the lake, the cabin, the fields

I live in the literal centre of this continent, snowed in from every direction. Consuming excessive amounts of Vitamin C, curling up in sunbeams on the living room floor like a cat, and watching these videos are my saving graces during this fifth month of winter. If you're feeling a little chilly, go ahead and visit one of my summer homes:

(watch all in HD here)

The lake:

The cabin:


The fields:


--
Abbey

a mixtape for february

These are just a handful of our February anthems (there were so many, we had to narrow them down) - the sounds and lyrics that make us think of certain somebodies, cute stories that have us giddy-dancing, and cuter stories that have only happened in our daydreams (our inboxes have been filled with both lately). Grab some chocolate or cinnamon hearts and maybe some tissues and have a listen to our big pile of mush. 

--

Abbey

staff picks

+ This colouring book

+ A rad canoe trip video (above) by a friend almost makes me wish it was summer. 

+ This smoothie makes a good weekend breakfast.

+ Kendall discovers a tea brand that shares her affinity with literary quotes.

+ She also Googles 'Andy Warhol cats' and that is why we love her.

+ Hannah Banana has made this banana ice-cream three times.

+ Quiet World by Jeffery McDaniel

+ "Start being different in the way that you actually are."

+ Leave it to Katie to introduce us to these cool Berlinese sculptures. 

+ Art by Marc Johns

+ Sundry Sullen's collection of New Zealand photographs

--
Abbey

the bridges

Here's to the bridges. To the ones that towered above our frozen heads, skating the Red River at dusk. To that one we laugh about sometimes, coated in its acrylic profanities. To the ones we burned, crossed, and will cross. 

A late happy new year to you all.

Abbey

a change of scenery.

Some favourite moments from Camp Arnes in October. 

Not Pictured:

• Backpacks and garbage bags piled up to the ceiling on The Little Bus Who (barely) Could
• Boys jumping in the lake. In the minus twenty. At night. For the last cookie. 
• S'mores in the dining hall. 
• Girl talk in Room Seven.
• Evenings for courage and crying together.
• Dutch Blitz madness.

Summers at Arnes are summers from my childhood. This year we came at the root of winter. Old friends, new friends, and old friends who became new friends once more; they fuelled the weeks to come. I feel like when we 'just need to get away', it's not the people we need to get away from. Sometimes we just need a change of scenery to change our perspectives. 

--

Abbey

mixtape for november

Here it is. Our mixtape for November. It's a long one, which is exactly what we need right now. It's got some of our (not-so) guilty pleasures (Norwegian girl bands, classical music, and Taylor Swift) and a whole lot of feel-good sounds for late morning sunrises and cool dusky evenings. 

Listen as needed. Take with a mug of something piping hot for best results. 

--

Abbey

making my own sun.

Around here, we like a cup of something good in the morning. We also like apple season. On Thanksgiving weekend, Patti (my sweet aunt) sent me home with two big jars of her homemade apple juice. It's nice to start these whirlwinds we call weekdays with something sweet. Not the processed, saccharine kind of sweet. The just enough flavour to wake you up kind of sweet. 

It's not uncommon for us prairie kids to go a day or so without a single glimpse of the sun. It rises during first period, and sets during last. On these days, I make my own sun. Today it was Patti's apple juice and I'm quite okay with that.

--

abbey

camp vibes.

flannel button-up: forever21 | cargo vest: old navy | jeans: american eagle outfitters | moccasins: softmoc | bracelets: assorted and dad's watch | bag: parlour coffee | toque: stolen from mom

It happens more often than I'd like to admit. I wake up with camp vibes. It's like I've been plotting a tent-out in my dreams and once I'm up, I can't shake it. So, here's my theory: If I dress like I'm going camping, the bus will suddenly break down and we'll all have to spend the day at the lake campground, kayaking and roasting marshmallows (like i said, i can't shake it). Instead, these days are spent in biology class (pretending the bunsen burner is a campfire) and the gym (it's not a mile run, it's a hike). But, hey. My class is going fishing tomorrow.

We're onto something, my delusional theories and I.

bale climbing.

(photos by chloe)

It's just something we do on the way home from the city. As much as we love these outings, they get overwhelming and we usually end up holding hands at some point (forever small-town girls). Our to-do lists go a little something like this: this store, that store, coffee shop, hay bales. We drive back with scratches on our hands and straw in our shorts and it almost feels just like home.

abbey

a home in the valley.

Some dear people took me hiking on what was probably the foggiest day of summer. I've decided that,

1) This needs to happen more often.

2) Nothing beats that view.

3) My future home will have an outdoor pizza oven.

Abbey

the littles.

We've been hanging out with them a lot lately. It's a good time.

Abbey

that one night in summer.

That one night we spent at the pool until our fingers pruned. It threatened to storm on the drive home, but we kept the sunroof open anyway. We stopped for ice cream and the clouds loomed menacingly low, but they were pink and that made you excited, because you love pink. When we got home, we quickly snuck you inside (giggling the whole time) so you wouldn't have to go home. Chloe popped in an episode of our favourite show, and we heard your mother call both your first and middle names in a 'come here right now' kind of tone. I'm not sure how it happened, but the stormy evening somehow ended with all of us snuggled up on the couch while laughing at witty gilmore girls jokes, us and our mothers. 

--

That one night we went golfing, but didn't actually golf at all. We despise golf, really. We just cruised around in the cart and sang sound of music and drew pictures in the sand traps and did barefoot cartwheels on the green and acted all civil when people walked by. I think not golfing is my new favourite sport.

--

That one night I was emptying out my knapsack and I found a wrapper from a caramel apple pop that I must have bought at the lake. We are not candy people, but we have the odd guilty pleasure. Caramel apple pops are one of them. We biked to the convenience store with loonies in the pockets of our cutoffs, and on the way back (with suckers in our mouths), we decided that summer was a really good thing.