Oh, hello weekend

I thought a breakfast shot was perfect for a Friday post, given my obsession with pancakes and all (1/2/3)! What can I say? Ponds love breakfast food! Violet is actually trying to recreate a scene from Sheree Fitch's book Mabel Murple, you know, the one where she eats "Mabel's purple maple syruple". She basically just looks crazy, but since I am her mum I think it is crazy in the most adorable way ever.

Birthday party season seems to be upon us, so Violet and I will spend a good chunk of Saturday eating cake and then crashing from our sugar highs. It should be good times. We also have a play date or two lined up, so all in all the weekend is looking promising. If you note a serious lack of testosterone in our plans, you'd be right. Jeff has started studying again. Oh man, being a good wife is so hard! I want to tell him to slack off and come play with us, but I'm forcing myself not too. (Wife of the year?)

What are you up to this weekend? Any fun fall festivities? That reminds me, we really have to get to the valley. It is the nicest this time of year, huh? So many leaves to see and pumpkin spice lattes to drink, so little time.

Have a lovely weekend, friends!

xo

Em

ps -- just a few snapshots of my favourite subject below, and some fun reading of course!

Weekend Reading

These muffins look awesome, take or leave the yoga ;)

I made curried coconut carrot soup this week -- so yummy

Love this link about infertility

This video is the cutest (and it reminds me so much of my friend's daughter)

I want this sweater now!

Also, very excited for Girls to start (only Tina Fey could make it better!)

{she was afraid of these last year}

{now she dominates them in her badass biker jacket}

{nbd}

{two cuties}

{still the cutest cheeks in the YHZ!}

One of those days

{Violet has those days too}

Yesterday was one of those days. I had planned a really upbeat blog post filling y'all in on the goings on of our pleasant weekend, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Our weekend was lovely, that part would have been true, but to try to be upbeat by the end of the night felt literally* impossible.

I've written complain-y blog posts before, but since this is my corner of the interweb I suppose it is my prerogative to do it again. And I will.

It was raining a torrent yesterday, never a good start to the day for this crazy haired lady. But if I let the weather spoil my day, the bad days would out number the good ones so like the hero I am, I pressed on. But then I spilled coffee (with milk in it) inside my work bag. How does that even happen? My wallet, sunglasses, book, and the piles of other crap I carry to and from work with me were all soaked. Soaked first, stinky second. Ew. Hmmm, what else. Oh, the man I sat next to on the bus (keep in mind I am soaking wet with a stinky briefcase and a poor attitude at this point) wanted to chat. The nerve. I try to be friendly on the bus try to bring a novel with me so I can avoid these sorts of chats, but it was covered in coffee and the binding was actually disintegrating. In hindsight, reading a coffee soaked book would have been preferable to talking to some man about the difference between BC rain and NS rain.When I got home from work I had the intention of making paninis with the chicken we bought at the market on Saturday. I had taken chicken out of the freezer the night before, but, in defiance of the laws of science and me, the chicken remained rock hard. I had a tomato sandwich. Violet and Jeff ate the cured meat I bought for pizza night.

Okay, so this is not the worst day ever, but it certainly was one of "those" days.

I tried to rally by having a cookie and looking at pinterest, but not even chocolate could salvage the day at that point. I went to bed before 9:00 pm.

Today has been much better. The sun shone. My coffee stayed in my cup. All was well in the world.

How about you, have you had any of *those days* recently? They do make for better stories, I'll give them that.

xo

Em


* I love Parks & Rec

Have a lovely weekend

This week flew by, huh? What are your plans now that we have the first week of fall under our belts (almost, anyway)? We have a play date, a church picnic and an airport visit with Precious Jules on the docket. It is supposed to be really warm out so maybe we'll get around to finishing some yard work we've been meaning to do all summer. I'm not completely sold on this whole having a yard business. I think I could survive, nay thrive, in a concrete jungle. Does that mean my heart is two sizes too small? Don't answer that. I'd rather hit the beach than hang out in our yard any day. Which reminds me, I love a good autumnal beach walk. I guess I need the ocean next to my concrete.

Have a great weekend, friends! Enjoy the warmth of the sun on your sweet faces.

Weekend Reading:

Bono does Bill Clinton (remarkably well) 

The sweetest dog obituary I've ever read. Leave it to E.B. White.
 
I've never had the urge to visit Winnipeg, but this neighbourhood sounds amazing. (Also, aren't Winnipeggers the coolest?)

As someone on the cusp of Gen X & Gen Y, I can appreciate quite a few of these references.

#hilarious

No cell phone is the new cell phone 

A city designed for women? My bags are already packed. 

Two

Look at those young ducks. They didn't even know what they were in for.

Jeff and I celebrated our second anniversary on the 17th. We ate sushi and watched Blue Jasmine -- basically my dream date.

In some ways we've had a really hard year. Lots of goodbyes, fewer hellos than we anticipated. I can, however, say that I love this man more today than I did when we got married (and I thought he was pretty neat then).

There were lots of great things that happened this year too. We bought a house and both secured permanent jobs in our respective fields. Violet is thriving and keeping us on our toes 24/7. We have lots to be thankful for, no doubt.

Thanks for putting up with my neurosis and for making me laugh so hard my cheeks cramp. I love you to where ever the Voyager 1 is and back.


xo

Em

paleo chocolate chip cookies

I'm of two minds when it comes to healthy cookies. In the past I've always thought, if you are going to have a treat, have a treat. Healthy cookies? What's the point? Eat more veggies, fewer cookies, for sure, but when you indulge, really indulge. Lately, however, I've been inspired by some of my friends and the healthy treats they make for their families. Violet and Jeff both love a small, sweet treat after supper and while we've tried to steer clear of nightly dessert, we probably indulge at least a few times a week. We don't have lots of processed sweets in the house, but maybe once every couple of weeks I'll make an apple crisp or a batch of cookies. In the summer we gravitate towards ice-cream, but now that it is officially fall I love both the smell and warmth of somethin' in the oven.

Which brings me to paleo chocolate chip cookies. I don't know much about the paleo diet. The name reminds me of Ross from Friends, that's all I got. What I do know is that these cookies have no flour, no refined sugar and no dairy. I love them because I feel like I am feeding my family a handful of trail-mix as a treat, as opposed to a cookie.

The recipe I used is easy to follow, but it does require a special trip to the grocery store (unless you routinely stock your larder with almond meal and coconut oil). The cookies are really yummy, much better if stored in the fridge and they even got the Jeffrey Pond seal of approval (much harder to attain than the Violet Pond seal of approval). Jeff loves chocolate chip cookies and I had my doubts about how these would go over. I needn't have worried, because he loved them and ate them at the pace he would have eaten their butter and white flour laden equivalents (which is to say they were eaten in under 48 hours).

Now I just have to remind myself that though these cookies are healthy, the are not suitable for breakfast (opps) and more than three in a sitting is probably a little over indulgent (opps again).

Try these if you are in the mood for something sweet, but you want something a little healthier. Yum!

Find the recipe I used here: http://thebitesizedbaker.com/2013/01/23/paleo-chocolate-chip-cookies/

xo

Em

cereal milk

I hate to brag, but my grandfather totally invented cereal milk. Milkbar ain't gotten nothing on Ron Harris. Pop has been infusing dairy with the sweet taste of toasted corn since 1984. True story. Remember when I told you about bed lunch? Well, bed lunch was typically vanilla ice-cream that had been *infused* with cornflakes. Okay, infused is one word for it. We aren't flashy people, us Harrises. We tended to say "ice cream with mashed up cereal in it", but that is only because we don't like to brag. Really we don't.

I have the Milkbar cookbook, I love me a piece of crack pie as much as the next girl, but I have to say, it is way easier to mash up cornflakes on ice cream than it is to locate glucose and freeze dried corn. Right?

I also think my Pop may have invented the Orange Julius, but I can't substantiate that, so I won't even get into it.

xo

Em

image source: http://www.chatelaine.com/recipes/chatelainekitchen/cereal-milk/

life lately

I haven't done a good old fashioned photo dump in a while so I guess it was just a matter of time. The photos of Violet were piling up, you understand. Isn't Violet looking grown up? I'm so proud, but at the same time I want to put her in the microwave so she stops growing. (Don't worry, we don't even have a microwave.)

We don't have too many plans this weekend, a birthday party here, a date for tea there. It might be just what the doctor ordered. I seem to have come down with a nasty cold. Violet and I are also on a major Fancy Nancy binge. We might not leave the sunroom all weekend!

xo 

Em

ps -- links after the pictures!

{Cinderella sleepover. This was obviously taken during a tense part of the movie!}

{pretty and yummy treats from our garden}

{I'm so glad those curls have stuck around}

{no words}

{Violet and mummy date -- post swim}

{from Nana's garden}

{pumpkins already!}

Links:

A glowing review for my dad's latest book. #prouddaughter

I spend too much time thinking about all things fertility related. This is a healthy reminder to keep some perspective.

Bedtime reading doesn't have to be at bedtime you know.

Jonathan Franzen will never be one of us, come on! 

The importance of the Mindy Project, see Jeff, I told you it wasn't a waste of time!

I LOVE this bag.