Reading a magazine while neither being punched or kicked in the kidneys nor asked about playing the dinosaur puzzle app for a blissful 45 minutes - AND while drinking coffee I didn't have to make myself? Fabulous. We went to the valley to pick up some plants at the greenhouse, went out for lunch, and got some delicious gelato for dessert.



The Runs (see what I did there?): The Bluenose half-marathon is this Sunday and I don't feel prepared, in spite of running the 13.1 mile distance twice in the past month during training. I know I *can* do it...I know what pace I can maintain comfortably, and I know the course is super flat for the first 13 or so kilometres, so I should be able to plan for the torturous hills at the end. I've been having some GI issues recently which are freaking me out. And I've been really tired (more on that later). My game plan for this week is sticking to a 9:30pm bedtime every night, drinking lots of water, and eating relatively clean foods, including something carby Saturday night and my standard English muffin/peanut butter/banana breakfast on race day. I have no time goals for this race. Initially I wanted to run it in under two hours. Now I just want to finish it without crapping my pants. My two training runs were both completed in 2:04 and change, and my half PB is 2:02 something, so somewhere in that wheelhouse would make me happy.

Health: Workout-wise, I've been feeling pretty good; eating-wise, I've been doing OK. The big problem for me lately is sleep. Eli went through a phase recently where he was waking up during the night and needing to go to the bathroom and/or waking up at an obscenely early hour every morning. The past few nights have been better, knock on wood, but now I'm in the habit of waking up around 4 or 5 and having trouble getting back to sleep. I just doze off and my alarm goes off at 6. Anyone else experience this? It's making me feel really tired and rundown day to day, which I hate. All I want is a solid, uninterrupted block of eight (or more) hours of sleep! Which I may be able to get in...

The Bahamas: Monday morning I'm off to The Bahamas for a work trip. Now that I have my itinerary and it's officially on the calendar, I'm really excited. It's a work trip, not vacation, but still - it's The Bahamas. I've made a list of things to pack and things to do before we go, but I won't feel totally organized and ready until I zip up my bag for the last time. I fly to Nassau on Monday morning and come back on Friday night. I've never been there before!

Food: Last week I made these Asian noodle mason jar salads for lunch and ate them all week, except for Cinco de Mayo, when a bunch of coworkers went out for a Mexican feast. This week I've been eating the aforementioned ghetto burrito bowls for lunch. Peter made way too much rice for dinner a few nights ago, so I split the leftover rice in a bunch of containers and then added rando toppings: tofu cubes, black beans, salsa, a little cheese, cilantro - to make it somewhat of a meal. I also made these pecan pie bars from That Clean Life blog and have been eating them in place of granola bars. They're delicious! I put them in the freezer so they'll last longer, and I don't share.

Fun Stuff: I just finished The Kite Runner and while it was an excellent book it was SO SAD. I wasn't prepared for how sad it was. Just gutting. My brother bought me The Girl on the Train for my birthday, which I've wanted to read for months, so I can't wait to start it! I've been watching a lot of Mindy Project on Netflix (devastated that it's been canceled - get your shit together, FOX) and of course, the final episodes of Mad Men. I haven't been listening to anything terribly groundbreaking, basically alternating between King Kunta and Truffle Butter all day. In fact, for the half marathon, my playlist is just those two songs, on a continuous loop for 2+ hours.

Yesterday was cold, gray, and rainy, the kind of day where you just can't wait to get home and change into your favourite hoodie and not go back outside. I picked up Eli from his sitter and gave him a few options for dinner: soup and grilled cheese or quesadillas. "I want TOMATO soup and quesadillas!" he announced. I knew we didn't have any cans of tomato soup in the house, so I tried to change his mind.

"Squash soup instead? This one's red, so it might taste like tomato," I suggested, showing him a container of red pepper and black bean soup.

"No, I love tomato soup," Eli insisted. It was time to get crafty and whip something up, because when a picky eater decides he wants a specific meal, you do whatever you can to make it happen. Who knows when he'll eat again?

I googled easy tomato soup recipes and found one by Rachel Ray that seemed simple enough - only three ingredients, plus seasonings. Since it was only Eli and I at home, I tweaked the recipe a bit and made just enough for two perfectly-sized servings of tomato soup.

Easy Tomato Soup for Two
[+] 1/3 of a big can of crushed tomatoes (I think it was a 28 oz can, so roughly a cup of crushed tomatoes?)
[+] 1/2 container of chicken broth (vegetable broth would also work)
[+] 1/3 cup of cream (I used light)
[+] a dash of pepper
[+] dried dill

Combine crushed tomatoes and broth in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. When it starts to bubble, add cream, sprinkle in a little pepper and some dill, and reduce heat to low. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes on low heat.

I served this with some plain cheese quesadillas. For extra toddleriffic flair, I used a triceratops-shaped cookie cutter to cut out Eli's quesadillas. You want to get your kid to eat? Make sure their food is shaped like a mediocre class of an extinct animal. Everything tastes better when it's prehistoric!

Now that the snow's finally melting and the temperature's above freezing, I've been getting outside for my runs lately and it feels SO GOOD. The past couple of weeks have been pretty perfect for running, and the first outdoor runs after a winter of dogging it out on the treadmill always feel amazing. And hard. The first outdoor run makes it shockingly apparent that three or four months on the treadmill set at zero incline is not the same as running outside. 

Let's get this out of the way bright and early: I don't want to start a horrible "Kids say the darnedest things!" series of posts where I rehash all the hilarious and insightful commentary Eli comes out with in the run of a day. Everybody thinks their kid is the funniest, smartest toddler on the block. Here's the hard truth: you and possibly your spouse/significant other and maaaaybe your child's grandparents agree. To everyone else, your child is a noisy, messy human who's the reason you have to leave happy hour after PRECISELY one hour.

Bedhead happens to the best of us.

But! At three, Eli does come out with some gems from time to time. He's developed some funny mannerisms, i.e. will gobble down a big serving of salad because it's "plants" and his favourite dinosaur, triceratops, also eats plants. Fussiest kid on the planet is now a fan of spinach salad? I never thought I'd see this day.

Here are some funny (to me) Eli stories as of late.

1. Eli started swimming lessons last Sunday, but his first lesson was abruptly cut short after some kid shit in the pool and everybody had to pile out. I saw some instructors talking in hushed tones and suddenly the pool went straight-up Caddyshack and emptied out in seconds. We explained to Eli what had happened and he kept demanding (and still asks now, four days later) "But WHO pooped in the pool?" Of course, in his loudest voice. He's also filled everyone in on his swimming lessons by letting them know someone pooped in the pool. Not a word about the instructor or the games they played, but did you know someone took an underwater deuce that brought the entire afternoon to a grinding halt?

2. Eli got a toy triceratops lately (as mentioned above, his favourite dinosaur, for reasons unbeknownst to me because, frankly, triceratops?) and he named it Horny. Horny the Dinosaur! Perfect!

3. This isn't really a funny thing as much as gross but Eli is obsessed with bologna. He would eat it at every meal if he could. Which is bizarre, because Pete and I have never bought bologna. He's had it at his grandparents' and his sitter's and now he loves it and we have to have it in the house.

4. Eli loves music and is not picky about genre. Pop, rap, classic rock, alternative - he loves them all. Lately his favourites include Uptown Funk, that old song from the 60s that goes "who put the bop in the bop-she-bop-she-bop?" and...Tuesday by ILoveMakonnen. If you say "Going up..." he'll reply "On a Tuesday!" He also likes to change the lyrics to that old bop-she-bop song: "Who was that man? I'd like to shake his poop. He made my baby fall in love with poop." (Anything with poop is funny these days).

5. Every time he makes us laugh, he crows, "I make your day!"

That you do, little man.

2010, when we first bought our house and painting and DIYs still felt like fun.

Back when I first discovered Pinterest, I couldn't pin enough pallet furniture. You know what I'm talking about: patio tables made out of wooden pallets, shelving units made out of pallets, ottomans made out of pallets. And there's the famous Michael's wooden crate coffee table. Pinned 'em all. All you need is four crates, some castors, a little elbow grease and voila, a handmade coffee table that stores things, too! Genius!

Except: by the time you've bought all your supplies and actually put the thing together, you've likely spent more money and definitely more hours than if you were to just go to the furniture store and buy a coffee table. They do make tables, you know.

And so I un-pinned all my pallet furniture and vowed to get realistic about what I will DIY and what I'll leave to the experts.

I may be uninspired to build a coffee table but there are some things I much prefer to create from scratch, mostly in the kitchen. Here are a few examples of things I'll forever do myself.

Tortillas - If you haven't made your own tortillas yet, DO IT DO IT DO IT. They are SO easy and taste so much better than those flattened circles of cardboard Dempster's is peddling. I've made these flour ones many times (most recently I made them tonight for fish tacos!) The biggest challenge is getting them perfectly round, but if you're OK with imperfectly shaped tortillas, just roll with it (I'm sure you could also use a bowl to help you press out the shape if you must have circular torts.) The biggest problem is we eat these way faster than packaged ones, so they don't last as long.

Granola - I love a little homemade granola and some sliced-up fruit on top of a bowl of Greek yogurt - it's one of my favourite quick weekday breakfasts. Fortunately, you can easily whip up a big batch of granola on the weekend that tastes amazing and doesn't contain any weird ingredients. My favourite homemade granola is just rolled oats, peanut butter, honey, and vanilla. I've added in extra stuff, like coconut and cinnamon. I suspect raisins, dried fruit, or nuts would be good too. Maybe even chocolate chips. Go nuts. It's just granola.

Cookies - I love to bake so this is a no-brainer for me. Freshly baked cookies are just so much better than cookies from a box! Again, you get to skip out on all the wack ingredients, which is a bonus (not that butter, sugar, and flour are healthy per se, but at least you can pronounce the names). I've posted my all-time favourite cookies here many times.

Whipped Cream - Cool-Whip from a can or a tub makes me cringe. Just get a carton of whipping cream and do it properly!

Guacamole - Guacamole squeezed out of a tube or scooped out of a container is always too thin and runny for my liking. I love chunky guac, and mashing up an avocado is really not that much work. Add a little lime juice and sea salt and you're good to go. Sometimes I'll chop up red onion and tomato and throw that in too. I'm really the only person in my house that likes guacamole, so buying a big container and having it turn brown before I get a chance to finish it doesn't seem like a great idea.

Here's where I let someone else do the work:

Precut Butternut Squash - Recently we were at the market and bought a 1-pound bag of peeled, precut butternut squash for $3.50 right next to the whole squash for $1.00 a pound. Every time I try to peel and cut a squash I'm holding my breath waiting to chop off a limb. To me it's worth it to pay an astronomical price so I can avoid losing a finger taking a chunk out of my countertop.

Pesto - Making your own pesto is apparently easy if you have a food processor but in between the fresh herbs, the walnuts and whatever else goes in there, it just feels easier and cheaper to pick up one of the yummy premade varieties. Same goes for hummus.

Spaghetti Sauce - I don't have any Italian in me so I have no guilt about buying bottled marinara instead of making my own. I know homemade sauce tastes so much better and fresher, but when we eat spaghetti, it's usually meant to be a quick weeknight meal so making sauce from scratch kind of negates the appeal. However, sometimes I'll pump up bottled sauce a little by adding some greens, chopped peppers and mushrooms, or extra spices.

Ground Coffee - I know freshly ground coffee tastes better, but I don't have a grinder and I can't bear to have one more appliance in my kitchen, no matter how small and sleek and useful it is. I'll probably always be a ground coffee person.

Face and Hair Masks - I've seen so many recipes for great oatmeal-and-honey face masks and avocado hair moisturizers, yet I haven't been able to bring myself to slather my bod with pantry contents just yet.

Pie Crust - I hate making pie crust from scratch. I did it once and swore never again! I usually get the 'just add water' dry mix, or sometimes I'll cheat completely and buy frozen pie crust or no-bake graham crusts, which come in a tin foil pie pan. No mess AND no pie plate to clean up: double win.

[+] I started training for the Bluenose half marathon a few weeks ago. So far all my training has been on the treadmill. I haven't run outside since January 1, and it's killing me! Our sidewalks are nonexistent (on our particular street they're under 3-4 feet of snow? Not conducive to running) and I can't wait to get back outside. In the meantime, training has been going well. My tentative game plan this time around is to stick with the 2:00:00 10:1 pace bunny (run 10 minutes, walk one minute, finish in two hours) - because you can do anything for 10 minutes, right? Times 12? I did eight miles the Saturday before last, and it felt easy breezy but again, outside and treadmill are two very different animals. Then on Sunday I did nine miles and it felt like death.

Eating: more veggies - I'm on day two of salads for lunch, and I've been getting lots of vegetables in my meals lately. Not mad at it. 
Drinking: a ton of water. My goal is 3L during the work day, plus whatever I consume at the gym and at home. I find I'm much more alert and clear-headed when I drink lots of water. 
Reading: The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb.
Wanting: spring weather. I don't need summer - I just need to be able to leave the house without bundling up and checking road conditions 12 times before I drive anywhere. 
Looking: away from my screen a lot more often. My officemate and I just installed the eyeCare extension in Chrome yesterday. It reminds you to look away from your screen for 20 seconds every 20 minutes to help prevent eye strain! 
Playing: with Eli...lately he's big into puzzles and duplo. 
Wasting: time online browsing spring clothes. What a tease, buying cute springy things and not being able to wear them. 
Wishing: I could run outside. The treadmill's getting rill old. 
Enjoying: weekends breakfasts, Downton Abbey, Nature Valley protein bars
Watching: Downton & Walking Dead
Waiting: for opening day. Spring training's got me looking forward to baseball season! 
Hoping: to sign up for the Blue Nose half on May 17. I've got my training plan all mapped out, now just need to get in the mindset to commit.
Marveling: that we still have so.much.snow. and it continues to fall. Shouldn't the clouds be empty by now? 
Needing: vitamin D, a massage, a dentist appointment, a tan. Fake, of course. 
Smelling: coffee 
Wearing: a lot of neutrals lately - it's just so much easier. Plus a huuuge puffy coat and the world's most enormous snow boots.
Noticing: how much brighter it is in the evenings, and it's only going to get better! 
Knowing: I need to be managing my time more effectively
Thinking: how is it only Wednesday?! 
Feeling: sleepy and uninspired
Bookmarking: these social media hacks you may not know exist (some of these were news to me!) 
Giggling: at this Vine. Forever and ever, amen.

Anybody who knows me knows I love to spend time cooking and baking on the weekends. I don't consider it a great weekend unless I've had a chance to whip something up in the kitchen, whether it's a new recipe or a dish we've enjoyed many times. This is especially true during the colder months, and this weekend was no exception.



Here's what I made this weekend:

[four-ingredient peanut butter granola] // since discovering this super-simple recipe we almost always have homemade granola on hand. I subbed in maple syrup instead of honey this time and added a little cinnamon. So it was technically five ingredients. Sue me.

[skinny peanut butter swirl brownies] // these are "light" brownies, probably because they use Greek yogurt instead of eggs and oil, and they didn't require any flour either. I liked them a lot. They're fudgy brownies and very chocolatey without being too sweet. FYI, we were out of white sugar, so I used a half-cup of brown sugar and a third of honey as a substitute.

[sweet potato gnocchi with maple cinnamon sage brown butter] // this was delicious, but it almost tasted like dessert, not a side dish. Usually I prefer a more savoury gnocchi, but as long as you know what to expect, give 'er.

[apple-cinnamon slow cooker porkloin] // this is a favourite of ours for Sunday dinner. The pork has lots of flavour and requires minimal prep - win/win!

Do you guys prefer to use cookbooks or tablets/phones for recipes? I'd much rather use a cookbook or a written recipe but thanks to Pinterest and blogs I'm usually propping my iPad on something and getting flour all over the screen. It may be time to invest in one of these bad boys.

Have you made any good food lately?

It's been a hard ol' winter on the east coast. I'm not sure if February is setting any snowfall records, but it's definitely been the craziest winter I've experienced since moving to Halifax eight years ago. I feel like we get at least one snow day every week, and our flight home from Montreal on Sunday was canceled because of a blizzard that dumped one to two feet of snow in the area. Everything was shut down: highways, trains, and planes. Plus, it's been crazy cold.

(Here are some ridiculous photos to give you an idea of how much snow is in our region. To be fair, most of these are in Prince Edward Island, about a three-hour drive from us. BUT STILL.)

This week has felt super weird and I think a lot of it's weather-related. We had a snowstorm on Tuesday, which meant a snow day and working from home; back to the office on Wednesday, and then I had another surprise work-from-home day yesterday after my first bus was 40 minutes late and my backup bus got into an accident before we even got on the highway. It just didn't feel like I was meant to be on the bus yesterday, so I took my laptop and went home to work for the day. Do you ever have situations like that, where it feels like you're just not meant to do something?

Here are some links I've been loving this week:

[+] Puppies! Uber offered puppy delivery to businesses on Wednesday! Sadly, it was only available in some US cities. I'm sure the team at my office would've been all over this.

[+] 16 songs to listen to based on your favourites from 1989. I took a 1989 break over the holidays to listen to Christmas music but I'm back into it again. A couple months ago I was all about Shake It Off and Blank Space. Now I can't get enough of New Romantics, Bad Blood, and Style. I love the whole album, really.

[+] A friend just turned me on to 1861.ca and now I'm obsessing over their dresses. (Like this, this, and this.) And my favourite J. Crew dress is back with some new details.

[+] This week, I made homemade tortillas and vowed once again to never buy tortillas. They're so easy to make and so much more delicious at home. I made these honey-lime sweet potato, corn, and black bean tacos on 'em. TO DIE. Also amazing: mashed avocado, lime juice, and sea salt on a fresh, still-warm-from-the-pan tortillas.

[+] This new forest school is opening in Halifax with a goal of getting kids outside, into nature, and away from so much screen time. I love this idea. Right now, it's just for preschool kids, and it would be amazing to see an option for bigger kids, too.

[+] Thinking pretty seriously about signing up for this wine and dash event in June. Running + wine = my two favourite things. However, 10 miles plus booze seems ambitious. Sprint to the first wine station and walk the rest? ;)

Happy Friday, kids. Hope you all enjoy the Superb Owl this weekend.