Just a Regular Monday Morning In The Office

A staff member put together a bed of nails on the weekend - I thought my weekends were awesome!

So of course it was brought into the office today and I had to give it a whirl:

SO AWKWARD!!

It seems I don't photograph well while lying on a bed of nails and my neck disappears (Tyra would be dissapointed) but I did it! Yay for weight dispersal!

Shad Album Review

The Coast popped up a review of Shad's new album last week. I'm a horrible music fan since I haven't picked it up yet. Maybe this week I will indulge!

In the meantime you can listen to two of Shad's past albums and the first single (Yaa I Get It) from the new album at CBC Radio 3. According to him, I'm big since I both blog and twitter.

Weekend Snaps

Rather than writing a post for each set of photos I thought I would amalgamate them into one entry, enjoy!

 Chives & Hosta

My parents house

One of the few Iris' left in the garden

My parents house

Crumbling building in Halifax, making way for the new. Oh, and Greg's head.

Where O'Carrolls used to be

Another shot, the building almost looks like a picture frame to the buildings behind it:

Blooming stages in a rhododendron:

At Greg's house

Petals emerging:

A little more:

Ta Da!

DIY Weekend Project

I found a far from gently used, as people like to call junk these days, table in the basement of my building one day last week when getting my bike. 

It turns out that although I have a very cute table and two chair set for my deck it doesn't hold the amount of food that Greg and I seem to make. So the idea of having an extra table on my deck is perfect. We used my night table the last time we needed more space - it was the night before the Blue Nose so maximum consumption was required. 

So taking a page out of my father's book I saved the table from it's impending doom and took it to my parents house to sand and clean off the mold that was hanging on (gross, I know) and to slap a few coats of paint onto it. 

I forgot to take a proper before photo. But this is before I painted it, I've sanded the mold off using a palm sander and went over it with bleach and water:

It still looks like it's moldy, but it's just sadly stained by the previous owners neglect, shame shame. 

My mom (who apparently reads my blog - HI MOM!) took a photo of me giving the table one of it's many coats of white paint. I just used whatever my dad had in the basement since it seems silly to spend money on paint for a free table...particularly when I had a can for the taking in the basement:

I left the table in Sackville since I didn't have the time to finish it yesterday, but I will eventually have a finished product to share!

More Birthday Baking

Continuing on the trend that I'm the best boss ever I whipped together the third installment of birthday treats for a staff member this past Friday.

This time the birthday boy is super into birds, has a dairy sensitivity and celiac. So naturally I was flooded with a ton of baking ideas when presented with this situation. Well not really, but this did come to mind:

Nothing says "I like birds and have digestive problems" like rice crispy squares! Apparently he can tolerate small amounts of chocolate and mini eggs in particular:

The next actual staff birthday isn't until August. So my Co-Director decided to figure out everyone's either 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 birthday to make sure that it fell in either June, July or August. 

No doubt more baked good will be cranked out of my super tiny, but satisfactory kitchen!

Hairs, Cut

After finally giving into the little voice in my head I gave it a go and cut my own hair ... last month? Maybe it was way back in March...I can't remember!

It didn't look awful, but it was definitely lacked a professional touch and this week it had just been driving me crazy!

So while at work today I called up the salon and made a hair appointment for this evening and how I have my hairs all cut by someone who knows what they are doing. And had a much better perspective on my whole head than I ever will.

I don't think I'll be cutting my own hair anytime soon.

With it clipped back:

Not clipped back:

PS. It seems I'm a bit greasy in these photos, my apologies!

So Many Sun Showers!

While walking around Halifax throughout the day I got rained on about 4 times in various states of showers to downpour. Lucky me I didn't leave my house this morning with a rain coat or an umbrella - I clearly forgot I live in Halifax.

I was however, lucky enough to catch a wonderfully large rainbow on my way home at the end of the day:

I even took the long way home, in the rain to get a better picture of it. It was worth it.

The only photo I can remember being more of a full rainbow was while at Cape Spear in Newfoundland, Bryan is under it (oh so fitting) and there was a fuzzy on my lens, oh well:

This one was taken with my Blackberry so the quality is super sub-par, but it's more of the excellently full rainbow:

"Wasting" Time

It seems I'm not the only one who doesn't always stick to the grindstone while at the office. CBC just put out this article about the number of hours "wasted" when they turned their Google logo into a playable Pac Man game.

Folks in my office were definitely playing Google's Pac Man, but really what fun does work become when all you are to do is actually work when there are so many wonderful distractions!

Guilty Pleasure: American Idol

While in Newfoundland this past winter with co-workers/friends I was re-introduced to American Idol. The Olympics had just finished and we were all in a state of exciting sports coverage withdrawal and turned to the smug face of Simon Cowell for comfort..what were we thinking!

Regardless of the reason as to why I started watching this season of American Idol and I am currently watching the season finale. There is the strangest mish-mash of musical acts (so far: Alice Cooper, The Bee Gees, Christina Aguilera, last year's winner (Kris Allen), Alanis Morrisette, THE GUY WHO SANG PANTS ON THE GROUND (with a dance posse!!), Chicago and there are no doubt more to come. 

This is the guy who sang Pants On The Ground (in the audition AND on the show):

They still haven't announced the winner and at this point I don't think that will be the highlight of the show with the shenanigans that have happened so far.

So what crap TV will I watch after this show is finished?

Pin It For The Planet

I saw an ad for this new campaign by WWF this evening on TV. I wish that we didn't have to drive across the province, in the very least HRM, every day for work but sadly we do. It's for the kids?!

The campaign is called Pin It For The Planet and their slogan (or at least one of them) is AWESOME!

"It's like wearing a ribbon, but the ribbon is made out of a car key"

By reducing car use and tracking your different forms of transportation you can enter to win a bike - every 7 days you can enter again.

I like this initiative, it's obviously easy for those who don't have a car, but hopefully those who do will at least give it a shot.

There are few things to 'implement in your office' that I might try to work in, everyone likes a good o'l competition!!
 

Public Gardens

We spent some time in Public Gardens on the Victoria Day holiday (thanks Queeny!) soaking up the weather parked under a tree with a nice layer of sunscreen on. 

There were a few birds hanging out above us (I kept my fingers my crossed for no poop presents):

Also, we first tried to set up shop on a patch of grass that was nowhere near a flower bed and close to the public sitting square but were swiftly ushered off by a Granny who no doubt had the best intentions for the Garden's longevity - but still, it was a momentarily awkward situation.

Basil - Attempt #2

My first attempt at growing basil - from a 'grow it from seed package' from the Superstore went down the moldy crapper. Well, actually in the compost.

So while at the market on Saturday I bought three little basil plants already on their merry way to feeding me with yummy herbs. 

It's a really blurry, I'm not too sure what that's about - but they are not growing mold and that's a better sign than before.

Long Live The Queen

I don't know how this post slipped through my fingers while madly posting on the weekend.

Greg and I checked out the Saturday evening/night show at the North Street Church which featured a number of great bands/acts. Getting the tickets was a bit tricky however, I tried to buy them at Ticket Pro outlets, but they only sold the all access pass and not tickets to individual shows. The guy at the outlet was really nice and he tried to help me figure out where I could buy tickets, but no luck.

More after the jump (since I recently figured out how to put in a jump - yay!)

Next Running Challenge

And I'm on to the next one. This time it's more about the fun and less about the time.

Greg and I, and hopefully others, will be participating in the Not Since Moses Run that takes place in the Bay of Funday at low tide on August 14th. Since the tide moves quickly there is a limited amount of time that a runner has to complete the 10km race. It will involve running in mud, water and over rocks - FUN!


The website is here and it's got information, photos and a sign up if you are keen!

Binge Blogger

It seems this is what I've come to, collecting photos from the week and then posting them when I get the chance on the weekend. 

My apologies for lack of regular posting!

But here are some gems in the meantime

Treasure Digging

On the walk to the run this morning Greg and I stumbled across a man clearly looking for treasure on the Common! I couldn't get a great view of him and his metal detector, but it was handy as he stumbled across something or other:

I also saw an interesting new Christmas Tree decoration, only on the Common:

Blue Nose - A Photo Journey!

I picked up my kit on Friday, along with the rest of participants it seems. The place was crazy busy, but things flowed efficiently. I was impressed:

My bib (with my NAME on it!!) and the chip that times my race on my shoe, oh technology!

The schedule, we were set to run at 9:25AM!

Pre-race, not gross and sweaty yet, just super reflective it seems:

Post run; way sweatier, sore and medal wearing!

Lots of people milling about after the run, filling up on snacks and emptying their bladders. Oh and an Crosby fan:

An oh-so flattering photo of me and my medal:

So there it is, my second Blue Nose Marathon is complete. Not with a great time, 2 hours, 24 minutes and 10 seconds, but that's what happens with you have to make not ONE, but TWO stops at the bathroom in Point Pleasant Park. Ugh, stupid sun + running combination!

I missed my running buddy, Allison, but having done the run alone is a good feeling. I high-fived lots of people on the way, was cheered on my a few people I know and made some running friends ... or rather competition over the 21.1km. 

Now I can stop the ridiculously long run, stick to ones that go less than an hour and hopefully my toes will go back to normal eventually. So far I have all 10 toe nails, unlike this time last year after my first half marathon!!

Just a Regular Day in Grand Parade

I spied an interesting site on Friday when I went to pick up my race kit from the Trade Centre. It seems there was a show and tell from the city and you could hop in the driver's seat of a plow, a dump truck and even a bus!!!

Sadly no, I didn't give it a try since I was on a time budget but it would of been hilariously awesome!

There's even a crane way there in the background, amazing!

Science Birthday Presents

Two members of the summer team found out that it you pour liquid nitrogen into a glass dish of water and dish soap things get crazy awesome. Since it was a team member's birthday on Wednesday we gave him the honours of giving it a go:

Step #1: Pour liquid nitrogen into glass with water and soap

Step #2: Stand back and watch the steam, keep pouring more liquid nitrogen!

Step #3 - touch frozen bubbles! And clean up melted bubble :)

Please note the safety gloves and closed toed shoes! Safety first!

Car Rack Decorations

I spotted this on Robie Street Friday - I didn't know there was a beef between Soccer Moms and Lacrosse Moms!

SuperBOSS!

Bryan set the bar to be the highest possible last year when it came to staff birthdays. So this season I'm trying my best to set up and bake bake bake!

Staff Birthday #1, Cinnamon Rolls

Pre-cooked, waiting their turn for the oven

Melting all over the place in the oven, so tasty! I forgot to take an after photo, but trust me they were as good as you think they were!

Birthday #2, Dinosaur Cake

The pan almost didn't fit in my oven, almost

What the cake was supposed to look like, the shape it right! It's feet fell off when it came out of the pan, nothing some extra icing wouldn't fix.

After the first batch of icing went on, so much green!

TADA! The finished product, complete with a sour watermelon dinosaur spine!

70% Guilty

This popped up in my twitter feed from Rotten Tomatoes: The Top 10 Worst Superhero Sequels. 

I can confidently say that I've watched 70% of these films, I'm not proud of it but I am a sucker for crappy movies.

How do you measure up?

Local and Market Inspired

Greg and I hit up the market after a long dry spell of yummy local treats on my part. 

We picked up things for Saturday brunch and dinner...I forgot to take a photo of our BEST FRENCH TOAST EVER...made from this apple/currant/cinnamon market bread and maple sausages from the stand I refer to as "the meat people". I don't think I'm alone in my clever moniker.  

Dinner was fiddleheads and pan fried haddock with mango salsa and roasted potatoes:

YUM YUM YUM!

I Might Have A Problem

I'm pretty sure there is no need in owning 1 zillion bags but I continue to convince myself that another purchase is THE BEST IDEA EVER!

So given my seemingly permanent state of mind I treated myself to a brand spanking new leather treat from Roots, ta-da:

I tried to find a better photo online but I couldn't. In the photo the strap is doubled over and threaded back to make it a shoulder bag. I can let it out fully and then it's a great hands free bag that I can carry around even while biking the mean streets of Halifax. 

The green pillow behind the bag doesn't really 'go' with it, but it's a permanent fixture on my couch (except that one time it spent two weeks in Newfoundland) so it was included.

GRRROW!

My attempt at growing a garlic plant seems to be coming along nicely:

The other plant attempt - basil - is also coming along despite a mold issue:

Also, do you see the plant inspiration behind my growing friends? I've been a bit hesitant to hang the photo, I think if I hang it that it will be too high on the wall. So it will take on my dresser and hopefully encourage my plants to keep at it!