Some things...

perhaps my most inconsequential post yet. brace yourself.

weird: catching my reflection in the mirror with straight hair. A far departure from my usual crazy head of curls. weirder: documenting it. justification: none, really.

everyday memphis cries outside the door to our garage. for like, a long time. and each day he meows, more convicted in his mission to infiltrate the garage than the day prior, even though everyday he is denied. for his own safety. but would ya look at those oh-so-sulky eyes? That's right, I've got a certified Sulky McSulkerton on my hands. for approximately 20 minutes each day, same time each morning. random, right?  

Every time the olympics roll around, I become infatuated. doesn't really matter whats on the tube, I'll watch it. until next thing you know the rhythmic gymnastics are on and I'm completely transfixed by the ribbon routines. Eventually and inevitably, I'm reduced to sobs as the young Russian athlete accepts her gold medal. it's at times like these I'm reminded that I am a woman, and yes, I suffer from hormonal mood swings and excessive weepiness rather regularly.

I'm thankful for things like Instagram. Without it, I would never stop and snap a pic of this nearly perfect cherry. Sure, it's no 'this is a life moment' picture. and yet, it kinda makes me smile. so why not, right?

Driving to the farmer's market this morning, I snapped this pic. something about this scene seemed so serene. 

heart smile.

in closing, I finally finished painting my little pedestal dining table. love it. 

A couple changes to note since little pedestal took up residence in our nook.

1. flowers are more abundant 'round these parts.

2. I've found more reasons to sit at a table than I ever thought possible. 

2. morning coffee's have reached a whole new level of delicious.

My heart's happy...

because I've got a genuine DIY enthusiast on my hands. My expressing interest in building furniture together has lit a fire for power tools and wood working in Ryan I've never know. DIY is a major win/win in this household. He gets new power tools and I get to see how cute he looks with his new power tools.
o, and we get some furniture too.

because this little fuzzy feline, right when I need a smile, drags his plump little bod out of his bed and saunters on by. he gets in my way. it cracks me up and makes me smile.

because lately, the sky looks like this at night.

and because, this weekend, my toes were warmed by the sun instead of wooly, winter boots. 

This past week(stagram)

A few snapshots from last week, as illustrated through my Instagram feed + one photo kindly sent to me by my bff (thanks Nicole!).

This will result in a brain-trail, thought-dump of sorts. 

Last week my Mom and I hit up Evelyn's in High River. We were on our way to attending an MLA candidacy debate, and felt like we needed some pie for sustenance. Random? Yes. Awesome? YES. 50's style diners are so awesome. Turns out they didn't have any pie left. It was 5pm and they were closing. 

Yes. we were in a small town. 

So, we ended up settling on a date square and a slice of coffee cake. Scrumpsh! (Sidenote: I tend to shorten words in conversation, and often don't have much difficulty translating those words when writing. But I have to admit...shortening the word scrumptious had me scratching my head for a second there.)

That night, I wore pink lipstick. Now, this may not seem newsworthy to some. But it is to me. I'm not a lipstick wearing kind of gal. At least thus far in my life. But, I've decided that, everything now and then I'm gonna give it a go. There's something so uniquely feminine about it. And sometimes a girl's just gotta feel like a girl, ya know?

Another night this week, the hubby and I partook in one of our favorite bottles of wine while watching the last three episodes of The Walking Dead. Ok. That show is crazy. I can't really describe why I like watching it so much. I can say though, that having a glass of wine while watching it certainly helps me palette it's craziness. That show is a major train wreck. I want to look away. but I can't. 

A couple times this week, we were graced with some April showers. Showers! Anything not frozen, falling from the sky by way of moisture is A-OK with me. I was pretty pumped about it. The air smelled like rain. Fresh rain. Is there anything better?

By the time I got home, my backyard looked like this. I'm not going to say anymore. I'll get emotional. 

To cope, I talked it out with Memphis. As you can see from his facial expression, he's like, so over this. 

Later in the week, we went out on a date night with my bff and her hubby for dinner and a movie. Since having their sweet little baby girl 18 months ago, we hadn't been out on a double date... if you can believe it! It was definitely overdue, and as fun as we had hoped. We went to see The Hunger Games and then finished the night at Earl's with some appies and drinks. 

We totally asked the server to take a photo. We were those people. Momentarily I felt awkward for doing so. I always kind of do. Then, I quickly realized, we're the era of social media. Everyone takes pictures everywhere. Its totally fine. In fact its better than fine. We're documenting fun times we don't want to forget. So go on! Take pictures! You won't regret it Carli! 

Good talk, self. 

PS. Love time with great friends! Could not be more grateful for these two :) Love you guys!

I thought it was safe to put these puppies away. It wasn't. So I called them back up to the big leagues. At least for a few more weeks. 

Over the weekend, I caught a coffee date with my sweet sister-in-law Tara. Love that girl. It was a much needed catchup and a coffee at Java is very difficult to say no to. See for yourself. Mmmmmmm....coffee.

That same day I had a yummy lunch with my dad at Joey's. We were catching up before he left on an extended trip to Egypt. So excited for him! He's been wanting to do something like this for some time now. 

Random Carli Fact: I don't like salads. I like veggies, but salads as a meal, I tend to avoid. Not this one though. This salad, if we can call it that, is my kryptonite when it comes to salad. It makes me forget I ever had anything bad to say about them.

Halfway through our lunch, my brother Tyrone decided to join us. It was lovely seeing this guy. I don't get to see him often enough, so when I do, it's a major treat. We snapped a mini, half family pic. We're the dark haired members of the family and we stick together like birds of a feather. 

I don't know why I said that. 

But I love them. Thats the main point I was getting at. 

All in all, it was a lovely week. 

And, can I just say that I'm so grateful for things like Instagram and this blog. I really wanted to create a space where I remember the lovely things that happen in my life. Taking all these pictures and blogging about them has been so helpful in encouraging me to stop, slow down, and realize that wonderful memories are being created every day...even during a very simple week at home. 

This Past Week(stagram)

This is last week, as illustrated through my Instagram feed. 

I like to start my morning, every morning, with a cup of joe.  But not just any joe. No. A fancy joe.  Well, not fancy per se, but tasty. O yes. Tasty. Kicking Horse is my java of choice these days.  And, as you'll see later in the post, Kicking Horse is not only where I started my week, but where I finished it as well.  

While out and about working one day last week, I snapped this pic from the edge of the city.  Sometimes, I can't even believe how beautiful this city/province is! Sure, we suffer through our fair share of drab and dreary, grey winter days.  But then, out of nowhere, an awe-inspiring, crisp blue winter day comes along and steals your breath away.  

These mountains have a way of rendering me speechless.  And that, my friend, is difficult to do ;)

While running errands, I stopped and grabbed a Mucho Burrito. Yum. I think I even told it to get in my belly. An Austin Powers moment, alone with myself. 

On the way out of Ikea the other day I snagged a copy of the most recent catalogue and, while shaking it above my head, exclaimed aloud "Yay! Bathtub reading!". My poor mother. And anyone for that matter, who finds themselves in public situations with me in which I have no filter.  It was my mother on this occasion.  She handles it so well.  Embraces it even :)

Anyway, later that evening, I did indeed spend some quality time with that catalogue.  It was as good as it always is. 

I woke up the next morning to this persnickety face. Surly doesn't begin to describe him here. But its close.  

The clouds were cartoony that day. So cartoony I snapped a pic. Sometimes the sky is so strange. And vast. And awesome.

Later that day, while working, I came across this scene. Honestly, he sleeps like a human. Its unnerving at times.  But, mostly cute.  This was most definitely cute.

I welcomed spring into my life this week. Not with the weather, but with this sunny handbag. It's actually much tinier than the pic lets on. Almost the size of an iPad.  It was a sweet gift that has cheered me up to no end!

Later in the week I had the BEST coffee with my little sister.  She's 8 years younger than me and its only over the last few years that we've really started to connect not only as sisters, but as true friends.  She's brilliantly smart and insightful beyond her age.  She's also equally as weird as me, and when we're together and goofing around, we get lost in our own little world. Sure the people sitting around us in Starbucks might not understand, but in our little world, we've got it goin' on ;)

Here we are saying goodbye. It was just after this photo was taken that we skipped to the car shrieking way too loudly, 'let's go sit in the car and update our Instagram feeds!!!'.  Yes, it was as lame as it sounds.  Lame. Amazing. Nerdy. Hilarious. Whatever it was, I loved it. 

That night I went out for dinner with some lady friends. Shame on me, I have no photos to share. I'm still getting the hang of this 'document everything everywhere' thing. I'll get there though. I will. 

Anyway, the next day, after my brother posted a facebook status update about crushing a bag of mini eggs, I was forced to go purchase a bag and consume it immediately. First a photo of my brother so you know who I'm talking about. This was taken about two weeks ago.

Anyway, after he whet my whistle for a little Easter indulgence, I had no choice but to partake. Here's the evidence of carnage that ensued only moments before. Its empty btw. Major loss of self control. The entire situation happened in about 1.547 minutes. 

On Saturday, Ryan and I found ourselves road tripping our way to Golden, B.C. Home of, you guessed it, Kicking Horse Coffee Roasters. It is so cool, to me, that such a wicked coffee is roasted so close to where we live. I should have snapped a pic of the factory but my phone had died by that point.  

Ryan's friend from his volleyball days in university lives in Golden and was getting married. So, we set out to go celebrate their nuptials. The wedding was 1920's themed and ended up being a really sweet event. I have a more detailed post to follow in the coming days. 

Once again. Those mountains. Speechless. 

Here's Ryan and I, trekking across Alberta and into B.C. Road tripping is always fun. It doesn't matter the destination really. There's just something really sweet about being stuck in a car with one another for an extended period of time. Being married to a 'strong and silent' type, I feel like road trips are one of the best ways we get to reconnect. I always forget this as we're getting ready to leave for one, and I'm always acutely aware of it once we've returned :)

We got back on Sunday evening and were greeted by the most forlorn looking cat.  Memphis knows how to play with my heartstrings, and this 'I'm so sad I'm going to sit on the windowsill and sulk' situation got me real good. Sly little guy.  In return for this behavior, he was cuddled to within an inch of his life. 

And, there you have it.  My week as illustrated by Instagram.

P.S. My Instagram is carlib5 if anyone wants to follow along :)