Weekender

This poor ol’ blog of mine has been neglected and while it’s all for a good cause (work and life and stuffs), I miss it. So I’m succumbing to the Weekender Blog Post as it’s easy, fun, and lets me relive my weekends.

Since leaving my 9-5 desk job, I haven’t really had a set schedule with a start time, end time, or weekends. Steve and I have been taking every day as it comes and figuring out how to spend some time together doing something enjoyable and not lame, like housework. At this time, I’d like to take a moment to apologize to my home as it hasn’t been getting the kind of love it deserves, especially now that we have a puppy who is really into water.

We had the day off on Sunday so we packed up our things Saturday evening and headed to the cabin to meet up with Steve’s parents who were in for the weekend. We enjoyed a lovely meal, played some games, took the boat out on Sunday afternoon, and just lounged in the sun.

I picked up this beautiful edition of Aesop’s Fables at my local bookstore on Saturday afternoon. They had so many other beautiful editions of books I love so much. I originally had 4 in my hand to purchase but thankfully financially responsible Ali stepped in and forced frivolous Ali to put 3 down and walk away slowly.

On our way out there we stopped in at a idyllic farm with rows and rows of blooming lilies, among other beautiful flowers. We picked up some fresh veggies and the most delicious pie. 

Baloo was an adventurous girl this weekend. We know she loves the cabin and is completely obsessed with water, but we haven’t seen her swim all that much. We took her on the boat with us and after a few cuddles from me, she ventured all around the boat. She fell off the back of the boat and swam around a little too, which was awesome to see!

It was a lovely 24 hours away with the perfect amount of doing nothing! I hope you had a great weekend.

xo Ali

Our Pup, Baloo.

I have someone here I’d like you to meet: Baloo!

Baloo is a mutt we adopted from a local rescue organization call GALS (Global Animal Lovers Society). I saw a photo of her and had to meet her immediately.

Steve and I met her and her foster Dad on the beach and instantly fell in love. He asked if we wanted to take her for a trial run over night (side note: don’t EVER do this if you’re super unsure of a dog because you will end up adopted it). Of course we said yes and so we started our 2 night trial with Baloo, then called Copper.

After a glorious couple of days with little Copper, though I should note we were already calling her Baloo, we brought her back to her foster home so we could make a decision without her there.

There wasn’t much of a decision.

After a fun, family-filled weekend, I picked up Baloo and introduced her to her new home. Steve and I are totally in love with this pup and she’s brought nothing but happiness into our home. Owning a dog is a huge commitment and most people told us we were crazy, but I really didn’t care. The joy I get out of this dog and training her and exposing her to new things, far outweighs the early mornings and the accidents (though the pees inside are virtually non-existent now).

Baloo has the calmest demeanour and is great with people. She’s a bit of a baby around other dogs, but we are working on that. She rarely barks and is learning how to move her growing body and big paws. She likes to hang out on her back most of the time and play tug-of-war with us, and she’s BIG into hugs and kisses. One of my favourite times of day is after I’ve woken her up in the morning, let her out of the kennel and gone for a pee. Then we sneak up to the bedroom and say good morning to Steve. A friend said this weekend, “If I could choose to die, I’d die by being attacked with licks from puppies.”

This little pup needed a home and boy does she love hanging around us. We don’t worry too much about her off leash because she doesn’t stray too far from where she knows it’s safe. We like to think that she remembers her life before and is just so grateful to humans that they rescued her and gave her a chance at a good life.

So welcome little (big) Baloo! We are so glad to have you in our life.

xo Ali

 

#100HappyDays – Check!

I have officially completed #100HappyDays! It’s been a busy few weeks which explains the lack of posts. June has been an incredibly life changing month and it feels fantastic. The 100th day landed on Sunday, June 15. We had just spent the weekend with family and before they all started the drive home, they stopped at our place to meet our new pup (more on her later). After picking her up, I walked up the stairs and sitting there was a cake decorated with items representing past #100HappyDays posts. I started crying of course. It was truly the best end to a challenge that took no effort but brought me so much joy.

Completing the challenge wasn’t about posting to Instagram 100 days in a row, but about realizing every single day, what truly makes me happy. It forced me to live in each moment and look at how that moment made me feel.

Next week, I will be leaving my current job to pursue other opportunities. It’s been a long time coming and I am grateful for the experience, but it’s time to move on.

My boyfriend and I adopted a pup and named her Baloo, as in the bear from the Jungle Book. Her and a couple of her siblings were found under a shed in northern Saskatchewan by an organization in my town that runs spay and neuter clinics in areas across BC and the Prairies. I’ll do a post on Baloo and how much I’m obsessed with her, but for now, just know she was an abandoned pup and now she has a loving home.

Thank you for sticking with me through the past 100 days. It’s been a slice…of cake… (sorry)

xo Ali

Links ‘N Drinks

Friday could not have come sooner. This week was certainly a challenging one professionally, but I need not bore you with that. We have quite a few busy weekends coming up starting with the Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival this weekend. I’m known as “Red Mouth” around these parts, so it’s no secret I love me some wine. I’m really looking forward to a weekend away enjoying the finer things in life. I’m going to attempt to vlog it – I’m still a little self-conscious about whipping out a camera and talking to it.  Here you go:

THE LINKS

• This video from 4 college students hit me very hard and is a must watch. Listen to it, share it, speak it.
• This is not a jab at my parents because they are quite in-tune with technology, but I actually laughed out loud at these texts from parents.
• Everyone knows how much I love Vancouver, but this craigslist rant is so spot on.
• This is FOR SURE too much information, but it’s so darn true I had to share!

THE DRINK

WINE!!! YES, ALL OF IT! Red, white, rose – the whole lot. Here’s to the weekend, wine, food and friends.

xo Ali

A Weekend at the Cabin

Last weekend was an incredibly wonderful and relaxing weekend with good friends. We had originally planned to go camping but with the weather forecast and our friends’ first time camping with their 4 month old, the warm and cozy cabin seemed like the better idea.We ate, drank, played games, wandered, and enjoyed the great outdoors. The rain managed to hold off until the morning we left, which we were all thankful for. Here are some photos of our wandering and a cheeky little video of Steve and I on the Seesaw, which was a blast by the way.  Sorry for the selfies, but I was the one holding the camera!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend and the start of a great week!

xo Ali

White, Wood, & Wardrobe | xo Ali

I’ve got a thing for anything Scandinavian. Ever since I traveled to Denmark and Sweden 6 years ago (um, that was 6 years ago?), I’ve loved everything about Scandinavian design, fashion, lifestyle, food – everything. So naturally my Pinterest is overloaded with inspiration that I am slowly starting to incorporate into my everyday life – simplicity, cleanliness, and beauty. Here’s a collection of images I can’t stop looking at.

 

Follow me on Pinterest to find the photo links. What are you currently inspired by right now? I’m so excited for the warmer weather we are getting in BC. Thank you so much for reading!

xo Ali

 

Internships. Worth it?

A few months ago I filmed a video about my experience with internships. I lost that footage, which I didn’t know was a real thing until it happened to me. I decided to re-film the same darn thing last night and I published it this morning. Watch it below!

Internships are a funny thing. They can be incredibly rewarding and educational or a complete nightmare. My experience with the 2 internships I did was somewhere in between. I want to know what you’re experience with interns/interning is. Have you interned? For how long? Where? Did you ever have to manage an intern? I WANNA KNOW!

Thank you so much for watching/reading/hanging out with me. Don’t forget to spread love and kindness around the world today.

xo Ali

A Weekend in Vancouver

Boy oh boy did I have a fun weekend in Vancouver! It’s always lovely to go back to the city I love and once lived in and experience it’s wonderful qualities. Thankfully the weather cooperated which made everything even more enjoyable. I did pretty well in the picture taking this weekend so I thought I’d share a little photo diary!

My flight was delayed quite a bit and a small town airport doesn’t exactly have a lot of stimulating things to do so, selfie.

My parents and I spent the first day of my visit in their storage locker looking for old photos and other random things. I finally found the photos of my BF and I when we were 4. We went to the same day-care as youngsters and when I (re) met him in high school I would often look at those photos and swear it was him. He didn’t quite believe me until he finally saw the photos. It’s undeniably him – he looks the same. Adorable, but the same!

Later that night, I caught up with my friend Sara and we enjoyed some beverages and chats in her boxed up apartment!

 Over the next couple of days, my Mom and I spent the afternoons shopping. We went to what felt like every garden store and nursery in Vancouver, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. One of my favourite things to do with my Momma on Mother’s Day weekend.

This nursery had bunnies, chickens, goats – you name it! This is only 1 of MANY bunny pictures on my phone. You’re lucky.

The parents and I ate a ridiculous amount of oysters at Rodney’s Oyster Bar for Appie Hour. *Mouth starts watering*

We started Mother’s Day off with coffee in my Mom’s garden. See, now the garden stores make sense! Such a beautiful little garden in the city. Love it!

I left Monday afternoon but not before I got some sushi in me. It’s a crime to leave Vancouver without sushi consumption. A CRIME!

I truly had such an awesome weekend with my parents and friends. It was a great kick off to a fantastic summer. We are off to the Banff Wine Festival next weekend so stay tuned for a fun post full of red teeth!

Have an awesome weekend.

xo Ali

 

#100happydays: update

Happy Ali!

60 days of happy posts are done and only 40 more to go. I can’t believe 2 months have passed since starting this social media adventure – 2 MONTHS! A bit scary how fast time seems to go, tell me I’m not alone in this!?

The first 30 days were “tough” (I’ve put quotations marks because come on, we all know taking instagram photos isn’t tough. War, starvation, natural disasters = tough. NOT instas!)

I digress. While I’m obsessed with Instagram, I’ve never posted a ton. Once, maybe twice a day if I’m feeling snappy, but I’ve often been okay with just creeping – er – getting inspiration. It was a challenge to take a picture everyday never mind one that represented a happy moment.

Now, sitting here typing this, I look forward to each moment of every day as I wonder which moment I’m going to share with the world. I feel happier and more present in my day to day life. I take each day as it comes and focus on the next hour, not the next month, which I have a bad habit of doing.

So thank you, 100 Happy Days, for pushing me to be more present in each hour of everyday I live here on this earth. So what if it’s through technology, whatever works, right?!

xo Ali

Why YouTube?

…Because why not?

Really though, I’ve been watching various YouTube channels for about 5 years now. I joined YouTube in 2009 so I could subscribe to 2 channels that I watched all the time: Phillip DeFranco, humour and current events, and JulieG713, beauty and fashion. Two very different YouTubers but I enjoy their videos immensely even to this day. I found great comfort in watching YouTubers when I first moved to Vancouver with a friend of mine. The new and challenging city had me curled up in bed with my laptop most nights. So, after all these years and the different places I’ve lived, I’m still watching. In fact, I’ve watched some of these channels grow into full-fledged businesses and full-time jobs and it’s been one of the neatest things to see people’s hopes and dreams come to fruition.

I didn’t start actually uploading videos until about 2 years ago. I was scared and nervous I didn’t have anything to share. But as life went on and neat things were happening to me, I thought why not just start small and see what happens? I’ve now been consistently uploading videos for about a year and have a bit of a schedule too. Once I got over the fear of no one watching, I realized that it didn’t even matter if no one watched because I enjoy the process so much. I love having the memories of these videos for my loved ones to see and I love the fact that it makes me happy. I won’t lie, I’m still having trouble figuring out the theme of my channel and maybe one day I’ll come up with a grand plan for it, but for now I’m cool with the vlogs, the book chats, the anything goes chats, and the occasional beauty video, because I’m girl and I like that stuff.

So if you do follow along already, thank you, if you don’t, find me at xo Ali, if you’ve watched and hated what you saw and made fun of me, then good riddance because xo Ali is about spreading love and kindness around our little world and no, it’s not cool to be rude, so quit it.

Below is my April Favourites video. Hope you enjoy! If you do, why not subscribe and maybe leave a cheeky little comment while you’re there.

xo Ali