“I know today is Monday and you assume it’s going to suck, but according to statistics, there will be over 5,000 weddings, 10,000 childbirths, and 42 million hugs occurring today throughout the United States. Also today, there will be at least 4 people that will win the multimillion dollar lotteries, 600 people will get promotions at work, and 3,000 people will lose their virginity. There will also be 600 dogs adopted, 35,000 balloons sold, and 800,000 skittles eaten. Plus, the words “I love you” will be said over 9 million times. So again, I know today is Monday and you assume it’s going to suck, but just smile, because according to statistics, it should actually be a really nice day.”

On Healthy Snacks:

I thought I’d do a little post on a super quick and versatile health snack that I love!

It has two different ways to be served:
1. As a light morning yogurt snack
2. As a refreshing summer afternoon treat

In total, both will take you about 5-10 minutes!

What you’ll need:

| A ripe papaya
| Vanilla Icecream
| Fresh fruit – blueberries & raspberries, in this case
| Strawberry yogurt

1. Start by giving your fresh fruit a good rinse!

2. Then cut your papaya in half.

3. Scoop out all the seeds.

4. First we’ll start with the Light Morning Yogurt Snack!

5. I tend towards strawberry yogurt, but any yogurt is fine. One of those cups usually will fill the center of the papaya, so just scoop it all in.

6. Then just top it off with some fresh fruit. You can use any fruit really, but blueberries and raspberries tend to be the fastest ones, no cutting/peeling involved!

7. Now for the Refreshing Summer Afternoon Treat! Instead of using yogurt, use ice cream! I like vanilla because its light and subtle enough to not overpower the papaya and fruit, but feel free to use whatever you want!

8. And again, top it off with some fresh fruit!

You can honestly add whatever you want as toppings though, some ideas:

– Granola
– Chocolate chips
– Dry cereal

So there you have it, a super easy, delicious healthy snack for either in the morning before work, or a treat for after a long day at work!

Hope you guys enjoy!

| danielle

 

 

For The Love Of Words: Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou

I recently read Maya Angelou’s Letter to My Daughter. It was a short read, but also a beautiful and empowering one. Within just over 100 pages, Angelou writes of life experiences that have taught her valuable lessons and dedicates the collection to all of the women she’s been a mother to throughout her lifetime. Here are some of my favourite quotes from her stories:

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”

 

“The ensuing years have taught me that a kind word, a vote of support is a charitable gift. I can move over and make another place for someone. I can turn my music up if it pleases, or down if it is annoying.”

 

“I came to understand that I can never forget where I came from. My soul should always look back and wonder at the mountains I had climbed and the rivers I had forged and the challenges which still await down the road. I am strengthened by that knowledge.”

 

“We have the brains and the heart to face our futures bravely. Taking responsibility for the time we take up and the space we occupy.”

 

“The ship of my life may or may not be sailing on calm and amiable seas. The challenging days of my existence may or may not be bright and promising. Stormy or sunny days, glorious or lonely nights. I maintain an attitude of gratitude. If I insist on being pessimistic, there is always tomorrow. Today, I am blessed.”

 

There is content in this book that would be appreciated by any human being, of any gender, from any walk of life. If you haven’t read it already, I would highly recommend this short and sweet collection for an end-of-summer read.

| alex

When True Love Does Exist

For so long I have yearned for a love that would move mountains, for a love that seems like it has only ever been sung about; a love that brings tears to the eyes of those who witness it, who appreciate it and envy it. I always thought love was a fleeting substance, like the universe was teasing its occupants with this unobtainable feature, this fictional substance.

I look at myself, almost 23 years old. I look at the years of my adult life, look at the love I thought I had, the love I lost, and the foolishness around the emotion. I have a lot of thoughts running through my mind at all hours of the day and I would be lying if I said the majority of them didn’t settle on the topic of love. Who is worthy of love? Who deserves my love? Who’s love do I deserve? When will love happen? What is the true meaning of love? Will love be enough?

I like to think I have my priorities straight when it comes to the thought of love, a beautiful and vibrant emotion that means so much more than a union between two like-minded individuals. But those four little letters mean so much.

I love my friends, and I would do anything for them, but it is through their secret little actions that the love becomes a blinding energy when we are together. I love the way my best friend always knows how to make me smile and I love how alike we are. I love how we read each other’s minds. I love her cute little laugh. Such a love, such a bond, that is rare for some to understand without feeling it themselves. Yet her and I are not in love. We do not have a desire to join our hands and become one. We both understand that we are two pieces of the same soul, or soul family, and we love each other in ways that only family can.

But then there is that red hot love, the emotion you feel when he looks at you, when you make eye contact or he puts his arms around you. But this love is the one you have to look out for. It consumes, and although it can be invigorating, it can also burn. And I have been burnt. But I’ve also seen things that you only read about in story books.

Right after my relationship ended I didn’t want to believe in love. I had thought he was the one, until one day I knew he wasn’t. That one day when I started caring more about appearances than the actual people. I stopped caring about myself, stopped recognizing that I was no longer in love, I was just in love with the idea of it. I pushed the idea around in circles, hoping that the longer I sat on it the more chances I had to fix it. I believed that the “love” I was in was maybe just in need of repair. I believed in fate. I believed in soul mates. Why would the universe send me someone I wasn’t meant to be with? Why was I the one, who wished so long and hard for an endless love, who was slowly watching her vision of love fall apart?

When we parted ways, the idea of romance fell away and I replaced it with a love of a different sort: a love of myself. I threw my mind and emotions into the same energy, but one that filled me with light, with happiness. I began to realize that it wasn’t just about being in love with someone, but it was simply about being in love. With the world, with yourself, with your life.

I fall in love every day, with adorable customers or actions of one of my animals. I love the way I am beginning to surround myself with people who have quirks and qualities that I repeatedly fall in love with, with the stories we share and the photos we’ve taken. I fall in love every time I take another look at those photos, when I remember the emotions felt during those times of bliss. The love felt as we hugged it out or laughed until our sides hurt. That is love, plain and simple. That is love in its purest form, where you love, and you accept, and flaws don’t have any meaning.

But then I see what is missing. It is not for a lack of love, but it is for a lack of the last piece of love. The love that consumes. The love that moves mountains, that people look at and all they can do is stop and smile, because the love is one that is so bright. I hear the songs and part of me has a hard time envisioning this love, but I have always been a hopeless romantic and I have always held the idea of love in my heart. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that I see this love around me, in two, if not more, separate couples that circle in my group of friends. I see this love and it gives me hope that this feeling is more than something just written about in songs.

I know I will find this love because I believe if you dream it, you wish it, you will end up doing it. And I know, with proof shown in the aforementioned couples, that a love like this truly does exist.

You may not believe in love, trust me, I didn’t either. But now I do. And even though I’m not in a relationship, I have to remind myself that there really is no rush because I know that when I do find the person I am meant to be with, we will have a love that moves mountains, a love that others look to because they know it is one for the books.

| cassie

snapshots | west coast adventure | 08.22-25.14

I spent this past weekend wandering around Vancouver with my best friend and it was so wonderful! As much as I love Alberta, it felt really great to get out of the province and spend some time on the coast. We were blessed with beautiful weather, the perfect amount of time for everything we wanted to do, and Ed Sheeran tickets! I even brought along my little Nikon to document our time in beautiful VanCity. Here are my favourites from the weekend:

The drive to Vancouver is a long, but beautiful one. We made a couple stops along the way to stretch out and breathe in the fresh mountain air. At this particular roadside stop, Adam noticed some pretty interesting rocks and continued to search for “best friend road trip rocks” for the rest of our trip!

We arrived in the city in the late afternoon and decided to go to Stanley Park. It was my first time there and I couldn’t believe how amazing and green and peaceful it was. We spent a couple of hours walking beneath the towering trees, soaking in the grandeur of the park. We even stumbled upon a couple getting their wedding photos taken! (I obviously snagged a creeper shot of the two of them – they looked so beautiful!)

We slept well into the late morning on Saturday and spent the afternoon eating hearty breakfasts, drinking coffee, and going shopping! We watched Ed Sheeran play at Ambleside Park later that evening and it was such an incredible experience! The show started at sunset and the venue was gorgeous – open skies and right by the ocean. Ed played the show on his own, often using loop pedals to make it sound like he was alongside an entire band. There were over 12,000 people in the crowd singing with him, in awe of his talent. Vancouver was one of the very few Canadian destinations on his tour; I am so happy we made the decision to venture out to the coast to see him!

Sunday was our last day in the city and we definitely made the best of it! We started our day in Horseshoe bay, a quaint oceanside community in West Vancouver. We had breakfast at a waterfront restaurant, wandered along the beach, and explored the residential streets before we headed back on the highway.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the VanDusen Botanical Garden. We wandered around the grounds for hours – it was such a charming place to explore! After the gardens, we headed over to David Lam Park in Yaletown to watch a movie in the park. Hook was playing for the evening in loving tribute to Robin Williams. It was beautiful – hundreds of people gathered under the stars to pay their respects and relive childhood memories.

On Monday, Adam and I made the best of a very long drive back home with driving games and lots of detours. We stopped in Summerland and Peachland for some sightseeing and coffee; Vernon to take a dip in the lake (to Adam’s dismay); Crazy Creek outside of Revelstoke to walk across the suspension bridge; and Golden for some deep-fried deliciousness at a local pub. I really can’t quite express just how amazing this weekend away was. I am so grateful to have spent it in such a beautiful city and with such a beautiful human being alongside me. I am also so grateful that Adam doesn’t mind my camera constantly clicking around him because my favourite photos always end up being the ones that he’s in!

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

| alex

For The Love of Words: The Night Circus

“Someone needs to tell those tales. When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There’s magic in that. It’s in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift. Your sister may be able to see the future, but you yourself can shape it, boy. Do not forget that. There are many kinds of magic, after all.”

The Night Circus – it had captured my heart the moment I laid eyes on the black, white, and silver cover so many years ago, on a 30% off shelf located near the front doors of Chapters. Now, having finished it for the second time, I realize how twisted fate can be, bringing this story back to me in the time I needed it the most, taking me home to a place only thought up in the confines of the 387-page book.

If I had thought I loved it then, bringing it home, opening it, and finishing it overnight, I truly can’t explain the emotion I feel for it today. I can’t explain to you what this book is about, because in doing that I would ruin the story. As true to the title as any book has ever been, The Night Circus is a journey through a magical place, binding many together in a duel that most think will only end in sadness. But with the sadness comes a beauty that surpasses anything imaginable. With vivid description, Erin Morgenstern puts the reader into the Circus; you can smell the caramel and popcorn as you sit in your room at night, a candle flickering on your bed stand only adding to the atmosphere of the multitude of tents featuring Ice Garden’s, a mysterious Labyrinth, living statues, and so much more.

I can honestly say The Night Circus is one of the best works of fiction I have ever read, born from this century, or ones past. Fantasy, romance, magic, I will love this book until the end of time and I will never stop loving the magical black and white, with the splash of red. I hope, should you read this book as well, you find the same magic in the pages as I did. It reinvigorated my love of reading, as I passed the last few days unable to put it down. There is much I love, and many lines I couldn’t stop rereading, but here I leave you with just a few, maybe enough to capture the same magic in you. Happy reading lovelies.

“Why haven’t you asked me how I do my tricks?” Celia asks, once they have reached the point where she is certain he is not simply being polite about the matter.
Friedrick considers the question thoroughly before he responds.
“Because I do not wish to know,” he says. “I prefer to remain unenlightened, to better appreciate the dark.”

“Widge can see the past,” Poppet says suddenly, diverting the conversation. “It’s one of the reasons his stories are always so good.”
“The past is easier,” Widget says. “It’s already there.”
“In the stars?” Bailey asks.
“No,” Widget says. “On people. The past stays on you the way powdered sugar stays on your fingers. Some people can get rid of it but it’s still there, the events and things that pushed you to where you are now. I can…well, read isn’t the right word, but it’s not the right word for what Poppet does with the stars, either.”

| cassie

Happiness & Malleability: Finding Solace in the Unknown

I spend a lot of time thinking about the future, of what it holds and my fears surrounding it. I get lost in my own mind, running circles around what I can’t control and what I do not know. My uncertainty and doubt can be crippling at times. It’s a bit silly, I think. I feel like it’s been ingrained in me to be overwhelmingly concerned about my future, to make choices based on the career I want when I’m older and the family I’ll have one day. I was asked throughout my entire adolescent life what I wanted to be when I grew up. And then seemingly overnight upon turning 16, the casual curiosity turned into persistent interrogation. At a time when my life was devoted to learning through relationships, discovering and exploring my passions, and facing my emotional fragility, I was now being asked to decide what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be for the rest of my life. I barely had the capacity to cope with my life at the time let alone consider what it was to be like for the next decade and onwards.

However, I’ve realized something about my heart and my dreams lately that has been strangely comforting: they change, grow, shift. It wasn’t until I was 19 when I figured out what I thought I wanted to do with my life. I had everything clearly and definitively mapped out. I was going to become a high school English teacher, buy a house, get married, and have kids by the time I reached my late twenties. I wanted to have an upper middle class family, live in a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence, be part of book clubs, host dinner parties, have mid-week coffee dates with my girlfriends and our kids. So I went back to school, but my experience with post-secondary education deeply disappointed me (I talk about that here). One of the most challenging aspects of that situation was knowing that the decision I had to make was going to directly impact the future I had already imagined I would have; I would either have to postpone it or let it go entirely. And it broke my heart, tore me to pieces having to put that dream at risk.

It’s been almost six months since I wrote that piece about my fear and deep unhappiness with school. And although my plans for the distant future are still just as uncertain and terrifying as they were then, I’m in a much more peaceful place about it. Because I realized that I was letting my fear of the future disturb my state of mind in the present. I was allowing this imagined fantasy of what I thought I wanted get in the way of me living my life in the way that I’ve actually always dreamed: in happiness, in passion, in pursuit of soulful fulfillment. And the more I think about it, I’m not even sure if my future happiness lies with kids and a big house in the suburbs anymore. The more I think about it, that dream may have never actually been my own but instead one that was ingrained in me to want since childhood — not from anybody in particular, but from society as a whole.

Lately, I’ve started trading that idea in for a new one. I find myself dreaming of a future embracing something I’ve always feared: uncertainty. I dream of endlessly wandering the globe, never having a permanent address, never really knowing which city is next. I dream of living minimally, staying in tiny apartments just big enough for the two of us and our favourite books. I imagine eating breakfast on the living room floor, sharing the newspaper and sitting right where the morning light pours through the windows. I imagine us learning different languages, meeting people from all corners of the globe and listening to their stories. I imagine working day jobs that we manage to find joy and fulfillment in, regardless of what the work entails. I imagine evenings and weekends spent wandering the streets and outskirts of the city, finding beautiful hidden places to write and play music and read together.

And maybe my future will look entirely different in a way that I can’t even imagine right now. Maybe I’ll look back in thirty years and laugh about how absurd these ideas sound. I don’t feel entirely confident in not knowing, but I’m learning to. I’ve just spent far too much time worrying about what’s going to happen in five, ten, twenty years. I know that I’m supposed to start thinking like a grown-up, I know that life brings hardships and realities that I’ll have to face. But right now, I am twenty-two years old and I refuse to let my fear of the future swallow up my present. I think we just get so caught up in what we’re supposed to do that we lose sight of what we want to do; we get so overwhelmed in the pressures of the future that we forget that our twenties are for figuring it out as we go along, finding our passions, carving our path.

Your life and its direction can change in a matter of a seconds. And that can be terrifying, until you realize that what you want from it can change just as easily. In the midst of all this fearing for your future, try not to forget that life can be happily lived in so many different ways. Try to not let it scare you that your future could be entirely different than how you’ve imagined, because it could end up so much better. Your dreams and your life are going to change and grow and shift. There is liberation in that. And I hate to pull an Emerson on you, but the journey really is the destination. So appreciate life and its wonderful malleability, and embrace the adventure in the unknown. Go out there and live out your journey with as much passion and fearlessness as you possibly can.

| alex

On Taste of Calgary:

So as many of you know, Taste of Calgary was this past weekend at Eau Claire Market! For those who don’t know, Taste of Calgary is a local food festival that allows people to sample food from a few of Calgary’s very own food vendors.

Before I start this blog post, I just wanted to point out the number one reason I will never truly be a foodie: I tend to eat the food before I can take a photo of it. So here is my blog post on Taste of Calgary and a bunch of photos of half eaten food samples!

So the way it works to try samples at Taste of Calgary, you have to buy tickets. Each ticket = $1 and each food sample has a ticket price of about 2-5 tickets ($2-$5). The best suggestions I got was to go around the festival and make note of what you want, how many tickets is required, and then buy your tickets. Otherwise you may end up with a random few ticket stubs here and there.

First up is Halo Steak, Seafood & Wine Bar!

I tried their Bacon Prawns, which were so good! Crispy, tidy to eat, and delicious!

Then I tried Crepes & Cravings! I tried the Sweet ‘Smores Crepe and the Savory Spicy Hawaiian Ham Crepe. And they were both delicious! I’ve gone to  Crepes & Cravings a few times, and I usually get their sweet crepes, the Nutella with strawberry and bananas, and yes. It is as freakin’ amazing as it sounds. I definitely suggest this place!

Sweet ‘Smores

Savory Spicy Hawaiian Ham

I went to Bubblemania Cafe next, and if you know anything about me, it’s that I am in love with Bubblemania. I probably am seen at Bubblemania more than I am at any other location. (This includes my home.)

Without being too biased, I would like to say that at Taste of Calgary, the Karage Chicken with Sriracha Mayo Sauce was the best deal. I ate a lot of it before I took a photo (I told you, I have a problem) but for only 3 tickets, you actually get quite a good amount. This is also a dish I tend to get a lot when I go to Bubblemania, and I have never been disappointed!

(If you do end up going to Bubblemania, definitely try their Nutella Milk Toast, and I promise you, your life will never be the same!)

Next two places were Globefish and Delice Pastry, Shop and Cafe. I had the Crispy Shrimp Dumplings and some Watermelon Juice!

Both were great! The Crispy Shrimp was absolutely delicious and so worth it! The Watermelon Juice was, although not my favourite drink there, very refreshing.

At Oriental Dumpling, (Warning: their website auto-plays music. Just in case you have a heart attack like I did.) I tired their Bubble Tea with Dragonball Pearls (exploding mango pearls, or mango boba).

This was definitely my favourite drink at Taste of Calgary! Watermelon bubble tea with mango boba, so refreshing!

At Goro + Gun, I tried the really popular Ramen Burger! I found that these were super sought out for at Taste of Calgary.

While I really like the concept of this burger, I find its a bit hard to eat, the noodles tend to fall apart. The burger itself is really good, but when I eat ramen, I tend to overdo it with the seasoning, so this was a little plain for me. But it was still really good, and I would definitely suggest grabbing one, even if just to try it out!

A few other places I tried (whose food I ate before I could take photos…) were:

| Black Betty Burgers & Wine Bar – Black Betty Slider, super delicious!
| Mini Melts – Mint Chocolate Ice Cream, so fun to eat!
| Africana Bar and Grill – Mango Fruit Juice, a big fan, super mango-y

So if you haven’t had the chance to check of Taste of Calgary, I would really suggest stopping by next time it’s in town!

| danielle

Finding A Home In The Strangest of Places

I don’t know if I ever really knew what it was like to feel so completely a part of a bigger picture, to feel so accepted for who you were, whoever that person may be. I never thought I would welcome the ringing in my ears or be so saddened by the lack of bass pumping through my very veins. Even now it’s hard for me to accept reality, that there is work that needs to be done, bills that need to be paid. For one weekend, all the stress of the real world slipped away and memories were made that will carry me through the next year until I can make new ones, with amazing people, new and old.

Shambhala, a paradise of sorts, has not only left a mark on my heart, but on the hearts of the 11,000 other people there.

“Waking up in heaven only to walk straight back to hell.” This is only one comment that filled my Facebook news feed during the days following the magical music festival. Other comments cried out in the same manner, expressing sadness to return to the real world, to say goodbye to the British Columbia wilderness, to say goodbye to the lights, the trees, the sun, the sand, the people, the music, and above all, the bass.

I never thought that a simple rhythm could ingrain itself so strongly into one’s soul, could complete a ritual of healing so strong. That rhythm, pulsing through you for four days straight, healed wounds both hidden and visible. It healed insecurities. It healed broken emotions. But most of all, more than it healed, it brought together. That rhythm brought together people from around the world, from Calgary, to Vancouver, to Salt Lake City, and further, from England, Australia, South America. A joining of love, a joining of hearts. The overflowing emotions in each person showed in the smiles, the hugs, the laughter, but most of all in the acceptance. No judgement, no hatred, no enemies. We truly were all friends.

Everyone looked out for each other, day or night. The magic in the air inspired thousands, the music did the same. Going by too fast, all too soon we were forced to return home, to hell, as the afore mentioned comment stated. But we each took something, or many of these somethings, back with us as we drove away from the gates that welcomed us home.

Although a year must pass until the place we all call home opens it’s arms once again, hope can’t be lost. We will face hardships, pain, loss, and sadness as we conquer the next 365 days, but when we see those dusty farm gates again, we will be just that much stronger and we will appreciate the music and the people that much more because we deserve it. We deserve the love and the acceptance. We deserve paradise, our version of it. We deserve Shambhala. But just because the weekend is over and all the people have managed to find, hopefully, safe travels home, it doesn’t mean we have to forget the feelings that ranch brought to us. Shambhala may be over until next year, but each and every memory remains, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan on forgetting the magic any time soon.

| cassie

For The Love of Words: Julian Budani

There are few people in this world who are as wonderfully gifted in writing as my friend, Julian.

I’ve known him for a few years now and have had the amazing pleasure of watching his writing grow from funny little poems to incredibly deep puncturing prose. I will never be more envious of a single person than I am of Julian and will never be more inspired by someone’s words than his. (And I just wanted to show off the fact that I have talented friends.)

“The other writers you loved”

None of those guys ever wrote about
looking into your acorn eyes
at four in the morning
and waking up with
oak trees growing in their soul.

– Julian Budani, an amazing writer and friend.

| danielle