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the big orange house
Summerside, PE
902-439-4562

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friday i'm in love....

April 3, 2026 Arlene Giddings

I love a long weekend.
I am not back to work until Tuesday
and I don’t even really care
(ok, I care a little bit)
that the weather sucks today.
I am warm and toasty
with a full tank of oil,
food in the fridge,
books to read,
shows to watch
and so many things to distract me
like planning my garden,
playing with my new phone,
and watching the birds that finally
found the feeder on my window.

Micro bits and pieces of joy.
There is happiness in noticing.

TO THE LIST…THINGS I AM LOVING: 😍

🐣I am obsessed with birds stopping by my little bird cafe. And the funny thing is that Finnegan the cat also loves to watch them. For an inside/outside cat, he is pretty laid back about them and will lay on the desk and watch them but never goes after them when we are outside.

🐣Last weekend, we went to a spring market
specifically so I could get this Tide and Tallow
hair mask and blush…I know I just posted about a
blush but this one is a different color
ANDINEEDEDIT, don’t judge me.
and hair mask? ohhhhh. You are speaking my love language. :)

🐣so excited about spring and gardens and plants…
I even ordered a ladder! I have plans. Big plans.
Possibly slightly dangerous plans.

🐣I am SUPER EXCITED about this movie coming out!
I laughed out loud watching the trailer.

🐣speaking of movies, I watched this for the first time
last night and it is such a beautifully animated movie.
I loved it. I was surprised to see it had some bad ratings
about the animation specifically, because I seriously loved it.
I don’t care a lot about critics anyway…
I like to form my own
twisted opinions.

🐣I don’t think I have to say this but I will.
I loveeeeee my new phone. (Galaxy S26 ultra, as usual)
I am sad I couldn’t get the same case I had on my S24
but I’ll adjust. I just don’t like change that much. Heh.
AND I AM FREE FROM THE REIGN OF CONTROL
BELL HAD ON ME. That change I am more than ok with.

Happy long Easter weekend to you….
I hope the bunny finds you and
brings you eggs and bubbles and maybe a
skipping rope.
(or wait…maybe that’s what I want.)
:)

In friday i'm in love Tags birds, friday, long weekends rule, new phone
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friday i'm in love...(but also so tired of winter)....

March 13, 2026 Arlene Giddings

It’s been a rough week
full of headaches
and being sick…
bad news and
broken toilets…
ice storm stress
and cancelled plans.

But its had some
little glimmers of goodness.
Like the pretty spring-inspiring tulips
my little brother brought me
as a Friday surprise. 🌷
How sweet is he?

Let’s get right to the list, shall we?
(before this Tylenol wears off….
yes, I am fighting another headache)

FRIDAY I AM LOVING:
🌷last weekend, I got out for a
stroll in the woods with a friend
for some much needed therapeutic
rambling and ranting
and the occasional “wait…but
like…where exactly are we? Here? There?”
and to my joy,
someone had created an Easter trail
(which didn’t stop us from getting slightly lost)
but made me so incredibly happy!
and then I stopped at Sunny’s Dairy Bar
(first stop of the season, but not the last!)
on the way home where I felt bad for
scaring some snowmobilers with my
exceptionally loud music…

🌷I know I mentioned this
before but I am absolutely
obsessed Tide and Tallow products…
I started with the body butters (mmmmm,
these smell soooo good)
then the face whip (I had vanilla, of course)
& facial oil (sweet orange)
but then had the chance to get a sweet orange
face whip (mine was almost gone)
and she surprised me with a blush…
and I am IN LOVE.
Like….seriously….so obsessed.
(and also she is incredibly sweet,
please go check her stuff out…
I can’t get enough. 😍)

🌷and after some panic about
a leak in my bathroom, I was
able to get it sorted out…if you know me,
you know that I panic when things go
wrong in the big orange house
BECAUSE IT JUST DRIVES HOME THE
FACT THAT I DON’T KNOW WHAT I AM DOING
and also
why am I
THE ONLY GROWN UP
IN THIS HOUSE.

So anyway, GB Island Contracting
fixed it all up for me and one more
crisis averted….on to the next! Sigh.
(But they were great & would definitely
use them again, just hopefully won’t need to…
water issues scare the bejeezus out of me.)

I guess that’s long enough for today…
but I can’t wait to tell you
about the books that I read so far in March!!!
🤭

In friday i'm in love Tags tulips, easter, tide and tallow, things i love
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not a friday but a love list anyway...with skates and strawberries 🍓

March 1, 2026 Arlene Giddings

i had to work this
past friday…
i had wanted to do a
friday i’m in love
cause i had things that i loved
but i ran out of time.

so…here it is on a sunday instead.
a snowy, quiet sunday.

last friday,
my girl stopped by for a visit (which i love)
and also a sprinkle doughnut (which i also love!)
and then
my talented and super sweet bestie
brought me a spectacular surprise,
the SWEETEST red knit strawberry hat
that i have EVER seen.
THAT SHE MADE!!

i absolutely adore it.
and proceeded to wear it
the rest of the day
where we went skating
(no real photos but proof in the
doodle above),
then we went to Daisy-Mae’s used bookstore
and to auntea’s oddities

where i got big compliments
in both places about the sweet strawberry hat. 🍓

and also got new books and
beautiful set of oracle cards that i adore.

but first, can we just take a second
to ooooooh and ahhhhh
over the cover of this book?
AND IT’S ILLUSTRATED!
(there may have been a very
short lived tussle with said bestie
over this book but the rule is
she-who-found-it-may-buy-it
but-also-must-loan-it
)
this is in sub-section 34, clause b, page 73
of the contract i signed with her when
we were 10. 🤭

and the oracle cards. sighhhhhh. 😍

do i know anything about oracle cards?
nope.
but they are just sooooo pretty and make me happy
and honestly, that’s really all I go by when
making life choices.

oh! and taking photos of the cats in their napping positions
has also been bringing me happiness.
And it’s March!! So close to spring now…yay!

In 2026 - Nourish, best friends, friday i'm in love Tags strawberry hat, oracle cards, daisy-mae bookshop, friday i'm in love, bffs
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friday i'm in love...#3 of 2026 (the 🩷 hearty-heart-to-heart 🩷 issue)

February 13, 2026 Arlene Giddings

the truth is
i might love valentine’s day
more
now that i am
alone
than when i was
with someone.

there is no
wondering if they will remember
causing me to
question
whether or not
i am worthy of being remembered,
or reminding me of a time
when
they always remembered.

there is no expectation,
no disappointment,
no pretending that everything
is ok just the way it is,
that it’s just another day,
a made up consumerism holiday
(when really,
i think we all know
that i love made up consumerism holidays…
i love celebrations and special days
and themes and colors
and a reason to use my fancy stickers
or dress all in pink
or put some food coloring in my ginger ale
and call it “special valentine’s bubbliness”)
(surely you know this about me by now.)

so the heart shaped point i am trying to make
is that, at first, i thought
this day might make me sad
but it doesn’t.
i look forward to it now….
i plan out it out as a day, a weekend, a month
of self-love for myself.

whatever i want.

movies by myself? sure!
a hike in the silent woods, just me and the birds
(and hopefully no coyotes)? check!
should i buy myself some fancy
*insert whatever is the current obsession here
(shampoo? body wash? plants? stickers? markers? candy?)
yes, yes and yes.

and here are some other things i am loving:

🩷 my valentine’s tree….it just makes me happy
🩷 a sleep over with one friend this week and supper date with 2 others another night! *also, shipyard was very good!
🍿 i love emily henry’s books so was really excited to watch
"the people we meet on vacation''
it was good…i debated adding it here as i don’t feel i LOVED it
but i still enjoyed it.
🩷 i found the sweetest surprise in my mailbox from a friend…
a handwritten letter!!! with little surprises!! including
a muppet sticker!!!! (& she also loves muppets so
i knowwwww how hard it is to give up stickers of
something you love…) and the letter was so
thoughtful it made me cry but also
realize how much i appreciate connecting with people…
you just never know what will resonate with someone else.

this is way longer than i meant it to be
but honestly,
i just had a lot of good things i really loved lately….
i couldn’t fit it all
into one post!!

so be prepared for more to come.
happy heart day…i hope cupid finds you
and gives you
whatever it is
that makes you smile.
(and if that’s pink ginger ale
in a fancy glass, that’s ok…
we listen and we don’t judge. heh)

*and also just to say that i am 
also painfully aware
of the incredible sadness 
happening in the world
right now…💔 
so hard to wrap your head 
(or heart) around.
In friday i'm in love Tags friday i'm in love, valentines, hearts, timmy the cat, emily henry
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friday i'm in love ... #2 of 2026

February 1, 2026 Arlene Giddings

January has been a bit of a
sleepy month for me….
a month of self care, new slippers (pink sharks above!),
pjs, tv series, naps, saunas and
shovelling.

Here are some things I am currently loving:
❤️ the movie Yesterday. I was surprised I didn’t already watch it.
But the premise was interesting and
it made me laugh in places.

❤️ this blue jacket which is NOT a winter jacket but
I absolutely adore this thrift store find!

❤️ using the “finch” self care app
❤️ trying to learn French with Duolingo

January always starts off a little strong for me
and then wobbles a bit at the end.
This January was no exception.
But there was definitely some good things this month.
And that is worth celebrating.
(and the days are slowly getting longer and brighter,
so yay for that!)

In friday i'm in love Tags friday i'm in love, slippers
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