winter Archives - WHOA lansi

hygge

On January 22, 2015

“The warm glow of candlelight is hygge. Friends and family — that’s hygge too. And let’s not forget the eating and drinking — preferably sitting around the table for hours on end discussing the big and small things in life.” Hygge’s high season is winter, and Christmas lights, candles galore, and other manifestations of warmth and light, including warm alcoholic beverages, are key to the concept. (Source)

This beautiful Danish concept has been on my mind lately, & although it hasn’t been particularly cold, I think it deserves a place in my life. Here’s to making a more conscious effort to embrace this cozy concept.

Here’s to slowing down, connecting with friends, & carving out some time for the simpler things. Here’s to adding a little hygge.

Winter thoughts

By whoalansi

On December 3, 2014

In Uncategorized

Winter may not be official for another couple weeks, but our climate certainly says otherwise. We’ve been bundling up, wearing extra layers of wool, & trudging through snow banks for a couple weeks now. & I love many aspects of winter – planning ski trips with friends, comfy wool socks (these are a staple for me. They’re men’s but they last for years), flannel & leggings, carefully braising beautiful meals (winter cooking is probably my favourite), skating at the rink in our neighbourhood, & reading by the fire at my parents’ house in the mountains. Just thinking about all this gets me pretty excited for the winter months ahead.

Unfortunately, my motivation seems to wane when the temperature drops far below zero. I’m not alone here either. There’s even a disorder for this season – seasonal affective disorder – SAD. Isn’t that acronym depressing? I don’t think I suffer from SAD, I just have a hard time motivating myself to get up & do a whole lot of anything. Gilmore Girls was just added to Netflix & I’ve made every excuse to watch episode after episode on the couch. I’ve watched it while blogging (like right now), writing thank you notes, cooking, & even cleaning.

In the summer months, I’m usually pretty motivated to workout. I get my butt to the gym or go for a run or even just go for a walk. We live about a minute from the river paths, so it’s easy to take advantage of this proximity. In the summer.

The great thing about the paths though is that they are cleared all year long & we’re lucky enough to experience breaks in the freezing cold pretty often. Even when it is cold out, it’s just a matter of taking the plunge. Once you get out there, it’s really not so bad.

I’ve been making an effort of getting out there more often lately. Even on the days that I don’t feel like heading to the gym, I’ve been going. I’ve been setting my alarm for 5 am & forcing myself out of bed for spin class. (I know that seems so crazy, but I have the best time once I’m there. The best!) I reminded N to pick up his skates so we can head over to the skating rink in the evening. Free dates are the best dates, right?

that’s it. Those are my thoughts about winter. None of this is truly groundbreaking, but I hope maybe it helps a little bit if you’re finding yourself in hibernation mode. You can do it! Get up, get out, & go for it. You can either hate on winter for the next 6 months or you can find a way to make it great.

Or maybe you’re already an expert in getting through the winter. Let me know if the comments what keeps you going

December in Instagram

By whoalansi

On December 31, 2013

In Uncategorized

It’s been a bit of a slower month for blog posts, but I think overall I’ve been more consistent than ever before. It wasn’t a real resolution to post more, but I did mention that it was a goal for this year and I think I can successfully check that one off. My other resolutions were a little more hit or mess, but I’ll talk about that more when I make this years’.

Like all years, this one has its ups and downs. When I think back though, there were so many great moments. It’s hard to trump our engagement, but we also made some great memories in the states, spent lots of time out at the lake and in the mountains, and ate our way around the city. I can’t complain. Thanks, 2013. I think 2014 should be a pretty great year too. We’re off to Mexico at the end of January, we’re getting married this summer, and we’ve got plans for a pretty fantastic honeymoon. I hope you all can look back on 2013 with a smile and I wish you all the joy and happiness for this brand new year. Here’s a little recap of what December looked like for us.

1. N participated in Movember again this year. It was his best mustache showing to date, but he still looked like a bit of a creep at the end.
2. N’s family dog, Lucky, celebrated his 15th birthday. They let him lick the icing off a cupcake. When you’re 105, you get to do whatever you want.
3. KC & I at the hockey game. It was me & the boys that night. Things got rowdy, as all hockey games should.
4. Fitness at work continued. We did a squat challenge this month & sometimes these types of ridiculous outfits make an appearance. Always need to be prepared for squats.
5. My company Christmas party was a blast. We had the best time and took a lot of great photobooth photos.
6. The snow this December has been pretty great so far. We spent the weekend before Christmas in Banff- skiing, drinking, snowshoeing, and hitting the hot springs.
7. We stayed in Calgary for Christmas this year and spent the holidays with N’s family at their house. His mom’s fireplace is just adorable.
8. Skating on Christmas Day with family and friends.
9. We skied Panorama after Christmas and then headed out to spend some time with my family in the Columbia Valley. It was beautiful!

See you in 2014, blog friends! Happy New Year!

for the coffee obsessed

By whoalansi

On December 10, 2013

In Uncategorized

I know I just professed my love for Fratello Coffee Roasters yesterday, but this is a little different. I wasn’t kidding; it’s still my favourite coffee. & they make a beautiful cup of coffee, in my opinion. I’ve always been a latte or cappuccino girl (how can you go wrong with latte art?), but they make an amazing pour over as well. If you really love coffee, I highly recommend checking it out.

Fratello posted a lovely little video yesterday, which is what had me posting my love of both their cafe (Analog Coffee on 17th Avenue SW) and their coffee. I regularly convince N to grab a coffee there with me on the weekend. It was even one of my picks for our engagement session with 3Haus last month. (I’ll do a post about that lovely experience soon, I promise – here’s a couple teasers shots from Analog Coffee for now).

Source: 3Haus Photographics

If Fratello were on my way to work in the morning, I would undoubtedly stop in from time to time. Sadly, my commute doesn’t venture anywhere near their lovely establishment. Luckily for me, Calgary’s got a pretty decent coffee scene so it’s not too upsetting (although I really wouldn’t protest if they happened to open up a cafe on the northeast side of the city…).

Enter deVille Coffee and their Nutella Latte. Yeah, you heard me right, Nutella Latte. Since leaving Starbucks a few years ago, I’ve lost my taste for anything overly sweet. When people get excited about Pumpkin Spice Lattes or whatever current Starbucks coffee craze (abomination) is going on now, all I can think is sugar. Much too sweet for me.

Nutella Lattes, however, are something I can get behind. The combination of a great coffee (deVille brews Intelligentsia Coffee from Chicago), steamed milk, and a bit of Nutella is a great way to start the day. Nutella is deliciously chocolatey without being overly sweet, so it’s the perfect treat for those of us who aren’t into super sugary coffee. (Now I know that Nutella also has a lot of sugar in it and is no more healthy than Starbucks in that regard. I just can’t stand coffee that doesn’t at least mildly taste like coffee and it seems like sbux gets more and more ridiculous every year.)

I once did the math on what I was spending per month and it completely turned me off buying coffee every morning. Even when I only spent $3 a day on coffee, it added up to almost $100 a month so I try not buy coffee on my way to work very often. With Calgary being so cold lately though, I’ve needed an extra little something in the morning, so I’ve been stopping in to deVille sometimes as I walk past.

I haven’t been able to get into Christmas yet (does that make me a terrible blogger? I feel like all the bloggers are super into the Christmas Spirit and I’m just not there yet. I tried watching Love Actually on Sunday night to get into the spirit, but that only last until Monday morning.), but I can definitely always get behind good coffee on a cold day.

WHOA lansi

francophile, oenophile, logophile, turophile

Tag: winter

hygge

Winter thoughts

for the coffee obsessed

ABOUT

whoalansi

Social Media

Archives

Blogs I Follow

Search

whoalansi

Social

Search

Subscribe to Blog via Email