March 24, 2016

Thinking Out Loud {#8}: Bulk Barn, Book Club & Instagram Love

Welcome to another thinking out loud post (my second favourite type of post after Currently ones), hosted by Amanda at Running with Spoons!

Thinking Out Loud


Let's skip the intro and get right into it!


1. This past weekend, Jim and I went to a house warming party for one of his old roommates. The host, my husband, and several other party guests are Engineers. At one point in the evening, they started to run low on ice in their automatic ice machine. Remarks were made that said machine was broken, and had been since they moved in a few weeks ago. When I saw the state of the remaining ice (frostbitten and stuck together in a large clump), I looked inside the freezer, and flipped the MAKE ICE switch from OFF to ON. I made Jim ask his friend the next day if he had ice in the machine and he sure did. That's right, in a room full of Engineers, I solved the problem!

2. Earlier this week, I was attempting to declutter one of the hundreds of piles of stuff we seem to have everywhere, and came across a half empty box of Sully's birth announcements. What am I supposed to do with these?! It seems so wrong to recycle them, but I've already mailed them out and kept a few for myself. Anyone want a two year old birth announcement?!

Birth Announcements via Shutterfly


3. I tweeted this the other night:


Seriously. I literally popped in to get some cumin and came out with this. And I still can't decide if Bulk Barn is actually cheaper for things like chocolate eggs or if they are banking on the fact that no one has a clue how just how much 100grams actually feels like.

Bulk Barn

4. I've won a lot of really cool stuff on Instagram in the past, but the other week, I won one of the coolest things to date: The Meet Me in the Mountains giveaway. And it wasn't even things for Sully - it was all for me! I have been coveting all of these items for months now (I saw a few of them in person at The Alberta Adventure Girls Retreat back in January) and am so happy to have these awesome pieces, all from local artists, in my home!

Instagram Love for Local Shops in Calgary, Alberta

Included was:

  • an Alpine necklace (I chose gold), from Lace Brick Design  - I don't plan on ever taking this off I love it so much
  • an adorable two sided infinity scarf - how cute are those deer?! - from Buttercream Clothing 
  • a 3-peak mountain string art from Agnes In August - so many places I want to hang it!!
  • and this beautiful hand-crafted shelf from salvaged and reclaimed wood from Needle & Pine -it's even bigger than I thought it would be and the hardest part is going to be deciding where to hang it. I have a serious love of miniature things and this will be perfect for displaying my little treasures on! I think I might need more than one in my home though...Sully also loves it because he thinks it's the letter "A", haha! 
There are still a few more Meet Me in the Mountains giveaways this month, so be sure to head over to Instagram and enter! (I've tagged the IG shops above!).

5. I have a serious love/hate relationship with Tim Horton's Roll Up the Rim coffee cups. I'm not even a huge fan of their coffee (McDonald's is SO much better), but I can't help myself from buying it during Roll Up the Rim season. I have issues. But what the heck is going on this year?! I don't even want to think about how many cups of coffee I bought from them and all I've won is a stinkin' donut! The game is pretty much wrapped up now, but I happened to stop at a Tim's today and they still had playing cups! Sadly, I still did not win anything. All I want is some free coffee, is that too much to ask?

Tim Horton's Roll up the Rim


6. Last week, after many nerves and much hesitation, I finally announced my online book club, and you guys, I couldn't possibly be more happy and grateful for the positive reaction it got! Like seriously, every time one of you tweets, texts, or snaps me that you've picked up the book or have already started reading it, I do a little happy dance. So thank you! This is going to be SO fun, because I promise, talking about a book is actually a lot of fun, and makes the whole experience that much better! It can be a big commitment to join a book club in real life, and an online one takes a lot of that stress away because you can participate in the conversation on your own schedule and from the comfort of your own home in your pyjamas. 

A Slice of Brie Book Club


And if you don't know what I'm talking about (you can read more in this post - April's book is Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova), or if you've been on the fence about joining, just remember that there's no pressure or commitment (and you definitely don't have to be a blogger to participate). If you end up not being able to read the book, no big deal, but you can also decide to read the book the day before if you like too! And I'd also love to hear any recommendations for books you'd like to read in future book clubs so that I can use those suggestions when we vote on the next book. 



Bulk Barn: love it or leave it? What's your favourite thing to buy from there?

Old things like birth announcements: continue to hoard forever or let it go?

Any books you'd like to read in a book club setting? Let me know in the comments! (Or email me!)



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