winter-wonder-land

February 10, 2018 Arlene Giddings

I really wanted to go on a
friday adventure
yesterday
but, sadly, was without a car.

I'll admit...I felt a little pouty about it
when I first got out of bed
and saw that the sun was shining.
I looked out my bedroom window
and could see the sun shining bright through
the ice covered trees.

Ice covered trees?

That I could see from my window?

I jammed on a pair of jeans over my leggings,
threw on some fuzzy socks and purple docs
grabbed my camera and headed out the door
down to the park at the end of my street
and no word of lie...
it was like walking into another dimension...
like something out of a fairy tale.

i am not sure why...but i seem to have developed a slightly crazed looking selfie face.

Twinkly tiny fairy lights EVERYWHERE....
as far as the eye could see
against yellow, reds and greens...
with black branch silhouettes.

I stayed there til my hands were too cold
to shoot anymore and I'm pretty sure
tears were freezing in my eyelashes...
the park was empty...
just me and my camera.
The only sound was the shutter clicking
and the crunching of my boots
through snow that has no footsteps yet.

What a great way to start my weekend.

friday i'm in love...

February 9, 2018 Arlene Giddings

♥ with the way the sun shone through
the ice covered branches
early this morning...
it was like walking through a fairy land
all teeny tiny lights
and the only sound
was the crunch of snow
under my boots

♥ got home yesterday to find that my brakes
and my car stereo
have been fixed...
i missed my car stereo so much!
oh. and the brakes were important, too! :)

♥ this kid's sculptures...i am IN LOVE...
if you only click on one link in this post...make it this one.

♥ oh but wait...this is really cool, too!
are you sure you don't have time to open 2 links?
because this is so neat...video that shows how
everyone takes the same instagram travel photos... :)

♥ i got to spend an evening with an old friend the other night...
it has been far too long.
and it makes me so happy that,
even after being apart so long,
the conversation picked up
just like we saw each other yesterday.

♥ i think that next year, instead of celebrating New Years
and creating all the resolutions that I have already failed miserably at
because, let's face it...it's JANUARY, people...it's DEAD CENTER WINTER...
and you are exhausted from the holidays...
i am completely lying to myself when i say i am going to
go to the gym after work.
what i am going to do is come home, put on my pjs and hibernate
until the days get a little longer.
so...the thought of celebrating this instead seems far more plausible. :)

♥ someday. someday i am going to do this.

♥ i tried a new yoga class last night....
and i am SO happy that i did.
i am a little picky about my yoga classes...i tend to find
one instructor and then stick with them for a long time.
this instructor was new to me and so was the venue
but as soon as he said "are we all ok if we turn the lights down?"
i was sold.
today i have that almost pleasant muscle ache...
the one that reminds you that you actually did something good for your body.
i cannot wait to go back.

♥ have you seen this movie? you should.
(winter is the best time for settling in with a blanket and a pug,
some diet coke, buttery popcorn and letting yourself get lost
in a good movie...)

3 blogs i am crushing on...

February 8, 2018 Arlene Giddings

I have been trying to get back to reading
other people's blogs & online journals
and am always on the lookout for new blood.
I have kept a list of the blogs
that i followed
since I started blogging (over 10 years ago)
and I realize that along the way...
some of those sites are no longer in existence
much less active.

When I first started this little journal,
I had no idea what or why I was doing...
some days, I'd say that's still the case
but I've invested too much time now to give it up!
But I had started at a good time.
Blogs were a thing.
They were popular and active and so much fun.
They were yesterday's instagram...well...technically
I guess Flickr was yesterday's Instagram but you get my drift, right?

And I have heard murmurings online
about how maybe blogging is making a comeback!
(ok...or maybe I am trying to start such a rumor...
but same difference.)

So all this to say...I thought I would share 3 blogs
that I am totally crushing on right now...

Helen describes herself as a seasonal storyteller, writer, reader, notebook hoarder & a chicken & duck keeper.

Um. Can we best friends?

Go and check this girl out.
You're welcome.
BLOG
INSTAGRAM

MY GIANT STRAWBERRY

How can you immediately not be drawn in
by a blog that is called my giant strawberry...
I mean...doesn't that make your mouth water already?
And then she tells you that when she was a kindergarten kid
she got in trouble for telling stories about the
enormous strawberry in her backyard.
Awwwwwwww! How cute is that!
And she paints and makes lists and what more do you need!
Go check her out!

KATE'S CREATIVE SPACE

Kate had me at this sentence: " I’m Kate; a mum, a wife and a career woman who dabbles in many different things and doesn’t necessarily excel at any of them."
This I totally relate to.
And she made a giant paper mache hot air balloon for
a tiny family of mice.
oh. my slightly jealous little heart.

happy blog-hunting!

wordless wednesday...

February 7, 2018 Arlene Giddings

tuesday truths...(the culinary edition)

February 6, 2018 Arlene Giddings

i have no photos of the roasted broccoli so please accept this rare photo of my polka dot shoes instead. :)

► I ate roasted broccoli for the first time tonight and IT WAS SO GOOD.
How did I not know about this? I tossed it with some olive oil, lemon juice,
smattering of salt and pepper and a heaping (yes, heaping...I can't help it)
spoonful of garlic. And, even though I suspect I cooked just a tiny bit too long,
it was still SO GOOD.

► I am not sure that I will ever remember how to spell broccoli.
I get so confused on how many c's and how many l's. Sigh.

► If you know me at all...you will know that I tend to order chicken fingers
when I go out to eat. I love chicken fingers. Or a chicken burger. Fries. No vegetables...
unless the vegetables are corn...I like corn. Never any sauce for my chicken fingers. Just salt please.

I tried sweet and sour sauce tonight though...and I liked it.

My taste buds must be growing up!

► In the past month, I have eaten pretty much a full family size box of chicken fingers
BY MYSELF. Mostly with 5 minute fries. Always with a can of diet coke. That's healthy, right? I mean, sometimes there's corn.

► OH! & totally not related to food....but AJ Finn liked my tweet about his book! :)